Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sudden slam of a decoratively carved wooden door signified the arrival of a friend. The two occupants relaxing in the living room lifted their heads attentively. Tye was sprawled out disrespectfully over the three-seater sofa; after all, it was his parent’s house. Jaime was sitting up much more considerately on the cotton coated furniture trying desperately to ignore the years old food and drinks stains beneath him; and Virgil's abrupt entrance had proven to be a delightful distraction.

A panting Virgil remained pressed against the back of the door, almost as if he was trying to hold back a monster from charging into the bungalow to ravage them all. In reality, the exhausted man just needed a moment to catch his breath after having ran through the dark of the night, from the nearest Zeta tube, to the Longshadow’s household, in order to share the good news.

“Guys! I have great news!” Virgil hurled himself up off of the door using explosive energy from his chestal region. Jaime cringed knowing that was a damaging move for his spine and neck.

“What is it ese?” Jaime dared to ask.

Tye slowly sat up, eyes scanning across the wooden beams supporting the ceiling as he moved. Virgil continued to walk around the banister by the door before charging into the heart of the living room where his curious friends were waiting. A few moments later when Virgil stood directly in front of Jaime in his impersonation of the Christ the Redeemer statue, he made his announcement.

“I think I’ve found a way for you to find your soulmate.”

Tye’s lips parted slightly in concern as a hundred thoughts ran through his mind. He looked over at Jaime with wide eyes, nervous to see the expression on his best friend’s face; especially knowing how well he reacted to the topic whenever it was brought up. Jaime’s face was more bitter than usual, that was for certain.

Jaime slumped back into the filthy couch with an unappreciative groan. Attitude dripped from his lips, “Forget I asked.”

Virgil held up his hands to sell his defense, since Jaime’s obvious doubt was attacking his honor, “Hear me out ese! This worked for my best friend’s, cousin’s, boyfriend’s sister!”

The Latino shot Tye a look of disbelief. It was evident he thought Virgil had lost the plot.

“Jaime! Seriously. It worked for someone I know…” Virgil’s face slackened with some uncertainty before he clarified his standing, “distantly,” he straightened up again, “But my sources are reliable. You’ve got to try it!” The man’s tone had taken a final turn towards a fiery confidence that actually melted away some of Jaime’s initial doubt over this yet to be heard method of finding soulmates.

Jaime sat back up again and stared on suspiciously, “Okay fine. Tell me about this-” Jaime weakly waved his jazz hands at Virgil in a mocking manner- “magical solution to finding my soulmate.”

Not appreciating the tone, Virgil decided to remind Jaime what was at stake here.

“Let me remind you Jaime. You’re twenty-one and you still haven’t found your soulmate!”

“You don’t have to remind me.” Jaime’s eyelids narrowed - to the thinness of the glass countertop on the coffee table standing nervously between the pair - as he glared at Virgil for rubbing salt in the biggest wound he had. He hated that his closest friends knew his biggest vulnerability. Telling them that he had not yet found his soulmate was his biggest regret, although he knew it wouldn’t have been realistic to keep it a secret from them anyway.

“Please Jaime. Let me help you.” Virgil looked over at Tye for some support.

Tye sighed at the African American man. He looked pretty vulnerable for someone who was wrapped in a navy ember down vest. Tye decided to take a chance on Virgil and his soulmate scheme. Which he still had still not even shed any light on yet.

Jumping on the bandwagon, Tye shifted to face Jaime, “Come on Jaime. It can’t hurt to try one more thing. I mean… -” Tye gestured at Jaime with both hands- “you’re a superhero for god sake! You deserve to find your soulmate!” Tye scratched his forehead shortly after realizing his voice had climbed too high. And if it had, he had supposed it was only because of the immense pity he felt for his best friend.

“I still don’t think anything will work for me. Everyone else has daydreams and flashes about their soulmate, and that’s how they find them. I’ve never had a single one! I’m-” Jaime rolled his head around with frustration as he searched for just the right word- “broken!” Jaime’s voice was raised now too, but was much edgier than Tye’s had been.

“Well… I think I have a solution!” Virgil turned the other two heads back his way by reiterating his news passionately.

“And what is it Virgil?” Jaime turned up the sass in his tone as he began to list the methods he had already tried, to induce a mental flash of his soulmate. “Meditation? Mindfulness exercises?” Jaime really turned up the heat in his tone on the last one, “A soulmate summoning diet?”

Tye snickered on the last example, earning a deadly glare from Jaime. Something in the Latino’s eyes told Tye that his scarab had suggested some form of punishment for his rude response to Jaime’s very real pain. 

“Sorry.” Tye grinned nervously and leaned back a little out of fear. Jaime rolled his eyes and looked back at the human conductor who was still yet to blow his mind.

“ No ...” Virgil emphasized, before continuing, “She is a sorceress. Her name is Madame Xanadu. She can do lots of things. She can do-” he began counting off using his fingers- “spells, psychic readings and-” he leaned slightly forward on the last finger tap- “ soul searches .”

“Madame Xanadu?” Jaime paused for a moment to let Virgil wipe the attitude off his face. “More like Madame Xana-don’t!” Jaime rolled his eyes and fell back into the couch again clearly having given up on life, as Tye broke down into laughter.

“Jaime! Please! Trust me. She will come through for you.” Virgil’s eyes were pleading to be believed.

Jaime exhaled with exasperation, he sat up one last time again, “If I do this,” he pointed a stern finger at Virgil, “you have to promise to never try and help me find my soulmate ever again.”

“Deal.” Virgil reached out and shook Jaime’s forefinger with his hand. Jaime snatched his finger back immediately with a scolding glare.

This was going to be the last thing he ever tried in an effort to find his soulmate. He was sick of getting his hopes up when trying new methods. Having obsessed over it when he was younger had caused him much hurt. He just wanted to be at peace and forget about it now. It wasn’t actually too hard to let go when he didn’t know what he was missing out on. This was what he told himself to get by at least. Luckily, he genuinely didn’t have much time on his hands to dwell on his hypothetical soulmate. Not with him being a full time superhero and all. 

The only times it truly bothered him was when he was alone at home or was with others who went out of their way to rub their soulmates in his face. It was those times he found himself praying for just a picture of his soulmate. He didn’t need a miniature movie of his soulmate relaxing at home, or tinkering away at work. Just a quick snapshot of their face. Was a split-second frame too much to ask for? The question was always answered the same, by the resounding silence that loomed in his mind.  Other than Khaji Da, who had also never been able to help successfully trigger the flashes that came naturally to everyone else. If Khaji Da couldn’t help him, he knew he was doomed. That’s when after years of hoping, Jaime had made the conscious decision to give up.

And here was Virgil insisting on prying open the private parcel of painful feelings he had buried in the graveyard of his heart. He had tried all sorts of spiritual tips, tricks and guides for those in his position. They were all a bunch of hooey. None of the hundreds of articles he had ever read had given him a single flash. None of his annual birthday wishes had brought that special soulmate into his mind’s eye. It was hopeless.

“Let me guess…” Jaime sighed. “There’s a hefty cost involved.” The Latino rolled his eyes and perched himself up on the edge of the worn couch with both of his hands.

With a soft voice that was barely audible, Virgil answered, “yeah.” The man now plagued with guilt cast a glance aside knowing he would be setting Jaime up for a large dent in his bank account. That’s when he realized that Jaime might change his mind based on this new little tidbit of information. Not wanting to lose Jaime’s faith, Virgil spoke up to cheerily reassure him, “But it will definitely be worth it!”

Jaime grumbled something incoherently from his lips.

“I’ll take that as a yes?” Virgil raised his eyebrows with hope.

“Ugh.” Jaime groaned. “Sure.”

“Yes!” Virgil fist pumped both hands victoriously before bringing them down in a swift clap, “Alright Jaime!” He finished his cheer before patting Jaime reassuringly on his back.

“Let’s go now! It’s not far from here!”

“It’s so late! Can’t we go tomorrow?” Jaime was still convinced this was going to be a total bust.

“No! This is your soulmate we’re talking about! Show some excitement! Geez.” Virgil shook his head.

“Wait a second… Why are you so persistent to go right now? Are you trying to avoid going home?” Jaime grinned, showing the first sign of amusement all night long knowing Virgil was likely in trouble with his parents again.

Virgil rubbed at his neck and looked down to avoid the truth, “Maybe?”

That as much confirmed it for Jaime. He shared in a chuckle with Tye. 

“What did you do?” Jaime folded his arms smugly. “Did you short out the house again?”

“That was one time! And it was a dodgy toaster and-”

Virgil rolled his eyes at his mean friends and stalked over to the front door before making a show of opening it, “Come on! Let’s go!”

Both Tye and Jaime groaned like old men as they forced themselves to stand up. Virgil grinned and hurried ahead, leaving his mates to follow after the dreadlocks bouncing away in his stead.

Tye locked the door behind him as he was the last to exit, before joining Jaime and Virgil on the footpath. The three casually dressed friends began heading down the nighttime-lit street away from the Longshadow home. Tye and Virgil clopped their kicks on the concrete footpath while Jaime walked alongside on the actual road. Jaime didn’t mind the slight separation from his friends; especially since they were taking part in a discussion he had no interest in. The pair were talking about him and his soulmate; the pair were shooting hypotheticals at one another like bullets in an old fashioned Cowboy standoff.

“Ooh! Do you think she will be hot?” Virgil waggled his eyebrows at Tye.

“Who said it was going to be a girl? It could be a guy?” Tye had long suspected Jaime was bisexual so he figured it could swing either way. He hoped that Jaime at least appreciated that he was keeping an open mind, if his hunch was indeed correct.

Virgil scoffed with a laugh, “Yeh right! As if Jaime’s soulmate would be a guy-”

“What does it matter?” Jaime cut in angrily, catching both guys off guard. His fists were hanging inside of his rhino grey jacket's pockets on either side of the zip; but his friends could tell they were clenched tightly.

“Oh.” Virgil blinked in unison with Tye before his nerves quietly creeped out of the shadows where they had jumped to hide, “Wow. Jaime… I’m sorry I didn’t know- that you were-...” Virgil scratched his forehead above guilty eyes as he looked for the right words, “I genuinely thought you were straight. But I swear, I don’t have a problem with whatever-” Virgil swallowed as he treaded lightly- “orientation you feel you identify as.”

Tye’s glare had softened in approval of Virgil’s attempt to smooth things over. He had done a decent job. The pair looked at each other silently before looking back at Jaime, patiently awaiting his reaction. 

It was a well known fact that a person’s sexuality did play into fate’s selection of a soulmate. Jaime knew that he had just inadvertently revealed he was bisexual by saying he didn’t care what gender his soulmate was. He knew it didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things anyway, if his soulmate was a guy, he wasn’t going to be able to hide that for the rest of his life. And if people didn’t like it, tough. 

“Yeh, well. It’s not really anyone’s business except my own.” It was clear as it was that it was night time, that Jaime was still pissed off. 

Whether it was Jaime’s messy coming out party at midnight, or the fact that he was still irritated about the upcoming, and staggering cost of Madame Xanadu’s services, Virgil didn’t know. Tye assumed there was overlap between both issues causing Jaime to radiate anger in such a way that both men instinctively felt like running. Jaime was easiestly, the strongest, most intimidating (when he wanted to be) and manliest man, out of the three of them. But he did have a soft side too, it just wasn’t on display all that often. Not that life gave Jaime much reason to be happy.

Tye tried to ignore the irritation vibing off of Jaime in waves. He hoped that Jaime’s soulmate would soften him the hell up. Tye had seen Jaime’s soft side, and there was no version of Jaime he would rather be around. Tye especially missed the days when they used to skateboard around when they were younger before becoming superheroes. Those were the days when Jaime had been at his softest. But after years of being alone, and around couples everywhere he looked, Jaime had become quite serious. 

The three continued walking in silence for a few minutes, each trying to think of a way to make things less awkward.

“I wonder whether Jaime’s soulmate will be taller or shorter than him?”

Jaime rolled his eyes but kept quiet as Virgil dropped the new question.

Tye hopped on board this time with the much safer question, “I reckon shorter.”

After half an hour of listening to the questions about his soulmate, Jaime had found himself smiling against his own will. He was now head over heels with this hypothetical soulmate. A part of him was convinced he didn’t have one, hence the complete absence of flashes. But he couldn’t help but hold onto the hope that had come from imagining the likes, hopes and dreams of his better half. Jaime was interested in more than just his soulmate’s looks. He wanted to love and cherish them, for who they were. Whatever his soulmate cared about, he would also care about. Unless it was pineapples on pizza, that, Jaime would never bend his will for.

“Just think Jaime…” Tye caught his best friend’s attention, “Soon, you’ll hopefully know who your soulmate is!”

“I bet he , or she , is going to be so awesome!” Virgil complimented.

Jaime chuckled softly to himself and shook his head. It would be nice to finally see (and hopefully soon after meet) his soulmate. He was sick of being the only person who hadn’t come to find their soulmate over time. Granted it took some couples longer to find one another, but they always eventually located one another. It was about the journey, each was unique and offered each couple a worthwhile and unforgettable story for most. 

Tye had found Asami (and she had traveled all the way from Japan to find him). Virgil had found Cissie (they had both followed one another and met in a cafe for the first time). Every member on the team, all of Jaime’s friends and family, had all found their soulmates (and all had their own stories to tell). Just not him. Tonight, he would stop hiding behind his loneliness which he hid behind his superhero duties.

“Tonight is the night.” Jaime smiled to himself.

“That’s the spirit hermano!” Tye exclaimed happily, turning Jaime’s smile into a beam.

After a while of walking Jaime cut in politely into Tye and Virgil’s ongoing conversation, “Uhh Virgil... You said the shop wasn’t far from Tye’s place? We’ve been walking for like half an hour?”

“Yeh? So? Half an hour isn't that long? It’s only another fifteen minutes away.”

“Ay, dios mio.” Jaime’s palm slapped against his forehead. Apparently, Virgil deemed a forty-five minute walk as ‘not far away’. 

Much to the surprise of Tye and Virgil, Jaime joined in for the last fifteen minutes and offered his thoughts on the characteristics his hypothetical soulmate would have (or at least what he hoped his soulmate had).

The three eventually turned the last corner and were finally on the street where Madame Xanadu’s shop patiently sat, awaiting any customers who dared to dabble with the dark arts. In Jaime’s haste to discredit the woman and not take her seriously, he had failed to conduct any research on her prior to the meeting. Khaji Da had strenuously objected from the beginning, but Jaime was in control, so the beetle was forced to tag along.

And what neither of the three men knew as they continued walking down the street, was that they were about to get involved in something there was no turning back from. Jaime should have done some research first. And Virgil should have to. If either of them had, they would have discovered that Madame Xanadu was a person of interest on the lists of several distinguished and well-established magic communities; lists of magic users who posed serious threats to peace and order. 

If only Jaime had run this idea past Zatanna or Dr. Fate first.

Chapter Text

The Three Musketeers stood outside of the small shop, staring at the door glowing from the inside. The warm yellow light contrasted nicely with the lengthy velvet red drapes, lacing each side of the door. An oval plaque made of pure gold, had ‘Madame Xanadu’ engraved around its circumference, whilst soul-stirring symbols danced in the middle. Oddly enough, there were no windows or any other signage, just the door. And despite a singular door representing the store, there was certainly an atmosphere created by it, a mysterious and mystical one.

“This is it.” Virgil gestured at the place scratching his head. Admittedly, he was expecting something much different, he didn’t know what, but not this. 

[ “Jaime Reyes, my scans indicate that there are unknown forces inside the shop. Do not enter!” Khaji Da hissed. “The dangers within are unknown, usage of offensive maneuvers may prove ineffective, it is not safe.” ]

Jaime swallowed as his curiosity peaked hearing the words ‘unknown forces’. Was it true that Madame Xanadu might actually possess the power to help him connect with his soulmate? Now he had a conundrum. This woman genuinely did seem to have real magic at her disposal, but Jaime couldn’t help but feel in his gut like there was trouble ahead. Of course, Khaji Da’s ominous voice was usually one to help sway his feelings on particular matters regardless, but Jaime was still suspicious about the symbols on the door.

Virgil, who had been grinning at Jaime with his arms folded, raised an eyebrow, “What’s the matter Jaime? Scared?”

Jaime rolled his eyes at the childish taunt. They were too old to be saying stuff like that, at least, Jaime considered them to be. “No. Scarab can sense magic inside. I have to admit, I’m a little bit worried. What if we are messing with forces we’re not supposed to?”

Virgil tilted his head with a shit-eating grin at Tye, “Yep! Definitely scared.” Tye didn’t look slightly amused. His hairs were standing up on the back of his neck too. He couldn’t help but hear his spiritually-aware grandfather telling him to run the other way. Virgil was the only one who was amused, so he shifted his smirk back to Jaime, “What would your new friend think about this?”

“You mean Victor?” Jaime had noted that Virgil and Tye had both brought up the new cybernetic friend of his named Cyborg. The pair had begun working out together in the gym a bit as of late, and his two older friends were clearly jealous. “Hermano, I can have more than one friend.”

“What? You think I’m jealous!?” Virgil spat incredulously.

“Si.” Jaime grinned and folded his arms.

“What a load of bull! Also-” Virgil shook off the distraction- “stop trying to get out of this. You agreed! So stop being a scaredy cat.” Virgil once again demonstrated his childish demeanor.

Jaime sighed. Quips aside, he had agreed. And what was the worst that could happen?

Charging ahead of the other two to grab destiny by the scruff, Jaime pushed through the door and ignored the tinkle of the little brass bell alerting Madame Xanadu to their arrival. The three men began looking around, immediately aware of the musty smell of hundreds of spellbooks lining the bookshelf walls all around them (that’s why there were no windows). There were hundreds of knick-knacks which none of them were able to identify, and they were each staring in a different direction and were still able to say the same thing. Countless citrus-scented candles dwindled away, filling the air with a somehow pleasant smokey sensation.

Suddenly, a breeze blew all the candles out. Jaime stepped back whilst Virgil jumped to cling to Tye’s side. “Virgil get off of me!” Tye hissed, with a clear disdain for Virgil’s lack of bravery. Just as quickly, all the candles flickered to life. An accented chuckle flowed through the beaded door curtain ahead of them, much like the silver smoke ascending from all the newly lit candles.

The three men watched as the strings, composed of equally spaced magenta beads, parted with a musical melody that aimed to soothe the fear surging through their veins, mostly Virgil’s.

“Bonsoir messieurs. How can Madame Xanadu be of service?” The woman speaking in third person walked slowly into the light to reveal herself to the three guests she had been expecting.

Jaime stepped towards the thin woman, looking her up and down to get a sense of her character. She was wearing a black blouse, from which underneath flowed a crimson dress. White frills outlined the plunging neckline that revealed ample cleavage. Jaime was the only one of the three not staring. Just because you had a soulmate, it didn’t mean you couldn’t appreciate someone else who was attractive. It was the most taboo thing to do, but some people did cheat on their soulmates. Jaime didn’t know how anybody could do something so deplorable, he hadn’t even met his soulmate yet, and he knew without a doubt, he would never cheat on them.

Before Jaime had even had a chance to speak, Xanadu spoke up first. “Ah,” the woman lingered on the first word for a few seconds, “there is someone to whom with which you wish to speak? Your soulmate .” Of course the woman lingered on the one word she knew would get Jaime’s attention. The man didn’t appear to phased by her initial observation.

“Si.” Jaime stared her down, warning the woman that his heart was not to be trifled with. Not only did his friends have the power to hurt her, but he did too. Virgil could zap her like a bug, Tye could expand to the size of a skyscraper and step on her like a bug, but Jaime, he would be the bug; which in her case, would ironically be the scariest thing of all. Khaji Da was quite terrifying when given free range. The woman knew that they wouldn’t harm her, but she could tell they were serious. It was shown in the way they held themselves, particularly Jaime.

The woman took a seat at her small round table, “Then Madame will make contact, if fate be kind.” The woman gestured at the singular chair across from hers implying Jaime should sit. 

Jaime sat down with his arms folded, and squinted as she spoke up again, raising her chin ever slightly. “I see you have doubts. Correct?” Tye and Virgil grinned knowingly at one another.

After the Latino continued to stare her down without answering, she chuckled breathily, “Don’t worry, you will soon see I am very much the real deal.” 

Jaime’s eyes darted upwards momentarily to the three aqua gemstones perched on her forehead, before returning back to her eyes, “How much is this going to cost?”

“Depends on the service of which you seek?” This is usually where her cleavage swayed most of her male clients towards the most expensive options. But Jaime could not be bought.

“The cheapest.” Jaime practically scoffed his answer, because he didn’t want to be gypped.

“How about a tarot reading? That way I can reveal your past, present and future. As well as a bit about your soulmate. And maybe then, will you trust Madame entirely?” The woman seemed too confident for her own good. Jaime just wanted to roll his eyes on repeat until he died.

“Whatever.” Jaime handed over a few crumpled bills, which she swiftly shoved deep in her bosom. Clearly this woman was not big on busting out refunds.

The current layout of the table consisted of just a crystal ball in the centre of the maroon tablecloth. With a graceful wave of her hand, the crystal ball vanished right before Jaime’s eyes, and in its place, a deck of tarot cards appeared. With a determined grin - since the move had not impressed Jaime who had seen magic before - the sorceress picked up the deck in her hand and held it level with Jaime’s chest. “Please knock on the base of the deck three times.”

“Dios mio.” Jaime couldn’t help but roll his eyes. But nevertheless, he reached out and rapped his knuckles three times on the base of the deck. The woman quickly began shuffling the cards as if his magical touch would fade if she didn’t imbue the deck immediately. Like a professional casino card-dealer, she dished out the cards in a Celtic Cross. Jaime stared down at the majestic blue backs of the cards, all sharing the same abstract, swirly line pattern.

Jaime sighed with exasperation as she began flipping the cards. It was clear as day that even she was startled when one of the cards she flipped over was the ‘Death’ card. Jaime had not been expecting her to waiver from her confident composure. She cleared her throat, something clearly amiss on her mind, “Are you ready for the reading?”

“Si.” Jaime wasn’t sure how to feel anymore. He was actually beginning to feel a bit worried.

Resting her forefinger’s long, ruby-red fingernail on the adjacently placed cards in the center of the cross, she began. “I see in the present, that you seek answers regarding your soulmate.” She grinned and ignored the unimpressed facial expression she received from Jaime. “Your immediate challenge is the struggle in which you find yourself fighting off denial.”

The woman’s already extended finger glided over from the first two cards to the bottom card of the cross. “Both of your distant-” her finger glided once more to the right card of the cross- “and recent pasts, suggest severe loneliness. You have friends and family, but it’s not quite the same. I see you have a younger sister, mother and father; all of which you feel I can tell you feel differentiated from. Perhaps you should enlighten them about what it is you do for a living.”

