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Fool Me Once...
Chapter 3
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The next time Kid
Flash gets himself caught, he can stay that way. Jinx shifted in her seat,
holding on to the steering wheel with one hand. She'd been driving for four
hours and was beginning to wonder if she'd made the right decision. If I wasn't almost there, I think I'd turn
around.
She didn't really mean it. Turning around would be tantamount
to letting Madame Rouge win—and that just wasn't an option. Not when she'd used
Jinx to further her plan.
The Brotherhood of Evil's headquarters were in the middle of
nowhere, and from what she remembered hearing, they had rather extensive
security measures guarding their perimeters. This would call for a bit of
finesse. Not to mention, she though
wryly, as she parked the car behind a clump of overgrown bushes, a nice little walk.
There were no lights twinkling in this valley; she was met
with complete darkness. The only things she could see anywhere were thousands
of stars studding the velvety night sky. Jinx smiled. She'd always been blessed
with excellent night vision. This should
be a piece of cake.
It was just under a half a mile to the imposing fortress
embedded in the side of a mountain. The trip was arduous, but the ground was
flatter than it looked, and she evaded the security measures with little
difficulty. The tricky part was leaving them intact so their destruction didn't
set off alarms, but she managed.
A snap of her fingers, the brief pink glow of a hex bolt,
and she was through the front door. Jinx pressed herself up against the cold
stone wall, hidden deep within the shadows cast by the
dim lighting, and scanned the hall for any signs of life. Oddly—and most
disappointingly—enough, the place looked like it had the same level of security
the Hive Five building possessed. She resisted the urge to bury her face in her
hands. And I actually looked up to these
people?
Two seconds later, it hit her how hard it was going to be to
locate Kid Flash in this base. It was huge. She craned her neck, staring up at
the stone ceiling, which stretched a good fifteen feet above the floor.
OK, Jinx, think. If you had Kid Flash in your power, where would you
put him? Her pink eyes narrowed in concentration. The dungeon, of course,
or at least the closest thing to it. Madame Rouge might be vindictive enough to
want him within sight at all times, but she rather doubted it. She wouldn't put him where anyone could
wander in and talk to him.
Slinking from shadow to shadow, constantly on the lookout
for security cameras, Jinx made her way into the lower levels of the base. She
could hear raucous laughter emanating from a hall—and presumably room of some
sort—off to her right, but chose to ignore it. If they were all in there having
a grand old time, so much the better.
The base, as it turned out, did have a dungeon. Row after
row of cells lined several halls, each complete with a thick metal door and
lock pad. She stopped short.
I don't have time to
search this whole place, she thought with growing irritation. Her eyes
flashed and one of the locks burst into sparks. Oops. Just to make sure, she peered into the cell before passing
on.
It was empty.
Come on. If I was
Madame Rouge, where would I put him? He can't escape, nobody knows I've got
him, and we're in my top secret base. A smirk slid over her face. He's gotta be close.
After a few minutes of dashing from cell to cell, peering
into the tiny windows, she found him. The containment field flickered brightly,
but the body within was still. Jinx felt an invisible fist close around her
heart. I better not have come all this
way for nothing.
She snapped her fingers and the lock on the door broke. Sparking
slightly, it released the door, which Jinx slowly pushed open. Kid Flash was
flat on the floor, obviously unconscious. She refused to consider the
alternative.
"Kid Flash, can you hear me?" She circled around
his outstretched body and knelt beside his head. "Kid Flash? I'm gonna get
you out of here, don't worry."
Jinx sat back on her heels and considered the field
thoughtfully. Madame Rouge probably had the controller glued to her body, which
meant her chances of getting him out by destroying the controller were nil.
She'd never actually tried to hex a containment field before. The fact that she
was outside of it would help, but still….
She frowned, her eyes running over Kid Flash's pale face.
His red hair hung limply over his forehead, and his eyes were closed. She
leaned closer, her face dangerously near to the field, checking to make sure he
was breathing. The barest movement of his chest informed her that he was. So
far, so good. I just hope this doesn't
kill him.
At any rate, it was worth a try. Jinx couldn't see any
reason why her powers wouldn't work on it. Sure, it was a power-negating
containment field, but she was outside it—and her powers had never exactly been
conventional anyway. "You'd better not die on me," she threatened,
just for good measure.
Kid Flash remained unmoving.
Jinx didn't bother talking to him anymore. It was so
oddly…disappointing that he couldn't hear any of her threats, couldn’t grin
cockily and attempt to charmingly disarm her, or even make some pithy—and
strangely insightful—comeback.
Her eyes flashed pink.
Nothing happened.
She tried again. Still, nothing.
Irritated, Jinx stared at the containment field. I'm bad luck, she thought rebelliously, I'm the sort of luck that causes containment
fields to mysteriously disintegrate.
Closing her eyes, she pictured Kid Flash and the sparking
field around him in her mind. She imagined pink tendrils of her power snaking
towards it and weaving a glowing pink net. Reaching out one pale, slim hand, she
made a convulsive squeezing motion. The pink net contracted around the
containment field and the molecules comprising it were torn apart. The room
went completely dark as the field died.
Jinx's cat-like eyes adjusted quickly, but she was already
reaching for Kid Flash. Her fingers brushed his wavy hair before ghosting over
the clammy skin of his face as she felt for his neck to make sure he had a
pulse. It was weak, but it was there. A tiny thrill of exhilaration rushed
through her.
