Welcome to Chapter Three! This one took a bit longer as I kept going back and changing things but I'm actually really pleased with it now. Hope you all like it!

Kid Flash

We travel to the Tower in cold silence. Somehow we all managed to squeeze in the back but the uncomfortable warmth of the car does nothing to relieve the frosty atmosphere. Jinx spends the journey staring at the floor whilst I keep my arm around her shoulders. Robin sits in the front and looks dead ahead but I can see his mouth twitching. Starfire keeps nibbling at her bottom lip and twisting her hair into ropes and Raven looks out of the window. At first Cyborg and Beast Boy try to start a conversation like there is nothing wrong but their laughter is too loud in the vacuum of the car and after a while, both fall silent.

I'm getting more and more agitated. I feel like I'm trapped in a box and I want to tear my way out. I try to keep myself still but I keep jerking about like the human equivalent of a Mexican jumping bean. When we do stop I throw myself out of the car and Robin gives me a scornful look.

"Quit being such a drama queen." He snaps at me. I give him a glare before I help Jinx out of the car. Her nails are hurting my arm as she clings to me but I say nothing as I lead her in. Honestly, I'm worried that if she lets go she'll lose whatever nerve she has left and make a break for it.

We are barely in the door before Robin spins around and demands "OK. Now show us your back."

Jinx stops in the doorway, her mouth in a little o of horror, and even his own team is looking at him like he's crazy. I glare into that stupid mask and I've honestly never wanted to punch it more.

"Are you kidding me?!" I snarl. "She's only just got here!"

"And she needs to prove herself before she goes any further."

"Like this? This is sick Robin! What happened to protecting the innocent?"

"You might be prepared to risk your life on a stupid trap but I'm not!" He yells. "And she's hardly an innocent, you don't know what she's done! I have a team and a city to think about and I swear if you put anyone in danger because you fell for a damsel-in-distress routine…"

"Cool it, both of you!" Cyborg steps in between us before we leap at each other's throats. There's a silence as the tension in the room seems to crystallise. He turns to Jinx and says in a gentler tone "I know this is hardly ideal but we do need to have a look at your wounds." He holds out one of his huge metal hands. "Please? It's nothing to be ashamed of."

She looks at him hesitantly before her own quivering hand reaches out and takes it. Her hand is so small and fragile compared to his, it looks like a white feather landing on a rock. He leads her further into the light of their large living room and I follow closely behind. When I had been away I had kept my ear to the ground for news of Jinx and I had heard some stories about the pair of them at the HIVE Academy. If he tries anything with her…

He takes her a little way away and then says "OK, now I just need to see your back. If you could just…"

She shrinks away from him and looks back at me fearfully. I'm by her side in a second. I pull her close and she burrows into my chest. I hear her mumbling "I'm…I'm not sure about this…I'm frightened…"

I shush her softly. "I'll be here, I won't move an inch I swear, nobody will see anything I promise." I tell her, thinking she's scared of stripping off in front of the people she used to fight. Then I see the look in her pink eyes and I realise what she's afraid of; them seeing her shame, her vulnerability. This is such a Jinx thought I almost want to rejoice but instead I kiss her forehead and whisper so no one else can hear "No one thinks you are weak Jinx. They won't when they see what you've been through. You're the strongest person I know, let them see that."

She gazes up at me and nods once, a forceful and determined look on her face. I gesture at the other Titans to gather around and they huddle closer like guests at a wedding bunching together for the photographs. Jinx moves her long loose hair over her shoulders so the only barrier between her torn back and their eyes is my pyjama top. For a few seconds she is still before she wrenches it from her in one swift movement and then shields herself against me, her head under my chin.

The Titans look upon her shredded back and recoil at the sight. Beast Boy covers his mouth and staggers backwards, Starfire cries out and turns herself away, Raven's eyes go wide in shock and even Robin makes a strange strangled noise like a gasp. Starfire starts making little snuffling noises and Robin goes to her. I gave him a look from under my floppy red hair that he doesn't see. Jinx is the one who's hurt and he hasn't believed and yet he goes to his girlfriend first?