The woman grinned as she flicked her eyes up to see if Jaime’s expression had wavered from the total absence of admiration she had started off with. Jaime was making the effort to remain completely void of emotion in his facial expressions, regardless of what he felt inside. He didn’t want to let her in on his inner thoughts. And so far he was beginning to think she had game.

Pointing ahead at the top of the cross, her eyes gleamed with glee, “In terms of an outcome with your soulmate. I see you two will end up together. Sooner than you think.” Jaime flinched at the confidence in her voice, even if it was microscopically. “ He,” she glanced over at Virgil with a smirk momentarily before returning her sights back to Jaime, “is a,” she raised her eyebrows and tone with surprise, “metahuman. Unlike you, he was born with his powers.”

A spark of surprise flashed in Jaime’s eyes. “Okay.” Jaime pursed his lips and nodded with a pretend lack of interest, “So my soulmate is a guy. And he’s a metahuman?” The Latino let the thoughts trickle into his mind. Maybe she was stepping beyond educated guesses at this point.

“Yes. This card here,” she tapped on it, “is the ‘Knight of Swords’. It represents a confident but caring young man, prepared to do anything for the one love he loves. This card also indicates he has an impetuous nature, and is known as,” the woman chuckled as if she knew something Jaime didn't, “impulsive.” Oddly enough, the word seemed to strike a chord in Jaime’s heart.

“Looking over to your affecting factors and external forces, I see another relationship differing from the one with your soulmate.” She furrowed her eyebrows. “A third entity. A ‘King of Swords’ suggests this third voice in your life is one of intellect. But it’s also excessively judgmental.”

“You got that right.” Jaime’s grin and droll tone triggered the AI into rebutting his statement.

“I see it’s a technological device,” she looked up briefly to catch Jaime’s lips part, “and the cards show it’s a creature belonging to nature.” The woman rubbed her chin deep in thought for a few moments before her eyes snapped back to Jaime’s with her ‘eureka!’ moment. “A beetle perhaps?” The woman grinned as Jaime finally cracked. Even Tye and Virgil gasped together. “So I’m going to wager that you must be the infamous Blue Beetle then?” The woman leered.

“How did you-” Jaime bit his tongue wanting to stop anymore of his surprise from pouring out. It seemed like this woman was indeed legit after all. Did that really mean he had a male, speedster(?) soulmate? From the sounds of it, he had sounded loyal and caring, both important traits in his ideal soulmate. Jaime sighed happily as he thought about it.

“I can see from the sheer count of eights which are symbolic of speed, that your soulmate is a speedster. Based on this spread, I can see his future mirrors yours identically. His past is similar to yours, it’s filled with loneliness and,” her voice softened, “much grief.” Continuing on with the grave tone, she moved her finger to Jaime’s future card, “This card is ‘Death’. You both have a shared future of death and destruction. I’ve never seen an arrangement this bad before.” 

Jaime’s face dropped in horror. What if she was right? What did that mean for him and his soulmate? What would that mean for his family and friends? How bad was his future?

The longer the woman studied the cards, the more concerned she got. Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel appeared when she released a breath she had been holding, “In your final outcome, you do end up making the right choice so hard as it is, that benefits us all.” Her tone had returned to it’s usual perky purr. Jaime was still too busy dwelling on the bad news about his future to be annoyed by her consistently smug tone.

“So you see... I know what I am doing.” The woman stared expectantly at Jaime waiting for an acknowledgement of some kind. She suspected someone like him would have more questions.

The glum man nodded weakly, “Is there anything else you can tell me about my soulmate?”

The woman pushed forward the ‘Knight of Swords’ card and leaned back, “Your soulmate is currently stuck in a war.” She watched as Jaime’s shocked eyes switched to fascination as they zeroed in on the card as it sprang to life with the click of her fingers. An animation sequence in the window of the card began to play. The gorgeous auburn haired man rode in from the side of the card on a white stallion and beamed a smile below his helmet that made even Jaime smile.  Bringing him back down she reiterated, “A war,” she paused for dramatic effect, “in the future.”

Jaime recoiled a bit in disbelief, “Are you saying, my soulmate is in... the future?”

“Yes. That is why you haven’t had any soul-flashes of him yet.” Jaime’s eyes widened as the plausible answer to the question that perplexed him was finally given to him. “Your souls cannot communicate across different timelines. However, I can.” With a shit-eating grin, she swiftly waved her hand above all the cards, causing them to vanish into thin air. Jaime’s eyes chased after the cards desperately. He was really becoming quite invested in her analysis and wanted to know more. The crystal ball that had been on the table originally, was now back in its place.

“Wait? How?” Jaime’s hands were up on the edge of the table, he was clearly dismayed.

“I can actually do something better than a soul-flash. In those you can only see what your soulmate is doing, you can’t actually interact with them. But I can project your astral form into the future temporarily, where you will actually be able to speak to him, as well as see him.”

“Si. Por favor. Do it.” Jaime begged, all of his steel resolve washed away by the wayside.

She grinned knowing she had Jaime eating out the palm of her hand. As she cleared her throat, she held her hand out, palm upwards implying she needed further payment. Jaime’s own hand couldn’t dive into his pocket fast enough to grab the entire wad of cash stashed away in the lint wonderland, before handing it over to the woman. She thanked him in her French accent.

“I must warn you, it does tend to throw most for a loop… It’s not a pleasant experience.” She grinned as she warned Jaime with vague wording, as she did with most of her customers.

“I don’t care…” Jaime puffed his chest out and glared showing that he was nothing but serious. He was doing this for his soulmate. It was well worth any physical pain she put him through. And based on Xanadu’s prediction about the death and unimaginable volume of pain coming both their way; Jaime knew he just had to see this soulmate of his before it was too late.

“Very well.” An evilly sweet tone accompanied a sickening grin that spread across the woman’s face. “Oh. And you two…” Xanadu glanced over at Tye and Virgil, “If you try to interfere in any way, you will be dooming your friend Jaime here to certain death.” She chuckled mischievously.

Tye and Virgil glanced at each other with nothing but utter concern. This was getting beyond the boundaries of comfort. Virgil was drowning in regret, but Jaime was up to it in his eyeballs, and both of his trusty friends knew there was no pulling him out. Jaime was stubborn. Sensing the pair of Jaime’s friends were considering using forcible action, she knew she had to act quick.

The sorcerer looked up sharply, causing her gold hoop earrings to dangle, before closing her eyes. Suddenly a breeze flowed through the room, wrestling with each and every flame around the room. The table began trembling and the light fixture above them was swaying around in circles. The woman cackled into the breeze to tell Virgil and Tye they were too late.

Tye, Virgil and Jaime all veered their heads away and covered their eyes with their forearms as the crystal ball suddenly began shining brightly, trying to eclipse the sun. It quickly dimmed to a tolerable level, which is when the three men turned to look back at Xanadu. Her face was lit up by the crystal ball, contorted in heavy concentration. Her fingers were now curled up to meet her thumbs forming a perfect circle, in the classic Mudra gesture. The unexplainable gust still whirling around the room, despite there being no windows, was picking up the woman’s long strands of black hair and waving them through the air delicately as if she was underwater.

In a freakish turn of events, which none of the men had expected, her eyes shot open glowing a fierce white, not unlike M’Gann’s from time to time. Although, they were primarily accustomed to seeing a soothing green on the Martian, not white. Xanadu’s hands shot open, all fingers extended as painfully straight as they could go, before she reached forward and clasped at air.

Jaime could suddenly feel - what he could be best describe as - an extremely tight grip spanning across the entirety of his body. He winced under the unusual pressure pinching him.

“This is going to hurt. Are you sure you want me to continue?” Xanadu’s voice taunted Jaime’s masculinity, and there was no way she was backing down even if Jaime had changed his mind.

Jaime took a deep breath and readied himself, “Do it.” 

With a sense of urgency, the woman wrenched both of her hands upwards quickly, tearing his astral form right up out of his body, causing him to project a spine-chilling grunt through his gritted teeth. Tye and Virgil watched in sheer horror as the magic performance continued. Once Jaime’s lingering feet had let go of the tip of his head and there was no longer any overlap between his body on the physical plain and on the magical plane, Jaime’s eyes closed. He had now swapped over to his astral form and watched with an aghast expression from above.

His vacant body went limp and collapsed, falling off the chair and onto the red rug on the floor.

“Jaime!” Tye shouted, intrinsically lunging to stop whatever mad magic was unraveling before his eyes. It had been startling enough watching Xanadu transform into her powerful state, but ripping Jaime out of well… himself, and seeing what was left of him essentially die, was just too much. Virgil quickly jumped forward and aggressively grabbed Tye, holding him in place.

“You can’t interfere! You might kill him! Remember?!” Virgil screeched with stress, also panic-stricken from having watched the same disturbing event unfold before his very wide eyes.

The three men watched as Xanadu separated her arms for different duties. One hand remained fixed holding Jaime’s astral form telekinetically in the air as if he were a delicate vase; her other hand swam down to begin caressing the crystal ball like the wandering hand of a lover. The crystal ball faded as the white transitioned into a dark blue. Virgil and Tye leaned closer to try and look at it. It appeared to be an image, an image of a desert. Xanadu then carefully began guiding Jaime’s astral form into the glowing crystal ball which happened to be the portal to the future, not that Tye or Virgil knew as much. They were both too busy fighting off the urge to attack Xanadu and make her bring their friend back, who was currently being sucked into the ball like it was a Hoover vacuum. It looked funny, but the situation was anything but.

Xanadu’s hands finally came together as she let go of Jaime, letting him fall entirely into the future. From there, she hovered both hands over the crystal ball to maintain the connection. 

Tye and Virgil listened as Jaime’s manly scream faded the further he fell through the portal. He flailed his arms around as he fell head first, hurtling towards a future so despairing not even he was prepared for it. But this was all for him . Jaime stopped screaming and took a deep breath and closed his eyes tightly. He quickly sent out a prayer to whatever good spirits there were that still had access to him. Somehow, he figured he was too deep in dark magic for anyone to help him now. All he had left was his soulmate.

Chapter Text

The walls of the portal were pure dark, making them almost impossible to define with his eyes; but he could see them. The thought of trying to reach out and touch them ran across his mind, but he opted to keep his hands to himself. Jaime continued falling through the dark cavern wondering when he would eventually reach the future. Just as he was beginning to worry he was stuck in an endless loop and was never making it out alive, he noticed something. 

He had to squint to differentiate the light at the end of the tunnel, if you could even call it that. It was a tiny dark blue dot, the size of a pen tip. It kept growing and growing though. The man could only continue to draw more air into his already overflowing lungs, as he rapidly approached the bigger picture. The closer he got, the more details he could make out. 

And suddenly, he burst onto the scene before him; causing the crystal ball back in the past to glow brighter as it became a fully connected portal between both timelines. Tye and Virgil’s horrified orbs watched as Jaime rolled out on the desert floor ahead of the portal opening. Jaime grunted as he violently tumbled across the uneven, soot-covered soil; before rolling to a stop.

A pained groan crawled out of his lips as he opened his eyelids slowly. Then he suddenly stiffened in realization, he was actually in the future. Jaime hurriedly scrambled to his feet, and was grateful to see that the portal was still hovering just above the ground behind him.

“Jaime! Are you alright?”

Jaime took an uncertain step towards the portal as he peered curiously into the pitch-black void, having heard Tye’s shouts tumble out of it - like he had - in a wave of audible echoes.

“Tye?” Jaime shouted back, in utter disbelief. The noisemaker wasn’t aware however, that his shout had just bought him a one way ticket to being noticed. Someone - and not from the past - standing far off in the distance, now had their sights set on him. 

“Oh my god...” Virgil exclaimed wondrously. He couldn’t believe that Tye’s leap of faith and shout into the portal had actually revealed that they had an instantaneous connection to their friend in the future. “Jaime we can see and hear you!”

Tye shouted over the top of Virgil before he could say something else insignificant, “Be careful!”

“ Tick tock , Jaime…” Madame Xanadu purred, “You can’t spend forever down there you know?”

Jaime glared at the portal hoping that the daggers he was staring had successfully sent a chill down her spine. Speaking of chills, he was only now becoming suddenly aware of the ice-cold air nipping at all of his exposed skin, like a swarm of piranhas. Jaime wasn’t exactly sure of how he was able to feel anything given he was supposed to be an astral form. He had imagined himself floating around like a ghost. He now had quite a few questions burning on his mind.

“How can I feel everything if I’m not really here?” Jaime questioned the portal suspiciously. 

The man watching on from the shadows tilted his head in confusion as he watched the stranger confidently talk into the portal as if nothing strange was going on. Had Jaime known he was being watched, it wouldn’t have bothered him anyway as he was well accustomed to receiving strange looks from others when communicating with, well… strange entities.

“I casted a solidity spell on you. You’re as solid as the ground you’re standing on.” Xanadu had sounded bored initially until she pressed on, “But it won’t last long, so you better get going.”

“What about the portal? Do I need to remember where it is?” Jaime quickly folded his arms tightly across his chest to maintain body warmth. It truly was teeth chattering-ly freezing.

“If you want to get back home, then yes .” The woman cackled as if it were the funniest thing ever. Tye growled at the woman, but his gritted teeth didn’t appear to phase her at all.

Jaime took a deep breath before expelling it and quietly murmuring to himself, “Aquí va nada...” 

Remembering his motivation for the trip, he confidently turned his broad back to the portal. Only now, did Jaime take in the bleak sights the future had to offer. The sky wasn’t even a sky. It was a dusty, murky blanket of dark grey clouds as far as the eye could see. And it was; raining? There were small specks of soot, falling from the sky. How was that possible? How could ash rain from the sky when it was so stark cold, that not even the sun could successfully stay alight. Jaime started walking slowly into the depressing wasteland he had deemed a misfortune to even gaze upon. How could this be where his soulmate lived? How could anyone live here?

Jaime gasped as he spotted a figure zip across the horizon quickly; almost like a shooting star. His eyes jumped dangerously wide as it dawned upon him; that had to be his soulmate! Jaime wanted to try and run after him, as ridiculous as that sounded; but he knew he had no chance of catching the speedster. He also didn’t want to frighten his soulmate off. Living in a desolate desert like this, anything that moved would probably - and understandably - be considered a serious threat to one’s wellbeing.

Jaime tested the waters by timidly calling out into the darkness, “Hola?” Jaime shook his head, shunning himself for his stupidity - of using Spanish when he knew his soulmate likely wouldn’t know any - and tried again in English. Cupping his hands this time, he called out louder, “Hello?”

Before Jaime could say anything else, he spotted the formula one figure again. This time it dashed across the horizon, it came to a sudden stop; but this time, in Jaime’s direct line of sight. Jaime’s lips parted as his eyes settled on an equally as curious man staring back at him. Feeling like an utter dork, Jaime smiled and raised a friendly hand, holding it still. The man whose arms rested by his sides - in a faded, red, raglan, long-sleeve shirt - gave a small smile in return, causing Jaime’s own to grow much larger. Jaime continued to gaze upon the man with dishevelled auburn locks messily arranged on his head. His entire outfit was old, torn and worn. His navy pants sported small tears in them, just like the grey - but once white - section of his shirt. Jaime had also never seen a pair of sneakers looking so worse for wear. All the Latino could feel was immense pity. But thankfully, the speedster looked relatively healthy.

Bart knew it was safe to engage with the stranger he had been carefully scouting out. It was evident from the stranger’s voice, his posture and the way he held himself; that he wanted to come across as friendly. Bart hadn’t seen anyone emanate such peace or friendliness in years. Everybody he tended to come across in the future only had their best interests at heart. Bart had learned the hard way not to trust in the friendly smile of a stranger. They almost always had malicious intentions, and would leap at scavenger's rights the first second they could.

Bart dashed over to the stranger, stopping only a foot or two away from him. Jaime gasped and clutched at his chest as his nerves of steel, became nerves of silk. Bart chuckled at the man he had so clearly frightened into the next century. Jaime quickly beamed back at the man whose musical remedy of a laugh was healing his palpitating heart.

Jaime remained speechless for a moment as he watched Bart intensely look him up and down. Bart was piecing together the odd puzzle that stood before him. The speedster knew the stranger wasn’t from his timeline. For starters, he wouldn’t have been so impeccably dressed, fit and healthy. Oh, and the portal swirling away not too far behind him was also a tad suggestive.

“Hi.” Bart beamed and couldn’t help but look at Jaime with wonder. “Who are you?”

Jaime got lost in the emerald eyes shining before him. He knew deep down that those gorgeous eyes were capable of shining brighter. He quickly stammered to respond realising he had been silent for too long, “My name’s Jaime Reyes.” The taller man gave a nervous smile before swallowing, “May I ask what your name is?” Jaime mistook Bart’s surprise in the traveller’s specific interest in him as fear, and quickly rambled, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Jaime held up placating hands to show he just wanted Bart to stay, and not run off.

Bart grinned knowing he wasn’t going anywhere, and then answered confidently, “My name’s Bart. Bart Allen. Grandson of Barry Allen. The Flash.” Bart figured a name drop couldn’t hurt. Perhaps this stranger from another timeline would know who his grandfather was, or may have heard of him. After all, the speedsters had a legacy that he was certain, stood the test of time.

Jaime may have been too stunned to speak, but his jumping eyebrows still functioned. The response confirmed Bart’s shot in the dark. A hope began to burn bright in his emerald eyes.

“You’re not from around here are you?” Bart grinned, a mirth also shining in his intelligent eyes.

“No. I’m- I’m from the past.” Jaime was admittedly nervous. Every thought was a concern about the first impression he was having on his soulmate. And speaking of impressions, Jaime was majorly impressed with Bart’s composure. The speedster didn’t seem at all unnerved, by Jaime or the paranormal portal. Bart was clearly brave; and confident, just as Xanadu had mentioned.

“Why are you here? This is the last place you’d ever want to come.” Bart’s tone was soft and caring, which accounted for the last trait on Xanadu’s list. Bart was the whole package.

Jaime looked down at his feet and took a small step closer towards Bart before looking up again. In the most tender tone he had ever heard come out of his own mouth, Jaime answered, “I came to find you.” In addition to the admission, Jaime tried out a warm smile.

“Me?” Bart squinted with surprise and curiosity, before giving a weak laugh. “You came here to find me?” The speedster reflected Jaime’s question back to him from shocked shamrock irises.

Jaime nodded before shuddering. The cold was beginning to get to him. He looked at Bart who appeared relatively unbothered by the freezing temperatures flooding the atmosphere. Jaime gasped before internally reprimanding himself for poor manners. He quickly stunned Bart by pulling his jacket off over his head, and handing it to him, “Here... You must be freezing.”

Bart looked at the jumper and then back at the gentleman with awe, “But what about you?” 

“It’s okay. You need it more than I do.” Jaime smiled reassuringly. He really wanted to swap all his clothes with Bart (only because the speedster’s shirt, pants and shoes were almost worn beyond recognition); but the generous gift giver was aware that Virgil, Tye and that witch Xanadu, were likely still watching, even if from a distance.

The speedster quickly pulled the thick woolen jumper over his head and hummed as he swam around in the residual warmth left behind. “Thanks Jaime.” Bart smiled and looked up at Jaime with a readable expression. Jaime could see it was as clear as day that Bart wanted to hug him. The speedster however restrained himself as he still wasn’t aware of the purpose of Jaime’s visit. He still didn’t even know who Jaime was? Or whether it would be okay to hug him or not?

“So I doubt you came all this way to give me a jumper…” Bart chuckled before shrinking in on himself a little bit, drowning in the affection of the jacket gesture, “What’s so special about me?”

“You’re my soulmate.” Jaime’s lips clasped together happily in a small smile.

Bart swallowed thickly as he realized what this meant. He could finally put a name to the face-plate, of his soulmate. He had almost given up on the hope he’d ever see or meet the man beneath the armor. He had technically met his soulmate several hundred times over the years; but in unpleasant Reach-dictated situations where his soulmate was their puppet, and the world was their stage. Bart had never held any of the horrible things Blue Beetle had done against him. Admittedly, it had been hard at times to draw the distinction. But Bart had a strong will; and he had managed to prevail upon the initial doubts of Jaime’s control over the situation. Bart knew he had none. He also knew Khaji Da had none, even as the tool of destruction.

The speedster had always wanted one thing. To free his soulmate; who was also known as the most hated person of Bart’s time. His mission hadn’t always been so altruistic though. As Bart had grown up, he had suffered under a cloud of confusion, caused by confronting daydreams and pictures that were plaguing his mind. Bart had tried his best to explain the phenomenon, and paint a picture of the malicious man in midnight blue, to the one true friend he could count on. Nathaniel had eventually been able to come to the most horrifying revelation of all; Bart and Blue Beetle were soulmates. It had been a dizzying disclosure to hear; for all Bart told after too.

Once Bart had grown old enough, Nathaniel had explained the concept of soulmates to him. Of course, the speedster had been understandably upset to learn that the person the fates had deemed him most compatible with, was a man who was not only disturbingly older than him, but was also the most disgraced household - more like stronghold - name. Fortunately, Nathaniel had informed Bart with what he had referred to as, the greatest twist of all time. Beneath the armor committing crimes of an unspeakable nature, was an innocent man. And not only that, the armor itself was also a victim; a tool being mishandled by the Reach. From that day forward, Bart had made it his mission to free both the man and the scarab. And now, that day had apparently arrived on his doorstep, not the other way round as he had expected.

“You’re Blue Beetle?” The semi statement - rather than question - fell from Bart’s lips as his eyebrows raised slowly, stretching the emotional films of tears and memories over his eyes.

“Si.” Jaime’s own eyes widened, but in surprise, “How did you know?”

Bart bit his lip and nodded thoughtfully before releasing a staggeringly deep breath. With a trembling lip threatening to shake his face until tears began to rain down, Bart reached out to rest a hand on Jaime’s cheek before pulling it away after noticing the soot on his hands. Jaime quickly reached out and grabbed Bart’s hand before guiding it back onto his cheek - he wasn’t afraid of no dirt. Bart smiled appreciatively. “I never thought I’d meet you off mode.”

“Off mode ?” A confused Jaime glanced away from Bart’s glassy eyes to help his knees out.

“You don’t know do you?” Bart pulled his cold hand enjoying the warmth of Jaime’s cheek away.

“Know what?” Jaime’s face dropped - like Bart’s hand - sensing the ominous news ahead.

“I’m sorry Jaime. I don’t want to rain on your parade or anything, but there’s something you should know.” Bart reached up nervously and scratched his left eyebrow for a moment. “You’re kind of like... the world’s biggest big bad in the future…” Bart tried to choose the softest words he could, to soften the blow of an already powerful punch of future truth. Jaime of course stumbled back a step. Aghast was an understatement; in terms of describing the poor man’s face. “But it’s not your fault!” Bart was the medic incoming, “An organisation known as the Reach, hacked your scarab. And they control it remotely. They force you to do their bidding.”

Jaime on the brink of hyperventilating stammered, “I wouldn’t- I’d never!”

