I thought this song was perfect for Jinx, especially the cut lyrics. The only thing I'm changing, besides the context, is the name Cassandra to Jinx. Disclaimer, I do not own Teen Titans nor do I own Tangled or the song Crossing The Line.
Jinx sat alone in her room in the old HIVE Five headquarters, pondering how things got to where they were. It was two days before the attack now, two months since Kid Flash and her started to talk via an old cellphone. He was always so courteous, always willing to listen to her rants, to her fears, insecurities. He wouldn't say anything; he just paid attention and offered encouragement. Jinx expressed curiosity, just curiosity at the possibility of becoming a hero and, Kid Flash said that Robin promised to give her a fresh start if she was serious. He didn't like how much she still wanted to be a part of the Brotherhood of Evil but, he still cared for her, said he just wanted her to be happy. Over the last month, her teammates were acting strangely, first Gizmo vanished for an entire twenty-four hours without a word on where he was. Then the others started leaving at odd hours of the night, there weren't even robberies to take part in so what gives? Three days ago the others told her the news, they had been accepted into the Brotherhood a month ago! Jinx was so happy upon hearing this; finally, all of their hard work was paying off! Then she paused and thought about it, why wasn't she told? Jinx still remembered what they said.
"Well, you see Jinx…" Mammoth stammered.
See-More rubbed his arm, his cheeks burning, "They wanted us, but…"
Gizmo screamed in frustration, "The Brain thinks you're a liability and said you should stay here!" He grumbled.
Jinx was taken aback by this, did Madame Rouge have something to do with this? She thought the older villain was impressed by her standing up for herself. "Did he say why?" Jinx inquired, still in shock.
The others looked down in shame, refusing to make eye contact. Jinx crossed her arms and started tapping her foot impatiently. See-More stepped forward, "I'm sorry," he apologized in a barely audible tone, "I did it. I… I told them that you liked Kid Flash, and that was the reason you freed him."
"You what," Jinx snarled as her eyes began to glow dangerously, "you didn't tell them anything else? What about Madame Rouge attacking me, did you tell them about that?"
Her hands sparked as she got closer to the trembling teen, Billy got in between the two and drug See-More behind Mammoth; "W-whoa Nellie, I know it seems bad but hear us out!" Billy pleaded, shaking with fear as he continued, "That talking ape forced us to talk, said we wouldn't get in without telling what happened. It's not like he never wanted you on the team, he just didn't want you possibly setting Kid Flash free!"
Jinx's eyes still glowed bright pink, her fists were clenched tightly. "Did you try to get him to let me on the team?" She monotoned.
The others tried making excuses, they attempted to justify it. After a few minutes of them spouting nonsense, she unleashed her powers, cracking the ground beneath her. "Enough!" She screamed, "I don't care that you got in and I got rejected, it's happened a hundred times before, what I am angry about is that you lied for an entire month. You guys stabbed me in the back!"
"What were we supposed to do?" Mammoth argued back, "They offered us the run of the entire city if we told them what had happened. Where we supposed to turn that down?"
Jinx tensed upon hearing this, "You idiots, that was a commitment test! It looks like you passed it. Do you guys seriously think they'll honor the deal if I stick around?"
She turned to leave only to be stopped by See-More grabbing her wrist; "C'mon Jinx, you would've done the same thing. Remember what you said two months ago?"
Small pink shocks caused See-More to yelp in pain, releasing her from his grasp. "That's just it, I was never really going to do that," she glanced over at Kyd Wykkyd, he was just sitting on the sofa, "make sure they're gone by tomorrow." He nodded, and they all watched as she left the room.
They didn't try to talk to her, they just left an hour later. Jinx called Kid Flash and told him what happened. Though he kept his cool on the phone, there was a certain tenseness to his tone that somehow felt so comforting. It just felt good to have a friend who listened to you and shared in your feelings. He offered her one of several choices: stay in Jump City, find another far off place to start over, go to Keystone City and help him, or be a citizen. Either way, he'd help find her a place to live and work, he just wanted her out of her current situation. She chose to go to Keystone though she didn't know if she wanted to be a citizen or his partner. Her old team left behind a very crucial flash drive chock full of information on who was going to be targeted, so she pocketed it.
