Fan Fiction ❯ The Beer Hutt ❯ Chaptuh Fiz-ive ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

I totally don't think I gave a disclaimer yet. Whoopsie! Here goes:

Teen Titans and all associated trademarks are totally not mine. Jinx's fine ass is not mine, the Hive is not mine, not the Tower, or Ellis Street (which doesn't even exist); no, nothing is owned by me. Except for a smattering of dignity, and a desire to see Jinx and Raven in some sort of freaky-deeky relationship. That is all.

(Titan Tower, shortly following the battle)

Beast Boy had awoken shortly after Jinx ran. He noticed Cyborg's mangled limb, and cried out in shock.

“Dude, are you okay?” Cyborg didn't look like it. He quickly turned on Beast Boy, looking malicious.

“Do I look okay, Squeaky?”

“Hey, man, sorry. I was just trying to show some concern. I was knocked out; you could at least try to be a little nice to me.” Cyborg moved towards Beast Boy, looking ready to say something, but Robin stopped him.

“Everybody, calm down! Let's just back inside, and try to figure this out. Obviously the Hive is up to something-” Raven cut him off.

“Did you not notice that it wasn't the Hive? That it was Jinx, by herself? Did she even attack, or merely defend herself?” Everybody looked towards Beast Boy, who chuckled nervously.

“Well, she was at the door… I guess I just assumed-“ he began, then turned to Raven. “Hey, how did you even know that? How did you know it was me who attacked first?”

Raven blushed, but kept her face stoic. “I guess… I should confess something. Can we discuss this in the Tower?” Everyone agreed, and followed her. They gathered around the kitchen table; after they were all seated, she began.

“I went out last night, as you all know. I went to a coffee house on Dickson, and I noticed Jinx; or rather, she noticed me. She decided to sit at my table-“ At the questioning stares of the other Titans, she shrugged. “I don't know why. She's Jinx.”

“That doesn't make any sense. Maybe she was sent by the Brother Blood. Did she act like she was trying to get information out of you?” Robin queried.

“No, actually. She was quite… pleasant.” Raven smiled slightly, the assembled Titans faces clearly showing their surprise, both at her answer and her rare display of emotion. She immediately dropped the smile, and her face returned to normal. She paused, considering what she would say next. She didn't want to tell them everything that happened, about her drunkenness, or any of the more… personal moments. But she had to tell them something.

“As I was saying, she and I talked for a little while, and I decided it was time for me to return. As I stood to leave, I felt a little dizzy, and nauseous, probably because of lunch.” She glanced at Starfire, who blushed and giggled a little nervously. “I didn't feel terrible, but I didn't feel well enough to fly home, so Jinx let me stay in her apartment, where I intended to rest until I felt better. Needless to say, that wasn't until this morning.”

“You stayed… at the Hive?” questioned Starfire, wrinkling her nose.

“No, the Hive disbanded. She shares an apartment with Gizmo and Mammoth.”

“Let me guess: Jinx told you the Hive was gone, huh? How could you do something so crazy, going off with a sworn enemy? Do you realize how easily she and whoever else she could have had there could have taken you down?” Cyborg frowned at her, clearly upset at her lack of caution.

“She didn't do anything suspicious, and I didn't sense any malicious intent on her part. She was, in fact, gracious enough to let me stay there, and called to inform you that I would not be returning home last night when I felt too ill to do it myself.”

“So it was Jinx who called here last night?” Raven nodded.

“What about the diarrhea thing?” Beast Boy asked teasingly, before Raven shot him a death glare.

“Jinx made that up. She apparently thought it would be… humorous.”

“Why did you let her stay at your table, anyway? I mean, you usually hate being disturbed by anyone.”

“I was at first upset, but found it was actually fairly enjoyable spending time with her.”

“Hold up! You and Jinx actually hung out? You… and Jinx? I thought you wanted to `send her to a dimension from whence there is no return' or something, `cause of her invading you room when the Hive was here.” Beast Boy asked, obviously taken aback by this information.

“She's not that bad once you get to know her.”

“Now you know Jinx! Like you're buddies or whatever? That's not cool, Raven. There's a reason we don't hang with them. Ya can't trust `em.” Raven started to say something, but was cut off by Robin.