“Except you do.” Bart trotted out the response with pity. The speedster quickly reached for both of Jaime’s hands before giving them a reassuring squeeze. The smooth as marble voice explained its owner’s feelings, “Look at me Jaime-” and once the ashamed, averted eyes had returned to his own, Bart continued- “I know you , the real you , would never do any of those moded things.” Bart made sure Jaime absorbed all the forgiveness glistening in his eyes.

“Lo siento Bart.” Jaime choked on his voice breaking, “I don’t know how to fix this... I would do anything to fix this.” The taller man teared up and gestured around at the wasteland surrounding them. In that moment, it was just them, the despairing landscape and the dark grey sky.

“I tried my best to fix it too. Nathaniel and I, we tried to crash the mode many times and failed. We even came up with this one plan to send me back into the past to save you. Because I was your soulmate, we figured I would be the best person for the job. But future-you stopped us...”

Jaime breathed in sharply as tears sprung to his eyes, the dagger in his heart having hurt more than the experience of having his astral form torn from his body. “I’m so sorry Bart.”

“It's okay Jaime. At least I got to meet you! The real you!” Judging by the smile on Bart’s face, Jaime suspected it had been the first real smile the speedster had had in years. Jaime was trying not to cry, in order to be strong for Bart, and he felt like there was fire pooling in the bases of his eyes trying to fight it. Bart was just so admirable. He could still smile, and sound genuinely enthusiastic with an incredible liveliness that you wouldn’t expect from someone suffering in his situation. This man - his soulmate - had a fighting spirit. An admirable, fighting spirit.

The speedster swallowed nervously before looking up to make a request, “Can I hug you?”

Jaime let out a singular sob, as the question dealt a fatal blow to his will not to cry, “Si.”

Bart leaned forward wholeheartedly from both stationary feet, eager to feel Jaime embrace him. Bart smiled as Jaime outstretched his arms, and closed his eyes waiting to crash into warmth. The smile quickly became a gasp as Bart fell right through him landing on the floor. “Oof!”

It was Jaime’s turn to gasp now. “Bart! Are you alright?” Jaime flickered in place.

Bart chuckled and brushed himself off as he stood up. “I guess I fell hard for you huh?”

Jaime smiled endearingly for a moment before he looked stressed again. “My solidity spell must be wearing off! I have to get back to the portal!” Jaime quickly grabbed both of Bart’s hands and linked them together before encasing them with his own. “Bart, come with me!”

The speedster smiled and grabbed one of Jaime’s hands. It worked for a second before Jaime flickered, losing his hold on the physical plane and of Bart’s hand; but both men kept running for the portal. Bart could have obviously run ahead, but he wasn’t going to leave Jaime behind.

“What if it doesn’t let me through it?” Bart asked, as the pair finally reached the swirling void.

“You go first.” Jaime was stern. He didn’t care if the portal only carried one person, meaning he got left behind. Bart - as well as Tye and Virgil who could see and hear everything that was going on, now that they were close enough to the portal - wore a concerned expression.

“No way! I’m not leaving you moded here!” Bart’s protest was cut short by Jaime’s sudden plea.

“Por favor! Bart, you need to go back to the past and fix everything. You’ve been stuck here too long! And I don’t want future-me to hurt you!” Jaime wasn’t sure if this justification was required, because as it stood, they both could still be allowed through the portal, “I’m best equipped to help free myself from the Reach. And you know more about the Reach and how to stop them from taking over in the past! You have to try going first. I will try to follow after you.”

Bart looked very unhappy about it, but he didn’t want to upset his soulmate. He began reaching his hand out to touch the magical portal until they finally met; at which point, Bart found that his hand couldn’t move any further on its current trajectory. In that moment they both knew, Bart was stuck in the past. The portal would only allow Jaime to return to where he belonged.

“No!” In an emotional wave of passion, Jaime cried as he tried to messily wrap Bart up in a hug. His body flickered straight through the speedster, only allowing the distraught man to feel his soulmate for only fractions of a second. Jaime eventually took a step back from the - heartbroken on Jaime’s behalf due to seeing him so upset - speedster.

“Please don’t cry Jaime! It’s okay!” Bart reached out with both hands to comfort his soulmate before realizing it was a futile effort. “I will be okay. I’m tough!” Bart flexed an arm to try and make Jaime laugh, and it did, just barely. “And I got to meet you! And that was the crashest thing ever.” Bart smiled back with the most grateful eyes that Jaime had ever seen.

Jaime’s crying slowed down as he shook his head, refusing to accept the reality before him.

Bart decided to speak softly as Jaime looked down at his feet, “It’s okay Jaime. I promise.”

“No.” Jaime looked up at Bart with a piercing gaze, “It’s not okay. I am going to save you Bart. I promise. ” There was nothing but a scary seriousness swirling in his sienna irises.

Bart smiled and stared back up at Jaime with big, beautiful eyes. Bart was suddenly hurled to the floor by a large blue staple. Jaime gasped and stared back up in the direction from which the staple had come. In the distance, he could see a large silhouette, that was unmistakably himself and his armor - just on a larger scale than he had ever seen. The wind carried along his villainous laugh. Jaime didn’t care if it was himself, that version of him was going down - hard .

Bart looked up from the ground, and could see the determination on Jaime’s face. The slight sound of cracking in Jaime’s gritted teeth, sung that he was ready to take on the beast. The speedster quickly phased out of the staple and shoved Jaime with a heave into the portal.

“No!” Jaime shouted as helplessly began falling through the portal watching as a sad and apologetic Bart faded out of view. “Bart!” His longing cry echoed through the shrinking portal in the future; and it was the last thing Bart heard before it closed. As much as the speedster wanted to stay in that spot forever, he knew he had to move. It was no longer safe to be there. 

Chapter Text

This time, Jaime acted on his urge to try and reach out and touch the walls of the portal. He needed to slow himself down, and try to get back to Bart. Throwing his head forward he messily somersaulted mid-air to fling himself into the wall. The second he touched it, the walls spun around in a spiral forming a staircase beneath him. Jaime had to slap a hand over his mouth to stop himself from hurling given the disorienting sight he had just watched unfold before him. But this was it, this was his chance. He began sprinting up the staircase like there was no tomorrow.

Jaime didn’t stop running as he heard Madame Xanadu’s voice echo around him, “Sorry, but you can’t go back.”

Jaime heard the woman click her fingers and suddenly the stairs melted into a ramp. He tripped and fell flat on his chin with a thud. But that was the least of his problems, he began sliding down back to the crystal ball. Tye and Virgil watched as the sorceress shoved her hand into the crystal ball and began pulling out Jaime’s astral form. The pair nervously traced the path of the woman’s hands as she telekinetically lowered Jaime’s astral form back into his body with a click.

Jaime shot up - back in his body - from the floor. Tye and Virgil exercised speed, clamoring to his side to take an arm each and help him up. Jaime slammed his hands down on the table and stared the woman down with a wild flare in his sienna eyes, “Send me back! I need to help him!”

Madame Xanadu grinned and rested her chin on her wrist, “I suppose I could… But it’s going to cost you. Magic always comes with a price. ” Jaime did not trust the look in Madame Xanadu’s eyes. But it didn’t matter. Bart was in danger, and he needed to save his soulmate, and quickly.

“I don’t care. I’ll pay whatever!” Jaime gestured his arms wildly in the air, giving Tye and Virgil - who had nodded at one another to show they were both of the same mind - the opportunity to lunge forward and grab an arm each to yank Jaime back from the table. They had to seek help from the League. Dark magic was possibly the worst thing they could be dabbling in. And here was Jaime, ready to sell his soul if that’s what it took. Both mates knew they had to physically restrain him, since he was beyond the point of having any sense talked into him.

“So you would pay any price... mais non?” A grin as disgusting as sinful as the abuse of her magical powers, cast itself upon her face. She had Jaime right where she wanted him.

“¡Si!” Jaime lunged forward breaking free of the arm shackles that had been holding him back.

“Jaime, stop! We can’t trust her!” Now even Virgil - Xanadu’s tireless supporter - was voicing his concerns. A gentle hand on his shoulder didn’t sell his point either, Jaime cashed in the refund by yanking his shoulder out of reach. Tye could see the golden wildfire raging around his pupils.

“We need to get help from the league!” Tye was quick to stress his additional opinion on their situation.

“We don’t have time!” Jaime dismissed both of his pleading friends standing beside him pleading. Unlike Tye and Virgil, Jaime knew who was about to enslave - or do worse - to his soulmate. Jaime knew time was of the essence if future-him was as resourceful as he was. Personally, Jaime had never worked closely with a speedster before; so he wasn’t sure how Bart would fare against future Blue Beetle. Of course Jaime knew of speedsters, like the Flash, which he now knew the secret identity of thanks to Bart Spoiler-Dropper Allen. But now wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. Now, he had to make good on his promise and save Bart.

“ Romeo’s right. Time is of the essence.” Xanadu drummed her fingers in rhythm on the table.

In the most serious tone she had ever heard, Jaime queried Xanadu. “Name your price.” Jaime glared at the woman while he waited for a response, resisting the urge to just intimidate her into helping him through a show of violence or with empty threats. But he knew that self-restraint was important. So he waited patiently for her to name her unjustifiably expensive price.

The woman hummed and looked up casually at Jaime, “I think your scarab would suffice…”

The shocking price brought all three men to silence, and their jaws to hit the floor.

[ “Jaime Reyes, you cannot agree to this!” The scarab broke a new record for the biggest hiss.]

“My sc-scarab?” Jaime stammered to the point as he tried to wonder why she would want it.

“Yes. If I take your scarab, I will alter the future and the entire Reach apocalypse will cease to exist. You’ll be saving billions of lives.” The bold woman leaned in closer across the table and shared her suggestive tone as she continued, “And after all… isn’t that what superheroes do?”

Jaime swallowed as he considered the proposition, he needed more information. “What about Bart? Is there a catch? Will he get hurt? Or lose his powers?” Jaime was going to look out for his soulmate in every way, shape or form. The last thing Jaime needed was this sketchy woman exploiting some kind of sneaky loophole in their contract.

The woman shrugged innocently. “There’s no catch. I get the scarab, to do with as I please. You get your soulmate-” she began to waver her hand around as she finished her thought aloud- “in whatever condition he is currently in. And on top of all that, you get a Reach free future.”

Tye reached out and grabbed Jaime’s shoulder so tightly it hurt, because he felt like Jaime was overlooking one small little detail.  “You know removing the scarab will kill you! Right?!” Jaime looked relatively unbothered by the point - to his friends who knew him well enough to read him - but the negotiator spoke up out of the fear he might pull out of the deal.

“Ignore Sparky over there… I can remove that pesky scarab for you, without killing you.” The woman kept her gaze set on Jaime. She wasn’t looking elsewhere until she had the deal in the bag. She would play any trick in the book, whatever it took. She smiled wickedly.

“Jaime! She could be lying! Don’t listen to her!” Virgil’s tone was filled with regret.

“Don’t do this Jaime! You don’t know what she’s going to do with the scarab!” Tye chimed in.

Jaime took the shortest breath of his life and blatantly disregarded the babbling pleas that were continuing to be fired at him from all directions except one. 

“Deal.”

The woman’s loud and delighted cackle was almost inaudible over Tye and Virgil’s horrified gasps; that’s how loud their horror-stricken outbursts were. The woman quickly rose from the table and swayed her arms above her head, creating a circular gust that took out all of the candles in the room; and somehow the light above them too. All four stood in the dark store around a glowing crystal ball as the strong winds tried to rob them of their clothing. Madame Xanadu closed her eyes before reopening them, revealing that unsettling white again.

The sorceress stuck both her arms out and held them at an almost unnatural angle as something seemed to possess her. Jaime watched intensely as her lips began moving robotically below her dull, glowing eyes. “From the future he fell. Met his soulmate in hell. Free him from his prison cell.” Xanadu’s eyes suddenly glowed much more brightly. “Grant this spell!”

The attention-seeking crystal ball took a cue from it’s master and suddenly expelled a ripple of light - like an explosion - that swallowed the entire room. Xanadu grinned as she heard Jaime scream in agony, knowing that meant the scarab was being removed. Tye and Virgil winced as they covered their eyes unable to withstand the brightness invading their personal space.

All three men blinked as the white light faded, returning the room to normal. Speaking of, the first thing Tye noticed was the entire room was in its original format. The candles were all re-lit, the ball was no longer glowing and Xanadu was back in her chair, eyes no longer glowing. The next thing he noticed was Jaime slumped exhaustedly over the other chair. 

Tye hurried forward and leaned around Jaime to get a look at his face. His eyes were shut. A weary Jaime opened his eyes, looking like all the neural pathways in his brain had been fried. It prompted Tye to give him a gentle slap on the face to sober him up, “Jaime, are you alright?”

Jaime swallowed unsurely and for the first time in years, had to assess his own body’s health as best as he could without the assistance of Khaji Da. “Si.” Jaime unsurely stood up, noting that he could definitely feel the absence of the scarab under his shirt, as well as a dash of pain.

“We need to get you to the medbay.” Tye inhaled anticipating Jaime’s stubborn disagreement.

“I’m not going anywhere!” Jaime turned to face Madame Xanadu with the world’s angriest glare as she expected. His grip threatened to dent her tabletop as he spoke slowly, “Where is Bart?”

Suddenly, Jaime’s eyes glazed as a daydream settled in. Zoning out to concentrate on the picture, Jaime could see him. It was Bart. He was lying on the ground unconscious in a blend of dead leaves and small twigs. There was green shrubbery protectively surrounding him. And all it reminded Jaime of, was the first time he had laid eyes on those fern-green irises in the dark future. Speaking of dark, despite it being nighttime wherever Bart was, there was a distant source of light illuminating the area. The biggest realisation of all, was that it was now all official, Bart was his soulmate. Jaime had now had a soul-flash to prove it.

“Bart…” Jaime whispered longingly as he admired the man still proudly sporting his jacket, and that’s when he noticed it. There were smears of dirt and tears in his jacket. It was only a matter of time before he noticed that Bart’s face and hands were covered in bleeding cuts and bruises.

The soul-flash began to fade away as reality led Jaime back with a bread crumb trail of blinks. And soon, the furious eyes of a scorned man were back on Xanadu, “Where is he?!”

Xanadu leaned back in her chair ever slightly before purring earnestly, “I don’t know. He would be geographically located wherever he was in the future. But you’ll be able to find him now with your soul-flashes. You’re welcome.”

“Are you kidding me!” Jaime shrieked as he brought his fists down on the table, causing the base of the crystal ball to rattle. “He’s injured! I don’t have time to wait for these soul-flashes to help me find him! If anything happens to him- You know what! I don’t have time for this!” Jaime spun around and stormed out of the store without a care.

Tye’s sneakers clumped against the carpet until the slam of the door signified him exiting the shambly store to chase after his best friend. Virgil tried for a warning, “We’ll be back.”

The woman simply grinned and folded her left leg over her right before calmly responding, “Au revoir Monsieur.” She gave a cheeky wave of goodbye as Virgil turned and left.

The two men caught up to Jaime who was running back to Tye’s place. The wind whipping past his ears wasn’t loud enough to silence his thoughts. He figured getting back to the nearest Zeta tube would be the best idea. The League would be able to help find him the fastest.

“Jaime!” Tye panted, “Where are you going? Have you even got a plan?”

“I’m going to Zeta to the cave and get some help to find Bart!” Jaime’s sights were stuck ahead of him. “Bart’s injured and he might need medical attention!”

Tye groaned at Jaime’s impatience, “Well if you stop running I could help you!”

Jaime skidded to a halt on the sidewalk and turned to face Tye but his eyes were already closed. Jaime and Virgil both stepped back as an orange astral form expanded from Tye’s core. Xanadu had pulled out a replica of Jaime with her magics, but Tye’s powers provided a different kind of astral form, one that was faceless and had a generic anatomy.

The orange hand scooped up Jaime and Virgil, squeezing them together like a snake around its prey. Except in this scenario, both victims knew they were safe - uncomfortable, but safe.

Jaime breathed a sigh of relief as Tye began running them to the nearest Zeta tube. Each step caused an unpleasant thunderous boom, but Jaime couldn’t bring himself to care. Each boom was one large stride closer to the tube they needed to get to. Usually Tye would try his best to avoid using his powers in his hometown, but his best friend was desperate - so risking waking everyone up with the miniature tremors his giant self made was a necessary evil.

Virgil whined, “He always grabs too tightly! No matter how many times I complain to him!”

Jaime opened his mouth to respond when he suddenly had another soul-flash. This time, Jaime could see Bart from a different angle. His eyes darted away from his soulmate to try and observe his surroundings more. There were many pine trees, whose branches were overlapping with one another and were shaking hands in the nighttime breeze. There was something oddly familiar about the trees basked in a distant source of light. His brain desperately grasped at straws as it searched his memories.

Jaime looked up and parted his lips slightly in a relieved smile, “I know where he is!”

“Great!” Virgil croaked from his crushed windpipe, “Where is he?”

“He’s at the base of Mount Justice! I recognized the trees!” Jaime was so glad to see his explanation come at the time that Tye was shrinking down to regular size again. He could already spot the zeta tube calling his name. It was disguised as a telephone booth, stationed in the middle of the street in a secluded alcove.

Once all three were on the ground again, they continued running past the brickwork to the box. Jaime went first of course, charging into the rickety booth sporting an ‘Out of Order' sign. He intrinsically looked up as the iris scanner in the ceiling did it’s job.

“Recognized. Blue Beetle. B-23.” The familiar tone rang in his ears, but something else struck him as he began teleporting. In his haste to leave Madame Xanadu’s shop, he hadn’t even seen his scarab or what she had done with it. If only he had had the time to interrogate her further regarding her intended use of it. Jaime hoped she wasn’t deranged enough to let Khaji Da fuse with her. Surely she wouldn’t. She would know enough about the scarab to understand its use would require her to be willing to sacrifice her powers since it wasn’t compatible with magic.

Jaime didn't bother waiting for his friends and ran out of the cylindrical tube towards the nearest exit. On his way, he passed the den mother of the cave, Red Tornado.

The shiny, red robot inched ever slightly to face Jaime before raising a hand, “Greetings Blue-”

Jaime didn’t stop running to acknowledge the Leaguer. “Open the bay doors now!”

Red Tornado pivoted towards Jaime as he ran straight past, before casually responding, “Okay.”

“Jaime wait!” Tye began running after him, “We have to tell the League about Xanadu!”

“You do it! I have to find Bart!” Jaime waved a disinterested hand over his shoulder as he ran.

Tye gave up on running after Jaime and instead decided to ask Red Tornado where Dick was.

Meanwhile, Jaime began sprinting even harder towards the mechanical whirring of the bay doors opening. His arms swung by his sides as he veered sharply to the right. He knew that the piers of Happy Harbor were likely the source of the distant light on the trees he had seen. Bart must have been near the beginning of the forest sprinkled around - and on - the mountain.

As soon as Jaime’s feet hit the dirt, something primitive awoke in him. All his senses heightened as he bolted through the trees. Considering the steep slope he was speeding down, he was fortunate enough to successfully keep his balance - not to mention fall over on any of the trip-able obstacles offered up by the forest floor.

He could hear his heart beating in his chest, when all he wanted to hear was Bart’s. The trees were starting to look similar to that of the ones that had been near Bart. He knew he was close.

“Bart!” Jaime continued to shout into the trees, hoping Bart could hear him. After a few minutes, Jaime stopped calling to give his voice a rest, but continued searching.

In the distance, Bart’s eyelids were scrunching but they weren’t sure why. Someone was calling his name. Someone familiar. Jaime. Future. Blue Beetle. Blue Beetle about to kill him. Bart gasped as he shot up and acted accordingly, based on the last thing he had seen before he had suddenly blacked out. He scrambled backwards and hit his head on the solid trunk of a tree.

“Ow!” His hand couldn’t get up to rub the bump quick enough. Suddenly, his hand drooped in relaxation as a soul-flash set in whilst his eyes were closed. He could see Jaime. His Jaime. Good Jaime. He appeared to be near if the similar surroundings were of any indication.

Bart opened his eyes and called out to Jaime from the ground, still feeling a bit battered and bruised, “Jaime?!” A smile spread across his face despite the aches he felt. How could he not smile? He had finally gotten a soul-flash of his Jaime. A special one. One actually worth cherishing. He knew that Jaime was coming to rescue him, like he had promised.

Jaime’s head lifted when he heard it. He sharply let out a singular, deliriously happy breath. Bart was alive. With a tone saturated in relief, but still a splash of concern, Jaime shouted back, “Where are you?”

“I’m over here!” Bart held out his hands and watched as his speed healing slowly began patching up the cuts and recoloring his bruised skin from black and blue to normal.

Jaime was about to surrender to his temptation to ask Bart to be more specific, but then he spotted his soulmate resting at the base of a tree. He immediately ran over to Bart’s side.

Crouching beside Bart with a grateful smile, Jaime let his hands fret over the speedster’s features. “¡Gracias a Dios! I found you! Are you alright?”

“I’m oak-y.” Bart smiled back at Jaime as he let his head fall back on the tree.

Jaime smiled sweetly at the cocky comedian and couldn’t resist but point out the flaw in his pun. “You do realize that’s a pine tree right? Not an oak tree.” The smug grin pitied Bart’s knowledge.

“Alright then... I’m doing just pine .” Bart waved his eyebrows playfully, like the leaves in the breeze above. Jaime’s instantaneous sigh was as peaceful as the quiet waters nearby, but he still allowed a deep grin to settle on his face. He knew Bart was hoping to see one.

Jaime’s voice went soft as he melted into Bart’s beautiful eyes, “I’m so glad I found you.”

Bart reached out hesitantly and put a hand on Jaime’s kneecap. He was trying his best to forget about the traumatic run in he had just had with Blue Beetle before being rescued.  “I can’t believe you managed to save me.”

“Your injuries... Did I-” Jaime sighed sadly, “of course I did.” The guilty man lowered his voice and looked at the ground. In a down to Earth voice, Jaime apologized, “Bart, I’m so sorry-”

Bart swallowed as he internally struggled with reprimanding himself for failing to fully feel the distinction. He knew it wasn’t his Jaime. But knowing that the man before him was technically Blue Beetle. It just… it was enough to make his brain short-circuit in the moment. “It wasn’t you Jaime. Not you you.” Bart kept quiet as the thought of seeing Jaime in his armor fleeted across his mind, filling him with an immeasurable sense of dread. He fought the thought away.

Jaime looked up again into those eyes he was afraid to see hatred in, “Lo siento. Bart I-”

Bart lifted his hand up to cradle Jaime’s jaw. All he could see was care and concern in those coffee-warm, mocha irises. There was a man before him, who had clearly gone to painstaking lengths to not only visit him, but save his life - just in the nick of time too. Bart’s mind drifted back to the jacket gesture. This was not a man on mode. This was a man in love. He knew the difference. “Jaime…” he sighed before smiling sweetly, “Can we just forget the past and move on?”

