7/25/18

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Change For The Better

Chapter Four: New Beginnings and Promises Made

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May 17, 2014

Jinx tapped her boots nervously against the bottom step of her front porch. As she listened to the crickets chirping and watched the sun set across a coral and golden horizon, her life felt normal for once. She could easily pretend that she was an average teenager with an average life, sitting outside of the house she'd lived in since childhood while waiting for her date to arrive. It was the life she'd always wanted, a desire she had tried again and again to repress ever since the fateful day she was abducted. And even if she would never be normal, in this moment she could pretend.

As she ran her fingers along the bumpy concrete of the stairs, she felt lucky for once in her life. After the battle against the Brotherhood of Evil she was unsure about what her future would hold, but even in her wildest fantasies she never imagined things working out so smoothly. Although she fully expected to be arrested with the rest of the Brotherhood, the Justice League had provisions in place for criminals who wanted to turn over a new leaf. A clause in their contract with the government allowed the League to pardon criminals under certain conditions, notably if they agreed to attend therapy and aid the League or government in some way. Jinx was more than willing to comply, and the rest was history.

Much to Jinx's surprise, her old foster parents had jumped at the chance to take her in again. They had cared for her for most of her life up until she got her powers, and even though they weren't legally her family she always considered them as such. The Park family never stopped looking for her, even though she was sure they would've given up. While things were awkward between them, it was clear that they loved her regardless of all the things she did during her time with the HIVE. A picture of her sister on the day she was officially adopted was hanging in the family room. Their parents promised that Jinx's picture would soon hang next to it.

Before she could dwell on her gratitude to the point of boredom, Jinx felt a strong gust of wind whip through the air. As a faint smile formed on her lips, she stood to great her guests.

"You took your time," she said, dryly attempting to mask her excitement.

Kid Flash, who was more careless with his emotions, made no such attempt. The grin on his face was bright enough to light up the darkest of rooms, and he was twitching restlessly. "Sorry, Slowpoke. We had to make a few stops on the way."

The Flash smiled as well, putting a firm hand on his nephew's shoulder. "We'll let you know next time it happens. Are you ready to go?"

Giddy with excitement, Jinx nodded her head. Kid Flash extended a hand, which she eagerly took. Before they ran off to fight the Brotherhood together, he had warned her that most people got sick whenever he carried them while using his speed. However, for Jinx it was the most fun she'd had in years. She wasn't sure what she was more excited for- going on patrol in Central City for the first time or the chance to run with Kid Flash again.

In a split second they made it to their location. Carefully, Kid Flash set Jinx on the ground as she untangled her arms from his neck. Feeling herself begin to blush, she tried her best to avoid his eyes. Luckily for her, ironic as such a statement was, the Flash's base of operations gave her plenty to marvel at. All around her there were shelves filled of memorabilia from past cases, and newspaper articles were pinned to the walls. A gigantic screen, big enough to nearly cover one of the walls, displayed a map of the city. In the corner of the room were two bulletin boards. The first was covered in newspaper clippings and pictures of a man who Jinx immediately identified as The Reverse Flash, but the contents of the second were much different. The board was newer than the other, only containing a single picture of a teenage girl with long red hair. Thumbtacks littered the board, and the papers they previously held lay crumbled on the floor.

The Flash broke the silence and added, "We'll leave in just a minute, but until then make yourself at home. Vibe and Firestorm should be here soon. Jesse Quick is busy helping the Justice League take down Sinestro, but she said to let you know she's excited to meet you."

Kid Flash grinned, pulling on her arm. "Come on, I'll take you to the speed lab!"

The speed lab turned out to be the base's training center. The center of the room was filled with treadmills and other exercise equipment, while a set of stairs lead to a track that wrapped around the perimeter of the room. The walls of the track were glass, allowing a view of the room below. A speedometer was hanging next to the stairs, presumably to measure the speed of whichever speedster was inside. The room was large and open, and the faint scent of rubber exercise mats wafted through the air.

Much to Jinx's surprise, her new teammates had arrived at the speed lab earlier than expected. A teenage boy with flames for hair was sitting on one of the benches, balancing a chemistry book on his lap. The other meta, a young Latino man who was in his early twenties at the very oldest, was sitting across from him, helping him study. Judging by the scowls on their faces, it didn't seem to be working.

"Hey guys! Come meet Jinx!" Kid Flash yelled, grinning proudly.

The younger meta returned the grin, shoving the textbook off his lap eagerly. He flew over to them, holding out his hand for her to shake.

"Hey Jinx! KF told us so much about you. The name's Firestorm. I turn stuff into other stuff. As you may have already noticed, I'm also on fire. Pretty neat, right?"

Great, now there were two Kid Flashes. Just what she needed.