“He's right. You know that, Raven.” Robin looked her in the eye, frowning. “You may think she's alright now, but-“

“I know that, okay,” Raven raised her voice, making her mounting annoyance apparent. “The only reason Jinx probably came here today was to return my wallet.” `Wallet? I don't even own a wallet!' It was a blatant, bold-faced lie, but it was the first thing that came to mind. She knew there had to be someone who saw through her story, but even Robin seemed ready to accept it. Starfire held the same confused gaze, Beast Boy was still in shock, and Cyborg and Robin looked disappointed, but at least they had bought it.

“I should reprimand you for this… but I'll let this one slide. You should know better, Raven. Just don't let it happen again, okay? Call any one of us to pick you up if that sort of thing happens again. Agreed?” He waited for her to respond, which she did with a curt “Sure.”

“So what are we going to do about Jinx? Do you see what she did?” Cyborg snapped, waving around his stump. Robin sighed.

“Really, Cy, there's not much we can do. She was attacked for no reason, and unfortunately, she was justified in defending herself, despite her methods or the outcome.” Cyborg's jaw dropped, then clenched his teeth, but didn't press the issue further. “Go get yourself fixed, alright? I'll worry about the entryway.”

Cyborg went towards the garage, grumbling the whole way, before slamming the door on his way out. Beast Boy went off to his bedroom, presumably to play the latest installment of “Mega Monkey's XII: Monk-jura's Mask”, and Starfire hummed happily while pulling out ingredients for today's lunch, until only Robin and Raven remained.

“Can I retrieve my wallet now?” asked Raven evenly. Robin locked eyes with her, and lowered his voice to just above a whisper.

“Look, Raven, I didn't want to say anything in front of the others, but you and I both know you don't carry a wallet. You told me that you have no need for anything that goes into a wallet except for cash, so what's the point. Remember?” Raven's expression did not change, but she felt her heart rate increase.

“What are you trying to say?”

Robin sighed. “Look, I don't know what's going on, but I'm not going to tell you how to run your life. If you want to have friends outside of the Titan's, that fine.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But I won't let it put the team at risk.” Raven began to say something but he cut her off.

“If you feel like you can trust Jinx, then that's great. But I wouldn't let myself get too attached. I'm not going to say that she's going to turn against you, but I wouldn't bet on anything else.” Raven lowered her eyes to stare at the floor. Robin placed a hand on her shoulder. “I'm only saying this because I'm concerned about you, okay? I trust you not to give out any of our secrets to her, but I don't want to see you hurt.”

“She wouldn't do anything like that. She's different than you think, once you talk to her.”

“And she may just be a good actress.” Raven didn't have anything to say to that, so she remained quiet.

“You can go, just be careful.” He smiled, trying to lighten the mood, and she tried to smile back, but what he had said made her feel a little more wary of Jinx and her sudden, inexplicable kindness.

“Thanks.” She turned and walked towards the front door. Robin watched her leave, expecting the worst to come from this friendship with Jinx, but wishing the best for Raven's sake.

(Inside Raven's head)

“I told you. Even Robin agrees with me. The chances of her turning on us is too great,” whimpered Fear.

“What's life without risks, huh? Ya know what, there's a chance the Titan's could turn on us, too. Especially if she-“ Courage pointed towards Rage, who was currently being held in a cage in Happy-Land, “-breaks out again.”

“I - have - Starbursts!” cried out Happy, popping out of nowhere, tossing candy around, hitting Fear with several pieces. Fear winced and hid behind Gross, who picked up a piece of candy and began chewing it with her mouth wide open, smacking loudly.

(Back to Reality)

Raven walked down the road towards Ellis Street, opting not to fly to give herself more time to think. She tried to gauge her emotions, but ended up feeling more confused than before. She knew how Jinx made her feel, but if she was just using her… the emotional repercussions were huge.

She remembered how Dr. Light's minor jab had affected her so greatly; she wasn't sure how she could have gotten Rage under control if Beast Boy and Cyborg hadn't been there to help her. And Terra… she had never felt so betrayed in all her life, and that feeling had once more given Rage the upper hand. And she wasn't even that particularly close to her. She decided that she would ask her, point blank, if she was serious about everything, or just using her. She turned a corner and saw the apartment right ahead.