“Si. I’d like nothing more.”

“Crash. Can you uhh… help me stand up?” Bart chuckled nervously, clearly embarrassed by the request.

“Of course.” The gentleman quickly slid his arm around Bart and helped him to his feet carefully.

The pair then locked eyes and gazed at one another, enjoying the peaceful breeze in the trees.

Suddenly Bart smirked, “So if I try to hug you again, will you not freak out on me this time?”

Jaime chuckled softly as he shook his head and rolled his eyes. The glitching was not his fault. Bart was such a tease. And he loved it. Holding up a hand as if swearing an oath, he answered, “Lo prometo. I’m not going anywhere.”

Bart’s chin dived over Jaime’s shoulder as his arms brushed past Jaime’s sides on their way around him. And finally, they met. The hug both of them thought they would never have, was finally a reality.

Chapter Text

Jaime was carried away out of this world as his ears were graced with Bart’s heartwarming hum. The speedster was enjoying the newly found warmth of Jaime’s embrace. Bart couldn’t remember the last time he had hugged somebody. The happiness that bolted through his body sped up his speed healing exponentially. The almost supernatural act of ablution caught Jaime’s eye the second he pulled back.

“Your cuts and bruises- they’re gone?” Jaime gazed at the clear skin curiously.

“Speed healing.” Bart grinned proudly as he pointed at his chest. As he lowered his hand, he thought about how he wished it also applied to mental scarring too. That being said, he was proud of his efforts so far to rationalize the differentiations between each version of Jaime.

“Oh.” Jaime scratched at his neck and hoped he wasn’t about to overstep. “I don’t think it can hurt to get checked out by a doctor though? Just to be safe? I can take you to the medbay-”

“Thanks Jaime,” the speedster smiled warmly, “but I’m totally crash!” Bart truly felt fully healed. That hug had done him wonders. But he really appreciated that Jaime cared about him enough to encourage him to double check. He wasn’t used to having someone fret over him.

“I’m glad.” Jaime shifted on the spot before pursing his lips nervously. “Bart we need to talk.”

Bart laughed with a hint of concern and raised an eyebrow, “Are you already bored with me?”

“¿Qué?” Jaime was genuinely confused for a second until he understood Bart’s ‘joke’. “No!” Bart jumped a little at Jaime’s surprise outburst, but was relieved to hear his answer. Jaime reiterated his response several times but much softer before clarifying, “You’re my soulmate. I wouldn’t change that for the world. I just meant... there are some things I need to tell you…”

“Okay… But let’s go somewhere nicer shall we?” As much as Bart enjoyed the sound of crickets and a sea of green, he wanted to be out in the open. He grinned before using his super speed to pick Jaime up without warning. All Jaime saw was a smear of trees and pier lights rushing past his eyes for a fraction of a second, before he found himself sitting beside Bart at the end of the pier. Jaime hadn’t even noticed the beautiful night sky that nature had served up for them.

“Woah…” Jaime whispered, as he stuck his hands out on the wooden planks to stabilize himself. After an incredulous laugh, he complimented, “You really are a speedster aren’t you?”

“Fastest man in the world!” Bart flexed his arm again causing Jaime to laugh softly. The speedster leaned back on his hands and began kicking his legs back and forth intermittently as he gazed up at the star splashed skyline. “It’s beautiful...” Bart gazed up above them with awe, so he didn’t see the soft smile Jaime gave him. “I can’t remember the last time I saw the stars out in the sky.” Of course he could remember, but that didn’t make him feel any better.

Jaime sat in the silence for a few minutes unsure of what to say. What could he say to that? That was the most saddening thing he had ever heard. It made him feel like he took way too much for granted in his life. He was pulled from his thoughts when Bart looked over and spoke up again, “Sorry Jaime. I got distracted. So what did you want to talk to me about?”

Jaime hummed with indecisiveness as he tried to pick a starting point because there was so much to discuss. “Uhh… Do you know who the Justice League is?”

Bart chuckled and nudged his companion. “Jaime. I lived in the future, not under a rock.”

Jaime grinned at his soulmate for a moment before a more solemn expression settled on his face, “Well… I think they’re going to be coming to find both of us soon.”

“You make us sound like we’re wanted criminals.” There was a mirth in Bart’s eyes.

“Well…” Jaime sighed, “I’m in trouble. I did something kind of-” he swallowed thickly- “wrong.”

Only now was Bart truly concerned for the first time during this conversation. “What did you do?”

“I made a deal with a sorceress… Her name is Madame Xanadu. In exchange for my scarab, she used her magic to bring you back to the past.”

Jaime watched on as Bart held the news captive in his brain and tried to figure out how to process it. A myriad of emotions flickered in the speedster’s eyes, everything from confusion to concern. Bart was trying to understand the bigger picture and fill in the gaps in his mind.

“So you no longer have Khaji Da? That means you’re no longer Blue Beetle.” Bart spared Jaime a caring look. “How are you coping without him?” Concern was the only emotion in Bart’s eyes.

“I- I don’t know. I miss him I guess,” he shrugged loosely before continuing, “but Xanadu… she said if I gave her the scarab, it would undo the future, save billions of lives, save you.” Jaime tore away from his intense gaze with Bart. “So I went through with it. The League’s going to be so mad I gave her such a powerful weapon. Dios. Who knows what she’s going to do with it?”

“Well whatever it is… We’ll stop her Jaime.” Bart smiled reassuringly and placed a hand delicately on Jaime’s shoulder to get his attention again. “Oh and... thanks for saving me.”

“De nada.” Jaime looked away shyly from Bart’s cute smile. “I guess we better go back to the cave, and answer all their questions.” Jaime stood and offered his hand to Bart.

“You know what? They can wait just a little bit longer.” Bart stood up on his own and grinned.

“What do you mean?” Jaime wasn’t sure if he should be concerned by the mischievous grin.

“Jaime. I just came back from the future - which you saved! I’m a free man!” Bart’s subsequent laugh began with an incredulous tone, before gradually ascending to a genuine, happy one. It only dawned on him at the moment. He was actually safe in the past with his off-mode soulmate! One who cared about him deeply. One who was similar in age to him. One who he could actually - for the first time ever - look at being with through a romantic scope. The speedster beamed and reached out to hold Jaime by both of his shoulders. “I don’t want to be moded by an interrogation right now. I just want to spend some more time with you.”

Jaime looked back into Bart’s eyes and could see nothing but longing. Maybe Bart had a point. Maybe they had earned a bit of free time to themselves. After all, they were soulmates who had basically just met. This was a big deal for both of them. Jaime knew the consequences of his deal with Xanadu wouldn’t have immediate ramifications anyway; so he gave in to the impulse. Jaime sniggered in disbelief that Bart’s rule-breaking influence was working on him. Regardless, he smiled sweetly and spoke how he truly felt as well, “I want to spend more time with you too.” 

“So… what do you want to do?” Jaime began beaming, feeling touched that Bart was so keen to spend time with him. He was admittedly worried that Bart would have had a hard time warming up to him given the circumstances. But he seemed pretty relaxed with Jaime, at least for now.

“I’m so hungry. Is it crash if we get something to eat?” Bart knew he was completely at the mercy of Jaime’s generosity. Obviously, he had nothing to his name. No money. No home.

“¡Si!” Jaime’s eyes gleamed as he answered passionately. “Anything you want.”

“Great!” Bart chirped happily before he confidently - but deep down nervously - threw an arm around Jaime’s shoulder before suggestively asking, “Ya got any money?”

Jaime’s eyes crinkled as he laughed. “Most food places are closed right now. And I spent all of my cash.” He inhaled nervously as he worried about Bart taking his next offer the wrong way, “But we can go back to my place?” He quickly rambled his justification, “We’ve got a full pantry, so there’s plenty to eat! And you can have a shower too and borrow some of my clothes.” Jaime hadn’t forgotten that Bart had been starved of basic human rights for god knows how long - in fact he didn’t want to know. So he generously offered up everything he could think of.

“Thanks Jaime.” Bart accepted in the most grateful tone Jaime had ever heard. Suddenly, he sniffed and pulled away before turning around to hide the tears that began streaming down his cheeks - but Jaime had caught a glimpse of the light-catching droplets just in time. Using the sleeve of Jaime’s jacket, Bart rubbed the tears away and tried his best to stop the waterworks.

“Lo siento!” Jaime panicked, “I didn’t mean anything by the shower comment!” Jaime awkwardly tried to run to Bart’s front so that he could offer a hug should the speedster want one.

Bart laughed sweetly before biting his lip and shaking his head, “That’s not why I’m crying Jaime. You just have no idea how crash you are!” Bart surged forward and hugged Jaime without the prompt the taller had been readying himself to offer. Jaime smiled and slowly placed his hands in the groove of Bart’s back. He began tracing soothing patterns with his hands.

“There is one issue though…” Bart pulled out of Jaime’s embrace with concern at hearing those words. “My house is in El Paso. That’s like a 35 hour drive from here. I would have flown us there but I can’t anymore…” Jaime knew he couldn’t take Bart through the Zeta tubes either. He wasn’t authorized to enter new personnel into the system; and bringing Bart into the cave would have triggered an intruder alert. Not to mention, they were trying to lay low from the League.

Bart looked aside for a moment and considered his idea. “I can run us there.”

“Are you sure?” Jaime wasn’t sure if Bart was strong enough to carry him or run the extreme distance. He supposed it was mind over matter in this case. If Bart knew there was a generous supply of food and other luxuries waiting for him on the other end of that run, then he could do it.

Bart scooped Jaime up and looked across at him. “Yup! You just gotta give me directions!” 

Jaime chuckled nervously because he knew that he had only ever traveled between both points via Zeta tubes, not by land with the assistance of a map. “We are going to get so lost.”

“It’ll be like a really crash road trip!” Bart smirked at Jaime before the two guffawed together.

“Well El Paso is South-Westerly from here. So I guess, keep running in this direction.” Jaime lifted a finger to point Bart right the way. And the speedster took off, causing an almost hallucinogenic array of dark colors to stream across Jaime’s eyes for a very brief moment.

Bart skidded to a halt in the El Paso dessert. “Would this be at all, anywhere near where we need to be?” There was a smug tone pouring out of the speedster who knew he was close.

“How did you get it right on your first run?” Jaime gawked in utter disbelief as he registered the familiar surroundings. He had always used to come and explore the desert when he was a kid.

“You said it was a 35 hour drive. So I ran for approximately 2300 miles. I know my speeds Jaime.”

Jaime nodded, and he couldn’t hide how impressed he was. The shit-eating grin Bart was wearing was a bit much, but Jaime knew how to knock it off. “Well I know exactly where we are.”

Now it was Bart’s turn to be impressed. “You know your way around this random desert ?!?”

“Si.” Jaime grinned before explaining, “I used to mess around up here when I was younger…”

“For fun?” Bart tilted his head genuinely curious, hoping not to come across as judgmental.

“Sometimes… But also to test out my powers with Scarab.” A dull sadness took over the warm brown eyes that Bart was enjoying staring into. Bart could tell he was missing the scarab now.

“Why did you stop coming here?” Bart couldn’t seem to pry his eyes away from a sad Jaime.

“I guess I started getting lonely when I came up here. I had no one to share it with. I always imagined coming up here with my soulmate but then after a while I just… gave up.”

Bart clasped his sad lips together before smiling warmly a moment later. “Tell you what… Why don’t we come back here sometime? Together. We can hang. It’ll be totally crash!”

A grateful glint gleamed on the surfaces of the reheating firewood, “Si.” Jaime nodded with a warm smile and whispered - as if almost to himself - in the emotional moment, “I’d like that.”

The pair smiled at one another and gazed at each other softly for a few moments before Bart shook himself out of it. He wasn’t quite ready to follow through on the impulse nagging him from the inside of his heart. After all, he had only just met Jaime and he didn’t want to scare him off. And how could Bart be falling so fast? Clearing his throat he queried, “Uhh... Where to now?”

From there, Bart executed each instruction Jaime provided, stopping at several points along the way - all the while sharing laughs together. They finally came to a stop in front of Jaime’s house where Bart finally set the man down again. “Here it is. This is my home.” Jaime gestured at the two-story house, “I should warn you, my family’s probably asleep so we need to be really quiet.”

Bart beamed as 101 questions surfaced in his mind. He wanted to know all about Jaime’s family. He was about to ask when Jaime pulled him from his thoughts by placing a hand on his shoulder. There was a soft but serious look in his eyes. “I don’t know if you have family here and want to stay with them or not. But… you can stay here anytime you want. Mi casa es tu casa.”

Bart chuckled gratefully and couldn’t resist joking, “Shouldn’t you ask your parents first?”

“If they have a problem, they can take it up with me. Soy el jefe.” Jaime puffed his chest out comically feeling like an idiot, but the speedster’s laugh was well worth the embarrassment.

“Thanks Jaime.” Bart crashed into him with a hug again. The speedster could get used to hugging that broad muscular chest. It only made him wonder what was beneath that shirt. He quickly shooed the thoughts away as he followed after Jaime who led him to the front door. Jaime rummaged around in his pocket and pulled out the key before letting the pair inside. 

Jaime flicked the light on and grinned before gesturing around the ground floor. “Bienvenidos.”

Bart walked around slowly - a rare sight for a speedster - taking it all in. He hadn’t been or seen a typical household for many years. It was bringing up many memories from his childhood. Everything from the homey furniture and decor, to the family portraits framed on the walls. He shook his head clearing the memories before quickly amending his lack of manners - not that Jaime had minded at all. “It’s a very nice home.” The speedster smiled over at Jaime.

“Gracias.” Jaime scratched at the back of his neck as he prepared for the awkward part of their evening. “If you want, you can grab a shower and I’ll try to find some clothes that will fit you.”

After accepting with his lingo, Jaime took Bart upstairs for a tour. After selecting the fluffiest towel Jaime could find, he handed it over to Bart and directed him toward the shower. “Feel free to use the shampoo, conditioner and the body wash. There’s a hair dryer in the drawer that you can use. If you put it on setting ‘one’, it should be quiet enough not to wake anyone.” Jaime had never felt so lucky. Here he was in a world where he could actually fret over a hair dryer setting. It seemed so unfair to him. He couldn’t fathom how Bart must have felt on a daily basis, wondering whether each day was his last. He wondered how Bart had held it all together.

“Thanks Jaime.” Bart closed the door slowly and locked it behind him. He leaned against the back of it for a minute and looked around the bathroom. It was so much to absorb. He knew it would take a while to get used to having these facilities again as if it were nothing. He had originally lived in a world where he had taken all these things for granted, but never again. 

He eventually hopped into the shower and turned it on. He shuddered under the touch of the water, having forgotten what it was like. He held out the flannel Jaime had given him in his hands and saturated it. Bart watched as the flannel became unrecognizable, smothered in dirt and soot during the first wipe of his right arm. It took many rinses to clean the face cloth before wiping down each body part. He still felt dirty though, so he decided to take up Jaime’s offer.

Bart chuckled softly to himself as he picked up the body wash and read the label aloud, “Coconut body wash huh?” Pooling a ridiculous amount of the white goo into his palm, he lathered his entire body in it - enough to drown a person. He kept scrubbing away with the cloth until he finally felt the cleanest he had in years. It was a slightly painful, but necessary process. He then moved onto using the shampoo and conditioner per the instructions on each bottle.

Meanwhile, Jaime was in his bedroom madly - but quietly - dashing around to clean up the messy state he had left it in. He of course had never dreamed that before heading out to Tye’s house earlier that night, that he would return with his soulmate . If Bart was going to be staying with him, he wanted the speedster to feel special. He was going to let Bart have his room. Given the dirty clothes and duvet that were sprawled all over the floor, the place looked like a pig sty. 

After making his bed, he hurriedly force fed all of his dirty clothes to the hamper. Hurrying over to his closet, he pried the double doors open like it was the entrance to a grande hotel. His eyes began scanning the clothes - from left to right - that Bart could wear to bed. All of his pajamas were too big for Bart. However, he did have some old sweatpants that were too small for him.

“Gracias a Dios que no tiré esto cuando mamá me lo pidió.” Jaime murmured to himself before grinning. In the distance, he heard the running water stop. He had to pick some clothes for poor Bart quickly before he got too cold standing around in the bathroom waiting in a damp towel.

Jaime pulled the sweatpants off the hanger and laid them on his bed before returning to find the smallest shirt and sweater he had. Below his clothes laid baskets containing his socks and underwear. Jaime heard the hair dryer begin humming away quietly from the bathroom, and he could have sworn his entire face was hot enough to dry Bart’s hair all the way from his bedroom - despite Bart being directly across the hall. It felt weird loaning Bart his underwear, but the shops were shut and there weren’t any other options. He tossed a pair of white socks over his shoulder onto the bed, along with his Calvin Klein trunks. He was done, he had an entire outfit selected. He gathered it all up into a pile in his arms and turned to head to the drop off zone.

“Bart!” Jaime gasped and dropped all the clothes onto the carpet as he stared at the half-naked speedster standing proudly in his bedroom doorway. His brain short circuited and his jaw fell open. All he could do was stare at Bart. He looked so different. He looked polished. Like a new man. All the vibrant colors greeted his eyes in a friendly show of introduction. Under all that soot was smooth, tanned, Caucasian skin. A surprisingly lean but fit physique had Jaime doing a double take. Next, Jaime noticed his emerald eyes which were somehow brighter too. But what surprised him the most was Bart’s hair. The natural medium-brown strands of hair curled around the sides of his face, catching the light angelically. Not at all like before. Jaime was speechless .

“Ta-da!” Bart tried his best to keep his excited exclamation to a minimum as he rested his hands on his hips. “What do you think?” Bart beamed cheekly before chuckling, savoring in Jaime’s inability to speak. But it didn’t really phase him from the cleanliness high. “I feel so crash Jaime! Thank you so much!” The speedster dashed forward and hugged Jaime tightly pinning his arms to his sides. Jaime’s scarlet red cheeks burned like the sun as he tried his best not to focus on the shape of Bart flushed against his body. The coconut punch to the nostrils certainly helped.

As Bart pulled away, Jaime - who had been reduced to the most flustered being in the universe - pointed down at the crumpled clothes scattered around their feet before stammering, “These were- these were the best fits I could find you.” Bart didn’t seem to acknowledge his cheeks.

“ Crash !” Bart used his super speed to throw off his towel to the side and get dressed right in front of Jaime. He knew there was no way Jaime’s non-speedster brain could process the event fast enough to actually see anything - and there was no Khaji Da to help him on that front either.

When Jaime had realized what Bart had done, all could think about was two things. Firstly, Bart looked too cute in his - still slightly too large - red sweater. Secondly, he needed to grab the ice-packs in the freezer. Obviously, the skin on his cheeks was in danger of boiling. Boiling… Food… Suddenly Jaime blurted, “Let’s go get you some food!” He eagerly tore out of his room ready to distract himself. Bart happily followed him back down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“So what do you like to eat?” Jaime gazed at Bart patiently for a response.

“I’ll eat anything!” Bart emphasized, before chuckling. The speedster walked over to the corner of the marble-blue bench and jumped up to sit on it. He leaned forward and smiled at Jaime in a way that was making his cheeks begin to heat up again, after they had just returned to normal.

“Well… How hungry are you?” Jaime could only imagine how famished Bart was.

“ Very .” Bart tilted his head, causing his auburn locks to tumble over his face gracefully like a curtain, over his gorgeous green eyes. It was an adorable look on him. Bart quickly reached up and dragged the locks aside before revealing a grin, “Umm… Jaime… I’m not sure if you know this… But I have a speedster metabolism. That means I eat like a lot. A lot , a lot.”

Jaime chuckled, “Okay-” he held up a curious hand- “How much is ‘a lot, a lot’?”

“Try maybe-” the speedster puffed through his lips as he made an estimation- “seven thousand pounds of food every day?”

“Santa mierda!” Jaime’s jaw was almost down low enough to fit that much food in. Bart giggled quietly at Jaime’s priceless reaction which continued to unfold. Jaime leaned forward, “Seven thousand pounds?! How does that all fit inside of you without you- I don’t know - exploding!?”

Bart shrugged and grinned, “The miracles of science I guess. So does that answer your question?” Jaime rubbed stress sweat off of his forehead as he began to worry about how that diet would be financially sustainable. Bart put him at ease, “Don’t worry. I’m used to eating much less but I’ll take however much you’re happy to give me. But please leave some for your family.”

Jaime took a deep breath, “Alright.” He walked over to the pantry and began looking at what ingredients they had. He also tried to cross reference them with the quickest recipes on file because poor Bart was likely dying of starvation - literally. 

He decided on quesadillas since they had so many packets of tortillas on the top shelf, not to mention an almost full bag of both fresh onions and capsicums. As he hauled the bags over to the bench, he multitasked by simplifying the recipe in his mind. After grabbing a chopping board and setting it down on the countertop, he reached for the largest knife in the wooden block. Suddenly, he was startled by blaring music that nearly caused him to hurl the knife into the wall.

Jaime turned, eyes alarmed, to observe Bart panicking having accidentally leaned backwards into his mother’s stereo system and turning it on. Jaime gasped and ran over to aggressively spin the volume dial down to the lowest setting so that it was now basically whispering music.

“Ooh. Ah. Sorry!” Bart shrunk in on himself with guilt, his heart palpitating in time with Jaime’s.

“It’s okay.” Jaime assured him with a smile. When Bart inquired about the poorly placed speaker, Jaime explained its presence. “My Ma likes to listen to music while she cooks.” Bart smiled at the sentiment thinking it was cute and expressed his approval of the idea.

Jaime returned to the chopping board and began cutting the capsicum’s first. He hated cutting onions and loved procrastinating. Unbeknownst to him, Bart smiled adoringly as he watched on. Soon, it was all Bart could do to not chuckle to himself. Jaime had slowly given in to the whisper of the music and was swaying about as he chopped away. It was clear he wasn’t even aware that he was doing it. Bart could feel himself swaying with the music too, but he was more aware of the fact that he was falling in love with Jaime. First, Jaime had saved him. Now he was opening up his home and even cooking for him. He had been nothing but the perfect gentleman.

“Jaime…” Bart whispered, before jumping off the bench and walking over to his side. He panicked when Jaime looked over - looking as soft as ever. He convincingly blurted, “If you want I can chop up the vegetables?” Adding a grin, he pointed out, “I am a speedster, remember?”

Jaime looked up over Bart’s head with a self-hating expression, “Soy tan estúpido.” It hadn’t even occurred to him to get Bart to dice up the vegetables. He had totally forgotten the goal was to get the food into Bart as fast as possible. He guiltily stepped aside and gestured, “Go for it.”

“You’re not stupid Jaime.” Jaime smiled because he could tell Bart meant it. Suddenly, the speedster grinned and in the blink of an eye, he had every last onion and capsicum diced to perfection. “Not stupid… Just slow .” Jaime squinted at his soulmate playfully.