Cyborg edges closer to her and crouches down to get a closer look. I've never seen him look so disgusted and yet compassionate before. He opens his mouth to speak but no words come out.

"Oh Jinx…"

His fingers brush against her cut skin and she withdraws from the fleeting touch, her body pressing against mine. I hear her wincing and it makes my heart break.

"OK, OK, I won't touch anymore." Cyborg says and her anxious body eases. He starts examining her carefully as the others step forwards.

"How…how did this happen?" Beast Boy utters in disbelief.

"My old team found out I was going to leave," She tells them, her voice harsh and brittle. "So they decided to beat those thoughts out of me. They pinned me down, all of them, forced these power inhibiters on me…"

"Let me see those." Raven says and I step back a little so Jinx can hold out her wrist. Her long hair is covering her chest so she looks like Lady Godiva in pyjama bottoms. Cyborg stands up and firmly nods to show he is finished and I scoop up the top from the floor. She pulls it on but doesn't leave my side.

Raven makes a humming noise as she turns Jinx's thin wrist over. "Did these go into your skin? She questions frowning.

"They had spikes that went in my veins, yes," Jinx answers as Raven hums again. "I tried to pull them off but they wouldn't budge for almost a week. I had to smash them against a wall to get them off. I haven't…been able to use my powers since. I've tried but…it doesn't work."

"You lost them?!" Beast Boy almost shouts and she baulks again, her eyes wide and petrified.

"No she hasn't," Raven corrects him and her eyes bore into Jinx's. "I can still sense her magic. I suspect this is a psychological block- she had them on for so long the physical block became mental. Those things they put on her were so powerful I'm honestly surprised there wasn't more damage."

I shake my head. No wonder she couldn't fight back if she was against five opponents and didn't have her powers. I remember See-More's stupid face and I wished I'd punched it harder.

"How did the HIVE Five get tech like this?" Cyborg says puzzled.

"I'm not sure…" Jinx stumbles over her words. "I think they came from the Brotherhood of Evil…the guys went with them when I told them not too…they got so much more sadistic…"

At once Robin has pushed himself towards her, his face looming over hers. "The Brotherhood?! The HIVE is involved with them?! How?! What are they planning?!"

She's paralysed with terror and Robin grabs her wrist. She cries out in pain and I force myself between them, shoving Robin so hard he almost topples over and its only Starfire catching him that saves him from crashing to the floor. He looks up stunned and even I'm surprised. I seem to have gotten a lot stronger since Jinx burst into my life.

"That's enough." I tell him. "You have your proof; there's no need to treat her like a criminal anymore." I take a look behind me and I can see her trembling again. She's bitten her lip so hard that a bead of red has appeared on her lips. She sees me looking and she wipes it away but a new one quickly forms. "We need to take a break. Raven, we'll be down for your examination later." I say in my most commanding voice (listening to Batman talk for years helps) before I pick her up and race out of the room.

I take her to the rooftop; it's the quietest and most serene place I can think of in the Tower. I sit her down and she rubs at her face. Tears and snot are dribbling down her face but she keeps trying to wipe them away before I see them. Even now, after everything, she's still too proud to cry in front of me, still too ashamed. I run and get her a packet of tissues which she goes through thankfully.

For a few moments we sit back and look at the view. It's a real case of stark opposites; the sprawling bustling city ringing with noise and people making their way through a web of concrete on one side and on the other the azure sea that reaches out to kiss the sky with waves rippling down it tipped with lace-like sea foam. The two sides are joined up by a higgledy-piggledy line of yellow beach that runs between them like a seam in a clash that's strange but also beautiful. I sneak a glance at Jinx and see it all reflected in those gorgeous wild eyes. My gloved hand slinks over and takes hers and I feel her fingers curl into mine.

We bask in the sunshine and silence until I dare to speak. "Lots of questions down there, huh?" I say softly, my voice whipped away by the salty breeze.

She nods. I clear my throat awkwardly. "I'm sorry about Robin. He's a pain a lot of the time but he's not usually such a dick. He's just wound up over this whole Brotherhood thing."

