All about Flinx

Reasons

Once she was sure the team was asleep, she slipped in. She crept through the hallways silently, entering the remains of her room. She sighed. That stupid hero.

This wasn't because of him, she whispered to herself. This wasn't because of him. She took her duffel bag and started loading it with her clothes, books and magic stuff. She grabbed her wallet and stuffed it in her pocket. She grabbed her sketchbook and put it in as well. She hesitated, then put the rose he'd given her on top. She slung it over her shoulder and left the room quickly.

She entered the main room. She froze. See-More was there, waiting for her.

"You're leaving." It wasn't a question.

"Yes."

"Why? Is it because of that hero?"

"No."

"Then why Jinx?" It was almost like he cared.

"It's because of Rouge," she said, setting down her bag. "And everything else."

"What do you mean?"

She pushed an errant hair aside. "We're going nowhere, See-More! Look at us! All we can do is rob a store, and hop that the Titans don't humiliate us too badly, go to jail, bust out, come back here, and start all over again! I consider it a successful raid if we don't get caught nowadays, never mind if we make a profit! We're stuck in this stupid cycle! And I hate it! I hate this! It's not even fun anymore. So I'm leaving."

"Forever?" he seemed to have shrunk.

"I don't know. I need to think things through." She walked away. "You're in charge now," she added without looking back.

The doors opened. She walked through. As they closed again, she noticed another rose at her feet. She bent down and picked it up. Of course he'd been listening. She walked out of her home, leaving that chapter of her life behind her.

She rented a small apartment in the worse part of town under the name of Jennifer Rosenberg—not because of that speedster, she'd had to make up a name on the spot—using black hair dye that came out in three washes and thick rimmed glasses to hide her identity. She got a job to pay the rent, and spent her free time drawing and thinking.

Two weeks later, she put the final touch on her sketch of the two roses and set down her pad. After two days of phone calls from See-More, she'd tossed her communicator out the window onto a passing truck.

She turned on the TV to watch the news. After suffering through the stock reports, a tribute to a recently deceased actor, and a speech made by a senator in which he piled praise on the Titans, she spotted what she'd been looking for.

"And in other news," the reporter, a tiny blonde woman said, "The infamous meta-human crime gang, the HIVE Five made a robbery attempt at the National Bank just twenty minutes ago." Jinx stifled a groan. "They were apprehended by Jump City's temporary hero, Kid Flash, who is now an honorary Titan. Robin, leader of the Titans network, has issued a statement recommending Kid Flash, and assuring us, the citizens of Jump City, that he and the other Titans will return soon, after they complete their recruiting mission." Jinx snorted. So that's what they were telling people. The short changed, showing the HIVE being escorted into a police van that Cyborg had long ago equipped for the HIVE's abilities. The reporter was now talking to Kid Flash. Jinx found herself sitting forward, interested.

"Hello Kid Flash," said the woman, holding the microphone into his face. "Congratulations on defeating the HIVE."

"It's not that big a deal," he said. Jinx wished it was him being modest, instead honest, but she knew better, unlike the stupid blonde, and almost everyone else watching.

"Well, what do you make of the HIVE leader, Jinx's absence today?" she demanded, leaning towards him. Reporters had a field day with him. While Robin, like his mentor, preferred not to talk with the reporters, the speedster loved the attention the media gave him.

"I don't know," said the red head cheerfully. "I did ask the HIVE, but Gizmo was the one who answered."

"What does that mean?" the woman said, looking confused.

"It means I couldn't understand it!" he said with a grin and a shrug. His communicator went off. "Sorry! Gotta run!" He was gone. Jinx turned off her TV as the woman started detailing on the HIVE's past crimes.

She sighed. She threw on her real clothes and opened her window. She grabbed the rooftop ledge above her and hauled herself up.

She walked on top of the city, leaping form roof to roof when she had to. The report had been live…

There it was. The police station. She sat down, waiting. It didn't take long until the police car drove up. She watched as her former teammates were escorted inside, where teleport units to prison waited for them. She looked at her feet, feeling oddly alone and miserable.

"You okay?" somehow, she wasn't surprised that he was there.

"Yeah," she whispered.

"You going to bust them out?" Jinx felt better noticing that his smile was not present. He was taking this seriously. That felt nice.

"No," she said, looking away, ignoring the small part of her that winced at this betrayal.

"Why not?' he was in front of her, honest curiosity in his face.

Jinx bit her lip, trying to prevent the outburst that she felt coming.

"You can trust me," he said softly. "I'm your friend Jinx. Or at least, I'd like to be."

That did it. "It's because they're not my friends. Not really. I can't trust them. We're trained to stab each other in the back the minute the other isn't needed! Gizmo has left me for the cops or the Titans more times than I can count, trying to be his own villain, but after he fails, he'll come to bust us out! The only reason Mammoth never has is because he hasn't the intelligence to do it, and he always needs someone to order him around! Kyd Wykkyd left his own girlfriend to the cops! I could never trust him to watch my back! Billy only cares for himself, and has skipped out on me time after time. And even See-More would betray me in a heartbeat if it was needed! The only reason they haven't is because they haven't a half brain among them!"

He looked surprised that she'd admitted it to him. "Oh," was all he could say.

"Well, it's the truth."

"That's a very good reason. If you don't have trust, what do you have in a friendship?"

"Nothing. And it is a good reason." She felt tired after the rant. "I'm leaving. Don't follow me."

When she looked back, he was still there.