The Latino proceeded to pull out a pan and poured some vegetable oil in it before chucking in an equal handful of pink and green chunks. The pair relished in the smooth sizzle of the pan. Bart’s mouth began to salivate once the heavenly, vegetable aroma began to fill the kitchen. Jaime walked over to the fridge and pulled out a giant bag of pre-shredded mozzarella. Upon return, Jaime cracked his knuckles as he geared up to become a food dispensing machine.

Working overtime, the employee of the month relentlessly continued to churn out as many quesadillas as quickly as he could. Bart ate them the second Jaime dropped each finished masterpiece onto the plate beside him. Jaime noticed with each glance to his left, that Bart was looking at him like he was a god. And it helped fuel him to keep cooking even after he had run out of tortillas. He rotated through the majority of the ingredients in the pantry leaving just enough for breakfast for everyone in the household - excluding Bart’s insatiable appetite. Bart would have to get by on the same amount as everyone else until Jaime could get to the shops.

Jaime finally turned off the stove top and leaned backwards on the bench sighing. His caramel skin glistened with sweat. Jaime turned to face Bart with a giant grin, “How did I do?”

Bart didn’t answer with words. Instead, he crashed into Jaime with a hug, feeling the fullest he had in a long time; in both his stomach and his heart. Jaime could feel Bart’s head snuggling up to him, it felt like the speedster was encouraging him to show affection. So he rested his chin on the fluffy bed of soft auburn hair. Jaime could tell how much his efforts had been appreciated by Bart. And as if the moment couldn’t get any cuter, Bart let out a soft yawn against Jaime’s shirt.

“Tired, mi amor?” Jaime’s eyes shot open as he let the nickname slip. Maybe he hadn’t noticed?

Bart pulled out of the embrace slowly and looked up with an adorable blush, “Yeah…”

Damn. “Lo siento… I-” Jaime began the attempt to explain himself but luckily Bart stopped him before he had to try and improvise on the spot with some glaringly obvious transparent story.

“It’s crash.” Bart smiled triumphantly. If that’s how Jaime truly felt, then that was a win. A series of flashes flickered in his mind. First, he relived the memory of Jaime offering him his jacket. Secondly, he saw Jaime searching for him when he was lost - after having just saved his life seconds away from it ending. And lastly, his mind projected the replay of Jaime cooking for him and dancing around unknowingly like the most adorable dork. His Jaime . The speedster smiled.

“Come on-” Bart beamed cockily as he reached down and grabbed Jaime’s hand before interlocking their fingers- “let’s go to bed.”

Jaime was fighting off a fierce blush again, “Oh-kay...”

Bart chuckled as he strode confidently up the staircase like he had been doing so his entire life, eagerly dragging Jaime along behind him. Bart dived under the covers with an energy Jaime had not yet seen on him. It suited him. He looked happy. Purely happy. Bart held the covers for a moment and couldn’t help but think about the last time he had even slept in a bed. 

Jaime took advantage of his distraction and stripped down to get into his pajamas. He had no idea Bart was ogling him from behind. Bart felt his heart rate take off like a formula one racing car. The revving of the engine was conveyed in his lustful lime eyes. It made Jaime swallow nervously when he spun back around. It only dawned on him that his usual routine of sleeping shirtless might bother Bart. He rubbed at his neck and explained, “I always sleep shirtless…”

Jaime nervously climbed into the bed and looked over at Bart waiting for him to respond.

With the widest grin Jaime had seen to date, Bart purred, “I don’t mind at all… G’night Jaime.”

Having never felt so naked in his life, Jaime blushed hard. “Right… Buenas noches Bart...”

Chapter Text

The smoothing smell of herbal tea wafted up from the teapot causing Bianca to inhale calmly. In these moments, she leaned against the bench doing nothing but appreciating the sweet aroma of the chamomile infused drink. She could feel her stress evaporate with the steam. As she reached out to grab the handle of the teapot, she was startled by an aggressive knock.

Fearfully, she looked over towards the exit of the kitchen wondering who was at the front door displaying a temper. She was trying to decide whether to get Alberto or Jaime to come to the door with her for safety, but the continuous knocking was interrupting her ability to think.

Swallowing thickly, she called out, “¡Viniendo!”

Once her white nightie was flush against the door, she looked through the peephole and gasped. Pulling the door open she cautiously gunned down the visitor with a warning glare.

“Mrs. Reyes. I need to speak to your son immediately.”

Bianca displayed steel nerves in front of the caped crusader. She wasn’t letting him in her house without a fight. Batman glared back knowing full well what her intentions were.

“I’ll let him know you’re here.” Bianca respectfully closed the door on Batman’s face.

Alarm bells were reverberating through Bianca’s motherly mind. She wasn’t quite sure what Batman wanted with her son, but if Jaime wasn’t willing to leave of his own accord, she was going to put up a fight. She knew Batman’s reputation, but she loved her son and she wasn’t letting him go anywhere he didn’t want to go. She secretly knew Jaime was affiliated with the Justice League, but this home visit was all kinds of wrong. She was missing something.

As she reached the door to her son’s room, she hesitated pondering the one question plaguing her. Had Jaime done something wrong? No. She knew her son. He was a superhero; and even though he had kept it a secret from her and the rest of their family, she knew it was only to protect them. Her son had a good heart. He saved people. She read about his heroic acts in the newspapers and saw them on the news. This had to be some kind of misunderstanding.

After a soft knock, she strode in to gasp at yet another unexpected surprise. “Jaime!”

The man in question came to almost immediately, and so did the younger man he was spooning. Two alert sets of eyes stared back at the woman gawking at them in shocked silence.

“Ma!” Jaime quickly got up out of the bed and quickly plodded across the room.

The woman - whose shocked face was giving Jaime heart failure - enquired, “¿Quién es ese?”

Jaime tried to say something before eventually getting there, “He’s- He’s my soulmate…”

“Dios mio…”

Jaime watched as the information registered itself in her brain. He couldn’t tell what her reaction was going to be because her jaw was still on the ground. While she was buffering, Jaime looked over to see Bart smiling nervously and gazing over at him softly as if almost to apologise. 

“Dios mio…” The woman repeated, her eyes fixed on the speedster wrapped in Jaime’s duvet.

Jaime was now starting to worry he had broken his record of a mother.

“¿Ma?” Jaime tried gently dipping his head in front of her eyes to reboot her brain.

She blinked a few times and brought her jaw back up to where it usually belonged. She caught Jaime by surprise by pulling him into a hug. Her hands rested in the groove lower on his back.

She cooed a sentiment over his shoulder. “¡Finalmente encontraste a tu alma gemela!”

“Si.” Jaime smiled against his mother’s back before pulling out of the hug to see her smile. Both Bart and Jaime could tell by her tone that she was genuinely happy for them. Jaime looked back into the warm brown irises he had inherited, and was glad to see nothing but acceptance. 

“¡Introducenos! ¡Por favor!” Bianca was excited to meet - and hopefully make a good impression on - the new man in Jaime’s life. After all, a soulmate was the most special person in one’s life.

Jaime scratched at his head nervously and held up a finger to his mother politely, before nipping over to Bart - which is when she noticed the lack of a scarab. Bianca gasped again causing Jaime to momentarily look over at her in confusion before sitting on the side of his bed. Bianca banked the question away for now. The speedster’s soulmate rested a hand on his knee before whispering, “Uhh… Bart. My mom wants to meet you? Is that alright? If it’s too much too soon-”

“It’s crash Jaime.” Bart’s smile was somehow more reassuring than the audible confirmation.

A pleased smile surfaced on Jaime’s lips before he stood up and let Bart clamber out of his bed. Jaime fell in love with the sight of Bart in his - slightly too large - sweater all over again. Jaime walked Bart over to his mother and started introductions by gesturing between the pair, “Bart this is my mom, Bianca. Ma, this is my soulmate, Bart.” Jaime watched as Bart crashed into Bianca with a surprise hug. He was glad to see she had chosen to find the greeting delightful.

“It’s nice to meet you Bianca!” Bart chirped with an adorable, glacier-melting smile.

She approved of Bart already. He seemed so sweet in his way. “The pleasure is all mine.”

“Look… Ma-” Jaime tried for a conversation starter, he knew he had a lot of explaining to do.

Bianca cut him off with the question she could no longer hold, “What happened to your scarab?”

Jaime took a step back and now it was his turn to be astonished, “You knew? How did-”

She took a step closer and reached up to cup his cheek, “A mother always knows.”

“Oh.” Jaime was speechless for a minute. “Does it bother you? Does Pa know? Or Milagro?”

“Jaime… Now’s not really the time for this…” She hadn’t forgotten about Batman downstairs. “Batman’s here. He wants to see you… If you don’t want to go...” She trailed off looking away.

Jaime nodded still trying to process the previous shock revelation. “It’s okay. I have some explaining to do. The Justice League won’t stop until I tell them everything that happened.” Jaime turned to look at Bart apologetically. “They’ll want to talk to you too Bart.”

Bart shrugged, “I’ve got nothing to hide. And when I tell them about how you saved me-”

Feeling guilty, Jaime cut off his soulmate, “Amorcito, we don’t have time. We need to go now.” After acknowledgment from Bart, Jaime turned to his mother. “Lo siento ma. I’ll explain everything when I get back. Bart and I need to sort out some stuff with the League first.”

Bianca nodded knowing she had no control over the external forces manipulating her son, and she hated that. She stood aside and watched as Jaime quickly slid a shirt on before charging past her with Bart hot on his tail. Jaime felt like a criminal already, being sought after by Batman of all people. The man’s intense glare only made Jaime feel worse upon opening the door.

“Bart and I are ready.” Jaime sighed as he awaited the instructions he was forced to comply to.

“Come with me. The League has questions for both of you.” Batman turned and strode back to the Batmobile. The two followed after the black cape gently flowing behind the leader’s calves. Bianca slowly closed the door and sent a quick prayer as she watched the car speed off.

In the backseat, Bart looked over at Jaime. He was tempted to make a comment about how crash it was being in the Batmobile, but then noticed Jaime’s face had dropped. There was conflict between the various emotions of brown battling for prominence in his eyes.

“Jaime…” Bart whispered quietly in the hopes that Batman couldn’t hear them. “It’s going to be alright.” The speedster reached over and linked his hand with Jaime’s before squeezing gently.

“Gracias amor.” Jaime felt himself blushing as he continued to use affectionate names for Bart.

The pet name caused Bart to melt, almost literally if his slump against Jaime’s side was of any indication. The taller of the two leaned down and rested his head on the auburn pillow resting on his shoulder. Jaime knew he was about to be chewed out by the League for his actions. But it was worth it. Bart was worth it. He couldn’t be happier to have his soulmate by his side. He knew they still had some emotional hurdles to jump, but right now they had bigger problems.

It wasn’t long before the pair had been Zeta’d up to the Watchtower. Jaime wasn’t expecting Batman to gesture him towards the interrogation room. Now he truly did feel like a criminal. And as if things couldn’t get worse; trouble arose unexpectedly when Batman spoke up next.

“Bart, you need to come with me. We have some questions to ask you too.” 

“What? You can’t ask us both at the same time? Why do we have to be separated?” Bart settled his hands on his hips before tilting his chin up with a stern expression. Jaime watched in horror as Bart actually locked himself in an argumentative stance against the senior member of the League. Batman faltered as his mind performed a double take. Bart’s stance was just too reminiscent of Barry Allen. In the past he had learned to take rumors with a grain of salt, but it would appear Nightwing’s retelling of Tye and Virgil’s story was true. Bart truly was an Allen.

“It’s League protocol. You need to be interviewed separately.” Batman folded his arms and stared down at the speedster in the most spine-chilling way possible.

“You mean interrogated right?” Bart took a step forward and continued, “You’re trying to get all up in Jaime’s grill, now back off or-” Bart suddenly felt Jaime’s hand slap over his mouth.

“Bart! It’s okay… I’ll be fine.” Jaime tried to pull Bart into a hug but he was too busy crusading.

“No! It’s not okay!” Bart made a show of grabbing Jaime’s hand instead, and faced Batman with an even more stern expression, “If you won’t let us be interviewed together, then I’m not talking to you at all. Jaime’s one of you, one of the good guys. He deserves to have some support.”

Bart’s bravery caused the cowl concealed billionaire to squint with irritation. Batman knew that if Bart was a speedster, there was no way he would be able to catch him. He had no choice but to comply. He did also have a soft spot for Barry, and figured that the preferential treatment of his grandson might be appreciated by the fellow founding member. He defeatedly lifted an arm to gesture for both men to enter the room together. Bart towed a shocked Jaime into the room by their linked hands. The pair took a seat on the same side of the table and watched with confusion as Batman stood idly by in the doorway without entering.

“Wait here.” The black glove reached out to the door handle and pulled it closed behind him.

Now alone again, Jaime stumbled back into reanimation. He smiled in disbelief, he was still part horrified, but also part amused. “Bart… I can’t believe you tried to take on Batman for me…”

“Of course I did! You’re my soulmate! I’m not about to let him mode you for saving my life and the future.” Bart leaned in closer with a warm gaze, “I’m not going to lose you again.”

Jaime opened his mouth to speak when Nightwing slipped into the room before closing the door. “Hi Jaime…” There was guilt in his tone, it was clear he didn’t want to be doing this. “And Bart, I presume?” Nightwing made quick work of sitting down on the opposite side of the table.

“The one and only.” Bart gave a half-smile because he still wasn’t too thrilled about the current situation he and Jaime were in. Nightwing seemed nice enough, but he knew the former Robin was team Batman all the way. In fact, both he and Jaime knew said vigilante was still listening.

“I’ll get right to it.” Dick sighed heavily before turning to face Jaime. “Tye and Virgil came to me and told me that apparently the three of you went to see Madame Xanadu. Long story short, you gave her your scarab. This is obviously a serious problem. Can you tell me what happened?”

Jaime took a deep breath and began, “I was at Tye’s place when Virgil showed up saying he had found a way for me to finally find my soulmate. I was skeptical to begin with because I had tried everything imaginable to find my soulmate. But they both eventually talked me into it.” Lifting his free hand up to cradle his forehead, he tried very hard to remember the sequence of events. “Then, when we got there and she introduced herself. I paid her to do a tarot reading, thinking it was going to be a load of bull. But the more she talked, the more invested I got.”

After a moment of silent reflection, Dick urged Jaime to keep going. So he did. “She told me that she could project my astral form into the future so that I could meet Bart.” Jaime shifted to the side to give a small smile at his soulmate. “So I agreed. I gave her all the cash I had and then she did it. I fell through this portal and landed in this-” he lowered his head in despair for Bart- “apocalyptic wasteland. And then Bart found me. We talked and I-” Jaime swayed on the chair for a moment, “ Look , I just knew I had to save him from the hell he was living in. Bart tried to go through the portal but it wouldn’t let him go. And then he pushed me back through it to protect me.” Jaime and Bart shared a sad gaze with one another remembering the moment together.

Nightwing laced his fingers together and leaned forward on the table. “Protect you from who?”

“Future me…” Jaime looked down at the table. He was ashamed of admitting who he had apparently become in the future. “According to Bart, I betray mankind and bring on an apocalypse.” Jaime looked up just in time to see concern splashed all over Nightwing’s face.

Bart quickly jumped to his aid, “But it’s not Jaime’s fault! There’s an organisation known as the Reach. They hacked his scarab and forced him to do it all! None of it was actually Jaime!”

“ Okay… We’ll come back to that. What happened when you fell back through the portal?” Nightwing was trying his best to keep a straight face but he was very worried deep down.

“I tried to stop myself from falling and climb back up the portal to Bart, but Xanadu wouldn’t let me. She put me back in my body and then offered me a deal. She said she would save Bart if I gave her my scarab. She also said that if I gave it to her, it would not only save Bart, but stop the entire apocalypse from ever happening in the first place!” Slowly like an elevator, Jaime’s voice continued to escalate. “I had to say yes! There was no time! Bart was about to be killed!”

“It’s okay Jaime.” Nightwing held up placating hands, “Just breathe.” The former protege of Batman knew the signs of distress; and Jaime’s chest was heaving unhealthily hard.

“Is there anything else we need to know? Anything else Xanadu said?” Dick raised an eyebrow.

“Not that I can think of…” Jaime slumped back in his chair and Bart stroked the back of his hand with a thumb. The speedster hated seeing Jaime upset, knowing that there were going to be consequences for his actions. Bart was going to try his best to convey Jaime as innocent.

“Alright. Uhh… Bart. I know it might be difficult to talk about, but we’re going to need to know more about you and where you’re from.” Dick tried to open up his body to appear more friendly.

Bart huffed air through his nose seeing right through the maneuver. They must have thought he was born yesterday. He knew all of Dick Grayson’s tricks. He even knew his secret identity, and Batman’s. In fact, he almost knew the secret identity of every superhero in the present.

“My name’s Bart. Bart Allen. I’m the grandson of Barry Allen. The Flash.” Bart cocked his head sideways and looked at Jaime as if to say, ‘watch this’. Nightwing’s eyes widened to express how stunned he was. He even turned around to look at the one way glass window knowing full well Batman - who was standing behind it - could see his face (even if they couldn’t see him).

Batman’s jaw hung slightly ajar as he quickly lifted his finger up to the communicator embedded in his cowl. “Call, Flash.” After a second he was patched through. “Barry… We need to talk. ”

After craning his neck back around to face Bart again, Nightwing inquired, “Is it alright if we-”

“Take a DNA-test?” Bart sniggered. “That is such a Dick Grayson thing to do.”

“How did you-” Dick’s eyes went even wider with alarm before they settled, connecting the dots.

“I’m from the future, remember?” Bart squeezed Jaime’s hand to try and get a smile out of him but he looked too distracted. “Anyway, like Jaime told you. There’s an organisation called the Reach…” Bart continued to go into lengthy detail about the Ambassador, Scientist, Reach soldiers, Black and future-Blue Beetle. Jaime only looked more horrified with each new detail.

After a while, Dick began rubbing his forehead for comfort. He hadn’t ever heard anything quite so dark. Even Batman and Flash were completely silent as they stared on through the glass. Both took a moment to reflect on just how lucky they were to live in the current timeline they did.

“I- I can’t believe it.” The Flash still didn’t move a single muscle, other than his mouth. “Bruce, do you think he’s actually my grandson ?” Barry continued gawking at Bart through the glass.

“I had Dick take a DNA swab just before you got here. We’ll know soon enough.”

Bart continued educating Dick about the past until it was time to recap his side of Jaime’s story. “I saw Jaime come out of the portal. At first I didn’t know who he was. I tried to do a speed scout just to be safe. Then he called out to me.” Bart looked over at Jaime beaming and squeezed his hand. He finally got a smile from Jaime. “I ran up to him, said hello, he gave me his jumper to keep me warm. Then he told me who he was and we spoke about it for a while.” Eager to put a smile back on Jaime’s saddened face, he grinned. “I asked him for a hug, he rejected me-”

A pouty Jaime gasped. “It wasn’t my fault, mi amor! I was an astral form, I wasn’t really there-”

“ I know .” Bart chuckled and squeezed his hand to apologise. “I’m just messin’ with ya.”

Rapidly, Bart explained, “Anyway, then we ran back to the portal. I tried to go through and it wouldn’t let me. Then future-Blue Beetle pinned me down with a staple. I phased through it and pushed Jaime back into the portal. I didn’t want him to die in the future.” He shrunk in his chair.

“What happened next?” Dick was fairly certain whatever it was would strike an emotional nerve.

Bart took a very deep breath, “I started running but he stapled me down again several times. I guess I was off my game… I was still overwhelmed having just met past-Jaime . Future-Blue Beetle… he caught up to me.” Bart swallowed thickly and tears began to well in his eyes. “He started trying to put me six feet under… the hard way…” Bart swayed a little like he was going to lose consciousness for a moment before the tears came streaming down his cheeks, “I kept telling future-Jaime it was okay though. I told him I knew he was being forced to do it, and that I knew who he was underneath. A superhero.” Bart looked up strongly, “And that I- I forgive him.”

An emotional ripple surged through the atmosphere pulling all within earshot under the tidal wave. Jaime was crying almost as much as Bart was. Dick was glassy and so was Barry. Even Batman’s frown had gone soft, and he swallowed as he shifted feeling unusually vulnerable.

Bart sniffed, “With each blow into the ground, I felt my life being pounded out of me. I probably only had seconds to live when I suddenly just blacked out… I- I thought I was dead. But then I woke up in the woods and I had a soul-flash.” The tears stopped flowing and he smiled softly before continuing his retelling of the story, “I could see Jaime. He was coming to rescue me. And he’s taken good care of me ever since. It’s only been less than a day, but I trust him.”

“I’m sorry Bart.” Nightwing had implied his apology covered literally every horrific detail he had heard during the entire interrogation. Bart simply nodded and looked at Jaime. “I have to go and check on the results. I’ll give you two some space.” Nightwing gave a small smile before leaving.

Alone in the room again, Bart and Jaime sat in silence. They were still holding hands, and Bart didn’t want to let go even if their hands were sweaty. The speedster could see Jaime was just drowning in guilt all over again. This is not what he wanted. “ Jaime.. . None of that was you.”

“I know.” Jaime’s voice wavered like his belief in the statement. He knew that technically Bart was right; but he just couldn’t shake the feeling that it was still somehow his fault. He had nearly killed his own soulmate. And Bart’s speech about having forgiven future-him had tugged at his heart strings. He knew just how much that would have meant to the future version of himself. It would have been an unimaginable blessing to have been able to hear that.

“Jaime…” Bart used their linked hands to swivel Jaime’s chin so that they were gazing at one another. “ You saved me. Just like you promised. I’m safe now. I just want to move on, and forget about the moded past.” He didn’t give Jaime a chance to respond before suddenly straddling his lap so that he could give Jaime a tight hug. Bart hummed as he snuggled up so close to Jaime that they were practically fused together. It was almost like Bart was his new chest-scarab.

With tightly closed eyelids, Jaime made the admission, “I don’t know what I’d do if anything ever happened to you, amorcito.” It was true too. Ever since laying eyes on Bart in the future, he had felt an instant love for him. He was everything Jaime’s heart, mind and soul needed. And if anything, that love had just grown stronger as Bart had just continued to be himself.

Bart smiled over Jaime’s muscular shoulder before grinning. “Not to worry Jaime. I’m Bart Allen. I’m the best at staying out of trouble.” The speedster giggled to himself as he felt Jaime grin.

Jaime pulled back to share a knowing smirk with his soulmate. His eyes gazed at Bart adoringly. Dammit. He was falling in love with Bart so quickly. Even though that was part of the magic of soulmates, he felt like he was falling fast; faster than most people did anyway. Jaime leaned forward slowly to rest his forehead against Bart’s. Jaime wasn’t daring to make the first move, not after everything future-him had done to Bart. He wanted Bart to kiss him, but only when the speedster was comfortable doing so. Jaime watched patiently as Bart thought the offer over.