"Leadership's a hard burden on your shoulders." She agrees with me and I feel her squeeze my hand again as memories hit both of us at the same time.

"Hey, I've had a thought," I say, hopefully. "You've already been asked a lot of questions and I'm guessing that after your ordeal they aren't going to stop for a while now so…how about we take it in turns to ask about each other, y'know, break it in?"

I say the last bit in a rush and my face feels like it's on fire. For a moment I think she's going to say no but then she mumbles. "OK then. You go first."

I feel so happy I want to cartwheel around the Tower but instead I cough again and say "Alright. What's your…favourite food?"

She lets out a short laugh at the randomness of it but then answers "Easy, blueberry pie. What's yours?"

"Everything." I say proudly and she pokes me in the side.

"Cheat!"

"What, it's true! OK, what's your favourite song?"

"Oh I don't know…err…I think Flashlight."

"Cool, I like that one too!

"And yours is?"

"Stop stealing my questions!" She snorts and I grin back. "Urm…probably Shut Up And Dance With Me. Favourite colour?"

"Red." She replies quickly without realising and then her cheeks go pink. She deliberately looks away as I lean in closer and whisper to her.

"Favourite hero?"

"It's my turn!" She says, stubbornly staring ahead. Then she gives me a wicked grin and says "Favourite villain?"

"Easy!" I announce and she looks at me startled. She really thought she had me there, how sweet.

"Who?" She goes, her brow all wrinkled in confusion.

"It's easy." I lean closer to her so the tips of our noses are touching. The only things in my vision are her two pink surprised eyes and they are ten times more beautiful than the view.

"You are."

Jinx

I'm lying flat on a bed in the Tower's medical ward; it reeks of disinfectant and I wouldn't be surprised if Robin had demanded extra for me. I can see he still doesn't like that I'm here but I honestly can't blame him, I would have been the same if one of the Titans had turned up at the HIVE for help. I'm wearing this skinny little hospital gown that feels like it is made of paper and it crinkles whenever I move. The pyjamas were taken off me and I almost cried when I saw more blood on them but Kid Flash told me it was alright, that Cyborg would put them in the wash and I'd have them back in no time, but now they won't be his and have his feel and smell. I mean, I wasn't wearing them to make a fashion statement; those garish things could have blinded somebody.

Kid Flash is standing on one side of my bed, watching me as my mind wanders aimlessly. Raven stands on the other side, her hand glowing and slowly making its way down my body to assess any internal damage. I'm looking up at it with a little fear as it goes on its travels; I'm hoping she won't be able to find what I'm thinking of, or if she does she doesn't tell him. It's something I've barely been able to think about and if he knows…

I shift around a little and my back tightens. Cyborg put some gel on it when we came down from the roof that he says will stop any infection getting in and allow it to heal. It feels like a layer of egg white has set on my back but it doesn't hurt as much and there's no blood anywhere. Kid Flash had a face like thunder when he was applying it; he doesn't like it when anybody else touches me and in a strange way I'm flattered by it. No one has ever acted that way around me and it feels good to know somebody thinks you are worth protecting. Even now, he's sulking at Raven because she wouldn't let him hold my hand; she said it would mess with the examination. He's doing this little pouting face that's really cute. I really need to stop having these sissy lovesick thoughts, I tell myself, even though I know I won't listen to a word.

Raven's hand is at my stomach now and I'm getting really nervous. It feels like my fear is sitting on my chest like a cannonball and making it hard to breathe. I know if I looked to the side my mind would conjure up the image of my leering ex-teammates, ghosts eagerly awaiting the discovery of their darkest, most brutal legacy.

Raven's hand reaches my hips and suddenly stops. Her violet eyes, usually so passive, are filled with horror. I shut my eyes as if I can hide from the truth in the black void of my eyelids.

I hear Raven let out a shuddering sigh and her voice cuts through the blackness. "How many times?"

"Twice." I whisper. Warm tears are gathering at the corners of my eyes but I refuse to let them fall.

