"Swindle" - the sequel to "Swipe" by Ed Alger (SecondLevelWriter)

TEEN TITANS (c) Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. TEEN TITANS and all related characters and elements are trademarks of DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. Also, any references to brand names or trademarks are sole property of their respective companies. The only thing I can safely call my own is my character, Swipe.

Chapter 1
Registration

"I'm sorry, you guys... I'm really sorry that I've gotta do this..."

Swipe stepped through the front gates of the academy, taking one last glance over his shoulder at Titans' Tower, which stood off the coast of the city like an omnipresent sentinel. He couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he was letting his new friends down, but he reminded himself that he was only doing this to get Jinx back. It was nothing personal against them, it was something personal for him alone.

The rogue opened the double doors leading into the academy's lobby and peered cautiously inside. It was nothing like he had expected: A large oak desk dominated the room's far wall, well-polished and dusted busts of former headmasters and outstanding teachers lined the left and right walls with ornate doorways leading to the next rooms, and the floor consisted of marble tile set in a checkerboard pattern that was waxed and cleaned to perfection.

If he were to come here for any other reason, it would've been to steal this place blind.

"Hello and welcome to the Hive Academy for Extraordinary Young People," the receptionist behind the desk yawned. "What can I do for you?"

Swipe nervously approached the desk, "I'd, um, like to register for some classes?"

"Very well, then. Just fill out these papers and we'll get you scheduled to attend orientation in the morning," the woman handed him a small stack of forms along with a clipboard.

"Thanks. What's the tuition fee?"

"Oh, there's no fee."

Swipe blinked, "None at all?" He then thought about it, 'Makes sense in a way. If everyone here is trained to break into high-security places and the like, then the academy can run off the profits.'

"We even provide our students with free room and board. It is the academy's belief that no child should be denied a proper education," the lady replied, sounding as if she'd repeated it more than a hundred times.

The thief only nodded a reply while he went to work filling out the papers. At "Code Name:", he stopped himself three letters into writing his real name. He quickly thought up a new name, one that sounded at least relatively sinister.

The receptionist nodded as she was given the finished paperwork, "Thank you..." She looked over the form for the name, "... Swindle?"

This prompted Swipe to try looking tougher than when he first walked in, "Yeah, that's me." Boy, this was gonna be tougher than he thought...

The woman looked over the dorm roster, found an empty room for the new recruit, and handed him the corresponding key, "Your room is 281. Second floor. The bath and shower room is located on the north side, and the stairs are that way." She pointed to the doorway on the rogue's right.

'Really hopin' the shower room isn't co-ed...' he mused before nodding to the receptionist. "Thanks a lot. Where will orientation be held?"

"The main auditorium. Just follow the signs if you get lost."

"Right, gotcha. Have a good night, ma'am."

With that, the rogue picked up his bag and made his way to the dormitory wing in search of the stairs. He passed by numerous doors as he walked and wondered which ones belonged to whom. None of the ones he looked at had any noticeable signs until he climbed to the second floor and found Room 242. Just below the plaque denoting the room number was another sign made of notebook paper, with the message "Jinx's Room - Keep Out or Else!" written on it.

Swipe ran his fingertips over the paper for a moment, as if not believing what his eyes were seeing. After checking around to make sure nobody was coming, he pressed his ear to the door and listened intently. For a long moment, he heard nothing... maybe an occasional deep breath or sigh, but not much more. He then remembered that Jinx doesn't snore in her sleep and deemed what he was doing to be pointless. He backed away and made a mental note of the room's location before resuming the search for his own room.

It didn't take him long to find it once he rounded the last corner. He slowly pushed the key into the handle's lock and turned, pushing the door open in one motion. The room itself was a fairly standard-looking affair: A Queen-sized bed sat on the left-hand wall, accompanied by an empty set of bookshelves in the far corner, a single window on the far wall, and a television set on the right-hand wall.

The tired rogue threw his duffel bag in the general direction of the foot of the bed and proceeded to change out of his street clothes, closing the door behind him with his foot. Once in his sleepwear, he sat at the edge of the bed for a moment to collect his thoughts. The unsettling vision he had of Jinx being dragged into some dark abyss while he was unconscious still bothered him. He hoped that it wasn't the realization of his biggest fear, that Jinx was lost to him forever, especially considering the knowledge that the headmaster could possess the psionic ability to dominate others.

He unhooked the gold bracelet that the hex-caster wore and held it between his thumb and forefinger, letting the memories of her fill his mind again. The first of them was when he had gotten this very bit of jewelry for her...

"That must have been quite an inner struggle," he remembered her saying, with the hug she gave him after that nearly taking his breath away and making his heart skip a few beats. "Thank you so much. I love it!"

"I knew you would, Jinxie..." he answered absently to his own memory. "I just knew you would."

Soon, very soon, he'd be able to get her away from this place once and for all. They could pick right up where they left off, like nothing had ever happened. He couldn't wait to tell her what he'd done, helping the Titans upend Slade by holding off the armies of attack drones plus the gestalt creature made up of Cinderblock, Plasmus, and Overload. He wanted to tell her of how he'd even become an honorary member of the Teen Titans themselves, and that he had done it all to ensure he could save her without anything getting in his way.

Swipe tightly squeezed the bracelet in his hand before laying it down on the shelf next to him and settling into his new bed. It may have been less than a week since he'd last seen Jinx, but it already felt more like months.

A sudden beeping from his duffel bag snapped the rogue out of his dreaming, causing a brief scramble for the communicator in order to shut it off. Instead, he pressed the button to open the comm and answer the call.

On the other side was Starfire, looking rather worried and repeatedly calling into the microphone, "Hello? Friend Swipe? Are you awake at this very late hour of the evening?"

"Hey, Sweetcheeks..." he yawned in response while turning the volume as far down as possible. "What's up?"

"I.. er, that is to say, we were all wondering how you were doing after your performance. We waited for you outside the club of night, but you never appeared. Is everything... okay?"

"Everything's fine, Starfire. You guys don't hafta worry about me, though. I'm a big boy, I can handle myself."

The Tamaranean girl smiled, "I.. WE cannot help it. You are our friend, after all." Her smile waned a bit, "The song you sang tonight... for Jinx... It filled my heart with great pain, but I am certain that the pain you were feeling was far greater. I sincerely hope you find her again, Swipe."

The rogue started to wish that he could hug her right now, "I appreciate that, Star. You're a great friend to have."

"Have you had any fortune with locating her?"

Swipe faltered a bit, but shook his head after a moment, "Uh, uhm, no. Not yet. I just... um, just checked around the motel, but it was gettin' too late so I.. uh.. went to bed."

'Damn, was that lame...'

"I am sorry to hear that. I hope that tomorrow brings you better luck," Starfire gave her new friend a gentle smile before reaching for the switch to the control panel. "I must also begin my sleeping phase. Good night, friend. May you sleep well."

"G'night, Starfire. See ya later," the thief smiled back and shut off the comm. As he put it away, his smile quickly dissolved as he muttered, "I hope I sleep well tonight, too..."

END OF CHAPTER 1

In Chapter 2 - Swipe, now known as Swindle, spots Jinx on her way to class. One might think that this would be a tearful reunion, but...