She smiled anyways, shaking his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Don't scare her, Stormy," the older meta teased, walking over. "Vibe's the name. You can call me Cisco if you want. Not much of a point keeping my identity a secret anymore."

Jinx shook his hand as well, and The Flash walked into the room.

"Really, Cisco? Again?"

Vibe grinned, clapping Jinx on the shoulder. "They always find out sooner or later. Besides, I'm not the one who forgot to put his mask on in a room full of kids."

"That was nearly ten years ago," The Flash scowled, though Jinx could tell he was fighting the urge to laugh. "And if I'm remembering correctly I had to stop you from showing off your powers to your entire junior high science class like a month later."

Behind his goggles, Vibe's eyes glimmered with amusement. "But I didn't."

The Flash smiled, shaking his head. "But you didn't."

"I got here a little early to help Firestorm do some studying. There wasn't really a point in meeting somewhere else if we were just going to end up at the base anyways," Vibe awkwardly explained.

"That's okay, you're fine. It's good that you got here early. One of the owners of Smoak Tech just called. She wants to meet with us as soon as possible. Something about a threat to their business?"

Firestorm groaned. "Yeah, that's me. I... well. I may or may not have trashed the place stopping Plastique last week."

"She mentioned Plastique, but I don't think you're the reason she called," The Flash admitted. "Don't worry about it too much. You're still new to this."

Vibe nodded his head in agreement as Kid Flash added, "I messed up plenty when I first got my powers. You're actually doing a lot better than I did."

Jinx frowned, watching the rest of the group intently. She couldn't help but realize just how out of place she was. When she was little, she could remember watching The Flash on the news and idolizing his heroics. Even though Vibe and Kid Flash had been heroes for a slightly smaller amount of time, making their first appearances within a year or two of Jinx receiving her powers, they were far from amateurs. And even though he was new to the world of superheroes, she had been a villain before Firestorm even got his powers. Sure, she had the skills necessary to fight off whatever enemies she needed to, regardless of what side her opponent was fighting for, but villainy and heroism weren't merely two sides of the same coin. She didn't know what she was doing, or where her boundaries were. To the rest of the world, she would never be seen as a true hero like her teammates. Just an ex-villain.

Seeing the camaraderie of her teammates reminded her of yet another painful truth. Her status as a former criminal wasn't the only thing that marked her as an outsider. The rest of the group knew each other from years of fighting alongside one another. Sure, she was acquainted with Flash, and she could say she met Vibe and Firestorm, but she still felt like an outsider glancing in on a close circle of friends. The only person she knew was Kid Flash, and even then having a small (and painfully mutual) crush didn't really mean she knew him. Even though he knew her real name, she still didn't know his.

She knew it was wrong, but she missed the HIVE Five.

Firestorm picked at his glove nervously. "Yeah, but she seemed pretty mad. Are you sure I can't just sit this one out?"

"Did she have black hair or red?"

"Black, I think?"

"Yeah, she can be like that," The Flash sighed. "Luckily it was the other owner who called. You should be good."

"Oh. Sweet," Firestorm said dully.

Kid Flash smirked. "Then problem solved. Come on Jinx, I'll drop you off first."

With that, she was off to her first mission as a hero.

Or maybe just an ex-villain.

…

"He's being unreasonable. I want to believe it as much as he does, but it's just not possible. You understand, right?"

Superboy stared into the night sky, tiny white stars twinkling back to him in response. It was a hot, muggy night, although there was too much on his mind for him to notice the humidity. As he sat on the roof of a barn at his grandparents' farm, the outside world seemed light-years away.

"You wanted me to keep an eye on Gar, and I didn't. This is my fault, and I'm going to fix it whether he likes it or not."

Superboy sighed, balling his hand into a fist. He clenched his teeth, fighting back tears.

"It's my fault that you're gone. It's all because of a stupid mistake, and I refuse to let it happen again."

The stars twinkled silently as a single tear slid down his cheek.

"I miss you, M'gann. I'll figure out what's going on with Gar. I promise."

…..

Hi again guys! I'm really sorry it took so long to update. Thank you so much for being patient with me!

Anyways, a few notes about this chapter. In case you haven't picked up on this by now, I like to take different parts of different canons and smash them together. I know that Vibe and Firestorm don't usually live in Central City, and that Miss Martian and Beast Boy don't really have that much to do with each other, but I liked how The Flash and Young Justice respectively changed those little details so I added it in anyways. I'm not done playing with canon like that either, so keep your eyes out for more fun little Easter eggs in the future.

I know this chapter seems like filler, but it's building up to something important. We'll be back to the Titans next chapter ;)

Thank you everyone who followed, reviewed, and added this story to their favorites! I'll try my best to update sooner next time!

Quote of the day:

"Captain Good Boy has just been demoted to Lieutenant Good Boy," -me after the dog was found raiding a basket of dirty laundry

Until next time,

~Spectrobes Princess