She made her way up the stairs, and down the hall, before finally stepping right up to the door to apartment C and knocking loudly. She waited a few seconds, and was about to knock again when a shirtless man in sweatpants opened the door. He was about 6'3”, 400#, and was the hairiest person Raven had ever laid eyes on.

“Uh, is Jinx here?” The man sniffed loudly, scratching his hindquarters, before answering, “I don't know no Jinx.”

“I thought she lived here. Pink hair, pink eyes, about this tall-“

“Ah, her. Yeah, wrong place,” he pointed across the hallway to apartment D, before slamming the door in Raven's face.

“Thanks,” she mumbled sarcastically, then turned around to knock on the door marked `D'. She walked up to it, and knocked once again.

Jinx swung the door opened, her face suddenly brightening as she saw who it was.

“Hey! Come in! I tried to talk to you earlier, but you probably already realized that,” she blushed slightly. “Anyway, what's up? You here to take me in?” She smiled, and noticed Raven's expression remained phlegmatic. “You're not, are you?”

“No. I'm not. I just came here to… talk to you about something.” The way she said it worried Jinx. She was afraid she wanted to `talk' to her about never speaking to her again, how talking to her in the first place was a mistake, and how dare she think she was welcome to come see her at the tower. She had to think fast.

“Oh… uh, cool. But before you start, I wanted to say something, too, actually.” Jinx inhaled deeply, then immediately started speaking, not bothering to stop for air. “I'm really really sorry if I made you uncomfortable or anything I really didn't mean anything by bringing you back here I only put you in my bed because I figured it would be the most comfortable place I was going to sleep on the couch anyways I think you're really cool and funny and very very beautiful and I'm sorry if I offended you by anything I did is there any way I could make it up to you?” Jinx gasped, her face turning red from lack of oxygen. Raven couldn't help but smile, and felt her anxiety melt away. She didn't need to bother with asking her if she meant what she said or was just trying to exploit her; it was obvious. She felt it in her gut that Jinx was sincere, and damn Robin or anyone else that would doubt it, good intentions or not.

“I'm… sorry, too, actually. I didn't mean what I said this morning. I don't know what possessed me to say it.” Jinx looked utterly relieved, and pulled Raven into a quick hug.

“Thanks, kid! You're more than forgiven. I guess we're even then, huh?”

“I wouldn't go that far,” Raven smirked.

“Smartass. So…” Jinx shrugged her shoulders a little, “You wanna go do something? I'm kinda hungry, so maybe we could, I dunno, go somewhere and eat or somethin'… you know, if you're hungry too.”

Raven winked, “Smooth, Jinx. Reeeeal smooth.” Jinx crossed her arms over her chest and pouted, prompting Raven to roll her eyes. “Fine, fine! Where do you want to go?”

“Uh… how about `Happy Clown Fantastic Pizza Park Palace'? The place is corny as hell, but they have great pizza.”

Raven visibly tensed. The Titans frequented that particular pizza parlor quite often, as Starfire liked to amuse herself in the enormous ball pit, reveling in what great things earth had to offer, like lakes of soft, hollow, colorful, plastic balls in which people could play. Raven really didn't want to run into the Titans today, especially while accompanied by the reason most of them were angry at her.

Jinx's expression fell, getting the wrong idea about Raven's sudden mood change. She quickly added, “Or we could do something else. I don't know, it's… up to you.”

“I don't know...I'm sorry, I just don't feel like being ambushed by hordes of little kids wanting autograph's or something.”

Jinx chuckled at the mental image. “So no `Happy Clown', huh? I guess that's what I get for dating a hero-“ She realized what she had said a second too late. She assumed it was a date… it hadn't really been said, but she had hoped that Raven felt the same way about it. `Moment of truth, Jinx.' She looked up at Raven, who was apparently just as stunned by what Jinx had said as she herself was. Finally, she half-grinned and replied, “I guess so. Better get used to it.” Jinx breathed a sigh of relief before boldly taking Raven's hand in hers and leading her out of the door.

(End Chapter 5)