Chapter Text
Jinx huffed as she fiddled with one of her newest bombs. So far, she wasn’t sure what she even wanted this one to do, and she was having trouble thinking about it because she was worried about Harley and Joker. It had already been 3 days with Poison Ivy as her babysitter, and while she liked the lady (and did have fun on their little ‘trip to the zoo’), she really missed the two adults she started to see as her new parents.
She grit her teeth together and shook her head. Not parents. Parents didn't work out for her; she was a jinx after all… but it didn't change the fact that she was worried. It was her fault for leaving Joker behind.
A̵̘͈̫͉̬̎̄̈́͗̀̕̕͝n̶̠͊̃͋̑̊́͝d̵̙̦̪͕͎̬͌͋̄̀̇̎̈͒̔͋ ̷͚̒̍͗͌̆̾͗̚w̶̡̘̪͙͍̃̿ẖ̴̬̰͉͈̰̈́̈́̓́͆͂͝a̸̢̼̱̭̜͑̂̏͝ţ̶̛̲̖̰̻̱̰̇̄̌̎̾͛̽̐͆͜͝ ̷͍͇̣͇̫͉̠̳̀̄͐̏̈́̌͘ͅẉ̸̨̲̬̠̦̭̞̖͚̓͒͑̌̿̅͂̂̕͝o̸͕̪̓̇ú̶̩̯̘̐͌ļ̵̪̩͍̺̲̼̳̘͂̇̃̅͋͑̃̕̕͝͠d̵̡̛͍͇͓͔̟͉̺̪͎̊̍̓̽̉͊̈̂͜ ̴̤͇̥̻̣͕͖̻̈́̋̄̕͘͝y̶̺̆͂͂͌ͅǒ̵̧̬̭̜̙̙͍̟̈́̅̃̾u̶̮̖͚̱̞͉͎͚̤͑ ̴̨̛͉̥̥̮̄͆̈̎h̴̢̧͖̰̟̻̘̘̘̜̀͐̅͒̚̕ͅa̵̧͙̙͖̻̽̐̓͜v̴̢͍̼͚͈͚̮͈͎̆̄͌̋e̷̗̼̟͕͋͌̇̈́͒̆͑͊̈́͘͜ ̴̢̨͉͙̘͚͕͙̰̻̬̄̈́̋̊͆͋̌̕d̴̡̡̲̲̭͕͎̥̙͗̿́͑̂̃͋͘͘o̸̧̡̨̢̠̰̜̯̬͈̭͗̌̚ń̵̦͉̰͈͙͖͈̳̙͎̪͛͑͛̈́̓ę̸͈́̿͋̃̄̈́̂͗͜ ̷̙͕̝̮̬̦̬̣̠̿̈́a̷̭̪̳̖̖̓̆̆̈̏̕g̵͙̱͙̙̦̈́ȁ̴̱͚̘͖̈i̶̡̘͈̞̩͚͇̞̗̜͑̐̈́̿̓̂̍͆͂̕̕n̷̛̩͔͓͔̮̭͖̈́̒͑̏̈́̅́͝s̵͍̟̉t̵̟͗͂́̇̀͑͗̔̈̕͠ ̵̛̙͍̤̫̲̰̀̂̿͐͆͘B̶̨̧͉͕̹̜̘̒͊͊̌͑͋̓͑͛͝ą̵̥̞̗̮̳̖̀̋͂̐̀̑̌t̸̝͇̥͎̝̫͊̑́̉̅̐̀͂̄̉m̴̢̰̆̈́́̏̈͒́ā̵̢̪̰̜͖͎̜͕̅̒̇̕ͅn̷̡̨̡͔̻̱̩̹̮̳̻̋̊̐͂?̸̧̨̧̰̼̹̮̻͍̏̉̾̒͂̑̕͠
Her face twitched slightly at the voice before she slammed her hand down on her desk in frustration.
“Trouble in paradise?”
Her eyes widened as she turned around in confusion. That voice didn't sound like it came from her head, but who-?
“You really don’t know who to follow, do you, Jinx?”
She wasn’t even given a moment to process as someone kicked her in the side, sending her tumbling out of her chair and in the other direction with only a sharp gasp in reaction.
She curled up for only a moment from the sudden pain before her brain quickly processed where she was and whose voice she heard.
How was Robin here? He shouldn't be here… there's no way he could be here!
She scrambled to stand up, but Robin was already right in front of her, and she squeaked before stepping back, only to be back-to-back with the wall. Her eyes dashed around the room, seeing all of her weapons, but she had no way to reach any of them. She scowled at the boy, but he only had a smug grin.
“What’s wrong, Jinx? Can't do anything without your guns and other toys.”
She let out a growl at the notion of her weapons being toys, but in only a few seconds, her face slowly ebbed away from anger to fear.
“I told you before… you're right to be afraid. It’s the natural reaction every superstitious and cowardly criminal in Gotham has when they face the dynamic duo.” He was looking down on her, and she knew it. She could tell by his tone that he was completely dismissing her as a threat. As if she didn’t already show him she was better! She wasn't- she wasn't weak- she wasn’t ever going to be weak again!