"All of them?"

"No-just Mammoth, Billy and…and See-More. He was the worst." I say, still not opening my eyes. "Gizmo's too young and Kyd Wycked just stood there…and watched. He did nothing."

"Jinx, what are you talking about? What happened?"

I open my eyes. Raven is looking at me with pity, her eyes glassy and her hands pressed to her lips. Kid Flash is looking at us both, his head darting from one to the other like he's watching a game of tennis. The pout is gone and is replaced with alarm. He looks at me with those innocent blue eyes and I have to turn away; I can't bear to be the one who takes that away.

He looks back at Raven. Her hand is still hovering above me. I see the dawning realisation on his face when he sees it and my tears start to fall.

"Jinx?" I hear him say desperately and I can't look at him. This only confirms what he was thinking and he stumbles back from the bed.

"No," He croaks out. "No, no, no, no, no!"

"Kid Flash, calm down," Raven begs him as she tries to stop me from sitting up. "Please, this isn't-"

"NO! There must be some mistake, they can't have done that to her, they can't have…"

"Flash, wait-" Before I've even opened my mouth, he has zoomed out of the room. I look at Raven in a panic and we both run after him. She halts in the doorway and I watch over her shoulder as she stops me getting through.

I can see why. Kid Flash has collapsed in the middle of the room and a string of nos are falling from his mouth, getting angrier by the second. The other Titans, who were all standing outside waiting, look at him, then at us clueless to what has devastated him. Robin moves closer to him warily, crouching like a spider.

"Kid Flash? Are you alright? What's going on?"

"They…they…" He can't even say it. Robin looks up at Raven and something passes between them. I don't know what it was but abruptly Robin's face loses its harsh edge and he actually looks at me with something resembling softness.

"Oh no…"

"I should have been there!" Kid Flash explodes. "If I had taken you away that night with Madame Rouge…if I hadn't left Jump…I should never have let them get their slimy hands on you…"

He stands up and pounds his fist into the nearest wall with a wail akin to a battle cry. Everyone leaps back as it sails through the plaster and makes a hole. He stands there for a few seconds; the only sound in the room is the echo of his heavy breathing. Then, he slumps against the wall and I can see droplets of water on his face.

I dive under Raven's arm and go to him. I wrap my arms around his middle and cling to his back with my bowed head pressing between his shoulder blades, the way he held me in his bathroom.

"Kid Flash, listen to me." I tell him, trying to sound soothing even though we both can hear how I'm fighting not to cry. "It's not your fault, OK?"

"I should have been there-" He mutters but I stop him by putting my hand over his mouth.

"You can't be everywhere at once, even if you are the fastest boy alive," I say. "And I won't hear any more of it. They are the only ones to blame, not me, not you."

"Why did they…" He mumbles angrily. I tighten my grip.

"It was See-More. I had suspected he had a crush on me for ages but I didn't expect him to take it that far. The others did it to punish me but I could tell he was the only one who really enjoyed it." My voice sounds bitter and I take a deep breath. "But I'm not there anymore Flash. I'm here, with you and that's all you need to know about it."

At first he does nothing and I'm terrified he will shrug me off and leave me behind, not wanting me now that I'm soiled. Then I feel a warmth on my fingers and I realise he's kissing them softly, his lips gentle on my skin.

I want to laugh. I can imagine how ridiculous we must look; a boy in red and yellow spandex with his fist stuck in the wall being spooned by a grey pink-haired girl in a hospital gown as he sucks on her fingers. It just sounds so absurd yet there is nowhere else I would rather be.

He removes his fist from the wall, shaking off the little flakes of plaster, and I loosen my arms so he can turn around. He runs his fingers through my hair and rests his forehead against mine. A tear drops from his face and mingles with my own.

"You promise there's nothing else I don't know about?" He says. "Nothing at all?"

My fingers, tingling with the touch from his lips, trace his jawline and trail down to his collarbone.

"I promise." I say. "Now, about dinner…"

Thank you, Chapter Four will be up as soon as possible! Please leave a review-they really get the creative juices flowing!