DISCLAIMER: I do not hold any rights to any Time Warner franchises or to those of its subsidiaries.

Directly after the events of Departed...

Many high-rises filled the fabled landscape that is known as Midway City. Hundreds of stars could be seen dotting the clear night sky, it was almost surreal. The clarity of the sky itself could most likely be attributed to the fact that they were further up north, right next to the Canadian border. Jinx couldn't stop herself from shivering even as she clutched onto her boyfriend as they rode through the serene city streets on the back of his obsidian colored motorcycle. 'Damn Canadian weather, I hope the Doom Patrol have central heating...' It seemed that the young feline eyed heroine also attributed the cold weather to their northerly location.

There was a minimal amount of greenery as evidenced every few blocks or so when another park or monument came into view. Jinx noted from the well kept appearance of every part of the city that it was clearly a very industrious place filled with prideful citizens. Streetlights flooded every sidewalk which allowed her to better examine the city's residents and as far as she could tell, there were hardly any shady figures roaming around at all despite the fact it was nearing midnight.

'They must do a good job at clearing up the trash around here.' She inwardly remarked at the sight of seeing the streets clean of both crooks and trash alike. She scoffed at the prospect of telling them apart sometimes since they both fulfill the same roll in society - they cripple it.

Traffic died down to nothing as Beast Boy turned onto another road. Even though it was unnerving how traffic had died so suddenly just by taking one turn off, she could sense that they were nearing their final destination. He pulled his trustworthy motorcycle into a private parking space on the side of the road before switching it off and looking back to make sure that his partner had dismounted.

Jinx only voiced her realization when he had put the bike on its centerstand and removed his helmet. "Why is this street so empty when traffic is booming at both ends of it?"

Beast Boy grinned slightly as he answered her. "The Doom Patrol is almost as well known as the Justice League and we're just one team. Do you know why people across the world know about us, I mean, the others?" No one ever remembered that one green kid on the Doom Patrol.

"You guys saved the world multiple times?" You'd sort of figure that'd be the case.

The green teen couldn't decide whether or not to feel proud or ashamed. "Heh, nope. The Doom Patrol is not only respected but it's also feared by everyone 'cus of Mento's way of running things. People try to avoid this road if they can."

"Running things? Mento sure does seem like a 'ruthless calculus' kind of guy." She commented.

He abruptly leaned in to steal a much needed kiss from Jinx before pulling away and confirming what she'd said. "Yeah. 'Stop The Brain at all costs!' And he reaaally means it. Property damage? He runs Dayton Industries, he can easily afford to fix it. Everything is replaceable to him."

One brief kiss wasn't enough for her so she pulled him into another. And another... And another. They were now making out on the sidewalk despite the fact that they were both extremely tired. They just weren't tired of each other.

A bone chilling wind swept through the air briefly, sending shivers down Jinx's spine and causing her to pull away as she hugged Beast Boy for warmth. She found it odd that he was always warm no matter what but she definitely wasn't complaining. "I'm more of a house cat than a wild one."

Chuckling at her little joke, he released his hold on her and watched as she once again resumed her place at his side and gripped onto his right arm. "Well then, right this way."

It was a very short 20 second walk to a rather inconspicuous 2 story, red roofed house that confused Jinx. At least, it would've been inconspicuous if it were in the suburbs where other houses belong and not next to dozens of high-rise buildings ranging from 10 to 40 floors in height, not to mention the fact that it looked similar to a church. "This can't be the Doom Patrol headquarters." She stated, not yet relenting her grip on her emerald eyed lover.

Not many people were openly told what he was about to tell her. "You're right. This is the entrance to it." Besides, it was kind of obvious that the Doom Patrol didn't operate in a small two story building.

"Entrance?"

"Yeah, I'll show you!" He lead her up the steps to the oaken front door where he proceeded to ring the doorbell for 3 seconds before releasing it and then quickly double tapping it afterwards. A hidden panel right next to the doorbell opened up and a small number pad was pushed forward. He proficiently entered in a long string of digits before the device beeped and retreated back from whence it came and the hidden panel concealed itself once more. The door suddenly (and quite auspiciously) clicked as it swung open which prompted Beast Boy to lead her into the building.