The speedster was trying to decide whether he was ready for such a step. He didn’t think he was. Not just yet. He still had some separating to do. Rehashing the near death experience had brought unpleasant memories to the forefront of his mind again. He wanted to wait until they were gone if he were to truly enjoy his first kiss with Jaime. He whispered, “I’m sorry Jaime…”

“It’s okay Bart.” Jaime’s eyes showed no disappointment, only understanding. Jaime gave a warm and reassuring smile to let Bart know that he was happy to wait. Bart was worth it. The pair continued to just gaze warmly at one another, completely content just doing that.

Chapter Text

Barry stared through the glare on the glass intently. He hadn’t noticed it, but he was tapping his foot nervously at a million taps per second. He had seen how quickly Bart had jumped into Jaime’s lap. There was no doubt Bart was a speedster. It was just a matter of whether it was possible that Bart was actually his son’s, future son. Also known as, his grandson.

“Barry!” Bruce’s gruff voice went up an octave to get the speedster’s attention on the third attempt. Nightwing jumped a little at the outburst, which was surprising given his upbringing.

Barry blinked and snapped out of it, “Sorry. What is it?” He swiveled in slow motion.

“It’s official. Bart’s your grandson…” Dick leaned out from behind Batman as he delivered the news. The two men dressed in dark colors couldn’t help but notice his eyes glaze over.

“Barry, are you alright?” Bruce and his soft tone were worried about their friend and colleague.

Bruce and Dick leaned back as Barry dashed past them busting into the interrogation room. Bart shot up out of Jaime’s lap and turned expecting to see Nightwing or Batman. But his eyes dilated with disbelief, and his jaw slackened. Bart stopped breathing. “ Gramps ?”

Barry could tell that Bart had genuinely recognized him. It felt unusual to be called a grandfather at his age, but that was the reality he was stuck in right now. He still couldn’t believe it himself. The younger speedster sped forwards and wrapped Barry in a tight hug. “I’ve always dreamed of doing this…” Slowly, Barry lowered his shocked and elevated arms around his grandson.

Barry slowly tried out using his name for the first time. “ Bart . Allen . My grandson…” The blonde in his costume smiled, before suddenly tears began trickling down from his ocean-blue eyes. Jaime watched the beautiful reunion and smiled warmly. It was heartwarming to see Bart finally reunited with his family, especially after how long it had probably been since he had seen them.

“I missed you Gramps…” He sniffed against Barry’s upper chest as said man’s hand made its way to the back of Bart’s head to affectionately say ‘hello’ for the first time. Barry knew Bart was an adult now, which made skipping the whole nursing him in his arms as a baby thing weird, but he loved him already. Speedsters were a tightly knit group. They were super protective and looked out for their own. Barry just couldn’t believe there was another speedster in the family.

“Bart. I- I can’t wait to get to know you better.” Barry smiled warmly at Bart when he leaned back out of the hug. Barry knew all about Bart’s past, a past he’d rather forget. He wanted to know Bart’s hobbies and his interests. He suspected Bart still had to learn what a lot of them were; but that shared journey would be a bonding experience that would mean the world to him. Barry had conveniently forgotten that Jaime felt the exact same way, after all, they were soulmates.

“Well… For starters. I want you to meet my soulmate. Jaime . He saved my life.” Bart smiled adoringly over at Jaime, who almost blushed under the sheer view of adorableness.

Barry crashed into Jaime with a hug, causing the Latino’s eyes to bulge in shock. It caused Bart to laugh sweetly, and that always put a smile on Jaime’s face. Jaime accepted Barry’s profuse appreciation. The older speedster must have thanked him at least a hundred times.

It wasn’t long before Barry was back by Bart’s side having lost interest in Jaime. Excitedly, the older speedster began rambling at a speed Jaime could only barely comprehend. “Bart! You should come with me! I can take you home! I can introduce you to everyone! Your family .”

“ Crash… ” Bart whispered in awe, and his starstruck eyes watched the word float around in front of him. He quickly blinked out of his stupor and there was guilt in his tone now, “Uh. Gramps ,” he nervously pressed his two index fingers together in front of him, “I uhh- Thank you for the offer, but… I want to stay with Jaime.” The excitement on Barry’s face drooped like his shoulders and Bart was quick to guiltily explain in a compensating but cheery tone, “He already opened his home up to me. He even let me have a shower and gave me some of his clothes!”

Barry tilted his head sadly and tried not to start crying again. The way Bart had mentioned Jaime’s kind gestures as a gift rather than a basic necessity had torn his heart to shreds. Even Jaime felt like his heart had been pummeled black and blue by the depressing remark.

Bart had underestimated the speedster-bond, which is why Barry’s begging caught him off guard. He began pleading like his life depended on it. “Bart… Please . Iris and I want to take care of you. You’re our grandson! I insist you live with us.” The taller speedster gestured over at Jaime gingerly before looking back at Bart. “No offence to Jaime, but we can afford to supply you with the amount of food that you’re going to need. And you can have as many showers as you want! We’ll buy you new clothes as well! You can have anything you need!”

Bart hadn’t even realised Barry’s hands had at some point, gripped each of his shoulders. The younger speedster swallowed and looked deep into Barry’s eyes. “ Anything ?”

“Yes!” Barry nodded enthusiastically. He didn’t care if Bart wanted every video game console under the sun or a brand new Ferrari. He was determined to give Bart the lifestyle he deserved.

“Can Jaime live with us?” Bart’s first request fell from his lips and it had sounded so innocent. Both Barry and Jaime looked at Bart with big eyes, having not expected that to be his first wish.

Barry bit his lip and grinned knowing Iris would kill him for having not at least quickly consulted her first; but he didn’t care. You’d have to be evil to say ‘no’ to those warm eyes anyway. “ Sure. ”

Bart spun around excitedly, “ Did you hear that Jaime?! You get to live with us! Isn’t that crash!?”

Jaime chuckled at the blinding beam Bart was shining in his face like a torchlight. His smile quickly faded though as he got ready to splash a bucket of reality on Bart’s premature excitement. “Bart… I would love to live with you. But... I have a family too. I would need to run this past them first.” Jaime felt incredibly bad for standing in the way of Bart’s first ever request.

Bart had forgotten about Bianca, Alberto and Milagro in his selfish moment in the lemon-light. “Oh. Right. Sorry. I totally forgot about your family.” Bart looked down at his shoes with guilt.

Barry took the opportunity to shoot an icy glare at Jaime to pass along an implicit message. The look screamed, ‘you better fix this because it’s the first thing he’s ever asked for and I am going to make sure he gets it’. It was as clear as day that Barry was not going to take ‘no’ for an answer. And since Bart was seemingly choosing not to live with the Allen’s unless Jaime did too, Jaime was getting the look that threatened bodily harm. Even Bruce - who was still watching from the window - was taken aback by the more lethal looking side of the speedster.

The spine-chilling stare started running down Jaime’s back and made him obscenely aware of Khaji Da’s absence. He swallowed thickly wishing he still had the scarab, because he was feeling very unsafe. “I’ll talk to my family about it right away…” He let out a nervous chuckle as Barry continued glaring. Of course, he hid it the moment Bart started to look up again beaming. It probably didn’t help that Bart then ran over and embraced Jaime to try and subtly bribe him into trying his best to get his family to agree with the move. But what Bart didn’t know was that his bribe-of-a-hug was redundant; especially when Jaime was still getting that glare from Barry.

“Ooh Jaime! Can we go back to your house and meet your family now?” Bart was still keen to have a proper conversation with Bianca and the rest of Jaime’s family.

“Don’t you want to meet your family here in the past first?” Jaime rubbed at his nape anxiously assuming how Bart would answer. He knew Barry wouldn’t like hearing Bart’s answer.

Bart began to chuckle slightly reliving a memory. “I want to apologise to Bianca about this morning. Then ,” he held the consonant at the end, “ we can go and meet my family.” Simultaneously, Bart received two questions from both his soulmate and grandfather.

“We?” Jaime’s panicked expression couldn’t be hidden as his mind went places.

“What happened this morning?” Barry tried for a smile as he showed an interest in Bart’s life.

“Oh.” Bart blushed remembering the embarrassing scene. “She caught us in bed together.”

Barry’s protective instincts kicked in. “You slept together!” Jaime’s eyes were now as wide as Barry’s and he went to speak up immediately to clear up the confusion but Bart got in first. Meanwhile, Batman grabbed Dick by the shoulder and decided this was their cue to leave.

“Yeah?” Bart answered with confusion. “What’s the big deal? It was really crash! Jaime-”

Jaime shouted over the top of Bart cutting him off, “Nope!” He began waving his hands in a cross pattern. “It’s not like that Mr Allen! Flash! Sir…?” Jaime gulped at the death stare Barry wasn’t even trying to conceal in front of Bart anymore. “We did not- do that- I don’t think Bart knows what the expression means in this timeline…” Jaime was feeling faint. Now he truly was terrified at the thought of living under the same roof as Barry. Dios . What was Barry going to do when that day finally came for him and Bart? His legs felt weak, he needed crutches.

“I don’t get why you’re so moded gramps? What does it mean?” Bart walked in between the pair looking to either of them for an answer. He genuinely had no idea why the mood had changed.

Jaime ushered Bart forward with a finger and whispered the definition in his ear. Bart was glad Barry couldn’t see his face. He blushed madly at the explicit imagery flooding his mind’s eye. Bart couldn’t but wonder about the day he knew would eventually come. And then it hit him. He spun around rather annoyed before addressing his grandfather as respectfully as he could whilst radiating righteousness. “Gramps. I love you but… if I want to sleep with Jaime, then I’m old enough to do that. It’s also none of your business. So stay out of it please .”

“I’m sorry Bart.” Barry twitched a little under the awkward topic. “It’s just hard for me to get used to the fact that you're an adult already. I never even got to see you grow up. It’s just… strange .” Barry shrugged awkwardly, but his face was all apologies since he didn’t want to upset Bart.

Bart hugged Barry one last time to show there were no hard feelings before reclaiming Jaime’s hand. “Jaime and I will go back to his house. And we can ask his family if he can live with us. If they say yes, then we’ll pop right over to…” Bart looked off to the side. “Wait where do you live?”

Barry chuckled and disappeared for a nanosecond before returning with a notepad. He ripped the top sheet off and handed the paper - with an address scrawled on it - to Bart. “Here you go. If you need anything in the meantime, I’ve put mine and Iris’ phone numbers on the back too.”

“Thanks gramps!” Bart allowed a smile to take over his whole face and shone it at Jaime.

Barry didn’t like leaving his chances in the hands of Jaime's family agreeing upon the move. Just in case, he knew some persuasion might be in order. Barry managed to catch Bart by his name the moment he was walking hand in hand out the door with his soulmate. “Bart?”

“Yeah?” He turned around with a smile on his face. It was so clear he was happy with Jaime.

“Will you and Jaime please join Iris and I for dinner? You can even invite Jaime’s entire family!”

“That’d be so crash ! Both of our families would get to meet each other.” Bart chuckled excitedly.

“Consider it done.” Jaime smiled at Barry in a way to almost promise him that he would extend the invitation to his family. All he wanted was for Barry to see he also had Bart’s best interests at heart. Barry’s lips attempted a curve; but his overactive, overprotective grandparenting skills weren’t satisfied. Like a first-time driver, those skills were swerving all over the place.

“I’m looking forward to it.” A distracted speedster flashed one last smile at Bart before dashing off. During his run back home, he allowed himself to focus more on the positive side of things a bit. He grinned as he imagined how Iris would react to the largest heaping of shocking news she had ever received. And that was certainly something hard to achieve, given her choice in career.

Back in the Watchtower, Jaime grinned over at Bart as the speedster gently swayed their linked hands together. A second later, Bart had zipped over to the window on his own leaving Jaime behind for a second. As Jaime’s smile started to fade, Bart zipped back over, “Jaime! Check out this view of Earth! It’s so crash!” And just like that, Jaime’s smile was back full force.

Jaime had observed the sight so many times, but he kept the obvious fact to himself. Instead, he stood with an arm wrapped around the speedster leaning into him. The pair continued to silently appreciate the gigantic, cloudy, light-blue orb in front of them. There were splashes of dark green secretly peeking up at Bart through the clouds, much like Jaime who was using the reflection of the glass to goggle over the speedster’s beauty. His smile was brighter than the stars, which were literally right there for comparison. The shades of auburn hair were prettier than any of the colors displayed in the splendiferous sight before them.

After Bart was satisfied he had memorized all the intricate details of the planet floating before him like it was nothing, he was back on track. Fortunately, Nightwing had entered Bart into the system so that he could Zeta back to Earth. The pair of course headed straight to El Paso. After a minute of excitement fueled indecisiveness, Bart decided to run Jaime back to his house.

Stopping under the dimly lit front porch, Bart lowered Jaime carefully. “This is going to be so crash meeting your family Jaime!” Jaime couldn’t help but chuckle at the enthusiasm.

After opening the door, Jaime gestured inwards, “After you mi amor?”

Bart grinned as he slipped past and entered the house. Once again, he strolled into the living room and admired the homely decor and tried to memorise his first ever ‘home’ in the past. Jaime was still closing the door behind him as Bart picked up a photo frame on the mantel above the fireplace that the Reyes family never used. Bart’s sad voice caught Jaime off guard.

“I can’t do this.” The speedster remained with his back facing Jaime as he stared downwards.

“Do what?” Jaime panicked. He could see Bart was holding something in his hands but didn’t know what it was at first. It took a second to figure it out. “Oh.” He treaded over to his soulmate.

Bart looked up at Jaime as if he had seen the light. “You’ve built a home here. A family. I can’t ask you to walk away from them Jaime.” The part about his selfishness was unspoken, but Bart was broadcasting how he felt through the green shades of guilt in his eyes. Jaime took Bart’s hands in his own and gave them a gentle squeeze before opening his mouth to be interrupted.

Bart’s throat bobbed before he cast a glance around the room, “I also shouldn’t expect you to take me in. I should stay with Barry instead of inconveniencing your family, now that I have somewhere else to go.” Jaime went to speak again but to no avail. “I mean… I’m a speedster. I can still come here to see you everyday. It’s not like I can’t-” Bart found a finger on his lips.

Jaime chuckled into the limited space between them, “Amorcito…” He knew for a fact Bart was deeply disappointed. The fact that Bart hadn’t even been able to look him in the eyes during his little spiel was a huge indication. Jaime knew how long Bart had been on his own. And whilst Barry and Iris would certainly go a long way towards providing company, he knew Bart wanted him. They were soulmates after all, drawn to one another by an inexplicable force.

“I’ve spent a long time on my own in this house. My parents have each other. Even my sister has her soulmate. I never thought I would find mine,” his smile widened, “but I did. I feel like we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.” Jaime chuckled at the affectionate glint in Bart's eye. “I’m happy to live with you at Barry’s place, but I do still want to sleepover here from time to time.”

Bart bit his lip before releasing it and suppressing his excitement to check, “Are you sure?”

“Si.”

Bart still couldn’t believe how much he cared about Jaime already. He just seemed so impossibly crash, which is why he couldn’t restrain himself from lunging to hug him by surprise. Speaking of, Bianca walked in on the pair laughing together over Bart’s impulse control.

“Hola.” The greeting came from a grin that was happy to see the pair doting over one another.

Looking up and out from the crooks in one another’s necks, Bart and Jaime blushed at the woman that had caught them affectionately nuzzling in one another’s arms. Jaime was quick to clear his throat and apologise, before Bart also took his turn doing the same regarding the morning’s incident. Bianca leaned off the door frame and dismissed both notions before nodding behind her at the doorway with a smile, “Lunch is ready. Come meet the family Bart.”

Jaime looked up at the heavens with amusement as he was dragged eagerly towards the door by his absolute angel of a soulmate. A wide-eyed Bart was the first in the dining room as his eyes quickly settled on the two faces at the table. Jaime watched as Bart smiled, and he fell in love with Bart all over again. It was amazing how a little thing such as a smile could do that.

With a surprised smile, Alberto greeted Bart with a simple, “Hola.” Alberto leaned in his chair to address Jaime specifically, “¿Quien es este? ¿No recuerdo haber visto a este amigo tuyo?”

A bratty Milagro lifted her head up from her mobile phone to quip, “Jaime has friends?”

Jaime ignored her and reached over to link his hand with Bart’s before lifting it up in a powerful show of unity, “Él es en realidad mi alma gemela, Pa.” Alberto jumped as Milagro spat the mouthful of water out she had sipped whilst Jaime had been reaching for Bart’s hand.

Bianca rolled her eyes and turned to get a tea towel while Alberto looked over at Bart who looked back optimistically. Like the table covered in water, Bart’s face was drenched with the unspoken desire to be accepted into the family. Alberto’s eyebrows reached for the jagged but stylish, coal-black hairline he and Jaime shared. A surprised beam broke across his face and he leaned forward back on the table again with his defined forearms, “De Verdad?”

Jaime chuckled out his relief into the tortilla stained air, “Si. Pa this is Bart. Bart Allen.”

Alberto stood with the intention of giving Bart a hand shake but was startled by the speedster suddenly clinging around him in a hug. And before Alberto could quite register what was going on, he spotted the quick footed man giving a quick hug to Milagro as well.

“It’s so crash to finally meet you all!”

Alberto and Milagro looked at each with utter confusion. Even Bianca scratched at her forehead as she tried to figure it out. Jaime invited his mother and Bart to sit at the table so he could begin explaining. It took a while, but Jaime explained Bart’s lingo; not to mention the seemingly supernatural speed Bart had. It was a long conversation. There were a lot of jaw-drops and stunned silences from Jaime’s family. He made sure to keep the details about the future to a minimum. He was just glad they had all been on board with him moving out with Bart.

Gripping her head at the end, Jaime’s younger sister groaned. Even Alberto was a little drained trying to follow the story. “So... My son is a superhero? Blue Beetle? And he’s moving out with his soulmate who is a speedster? Who came from the future? Who is also related to the Flash ?”

“ Was a superhero.” Jaime corrected sadly looking down at the table. “But... si .”

Bart was quick to jump to defend Jaime’s honor, “You’re still a superhero Jaime.” Bart had been wondering whether Jaime would ever adjust without the scarab. There was a part of him that was admittedly terrified for Jaime to get it back; but he could no longer ignore the signs. The scarab was a part of Jaime and despite seeming okay, he wasn’t. Bart knew it belonged in the hands of someone noble like his soulmate anyway; and if Jaime needed a little help keeping the device off mode, then he would fight for that until his dying breath. Rubbing a thumb over the back of Jaime’s hand, Bart reassured him, “And don’t worry Jaime, we’ll get Khaji Da back.”

“Gracias.” Jaime spared Bart a small smile before looking up suddenly with purpose. “Oh I almost forgot, the Flash family has invited us all over for dinner tonight at their place.”

“And we’re having dinner with the Flash family?” Alberto’s head was clearly spinning.

“You guys don’t have to!” Bart was quick to hold up his hands and show it was just an offer.

“No, no. Lo siento, Bart. We’d love to. It’s just a lot of information to process all at once.”

Bart smiled over at Alberto gratefully and then looked around at the processing faces of Jaime’s family. He tried for a joke, “I mean the food is definitely cold now, but how about we dig in?”

Jaime hopped on board in support of Bart’s idea. The remaining three were no longer hungry and were still too busy trying to wrap their head around Jaime’s series of surprises; and yet, they plastered on smiles and followed in Bart and Jaime’s lead.

Bianca, Alberto and Milagro barely touched the spread laying on the table mat traversing the kitchen table. Jaime had also not eaten much because he could tell by the idle nibbling that his family were a bit dazed by the news. They just needed time and space to process it all individually. And Bart wasn’t helping as he asked for permission to polish off every last crumb on the table. Jaime shrinked in his chair as his family gawped at Bart speed eating the leftovers.

“Um… Bart. How about we go up to my room?” A nervous chuckle escaped Jaime.

“Sure! Sounds crash!” Bart rose quickly, “Thanks for having me in your home. Oh! And for lunch too! You’re all really , really crash!” Bart directed his eternal gratitude to all three of them.

Bianca smiled warmly and spoke on behalf of the table, “De nada, Bart.”

Jaime nodded and quickly led Bart away by the hand. Behind the safety of his bedroom door, Jaime leaned against it and exhaled. Bart flopped down on Jaime’s bed, happy to swim in the memory of their first night together. Jaime swooned internally as Bart stretched around in his big sweater on the sheets before yawning. He truly was something else; something special though. Jaime knew his family had liked Bart. That wasn’t an issue. The introduction of superpowers, superheroes and time travel into their lives had thrown them all for a loop.

“Hey babe,” an embarrassed Bart shot up in a second, “I mean Jaime! Do you- do you think they liked me?” Bart sizzled in a blush and slowly slid under the covers of Jaime’s duvet. Jaime smirked and walked over to sit on the bed before carefully lifting the duvet to expose Bart in all his adorable glory.

“Si, babe .” Jaime couldn’t help but mock Bart with a chuckle afterwards.

Bart slapped his hand to his forehead with a resounding smack and chuckled with pity for himself. He was probably never going to live that one down, not if the mirth in Jaime’s eyes was of any indication.

“Jaime…?”

“Si, babe ?” Jaime grinned.

Bart grinned at Jaime for poking fun at him, but it only lasted a moment. “Do you think my family will like me?”

Jaime reached out and held Bart gently by his forearm before confidently expressing his belief, “I know they will like you. They’ll love you. Like my family does.” Jaime took a deep breath and felt his cheeks heat up a little as he took the plunge into uncertain waters. “Like I do.”

Bart’s lips parted open slowly like a blooming rose. They certainly looked as soft as rose petals, and were almost the same in color. As his lips grew to reveal a blinding beam, Bart’s stem-green irises expanded with happy tears, shining like droplets of dew on the lawn after a light rain. He had never expected to be blessed with the gift of a soulmate he could love, but more importantly, one who loved him back.

“I love you too Jaime.” Bart barely heard the words over his own heartbeat.

Jaime licked his lips subtly and laughed a little in disbelief before looking down at Bart’s hand on his knee. He was beyond elated. He couldn’t believe he had actually found his soulmate still. And to hear those words… It just made his heart hum a note that he wanted to hear for the rest of his life. He was certain that the heartwarming sound would even allow him to endure a lifetime of having Khaji Da shrieking orders at him from his spine, that is , if he got the beetle back again.

Jaime leaned his forehead against Bart’s for the second time that day - the action having not gotten even remotely tiresome - before whispering, “That means the world to me amorcito...”

Chapter Text

Bart was losing his grip on reality as sporadic thoughts surged through his synapses. As weighed down as he felt by the anxiety consuming him - which he wasn’t used to feeling - he felt ironically lightheaded. Thankfully, relief came rushing to save him the second it noticed trouble. Two defined forearms curled around Bart’s chest, lifting him up from the quicksand quander.

