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"Can I sit here?"
It's been two weeks since Red X was held hostage in a shed, and honestly, he has to admit he's been doing better than he thought.
The Teen Titans tracked down the guy who captured him and sent him to prison, though Red X couldn't be bothered to catch his name, he heard that Raven had personally delivered him to JCPD headquarters.
It was touching in the very least, to know that even though he only knew her from fighting her and working with her for maybe a day, she still held something in her mind that made her beat the guy up and arrest him.=
So now here he is, sitting on one of the many rooftops in Jump City, staring at nothing in particular, like he found himself chronically doing for a few days now.
There are footsteps behind him and he doesn't even need to turn around to know who it is. Those platform heels are not very practical, but for some reason she makes it work.
"Hey Pinky."
"Don't call me that."
Jinx plops down next to him, a sigh escaping her lips. Red X chooses to ignore it and instead asks, "What brings you here?"
Jinx shrugs, expression listless. "Broke up with Kid Flash."
"Really?" He resists any emotion seeping into his voice; he doesn't want her to get the wrong idea about him, even if his reputation is beyond saving. "Why?"
He tells himself he doesn't care why this girl is coming to him for her relationship issues, but he can't help listening intently when she gives him a very lengthy explanation. Or, as it was mostly just context to their break-up, the thief honestly had no idea the answer to his own question.
"He came to me the other day and said that he didn't know if the relationship was going to work out. He said he was losing friends because he was with a former villain and even though he said he 'loves' me," she pauses here to add quotation marks, frowning, "he can't continue living like that."
"Sounds like a pretty crappy reason," Red X says eventually, and for one, he's being completely honest. He's not one for relationships -- he knows just enough that breaking up with someone can go to the extremes if you're not careful.
Jinx huffs. "I guess. I laughed it off and nodded and agreed, like he didn't expect me to, apparently. He was planning to dump me but I lied and pretended that it was okay with me and it wasn't working out for me either anyway and it was totally fine, right? And he looks at me in relief and goes, 'oh, I didn't expect you to feel the same way but it works out, then! I thought you would attack me for breaking up with you.' and honestly if that's the way he thinks about me, the we might as well break up."
Red X hums in response. His lack of knowledge about this specific topic doesn't allow him to help much, but he can listen. "Seems to me like you were telling the truth."
She looks at him in surprise. "What? But I love him enough to not break up with him over losing friends! How would me saying that it wasn't working out for me be true?"
"Because you said it yourself. The reason Mr. Speedster even broke up with you is such a terrible reason that you realized in that moment you probably were better off without him. And you are."
Jinx opens her mouth to protest, but the thief cuts her off. "Look, he's not worth the effort. Yeah, he's a hero and stuff and it's not really my preference to it, but if a guy breaks up with you and you feel like his reasoning wasn't sufficient, don't get hung up on him.""But I still love him," Jinx says, tears forming the corners of her eyes, hands glowing briefly and Red X backtracks immediately.
She was a villain, someone who doesn't know how to deal with emotions, much like himself. Hero business was only her thing while her boyfriend was with her. Without that tie anchoring her to the hero side, she's more in the grey area than anything. So that means she can explode at any moment and turn back to the dark side, which Red X isn't keen on having her do with him in the blast zone.
"You like to be independent, right?" He waits for a response this time, and he's relieved to see her nod, somewhat tearfully.
"Then take this as a way to be even more independent. Choose your own path."
"You mean work for myself?" She's smirking now, and he knows this is a jab at his own motives.
He takes it in stride. "Yeah, exactly."
"So I'm not a hero anymore." Her smirk fades as she gazes out over the city. "How do you do it?" she says eventually, and he looks up, startled.
"Do what?"
"Manage to keep yourself motivated." She takes a shuddery breath before explaining. "With the HIVE Five I felt like I had to be a top-tier villain if I couldn't be a hero. It was my way of standing out, of pushing myself into the spotlight, to give me motivation. I suppose I wanted to help the HIVE Five too, to give them better lives in stealing better artifacts than coins at parking meters. Then Wa-- Kid Flash came around and convinced me to join him. His idea sounded better than what I was doing because I wasn't getting anywhere with my team, and he was cute, so I joined him. He helped me be a hero and motivated me to be a good person. I cared about him enough to consider it. But now since he broke up with me..." she trails off.
"You don't have motivation," Red X guesses, and she bites her lip.
"Yeah, I guess. I also have an issue with attachments too, now that I think of it." She hugs herself, tucking her legs beneath her like she wanted to shrink into a ball.
"Attachments are stupid," Red X says, and Jinx nods.
She uncurls slightly, looking over at him, and he makes a point to not meet her gaze. "How do you motivate yourself if you have no one you want to be close to?"
"I steal as a challenge," he answers, "and just to benefit myself as well."
"The suit?"
"You catch on quick."
She rolls her eyes. "C'mon, the suit is pretty valuable. I'll give you props for stealing it directly from the Tower as well, but is there a legitimate reason why you're out here doing stuff?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, Hex Girl, but that's all. It's all fun and games with me until someone gets hurt. And if they do, it's their fault for being in the way."
"You don't have a strong moral system, do you?"
"I have enough morals to not stay with the Brotherhood of Evil," he replies and that shuts her up.
He waits for her to speak but when she doesn't take initiative, he says, rather reluctantly, "The thing that keeps me going is fear. Maybe that's too cliche, but it's worked well enough for me. There's never a better moment when you're staring down the barrel of a gun and realize you might outrun the bullet this time."
"So you fear death," she says flatly, and he shakes his head.
"Not death. Just what will happen if I don't stop moving, if I don't stop playing these games where I pretend I work for myself. The bullet can't hit you if you're never in the same spot twice."
He looks over at her and sees her brows knitted together; he can see the confusion clearly written on her face, and elaborates.
"I might waste my own potential, and by the time I realize it, it'll be too late, most likely. So I engage myself with stealing, because it's what I know best. I've played the hero, the villain, the shady background character who everyone loves for who they seem like, not for who they are, the upfront and peppy character who is reclaimed by many people to be cheerful and happy, and the thief who always gets what he wants. So if I keep taking things for what I think is my own wants, I might actually get what I want. It makes me feel like I'm doing something in life and keeps me from thinking about when it's all over, will I actually have done something worthwhile?"
She watches him out of the corner of her eye; he can sense her gaze on him, but he doesn't feel like talking anymore.
They sit in silence for a while before he stands and stretches. He's had his fair share of emotion talking for the week. "Well, if you would look at the time, I should be off by now."
They both know he doesn't have anywhere to be.
Jinx stands as well, smoothing her skirt. "Don't let me stop you. I remembered I forgot to ask Raven something."
They both know that Raven's off in Star City right now and won't be returning for a while.
Red X gestures to the city before them. "You first."
She casts a blank glance his way before stepping onto the edge of the rooftop. "Thanks."
And then she's gone.
Red X hums in satisfaction, hearing those worthless shoes clack their way across the street, glimpsing her horseshoed-styled hair disappear around the corner. For some reason, when he turns to teleport away, his whole body feels lighter, like as if helping her burdens helped his own.