Jinx immediately noticed that he'd led her into a fairly well sized hallway that lead straight ahead. The walls of said hallway were well lit and lined with cheap red wallpaper that was covered with intricate golden swirls. They passed by a few doors that apparently served no purpose before reaching a set of metallic doors at the end. It looked suspiciously similar to an elevator, it even had a white button on the side labelled with black text. It read "CALL". Beast Boy pushed it. A few seconds later the metallic doors slid open to reveal... The inside of an elevator.

After pushing the down button on the elevator, the doors slid shut and crummy elevator music began playing softly in the background. Jinx couldn't resist chortling at how cliché everything had been so far. "Music? Really?"

Beast Boy smiled at her amusement. "I know, I know. I'm pretty sure that it was my mom's design choice." With that said, he turned to face two devices on the wall of the elevator.

"What are those for?" Jinx inquired.

"Fingerprint and eye-thingy scanners. I need to run through them both before those doors open again."

Beast Boy quickly performed the tests after he took off his holo ring just to be safe. Throughout the brief process, the young man struggled to remember the correct word. 'Retinal! That's it! Retinal scanner!'

Jinx actually felt relieved to see his green skin once more. 'A blonde and white Logan looks nice but a green one is MY Logan.' She figured that she ought to take off her ring as well, which she promptly did.

The doors slid open for the final time and a computerized voice of a feminine nature rung out loudly. "Welcome Beast Boy, Doom Patrol member zero-zero-five."

Smiling as he recalled the automatic voice, he spoke to Jinx as he lead them out of the elevator. "There was a little joke about calling whoever becomes the 7th member: 'Bond'."

She was currently more perturbed that the automatic announcement may have been too loud. "Didn't that loudspeaker wake everyone up?"

"Private rooms are sound proof, apparently. I've always been able to hear it so I'm not too sure about that. We didn't always run with Midway City's timezone anyway and sometimes the Doom Patrol isn't even here so it might not have mattered, but they're here so it's all cool."

Trusting that he knew his old family was nearby, she responded in a tone filled with curiosity. "Sometimes they aren't here? Why?"

"We spent a lot of the time in the field tracking down our enemies, even going as far as spending weeks in other countries sometimes." He decided to change the topic. "Remember what we discussed about Mento?"

She nodded before taking a deep breath, afterwards she began to quietly chant, causing her eyes to glow a brilliant pink throughout the brief process. "Mens secura."

Having someone forcibly invade your mind to see your innermost thoughts wasn't a pleasant experience - Beast Boy could attest to that. The spell was merely a precautionary measure to help prevent that in case Mento didn't see eye to eye with Jinx's presence in the Doom Patrol HQ.

"How long will the spell last?" He asked.

Shrugging as much as possible with her arms locked around his arms, she answered. "Like I said, I'm not a strong magic user so maybe a couple of days. I don't really know."

The duo exited from the stairwell that lead them down one level to the living quarters and they had just finished closing the metal door that lead to the level itself when Beast Boy was near viciously tackled out of Jinx's grasp. "Garfield!"

"I came running as soon as I heard you enter! You never called, wrote or anything. Ever! I've been worried sick!" Elasti-Girl gave her adoptive son a detailed once over before being satisfied that he was in good health.

He reached up to rub the back of his neck. "Sorry mom... I missed you too. Please don't call me Garfield, you know I hate it. Have you guys been alright without me?"

"We've been managing. Steve is being his usual self. Larry has missed you almost as much as I have and I'm sure that Cliff does as well. Things really aren't the same without you. Enough about us, what about you? Why are you here?"

"Well... I sort of left the Titans." He truthfully answered.

Elasti-Girl looked saddened "Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that. I know they meant a lot to you. I'm sure that Steve will ask you about it later but you're always welcome here no matter what."

Jinx had already decided then and there that she liked Elasti-Girl. In many ways she was very comparable to Starfire, albeit different in appearance and in understanding of the English language. Elasti-Girl looked to be a kindhearted person, her facial expression was soft just like her voice. Her brunette hair was neatly held back by a black hairband; everything about her was welcoming. For now, Jinx happily blanked out their conversation as she further evaluated her potential mother-in-law.