He's still alive.
A few seconds later, her eyes sufficiently adjusted to the
dark, she could see the outline of his body and grabbed him by the arms.
"I'm gonna get you out of here. And," she added darkly as an
afterthought, "you owe me."
It was slow going. Kid Flash weighed less than she would
have expected, given that he seemed to be pure muscle, but then boy wasn't
exactly light. Jinx was just happy she was in fairly good physical condition.
Otherwise, they would have never made it out of the base. As it was, they had a
few close calls.
Madame Rouge herself passed them at one point, and Jinx just
barely managed to drag Kid Flash's legs around the corner in time. Once she was
convinced the coast was clear, Jinx gritted her teeth and continued to haul his
unconscious body towards the door. She ignored the fine sheen of sweat coating
her forehead. Yeah, she thought
grumpily, this is turning into a lot more
work than I bargained for, but I can't
leave him—I mean, she corrected herself hastily, I can't let Madame Rouge win.
Jinx almost gave up when she looked out at the dark expanse
of land she'd have to drag him across before they reached her vehicle. For a
heartbeat, she considered leaving him under a tree, to wonder how he got out
when he woke up, but she dismissed the idea immediately. There was no guarantee
Madame Rouge and her cohorts wouldn't stumble across him once they realized his
cell was empty. True, they'd probably think he'd just zipped off, but they'd
probably run a perimeter check just in case. If he didn't wake up in time, all
her efforts would be in vain.
She switched her grasp to his ankles and resumed dragging
him along. It was back-breaking work and her muscles were already burning from
hauling him out of the base, but she persisted. All the same, she took a
perverse joy in all the bumps and bruises he was going to have as souveigners
of this little adventure.
Jinx was three-quarters of the way to her car when she
became aware of a commotion going on behind them. Casting a glance over her
shoulder, she was not terribly surprised to see the base exploding with
activity. The knowledge sent a fresh wave of adrenaline through her body and
spurred her onward. I stole him right out
from under their noses!
Getting Kid Flash's inert form into the passenger seat proved
to be even more difficult than getting him up the stairs in the base. Her
tired, aching muscles protested loudly, but she ignored them. After a few
minutes of struggling, she managed to get him into the car and slammed the door
gratefully.
All things considered, this was probably her very best
heist. I stole Kid Flash! The thought
filled her with an almost hysterical glee and she was cackling to herself as
she started the car and drove back to the main highway.
Despite herself, Jinx found herself glancing over at Kid
Flash frequently. He slept through the first and second hours of their trip
back to Jump City without moving. His breathing,
however, was almost back to normal.
Halfway through the third hour, it occurred to her that he
was really going to need something to eat when he woke. Her money supply wasn’t
much at the moment, but—and the thought amused her greatly—being a superhero,
he'd probably insist on reimbursing her. Jinx had to fight a giddy smile.
She stopped at a Wal-Mart with a gas station and filled up
before driving over to the parking lot. She turned the engine off, pocketed the
keys, and unbuckled her seat belt. Her hand was on the door handle when she
hesitated. Almost of their own accord, her eyes turned to Kid Flash, who was still
asleep, his red hair plastered to the passenger window. "After all the
trouble I've been through," she warned his unconscious figure, "You
better be here when I get back."
A soft snore was her only answer.
This early in the morning, the store was mostly empty. As
much as she wanted to dash through and grab everything she thought they'd need,
the cautious part of her knew it was a good way to draw attention to herself.
Her pink hair and eyes drew enough attention as it was, though, oddly enough,
she seemed to fit right in with the eclectic bunch currently wandering the
aisles.
The cashier who checked her items out was barely awake. His
eyes were so heavy Jinx doubted he could see her at all—which wasn't necessarily
a bad thing, she reminded herself. The temptation to just grab her things and
walk right past him became stronger, but she pushed it away. It wouldn't do to
cause a ruckus right after spiriting Kid Flash out of Madame Rouge's clutches.
Dead giveaway, that.
As she pushed the cart through the automatic doors, Jinx
contemplated ditching it and carrying everything to the car by herself. The
cart was in dire need of a little TLC. Each wheel scraped the ground,
protesting vociferously about being forced to move. The sound echoed through
the silent parking lot and set her teeth on edge. She persisted, well aware
that if for some reason she was jumped, it would be easier to fight without
carrying half the grocery store in her arms.
The hair on the back of her neck was pricking uncomfortably
by the time she reached the car and she hastily stowed the bags in the back
seat. Kid Flash, she noticed with a feeling of relief, was still there. Still
sound asleep.
On the heels of her relief came a wave of irritation and she
huffed. "Just how long is he going to sleep anyway? Ugh!" Slightly
disgruntled, she climbed back into the car and started the engine. Before she
pulled out of the parking lot, however, she glanced over her shoulder into the
backseat, a thoughtful expression on her face.
Three minutes later, they were cruising down the highway and
she was happily munching on a Hostess cupcake. She'd stuck the box on the
dashboard, clearly on her side of the car, just in case Kid Flash woke up and
saw them before he found out there was more food. Reaching for another, she
undid the wrapping, eyes flicking back and forth from the road, and was just
about to take a bite when a low, slightly groggy voice interrupted her
concentration.
"Jinx?"
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