This was all happening so fast, but really Jinx felt it was a long time coming. She worked for years in the HIVE Academy to become the top student, she did her best on everything. She learned every formation, every technique, everything a good villain was supposed to know. Yet one mistake set her and her team back to square one, she worked hard again and still got overlooked by Brother Blood in favor of Stone. When it was all destroyed, she tried building the team back up again. Her group wasn't accepted into the Brotherhood of Evil, now this? It seemed like, no matter how hard she tried, she could never be considered good enough. But Kid Flash; Kid Flash seemed to think her more than good enough to be anything she wanted to be. Jinx looked at her phone, 8:00 pm, Kid Flash would be there to pick her up in a couple minutes. She grabbed the bag with the flash drive in it and went to leave when she saw See-More right outside her room. "What… what are you doing here?" The soon to be former villainess stammered.
See-More gave her a sly smile, "Jinx, I know you have the flash drive."
"I don't! Even if I did, what's it to you?"
"Jinx, I left it here," was his reply, "they wanted to see how committed you were, so I set up some cameras around the flash drive. They want you on the team!"
Jinx gripped the strap on her bag tightly upon hearing this. She broke eye contact with See-More, "They… they wanted to see how committed I was? They had my records, they knew how long I was a villain," she mumbled to herself, her eyes started to glow pink, "they had to have known the sacrifices I made. I had so many chances to have a normal life. But I threw it away because I thought I wasn't good enough!"
"It's ok now, Jinx," her former friend reassured her as he reached for the bag, "just gotta give me the flash drive, and you'll be with us. If you don't give it back, you'll get in trouble." Tears formed in her eyes as she pulled the bag away, Jinx heard it all before. She pushed See-More out of the way and ran a short distance down the hall.
"Jinx!" She instinctively stopped upon hearing See-More call for her. He began to sing, she always knew he had a good voice:
This has to stop now
Whatever it is that you're going through,
we'll fix it together - me and you
Just like we've always done
She whipped around and sang back at him:
No! This has to stop now
This thing where you think that you've been my friend
And don't even hear how you condescend
The way you've always done
See-More was taken aback by this, he slowly walked over to her as they started singing back and forth to each other:
Jinx, listen
I'm listening
I know it isn't true
Isn't it?
Just look into my eyes now
Well?
I know you feel it too
Jinx paused for a moment, maybe this was the wrong choice. She started to reach for her bag as they continued.
Perhaps I do
Jinx, listen
I'm listening
I swear it's not too late
So before another line gets crossed
and everything we've had is lost
just wait...
Wait?
Jinx stopped moving upon hearing this, she had been waiting for six years. Was she really going to wait longer for something that might not even bring her joy? Kid Flash made it clear that her satisfaction would probably be almost instant; she just had to show the public that she was serious and they'd trust her. So…
No, I won't wait.
She heard a whooshing sound behind her, Kid Flash was there. He was smiling, ready to take her with him, warts and all. She signaled for him to wait a moment and continued to sing to both of them.
There's a line between the winners and the losers
There's a line between the chosen and the rest
And I've done the best I could
But I've always known just where we stood
Me here with the luckless
You there with the blessed
Kid Flash nodded, encouraging her to continue. Jinx turned to See-More and continued to sing:
And that line between the beggars and the choosers
is a line you never let me quite ignore
How I've tried to jump that great divide!
But I've never got the chances you were given
You don't know how much I've been denied
Well, I'm not being patient anymore
I'm crossing the line!
So get out of my way
'Cause I'm not gonna play by your rules
It's my time to shine
I don't need your 'OK'
And I'm done being one of the fools
I'm crossing that line
She glanced at Kid Flash as she sang this, he looked so proud. Jinx turned towards him, directing the next verse at him:
There are lines that I've been waiting in forever
There are lines I've always felt I had to toe
Some were blurry, some unseen
Some I've had to learn to read between
So many boundaries
Far more than you know!
See-More was inching towards her, she whipped around; causing him to fall back as she directed the next verse at him:
But the line you think connects us both together?
That's a line that I'm not falling for again
'Cause this time my eyes are open wide
I've been trapped by lines you never had to live in
You were never really on my side
So I'm doing what I should have, way back when
I'm crossing the line!
Jinx slowly walked to Kid Flash with a big smile, it was finally time:
And I'm done holding back
So look out, clear the track, it's my turn!
I'm taking what's mine
Every drop, every smidge
If I'm burning a bridge, let it burn!
But I'm crossing the line...
See-More tried following her, probably to try and convince her to stay. Jinx blasted him back with pink energy:
As for us, if we're over, that's fine...
I'm crossing the line
Jinx took Kid Flash's hand and whispered, "Partner." In his ear, he grinned and sped off with her in his arms. Now was the time to start something new, and she wasn't ever going to look back.
Just thought that song was too perfect for Jinx.