The conversation, however, quickly directed itself towards Jinx. "Beast Boy, who's this young lady?" A hint of hopefulness could be detected in her inflection.

Fortunately, the pink haired girl didn't miss a beat as she reached her hand out and introduced herself. "I'm Jinx. It's nice to meet you, Elasti-Girl."

Elasti-Girl warily reached her hand out to formally welcome the young girl into her home with a firm handshake. It's not everyday that Garfield brought a girl home. "It's nice to meet you too, Jinx. How does a pretty young lady such as yourself you know of my son?"

It was good to know that Elasti-Girl didn't find anything wrong with Jinx's appearance. The couple, however, failed to notice that she'd avoided bringing up the brand on Jinx's neck which was probably out of common courtesy. 'Straight to the point, isn't she?' Jinx figured. "I'm his."

Beast Boy smiled as he forced himself to feel pride in a successful attempt to ward off any potential blushes that might stain his facial features. His adoptive mother, however, arched her brow at the confusing statement. "His?" She sought clarity.

Jinx gave a nervous smile to hide her embarrassment. In truth, she hadn't intended to say anything else but she could see that the situation demanded a more appropriate answer. "Uh... His girlfriend."

The smile that slowly crawled onto Elasti-Girl's face was priceless. "Then please, call me Rita."

Jinx returned the smile, she was happy to have the approval of his mother. "Okay, Rita."

It seems that Elasti-Girl really didn't want to waste any time. "How old are you?"

"I'm 16." With great difficulty, she resisted the urge to yawn out of exhaustion.

"How long have you and my son been together?"

Beast Boy wholly recognized that the questions were being directed at Jinx and not himself. "Exactly one week." His lover answered.

Elasti-Girl nodded with interest. "Did you two do anything to celebrate? One week must be a big deal for you two."

The shape shifter quickly covered for them. "Ahh... Not really. Y'know? We just sorta... Rode here. Nothin' fancy." Neither of them thought it was necessary to mention their amorous encounter earlier in the day.

Elasti-Girl wasn't fooled by his little stunt. A mother's intuition was never wrong, or so they say. After deducing that they must've been tired, she saw a golden opportunity to confirm her assumption so she lead them to Beast Boy's old room. "We can talk it all over in the morning after breakfast when you're both more prepared. I want to know all about you, Jinx. Beast Boy, you can stay in your old room. I'll take Jinx to a guest room." She flashed them a smile before reaching her hand out for Jinx to grab.

Jinx looked hesitant. She didn't relish the idea of ever sleeping without Beast Boy. "I'm sorry, Elas- I mean, Rita, but we uh... We sleep together."

For the most part, Rita didn't look upset. It seems her intuition was right after all. "I see... His room only has a twin bed, if you want, I can-"

"No, no. It's fine, thank you." Jinx reassured her, partly because she didn't want to burden her host but mostly because she didn't want to dwell on the topic of their relationship for too long.

It was clear that she wasn't entirely convinced. "I trust that sleeping is all you two will be doing?" She gave both of the teenagers a meaningful look.

"Mom!" Beast Boy exclaimed. Jinx looked downcast as she attempted to avoid eye contact with the mother figure in front of her. He merely facepalmed with his free hand since his partner was busy occupying the other.

Deciding that she'd embarrassed them enough, she continued with a warm smile. "In all seriousness, Jinx, would you mind if I talked to Beast Boy in private for a minute?"

The unlucky heroine endeavored to remain as polite as possible. "Of course not, I'll just check the room out while I wait." She released Beast Boy's arm before moving in front of him and leaning in for a short but sweet kiss. "I love you, Logan." She whispered to him after pulling away.

'Who wouldn't? It's the ears, I know it. Chicks dig the ears.' He thought. "I love you too. I'll be there in a minute."

She had a skip in her step as she damn near waltzed into Beast Boy's old room.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've been making good on that little hiatus I mentioned in Departed. Coming back to this, it took a while before my creative side booted up and ideas started flooding back to me again but when it did, they really broke the proverbial dam.