“Relax amor.”

Bart breathed out slowly, hoping to hear that soothing voice for the rest of his life. He smiled with embarrassment as he slowly spun around to face Jaime’s caring eyes.

“Thanks… I-I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I don’t usually get nervous.”

“It’s a big deal.” Jaime linked hands with the adorable basketcase and brushed a thumb over the warm bridge of Bart’s wrist. “You’re meeting your family for the first time.”

Auburn hair gracefully fell like a curtain over Bart’s face as he stared at his socks and mumbled.

“I guess. I just want them to love me… and think I’m crash.”

Jaime grinned and tipped Bart’s head up gently with his forefinger. The speedster’s chin remained rested on Jaime’s forefinger like a parrot on a perch. Bart’s parakeet green irises shifted upwards to look at his soulmate’s, knowing that Jaime was about to reassure him with some words of comfort.

“They will Bart. I promise .”

A small grin from Jaime challenged Bart to protest. His paranoia pondered the dare, and ultimately decided to leave it alone. Bart chuckled as he looked away and conceded. His chin took flight to a slightly higher perch, settling on Jaime’s broad branch of a shoulder. Jaime invited the lean man to come closer with the slight tightening of his hands around Bart’s waist. The speedster whose toes had seemingly become super-glued to his initial spot, chuckled and moved forward properly effectively flushing them together - which did make the embrace more comfortable; and intimate.

It went without saying that Bart knew that Jaime would take care of him to the best of his abilities. Bart just hoped that Jaime was aware that he reciprocated that very feeling.

When Jaime finally stood back out of the embrace, Bart chased him again causing the Latino to laugh softly. Looking down at a sharp angle, Jaime grinned as he watched Bart nuzzle into his pecs. He interpreted the snuggle as a comforting mechanism and felt sorry for his soulmate drowning in nerves. He wondered whether he should also mention that he was also crazy nervous to meet Bart’s family too. Sure, the spotlight would predominantly be on Bart, but Jaime also had to make a good first impression.

“You’re going to be fine mi amor . I’ll be there with you.”

“I know.” The soft response came before a small grin snuck onto the face of a man readying to reveal his true intentions - knowing that Jaime still thought he was nervous when he no longer was. “I just like hugging you.”

Jaime could just see the beginning of the grin trailing down his gorgeous soulmate’s face before it dived beneath the small cotton waves that were the creases in his expensive shirt. It was only now Jaime came to the realization of what Bart had meant by his comment.

Now that Bart had seen a part of what’s in store for him during the shirtless sleepover in Jaime’s bed the night prior, it was hard for the speedster not to become extremely comfortable with touching the scarab-sporting man.

“ Gee ,” Jaime grinned, “I wonder why?”

Bart pulled back with a grin and somewhat changed the topic, “So are you sure I look good?”

“¡Si!” Jaime laughed begging to be believed. This was like the tenth time Bart had asked him that question. Jaime brought a hand up and brushed a stray curl of hair out of the way before whispering affectionately, “Te ves muy guapo.” Ignoring the speedster’s blush, Jaime continued, “You’ll make a great first impression. Just be yourself, amor.”

“I can do that.” Despite the confident tone, Bart’s wobbly grin betrayed him. A moment later, he started laughing to himself over the ridiculousness of it all. He could be himself; surely? He asked Jaime if he was stupid without words by grinning up at him.

The more Jaime saw Bart curl his grin up towards his left eye, the more he fell in love with him. Jaime missed the point of answering Bart’s question by choosing to hug him instead because that smile did things to him - like short circuited his brain and caused his heart to fly.

Once Jaime had stepped back, Bart straightened his snazzy tie and tucked in the sides of his collared shirt before looking up in the mirror at Jaime - who was also wearing a similar outfit, but just in different colors. They both looked like very smart, intelligent men.

“I think I’m ready to go.”

Without warning, Bart picked Jaime up effortlessly and ran them to the address that had been scrawled on the piece of paper Barry had given to him. If Jaime wasn’t mistaken, Bart had taken a fraction longer to run the route than he would have expected. He suspected Bart was still suffering from nerves deep down. That just meant he had to take every opportunity to help calm down the speedster epitomizing the two words ‘excessive energy’.

The two men simply stood on the porch of the gigantic house that they would both soon be calling home. With slow swivels, they both took their sweet time to admire the expertly crafted exterior furnishings and structure of the two story building.

It wasn’t quite as easy as either of them would have liked given the sun was setting, making it harder to absorb all the details surrounding them. What made it even more difficult was the lack of remaining sunlight, which was being batted away by the veranda stretching across the entire length of the house.

Bart and Jaime looked along the immaculate front lawn which was trimmed to perfection. There were bushes and trees scattered neatly over the property and a concrete footpath connecting the wide driveway to society’s footpath. As Jaime grinned thinking about the irony of a garage on the property, he supposed Iris would still need to drive, even if Barry didn’t.

There were giant windows positioned on each third of the house. Even the sturdy, Oak, front door - which looked recently painted - stood at an intimidating width. Jaime could tell already that the inside of the house would be very spacious, which would be perfect for runners on the go; unlike his house. Although Bart hadn’t seemed at all phased by the narrow hallways, he had only seemed interested in one thing; Jaime. And like magnets, the two’s sights locked onto one another in perfect synchronization. It was obvious they were both thinking about each other.

The two grinning idiots were startled out of their skin as Barry swung the door open with super speed, wearing a beam as wide as the house. Jaime - who had developed impressive nerves of steel over the course of his career as a superhero - nearly dropped the frighteningly expensive bottle of moscato he had brought as a hostess gift.

Barry chuckled guiltily as he rubbed his neck. “Ooh! Sorry Jaime.”

All the man - clutching at his chest with the only free hand he had left - could do was nod. Jaime heard the active scuffing of a woman’s flats on the wooden floorboards inside the house as he stared at the manufactured light bounding free from inside the doorway into the outside world. Suddenly, a panting woman with red hair in a tight ponytail was invading the personal space of the door frame.

As she caught up her breath, she held up an introductory hand and surveyed the two men standing ahead of her, starting with Jaime. She could see the telltale look of someone who hadn’t yet adjusted to speedster jumpscares. She laughed breathily, and shot a pleading look at her husband.

“Honey, you’ve got to stop doing that! As it is, Lois may never come back here again.”

“It’s hard to remember to open the door slowly!” The blonde speedster whined apologetically.

“Don’t worry Jaime, you’ll get used to it.” Iris was glad to see she had succeeded in getting a smile from the man she was looking forward to getting acquainted to. That’s when she noticed the man beside him, who she was nervous and excited to meet. Her grandson.

Iris swallowed thickly and stepped out of the front door slowly as her eyes locked onto Bart’s. The four stood in silence as the reporter got her chance to note all the details of her grandson as best she could using only the hallway’s lights that were basking on his features. She could see a lot of Barry and Don in Bart’s facial structure, but he had her eyes. It caused her own to glisten with emotion.

“Hi Bart. I’m Iris. Your g- well... you know.” She couldn’t bring herself to say that title yet. After all, she was still a young woman with children - at least, she liked to see herself as young. She may not have been in her prime youth anymore, but she still wasn’t elderly.

Bart didn’t waste any time embracing the slender woman - who refused to be outdone and was therefore dressed as sharply as the three men in her presence. Iris gently hugged Bart back, the one-sided reunion meaning a great deal to Bart, even if it wasn’t the first time he had met Iris. 

Seeing the emotions swirling in the male version of her shamrock irises when he stood back, caused the reporter to smile warmly at the speedster.

“It’s nice to meet you Bart,” she grinned to let him know she was about to joke, “even if you did steal my eyes…”

Bart grinned and bit his lip as he started tearing up softly, remembering how he and future-Iris had shared similar banter many years ago. Yes they had bickered a lot, but it had all come from a place of love. He pressed through the memories fogging up the windows to his mind, and grinned before retorting, “They look better on me.”

Iris’ eyes blazed brightly with cheek as she began to think of a witty comeback. Before she could, Barry spoke up as he gently guided her by the small of her back.

“Come on you two. Let’s pick this up inside. It’s cold out here.”

The four made their way into the house and lingered in the entrance as Barry shut the door, making Bart and Jaime’s first visit official. If all went well that night, Bart was sure to stay.

“I brought this.” The abrupt announcement from Jaime was accompanied by the awkward handing over of the wine bottle to Iris. He couldn’t stop obsessing over whether he was already taking strides in the right direction towards impressing Barry and Iris - particularly the former.

“Thanks Jaime.” With a warm smile, Iris gestured towards the open lounge room waiting beside them all. “Shall we?”

Bart grabbed Jaime by the hand - causing his partner to blush - and marched him towards the comfiest looking sofa. Bart began to sit when he felt Jaime’s hand tense, so he stopped.

Jaime cleared his throat noticing that Barry was remaining suspiciously quiet. “Where would you like us to sit?” He tried for a polite gesture hoping to impress the two grandparents trailing after them wearing grins.

“Anywhere you like.” Iris answered yet again which somehow made Jaime more nervous. 

Thankfully, a genuine smile was forced upon the stressed face as Bart yanked Jaime down beside him onto the couch of his choosing. The two young soulmates chuckled together cutely as Iris and Barry took the remaining couch. Iris grinned and nudged Barry knowingly as Bart had picked their favorite spot to sit, “He’s got good taste.”

“And in soulmates too.” Bart nudged Jaime in an identical fashion, which unfortunately wasn’t enough to bump the red from the blushing man’s cheeks.

Jaime cleared his throat before whispering, “Gracias...” It was clear now that he needn’t have been so worried about Bart’s nerves. The speedster was as confident as ever, and was already settling into his ‘new’ family. Now it was only his nerves he had to keep in check. He was suddenly really grateful his parents weren’t joining them for another hour or so. Hopefully his smooth soulmate would have gotten all the flirting out of his system by then.

“So Bart… Tell us about yourself.” After grabbing her husband’s hand, Iris and Barry were settled on the edge of their seat, ready to hang on Bart’s every word. Even Jaime was fully invested, and wanted to listen intently in case something he didn’t know about his soulmate came up in conversation.

Bart shrunk in a little on himself, before laughing nervously under the spotlight. “There’s really not a whole lot to tell…” The speedster looked over at Jaime desperately for help. Jaime smiled and that alone put Bart at ease. Before Jaime could open his perfect lips - which Bart had definitely not been focusing on - to make any suggestions of topics Bart could talk about, the speedster swiftly looked back at his grandparents before blurting out, “I like Chicken Whizees?”

The two burst out into heavy laughter, and thankfully Jaime joined. Bart joined in shortly after noting how wonderful Jaime’s musical laugh was. Once Barry and Iris had calmed down, they tried their best to ignore the pain in their sides from having laughed so hard before pressing on.

“Anything else?” Iris asked, as she wiped an affectionately warm tear away from her eye.

Bart hummed but came up empty handed. Again, he found himself looking at Jaime. He wanted to hear Jaime laugh again. Zeroing in on Jaime’s gorgeous features gave him an idea. Gazing softly at Jaime and only Jaime, Bart answered, “I like art.”

Jaime was first to jump on the admission before Iris or Barry could even dream of bonding with their grandson over the confessed interest. With a soft voice and warm smile, Jaime gently inquired, “What kind of art amorcito?”

Bart looked down at his shoes and furrowed his eyebrows as he thought about it carefully. “Any I guess... Structural. Painting. Music. It was just nice to see people create things in the future y’know? Art in any form was kind of like a resistance. It was so easy for the Reach to destroy stuff, but people wouldn’t let it stop them from creating. It was kind of like opposing oppression?”

Suddenly it dawned on him. Bart had brought down the mood with his morose reflection on the future which they were all painfully aware of, but were trying to forget about. What hurt the most was seeing the guilt in Jaime’s eyes. Bart panicked and placed a hand on Jaime’s hand before exchanging apologetic looks between his grandparents and soulmate.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to mode everyone!” Bart groaned angrily with frustration over his insensitivity. “That was so not crash of me!”

“No, it’s okay…” Iris tried softly, before giving the blonde speedster beside her a cue to join in.

“It’s a part of your past. It’s difficult to hear about, but only because we care about you.”

Bart unknowingly gave a small smile before remarking with a surprised tone, “But you’ve only known me for less than a day.”

Sounding like a wise, old grandfather; Barry answered, “That’s all it takes.” A grin became his lips shortly after before adding, “Besides… we’re speedsters.”

Bart’s short lived smile stopped when he caught a glimpse of a guilt stricken Jaime who had remained silent since the confronting anecdote. The guilt had to stop. Bart knew it wasn’t as simple as flicking a switch to make that destructive emotion of Jaime’s go away. It was a process. But he felt like he needed to give Jaime a push; more rather, make a plea to him.

Bart tightened his grip on Jaime’s hand and stood up, “We’ll be right back, hope that’s crash.”

Barry and Iris nodded quietly as Bart dragged Jaime out of the room at near light speed. The pair stopped in the backyard. Bart didn’t know the layout of the house and figured the backyard would be the best way to get privacy. Under the incandescent glow of the moon and slow appearance of brilliant stars in the sky, Jaime looked up avoiding Bart’s gaze. It was not in favor of the view above, because Bart’s eyes were far more spectacular than the show in the sky; it was out of guilt. Bart deserved better than Jaime, but they were soulmates, so the speedster had no choice.

Bart’s voice pulled from deep within his heart, where Jaime could hear the blue he could see in the sky. The first words that spilled from the speedster’s mouth certainly got his attention.

“Jaime, I love you.”

Jaime risked a look down at the stunning man; then he was trapped and couldn’t look away.

“Please,” and if there wasn’t something so raw about the way Bart said it, “don’t feel guilty for anything that happened to me in the future. That wasn’t you, that was the Reach. You weren’t in control. That wasn’t your fault. And none of it matters anyway. You saved me! I-” Bart choked back the tears threatening to overflow- “I’m here in the past with you! I’m safe. I’m healthy. I’m happy- but only when you are. I can’t be happy when you’re feeling moded for things you’ve never done.”

Jaime knew that he was blaming the metaphorical gun and not the person who had pulled the trigger. He had been nothing more than a tool in the twisted grab for power. He hated that of all the people he had been forced to hurt, that the Reach had picked his soulmate and done potentially irreparable damage to the relationship between them. As if Bart was reading Jaime’s thoughts, he spoke over Jaime’s shoulder after wrapping him in a desperately tight hug.

“ I know who you are Jaime . You’re the guy who gave me his jumper. The guy who opened his home to me. The guy who dances like a dork in the kitchen to music without realizing it.”

Bart let out a soft laugh as Jaime nuzzled his chiseled chin further into the speedster’s warm neck as a silent thank you. Sensing Jaime on the verge of tears, Bart pressed on lovingly.

“I know it will take time but… I hope you can stop feeling guilty about the future. For me?” Bart looked around at the trees while he waited for Jaime to respond. Impossibly tall trees stood larger than life, having witnessed many years pass them by. In agreement with Bart, they whispered their wisdom to Jaime in the breeze. Like falling leaves, the plea settled in.

Jaime pulled back slowly and locked eyes with the man he had promised to save, and done just that. “I would do anything for you Bart.”

“I know.” Bart smiled because he had believed every word. Jaime had already proven as much  and being reminded of the sacrifice he had made should have made Bart crumble into sadness; and yet, his eyes only emanated a reassuring glow of awe and certainty. “You sacrificed Khaji Da for me. But we’ll get him back. That’s my promise to you.”

“ Amor- ” Jaime tried to tell Bart it wasn’t necessary before he found himself being outspoken.

With a stern voice but a grin to mock it, Bart asserted, “We’ll get him back. Alright, babe? ”

Jaime grinned. “Alright.” There was nothing more he wanted to do more than to kiss Bart in that moment, but he knew he had to wait until Bart was ready. He chose to hug Bart again instead.

It wasn’t long before the two soulmates had returned to their spots and had apologized for having ducked out so abruptly. After assuring them it was okay, both Barry and Iris resumed the conversation. Jaime picked up a few precious gems here and there about his soulmate; but none of them were as bright as the beam Bart would flash at Jaime every now and again.

The conversation eventually reached the inevitable point where Bart could no longer contain himself and asked the question everyone in the room had been waiting for.

“Is Dad here?”

Iris and Barry turned to share a nervous look at one another in perfect synchronization; it had almost looked rehearsed. Iris stole the microphone from Barry who had been about to explain.

“We’ve left Don and Dawn with Artemis this evening. We didn’t want to overwhelm you.”

“Oh.”

Iris was quick to add on a comment in such a way that Jaime could tell it had all been her idea.

“I hope that’s alright?”

Thankfully, Bart smiled genuinely. He was a little disappointed deep down, but he had appreciated the forethought that had gone into his well being; and not only his, but Don and Dawn’s as well. His grandparents were worried about their children finding out the truth too.

Using a tone that somehow nurtured his grandparents’ fears of being poor parents, Bart reassured them. “It’s crash... Just so you know, I’m happy to meet them whenever you think it’s the right time. And I’ll go along with whatever story you want. I trust you guys.”

Bart’s widened eyes relaxed as he smiled after Barry had sped over to give him a hug. Iris had followed her impulse to hug Bart too, she was just slower to reach the reasonable grandson of hers. The two returned to their spot and made sure to steer the conversation onto something lighter. The pair shared some funny stories and reveled in the laughter they were able to draw from Bart and Jaime, specifically Bart.

Unsurprisingly, the more comfortable Bart got, the more he came out of his shell and talked. When Bart had reached the point of doing so much talking that his voice was starting to sound a little dry, Barry dashed off for a glass of water. He of course brought one back for Jaime too; just in case their second most important guest was thirsty. Barry also returned with a question too.

 “So when are you two going to move your stuff over here?”

Jaime just managed to keep himself from doing a spit take with the mouthful of water he had just eagerly sipped. Yes he had agreed to the move, but he wasn’t expecting things to have been moving quite so fast. Although, this was the Allen family he was mentally talking to himself about. He shouldn’t have expected anything different.

Bart went to open his mouth and provide an answer when the doorbell suddenly rang.

“Ooh! The Reyes’ are here! I’ll get it!”

The sharply dressed speedster dashed off in a blur to go greet his soulmate’s family while a disappointed Barry was left hanging for an answer. Jaime looked away to avoid the inevitable glare from Barry that he still found unnerving. Fortunately, Jaime heard Barry and Iris rise to go formally introduce themselves, meaning he was finally all alone. He let out the breath he had been holding until that moment, now that no one could hear it.

Suddenly, Bart was up in Jaime’s face reaching past the invisible pocket of air and grabbing his soulmate’s hand excitedly.

“Come on babe! Your family is here!”

Jaime rolled his eyes with amusement and began laughing softly as Bart charged away towing him along to be present for what he already knew would be the world’s most awkward set of introductions.

Chapter Text

Infinite introductions echoed between the three Reyes’ and the two Allen’s; the awkwardness only dying down when Bart and Jaime caught the tail end of it. The first thing Jaime noticed was the caliber of clothing on his immediate family members. They had worn their finest outfits, and judging by the sour expression on Milagro’s face; she hadn’t appreciated being forced to do so.

Bianca broke the ice addressing Iris, “Sorry we’re a little late. We got lost.”

Alberto chimed in looking over apologetically at his slightly embarrassed son, “We tried to get here as fast as we could.” 

Something about the poorly veiled swallow showed that his parents were still both having a hard time navigating their heads around the map of reality. They were currently standing outside of the Flash’s house, about to have dinner with the speedster’s family. Disbelief was drooping across the faces of both of Jaime’s parents like a Salvador Dali painting. It was all too surreal.

Barry beamed and waved his hand to dismiss the apology, “No worries! Even as the world’s fastest man, I still rock up late to things.” Iris grinned at the accurate remark causing him to chuckle goodnaturedly.

Milagro stepped forward inquisitively in the swaying pink dress before folding her arms together as she came to a stand still. She squinted inquisitively at Barry. The man smiled invitingly and crouched down to her level, curious to hear what she had to say.

“You don’t look like the fastest man alive?”

Iris’s hand reached up to catch and hide a snicker as Bianca leaned forward to scold her.

“Milagro! ¡No seas grosero!”

Jaime groaned instantly. He should have known Milagro’s talent for being a brat would have ruined things before she had even entered the household. It was then that Jaime realized his parents had launched into a Spanish argument with the defensive child, leaving both Barry and Iris clueless as to what was being said. Jaime couldn’t see either of the Allen’s faces to know that they were amused. He shuffled forward ahead of Barry and Iris to sternly tell of his parents.

“Ma! Pa!” 

Jaime’s frustrated eyes didn’t budge, even when his two parents glared at him before answering in perfect unison together.

“¿Qué?”

Jaime tried to lower his voice, but his gritted teeth somehow amplified the two words he spoke.

“ Speak. English. ”

“Oh. Of course…” A flustered Bianca looked back up to Barry and Iris begging for forgiveness. “We’re so sorry.”

Barry and Iris smiled warmly and assured them it was alright. The Flash, who was still crouched by Milagro, looked back at the young girl before picking up where their conversation had left off.

“I’ll prove to you I’m the fastest man alive,” he grinned wide, “watch this.”

Milagro blinked and noticed the slight blur before the large man had returned and was now holding out a handful full of bright and colorful hair bands. He had obviously taken note of the two pink hair bands threatening to snap around the two identical charcoal pigtails on either side of her head. Her face morphed into the definition of wonder as she reached out and took the assortment of accessories. It took a moment before she ate her doubts and complimented him.

“That is awesome…”

Like a shooting star, a selfish idea streaked across the girl's mind and her eyes widened with optimism. A mischievous grin bubbled onto her face in the hopes it would trap Barry.

“Can I have more?”

Barry went to speak before Bianca stepped forward and wrapped a hand over the girl's shoulder. The grip suggested a scold was coming and Milagro predicted her mother’s words.

“That’s enough Milagro.”

Feeling outdone already in terms of acts of kindness, Alberto shuffled forward slightly and handed over an expensive wine bottle to Barry. The blonde man rotated the misty midnight bottle in his hands to read the label before nodding deeply with genuine approval.

“Wow. That’s a very nice wine,” he chuckled incredulously, “Thanks Alberto. Come in! All of you.”

Milagro dashed forward to shower Barry in questions as he led the pack towards the living room to be seated at the dining room table. Bart and Jaime followed along at the very back, only because Jaime was walking slowly. It was obvious to Bart that Jaime was preoccupied worrying about the impression his family would make on Bart’s. It made the speedster laugh quietly to himself; not that Jaime noticed. The taller of the two did notice a warm hand slide into his own.

Jaime looked over to see a reassuring smile that somehow made him smile when he thought it impossible. And that smile only grew when the speedster linked his fingers with Jaime’s.

“As a wise man once told me,” he rolled his head toward Jaime with a grin before attempting to mock his voice, “Relax amor .”