W̴̖͋͘͠ḣ̶̰͗̽á̶͖t̶̘̋ ̷̮͕̓̌̇̓à̵̪̗r̸͙̼̪͑̂͊͠e̸̡̊ ̸̜͉̉͠y̶̟̹̬̏̊ơ̶̹̠̭̈́̈́ṵ̴̝̤̤̑̉͠ ̶̢̠̦̾́͠g̵̤̃̂͐̾ö̴̡͔́n̴͖͔̍̅̓n̷̘͎͓̋ȃ̴̭̣ͅͅ ̴̧̙͖̥̓̅̀̏d̷̰̩̜̆ǫ̵̣̻͌̔͘̚ ̷̨͎̙͈͐̄̄́ǹ̸̰̥̥͋̚ỏ̷͔̬̜͊̅w̶̛͍̮̯̑̒̿͜?̷̨̉͂
She bared her teeth at him at the same time that her eyes dilated, but she still didn't move a muscle. “I. Am. Not. Afraid. Of. You.” She spat out each venomous word, watching him grow increasingly irritated with each one.
“Huh…I almost believe you this time.” He finally went to punch her in the side of the head, but she quickly ducked, and then took advantage of her smaller size to quickly scamper under him.
He growled and reached quickly for her hair and yanked her back, but as he did, she screamed before using her momentum of falling back to quickly kick him in the stomach; it did push him back, but also sent her crashing right back into the wall she had just moved away from. She hit her head against it, and her eyes watered immediately, but she couldn’t even look back at him as her hands reached around the offended area while curling up into a ball.
Robin only went back a few feet, and he scowled as he walked back over to the girl, just staring down at her. He knew she couldn’t even take a few hits. Who was she kidding, playing at being a villain?!
“I have a bright yellow cape, and I don’t get caught as much as you!” He said in an amused tone, “You're preetty pathetic. If you have something like, I don’t know… a brightly colored long braid flowing from the back of your head, you gotta learn how to use it to your advantage or at least learn how to fight without it impeding you.” He reached down for her arms that were still wrapped around her head, but as soon as he tried to move them, Jinx started flailing against him, and he grunted in an effort to still try to restrain her.
“ Stop it! You already lost! This is becoming embarrassing for both of us!”
“No!”
Even as he was easily overpowering her, she continued to fight and thrash until she ended up hitting her head again, making her let out another squeal as she finally stopped. He also froze above her; he already had cuffs on her so he watched as she finally gave in to just crying. He huffed, but took that as a sign she had finally given up.
That was enough for him as he stood up and pulled her up with him. Well, they haven’t figured out Joker's angle for this yet, but at least they caught Jinx from all of this.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“Jinx, we're trying to help you. You don't understand what Joker and Harley are capable of-”
The girl scoffed and turned her head away from the commissioner, who sighed and ran his hand down his face.
Batman and Robin stood outside the glass, watching the scene in front of them without the girl even knowing.
“How are there no records of her? That doesn’t make any sense. That's not something Joker is capable of, and even if he could, it doesn't fit him. He always wants us to know who he hurt or takes or whatever. It's part of the game for him. So what kind of person is she that we can't find anything on her!” Jason growled out and glared at her through the glass, hoping she could feel it.
Batman watched his partner and looked back at the girl. "There are no records of Joker’s existence; perhaps she’s a similar case. Nonetheless, the commissioner started a file for her after taking her fingerprints and mugshots. It doesn't give us any answers, but it is a start at least.”
“That's not good enough. What if she gets away somehow? She's connected to the Joker of all people. Who knows, maybe she planned this and will try something stupid wherever you take her.”
Batman was quiet for a moment, as if deciding if he wanted to share his plans for her or not. Ultimately, he did. “She won't get the chance, she'll be sent to a rehabilitation center for young folks who have suffered at the Joker's hands-”
“You can not be serious. You're going to send her to be with victims of the Joker!” The 14-year-old almost screeched, and Batman would've been worried if he didn't already know the room was soundproof.
“Robin, I think you may be forgetting that she’s not the Joker.”
“I know she's not the Joker, but she works for him!”
“Hn… is this about her shooting you?”
“Batman, she’s killed people. You can’t just ignore that because she’s young.”
His eyes trailed back to her. He was quiet for a moment before letting out a slow exhale.
“When I look at her, I see you.”
“What?! I am nothing like her!” The incredulous look he gave the man only made Batman feel a bit more pity at the circumstances of every poor kid forced to live in Gotham without the care they deserve.
“But you had the potential to be exactly like her.” He sighed the words out, knowing they weren't what his young partner wanted to hear.
He stood there and stared at his mentor in shock. He wouldn’t have become like Jinx- he wasn't a… his eyes narrowed as he glared at the ground before letting out a huff.
He was a street rat trying to survive in Gotham. When you live like that, morals and right and wrong start to blur when it comes down to trying to live.
If there were no records of her, who's to say she wasn’t literally born on the streets and did what she had to as well? But he couldn't just excuse everything she'd done just because she might’ve been like him.
“Robin, this isn't about ignoring her crimes, it's about taking into account her life and her circumstances, and the fact that she's young. She can change. The same way you did.” Batman placed a hand on his shoulder; he wanted his boy to understand more than anyone else.
His eyes tightened again before he opened them and he looked back through the glass. She was so resistant and opposed to everyone. It was annoyingly familiar. Maybe Batman was right, and she really did deserve her own chance.
“If she becomes a criminal or kills people again in the future, I’m just gonna say ‘I told you so’ beforehand.”
“First, we're going to have to focus on dealing with Joker's influence over her.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”