Jaime grinned down at Bart and rolled his eyes, “You sound nothing like me amor .”

“ God… ” Bart shuddered slightly before making a comment that was dripping in jealousy. “It really does sound so much better coming from you.”

The physical and verbal complement caused Jaime to go red. Unfortunately, they both had arrived at the table where all sets of eyes were now on their linked hands. Jaime was not used to the attention; and judging from the blush simmering on Bart’s cheeks, he wasn’t either.

The two sat beside one another on the last two available chairs. The square table seated eight, meaning a vacant chair sat beside Milagro, not that she seemed to mind. She instantly turned it into her own personal playground. It didn’t take long for Alberto to lean over and tell her off.

Barry’s fiery blonde hair that was catching the light almost blinded Bart at the perfect angle as he turned his head to Jaime’s parents. Bart watched in slow motion as Bianca and Alberto’s postures both straightened up; them having anticipated an upcoming question.

“What would you like for dinner?”

The Reyes parents looked at one another with vacant expressions. Iris quickly heaved the grin off her lips and elaborated on behalf of her husband’s implicit line of thinking.

“We didn’t actually prepare any food for you in advance. Because Barry’s a speedster,” she coyly raised a hand to cover her mouth from Barry’s line of sight before whispering, “and he wants an excuse to show off…” Iris chuckled at the predictable mortified expression that rained over her husband's face before continuing at a normal volume. “We decided to wait until you arrived and ask what you were in the mood for. Barry can fetch any meal you want in the blink of an eye.” The woman dipped her head with a satisfied expression to conclude the lecture.

After a few blinks between the surprised married couple, Bianca broke the silence.

“We don’t mind. Honestly, anything would be fine.”

Bart piped up enthusiastically with his adorable voice, “I know what I want!”

Jaime grinned as he looked over at his soulmate’s soft smile. He couldn’t help but snigger when Iris pointedly reminded him that he wasn’t their guest. Jaime decided to give him some leeway.

“What do you want amo- amigo?”

The speedster smirked as Jaime went red as he choked down the pet name in front of Barry.

“I’m in the mood for a pizza!”

Bianca figured she would jump on board with the idea and nodded eagerly whilst replying, “That sounds nice.” She couldn't say she was particularly hungry at all, but a pizza would suffice. She also felt like it might be polite to try and save Barry the effort of going to more than one place.

Barry started a chain reaction of confirmation as he went around the table finishing with his wife. He now knew that everyone was happy to have pizza, and had mentally recorded all the flavors.

The fit man made a show of rising from his seat wearing a classic Allen grin before remarking his infamous slogan, “I’ll be back in a Flash!” He hadn’t seen Iris mouth the words from one too many front-row seats to the same show, but Bart and Jaime had. They both shared a grin.

Less than a second later, the entire table was steaming from all of the fresh pizza slices dished out perfectly on each person’s plate. The jaws of the guests mouths flapped open like the pizza box Barry was shutting to conclude his dinner run. Milagro was the first to break free from her stunned stupor, before praising Barry in Spanish. The girl’s parents remained frozen like statues.

“Dig in while it’s hot!”

Without questioning the superhero, the Reyes clan began slowly lifting their respective pizza slices to their mouths distractedly; trying to understand how the physics behind their own personal delivery man had worked. Not to mention how he had gotten the pizzas cooked so quickly? 

Bart however, began speed eating pizza slices, each triangle disappearing into the mysterious black hole that was his stomach. The second Jaime noticed his parents had stopped eating to stare in horror, he reached down discreetly and squeezed Bart’s kneecap. The speedster turned to Jaime with a full mouth of toppings ready to burst from his lips, before ineloquently speaking.

“Hm? Wassup?”

The innocent tone matched his eyes. It took a second of reading Jaime’s face and a glance to the seats adjacent from him to realize. He swallowed thickly.

“Oh.”

The speedster slowly sunk a little deeper into his chair with guilt as he continued to eat a regular pace. It certainly seemed to help Bianca and Alberto pick up from their last bites. That was until they were finished and there still seemed to be an awkwardness roaming in the air, dancing with the aroma of freshly grilled mozzarella. That’s when it all began. Barry offered to open the two bottles of wine that had been brought. Of course, once those were polished off, the fastest man alive became the most generous one, dipping into his own personal collection of prized alcohol.

The next thing Jaime knew, his parents were getting along with Barry and Iris like it was nothing. The conversation flowed peacefully like a river of water. Jaime knew the alcohol was the only thing loosening them up. That being said, they did appear to be enjoying Barry’s stories.

“Here’s a fun fact about me. I was temporarily banned from a city on the West Coast… but I won’t say where…” Barry chuckled mischievously as Alberto and Bianca ate out of his hand.

Alberto scratched his head with an amused and intrigued grin. “But you’re a superhero… Why would they ban you from their city?”

“Let’s just say when I ran this particular mayor to safety, his toupee came off…”

Alberto and Bianca crumbled into laughter as they used their imagination to paint the picture.

Bart leaned over and quietly whispered to Jaime, “That sounds like it would have been a hairy situation. Hairy …” His voice raised an octave as he gently nudged Jaime. “Get it?”

Jaime squinted unamused, for the joke was truly terrible. Bart chuckled before cozying up to Jaime’s side and giving the Latino no choice but to forgive him. Jaime couldn’t stand how adorable Bart was. One flash of that smile was all it took to melt his resolve.

“It’s also the same reason I don’t wear dresses anymore…” Iris tilted her head causing her arm to dip and slosh the fortuitously low level of wine around in her glass. 

“Yeah... I came to visit my beautiful wife at work once,” the cheeky tone laid on thicker than gravy thinned a little, “and let's just say they had to cut that section of the news report.”

The subsequent laughter shared by all, broke into two different conversations. Bianca, Milagro and Iris were talking about their favorite soap operas; whereas Alberto and Barry were talking about cars. Apparently, the Hispanic mechanic was curious to know what car the human Ferrari would have chosen if he were a non-speedster. Jaime began slipping into the surprisingly interesting conversation himself when Bart pulled him back out by gently tugging at the cuff of his sleeve.

“Uh Jaime… Can we talk?”

Jaime took a moment to turn his full attention over to Bart before caringly answering, “Si.”

Bianca’s raised voice caught everyone’s attention, “You want to hear a funny story? Let me tell you about this one.” Bianca drunkenly pointed over at Jaime with her thumb wearing a dangerous grin on her lips. The placemat slipped little underneath her elbow causing her to laugh. Jaime did not like where this was going. Whatever the story was, Jaime didn’t care to relive it.

“Alright!” Jaime stood up forcing Bart’s weak grip on his forearm to break. “That’s enough alcohol.” As if he were the parent of his parents, he reached into the middle of the table and removed the remaining bottles of wine chanting for good times all round.

“It’s hard when it tastes so good.” The woman’s glasses somehow seemed to curve with Bianca’s genuine smile. “Truly Barry, this is some wonderful wine.”

An eager, little hand shot up towards the sky before looking to the gods that could grant her the parental permission necessary for such a request. “Ooh! Can I try some?”

“No!”

Jaime grinned seeing a shred of his parent’s true, sober selves seep back into them. Milagro folded her arms and slumped in her chair frowning immaturely. The conversation trickled for a few more minutes before Milagro ironically became the saving grace Jaime had been looking for.

All heads at the table turned as the youngest person in the room stretched her arms and yawned. It was pretty rare Jaime found his sister adorable anymore, but the slight dip of her head as she began involuntarily nodding off reminded him of past days long gone.

“It’s getting late. I think we should be getting home.”

Bianca rose with her husband and rolled her eyes as her husband lost his footing and nearly tripped. Neither of them had that much liquor since they were Jaime’s age.

“Ma, I don’t think either of you are in any condition to drive. I’ll drive you home.”

It wasn’t a matter of thinking, Jaime knew neither of his parents could safely drive home. He was cautious about he worded the request as an offer though, because they were after all his parents who - if the past indicated correctly - didn’t appreciate having their integrity challenged.

“Gracias Jaime. Eres un buen hijo.”

Bianca walked up to her son and reached up to cradle his chiseled jaw-line appreciatively.

“Can I come with you?”

Jaime swiveled to face Bart, temporarily having forgotten he had recently requested a private discussion. He smiled warmly to convey his answer in advance but got off before he could deliver it in person. A certain superhero was worried that if his grandson left, that he wouldn't return. And Bart wasn’t the only speedster who wanted a moment alone to talk with Jaime.

“Actually,” Barry took a large stride forward into the group to implicitly assert his independence before continuing, “Why don’t I take you three home? That way Jaime and Bart can stay here and start setting themselves up for the evening.” The tall man mentally crossed his fingers.

Bianca and Alberto simply smiled and nodded. Swift wasn’t even fair to describe how quickly Barry had explained his plan so as to lay it concrete before anyone could change their mind. The blonde speedster hoisted a sleepy Milagro gently into his arms and disappeared for a second before returning to announce that he had tucked her into bed. Next to be carried bridal style was Bianca, who was grinning with the anticipation of discovering what it was like to move at the speed of light. When Barry returned, he hoisted Alberto into his arms in a similar fashion before disappearing yet again in a way that Jaime wasn’t sure he could ever get used to. Iris left the room with the dishes in hand to stack in the kitchen sink, leaving the two soulmates alone.

Jaime cleared his throat uncomfortably and quickly grabbed one of the wine bottles he had confiscated earlier from his parents. Talented fingers unscrewed the lid in a blink. Bart chuckled with confusion as he watched Jaime skull the remainder of the bottle like a professional.

Leaning on the upper rim of the dining chair grinning, Bart inquired, “Everything okay babe?”

“I just never thought I’d see my father,” Jaime took a deep breath with eyes as wide as a bottle cap, “in the arms of another man…”

There was something so incredulous about the way that Jaime had said it, that had Bart clutching his stomach from laughing so hard. He even had to wipe a tear from his eye.

“Other than that,” he lowered the empty bottle with mercy, “I think things went pretty well.”

“Your parents were very crash babe. I think both of our families really like each other!” 

Bart rested his hands happily on his hips before they fell so that he could naturally walk the short distance to Jaime. He opened his mouth to speak which was the exact second he felt his hair rustled by the gust of wind signifying Barry’s return. Bart’s lips self-sealed.

A giant beam broke the good news to Jaime, “They’re all home safely Jaime! And can I say, it was really nice meeting your family. They’re all very sweet. Especially Milagro.”

“Gracias.” Jaime grinned as he tried to recall how many drinks Barry had consumed over the course of the evening. The unwarranted compliment aside, the realization soon sunk in that because of Barry’s speedster metabolism, he couldn’t actually get drunk. Jaime concluded tat he must have hit his head on a tree during the run over to El Paso.

Now that Barry had passed on his genuine compliments, he dashed over to grab his grandson by each shoulder. Bart blinked back up with a small smile awaiting whatever was to come.

“Now Bart, I’ve taken the liberty of setting you two up. I even brought over Jaime’s things just now.” The blonde spared a quick smile at a surprised Jaime who wondered how many of his belongings the Flash had poached from his bedroom. Jaime tried to ignore the weird feeling crawling under his skin as he imagined Barry going through his bedroom drawers.

“I thought Jaime and I were supposed to set up ourselves?” Bart chuckled with confusion.

“Yeah, but you two were two slow.” The blonde winked and recalled his hands from Bart’s shoulders before resting them on his hips to excitedly remark, “Ready for the tour?”

“Sound crash! Come on Jaime!”

Barry was forced to walk step after step down the corridors of the second floor as Bart trailed along with Jaime’s hand in his own. He had to admit, Bart’s strong smile was a sight that warmed his own heart considerably. All he wanted was for his grandson to be happy and healthy; and when he was around Jaime, that smile never dwindled in the slightest.

“Here we are!” Barry stopped and spun around beaming almost as wide as the corridor itself. There was an open door either side of him. Like a flight attendant, he gestured first at the door on the left. “Bart, this is your room.” Hoping he wasn’t about to fly directly into turbulence, he gestured to the right  to conclude, “Jaime, this is your room.”

Bart let out a singular laugh of disbelief. “ Really Gramps? Separate rooms?”

Barry’s confidence had nose-dived and now was the time the self-promoted pilot had to get things operating smoothly again. Maybe a joke would cut it? “Oh, you noticed that huh?”

“Doi,” a short-lived chuckle turned into a disappointed sigh, “Look Gramps, I appreciate the thought; but Jaime and I want to share a room. Right Jaime? ”

Both speedsters looked at Jaime. Bart looked at him expecting Jaime to back him up. Barry looked at him with an icy glare that made him want to pull the rip-cord on his life jacket. He was still not used to feeling so vulnerable without the protection that Khaji Da used to provide him.

After a few moments of Jaime panicking in silence, Bart decided to break the air first before Barry could use the lack of answer as leverage. There was no way he was giving up his new favorite nightly sight so soon. It was greater than all of the seven natural wonders of the world combined. Seeing Jaime shirtless was like Christmas for his evergreen conifer eyes.

“He’s just tired.” Bart waved his free hand casually by way of explanation before dragging Jaime after him as he surged forward in a hurry. “We’ll be getting some sleep now. Goodnight!”

An uncomfortable Jaime feeling the tension in the air looked down as he was dragged past the frostiest frown in the history of the world. The sharply angled eyebrows just made it worse. The door clicked behind the couple giving Barry only a second to shake the frustration from his face.

Excited to get into the night time routine, Bart sighed happily as he marched past a distracted Jaime. Suddenly, a timid knock rapped at the door. Of course, Bart knew who it was before he even zipped over to the door to quickly open it. He greeted the guest with a grin.

“ Yes Gramps ?”

“Uh,” he rubbed at his neck with an elbow trying to fly, “Are you sure you two wouldn’t prefer having your own rooms? You would each have more,” he paused, “space to move around?”

Bart spared a pitiful glance at Jaime on his grandfather’s behalf before suppressing a laugh. Grin still on his lips, Bart said. “ We’re sure .” He gently shut the door on Barry despite the man lifting up his finger to contribute yet another ludicrous justification for his desired arrangement.

All it took was one step back towards Jaime before Bart’s hands strangled the air carrying across the sound of another soft knock. Bart sighed as he forced a fake smile onto his lips and answered the door again.

“Yes Gramps?”

“I read a study online that said-”

Suddenly, both men lingering by the door snapped their necks towards the sound of a ceramic dish shattering in the distance. Unbeknownst to them, a tipsy Iris had dropped one of the plates from dinner whilst doing the dishes. Barry scratched his forehead for a moment before sighing exhaustedly to pretend he’d had enough running for the night.

“Uh Bart. Could you please go and check on Iris for me?”

“Sure!” Bart had admittedly been worried about his grandmother upon hearing the accident. He did however promise himself he’d be as quick as possible because he had abs to set eyes on.

Watching as his grandson sped down the hall, Barry heard the beginning of a plea from Jaime.

“Barry, I swear the sharing a room thing wasn’t my idea-”

Jaime’s honesty suddenly became lodged in his throat as Barry turned to face him. It was then Barry took over and began speaking as he walked towards Jaime threateningly; a simple yet effective move that ordinarily wouldn’t be scary unless it was the world’s fastest guy doing it.

“Listen to me carefully Jaime,” he continued pacing towards Jaime who kept backing up, “I like you, you seem like a good guy. But if you think I’m going to let you setback Bart’s mental health then you’ve got another thing coming. After the past he came from, the last thing he needs is to feel pressured into taking things to the next level.”

A distressed Jaime backed into a wall and all of the air left in his lungs ghosted out of him. Without oxygen, Jaime was unable to gasp as Barry stopped before him before sternly pressing the tip of his index finger in the middle of the Latino’s chest.

“So I suggest that you don’t make any moves on my grandson-”

“ GRAMPS! ”

The shout had almost left a ringing in the ears of both men by the wall. Despite there seemingly being no mutual footing between Barry’s suspicions and Jaime’s patient intentions, the two men did have one thing in common. They both looked over at a set of flared, lime-on-fire irises. The man in the doorway inserted himself between his grandfather and soulmate in a dash.

Barry began walking backwards defensively as Bart charged towards him similarly as he had done to Jaime. Bart wasted no time jumping to defend Jaime’s honor.

“I can’t believe you just moded Jaime like that! Firstly, I thought we had already discussed this! Do I have to remind you that I’m an adult and that I can handle myself? Secondly, not that it’s any of your business, but Jaime has been nothing but a gentleman!” Bart’s face twinged with a wave of regret as he admitted a bit more than he had bargained for. “We haven’t even kissed each other yet! And thirdly, you begged me to stay here. It’s your roof so I will respect your rules. But , if Jaime and I can’t sleep in the same bed, we’re going back to his place!”

Barry stopped backing up now that he was back in the corridor again before stressing in an apologetic tone, “No! Please don’t leave! Look, I’m sorry. ” He dropped his head looking the most upset Bart had ever seen him. “I’ve never been a parent before. Don is so young that I thought I wouldn’t have to worry about this sort of thing for a while. But then you showed up and I felt like I had to adjust too quickly.” He risked a look back up at Bart again before trying to continue pleading his case. “I’m just trying to put your best interests first. You came from a very,” he hesitated to tread more lightly, “ dark past. I just want to make sure you feel safe here.”

“I do feel safe with Jaime!” Bart’s voice was strained under the emotion he was trying to hold back from his well-meaning grandfather. That however did not stop his fierce green eyes from warning the upset blue that he was not to be trifled with. “I know you’re trying to help, but you’re making things worse! Jaime cares about me just as much as you do! Why can’t you just trust him? I do. If it weren’t for him and his sacrifice, I wouldn’t even be here right now!”

A somber silence settled over the room as both speedsters remained entrenched in a stalemate. Neither man moved, and neither did Jaime who remained stuck against the wall.

Barry exhaled sadly, “I know. You’re right.... I’m sorry.”

“I’m mostly sorry for Jaime,” he frowned before lowering his voice, “Goodnight gramps.” 

Bart shut the door slower than he’d ever moved in his life before resting against the back of it when it clicked shut. The next thing he knew, he was across the room in front of Jaime; trying desperately to be strong for him. The tears were on display, but they weren’t running a marathon down his cheeks. Bart took a deep breath to try and steady himself emotionally.

“Jaime, I’m so sorry about what he said. Please don’t feel moded. I-”

“Bart… It’s okay.” Jaime finally came back to life. Seeing Bart so broken had forced him to reboot. “He was just trying to protect you. Sure , he went about it the wrong way, but his heart was in the right place. Try not to be too mad with him alright? Por favor? ”

“That’s a little hard right now.” He had to admit the truth to his soulmate. “Jaime, can we just go to bed?”

“Por supuesto.” Jaime reached up and brushed a stray hair back behind the speedster’s ear.

The two went straight over to the bed and hopped under the covers. Jaime was surprised when Bart swam over under the covers to his side of the bed to whisper a request. A soft chuckle escaped Jaime as he pulled Bart close to his body so that they could cuddle. The two spoons had at least found a silver lining to the end of their day which was being in one another's arms.

Staring at his feet with slumped shoulders, Barry hadn’t moved. He felt like he was stuck emotionally. Ideas of how he could set things right with his grandson ran across his mind. Suddenly, his phone buzzed angrily much like the atmosphere had been moments earlier. 

Barry’s lips parted with shock as an unexpected opportunity had landed in his lap. It was a meeting invite for the Justice League to vote upon whether they rescinded Jaime’s membership on the team. The thought of sabotaging Jaime waved at him; but so did the metaphorical white flag his position of power could represent. He dashed off into the night with a decision to make.

Chapter Text

Inside the trademark telephone booth concealing a Zeta Tube, a blinding flash of white light engulfed the superhero like a supernova. After his molecules had been reassembled on the Watchtower, the senior member of the Justice League streaked across the floating headquarters to attend the meeting. The meeting, where Jaime’s membership would either sink or swim.

Barry bursted into the meeting room so quickly he broke the sound barrier causing a low boom to echo through the room. The six attendees all covered their ears, save for the cowled presenter. It wasn’t something the rest of them were unaccustomed to; especially since they had all become well acquainted with the speedster over the course of their careers.

There was a heavy atmosphere in the room as Barry took his designated seat beside Superman. Ordinarily, Barry would be surprised to see the Kryptonian present at any meetings given how frequently he was otherwise detained by more important missions.

“Are we ready to begin?”

Everyone turned to face Batman and either nodded with their necks or silently with their eyes. The man who had perfected the art of being a statue, launched into his speech; his lips being the only thing that moved during the entire spiel.

“We’re here to discuss the membership of Blue Beetle on the team. For those of you who don't know, he bargained away his scarab in a deal with a sorceress named Madame Xanadu. She’s highly dangerous and is on the watch list for all magic users within the League. Our intel has not been able to provide us with any information as to her whereabouts or what she plans to do with the scarab. Moving forward, we need to discuss what consequences Jaime should face for his actions. I open this matter up to the floor. Are there any questions?”

The remaining six exchanged looks before the first person raised one of the many questions that could sway the opinions of all at the table. Ironically, the one woman at the table who couldn’t care less about the motivation of love for another man posed the first question.

“Why did Jaime make the deal?”

Thanks to Nightwing’s interview, the gruff and monotone voice had all the answers. It was astonishing how the family of detectives knew how to drill out every last piece of information.

“He made it in order to save his soulmate, Bart Allen .”

Everyone immediately turned to face Barry who wasted no time in confirming that Bart was indeed a part of his bloodline. The most powerful man in the room scratched his neck.

“I didn’t know you had a grandson?”

“Neither did I… He’s from the future,” he swallowed as his professionalism crumbled and his biased humanity shone through, “Look guys, Jaime didn’t know Xanadu was dangerous. And the only reason he gave away his scarab was to save Bart’s life.”

“How bad was this future?” the lowest voice in the room asked.

“ Trust me J’onn . From what he’s told me, it’s the worst thing you could possibly imagine.”

John rested his hands on the table showing off his ring before guiltily putting the mean comment forward. He knew that he had to do it or someone else would, and at least he’d do it gently.

“I sympathize with you Barry, but Jaime’s actions could put other people’s safety at risk in this timeline. Who knows what Xanadu might do with that scarab now? And this was all for Bart?”

“He was about to be murdered!” Barry’s eyes bulged like he was about to die himself.

A tension-soothing, Amazonian tone chimed in on the alarming point, “I’m with John.”

Standing up with shock splashed across his face and posture, Barry was quick to defend Jaime.

“We’ve all had to make quick decisions before to save lives!” he didn’t stop his passionate rant even as Superman reached up to gently grab his forearm in an attempt to calm him down, “Even if those decisions weren’t thought through first! All we can do is try our best to save lives, and trust our instincts as heroes. Sometimes we make messes, and then we try our best to clean them up.”

“ Has Jaime tried to help ‘clean up this mess’?” Superman put the question gently with an optimistic glint in his eyes. He believed in second chances and wanted to vote in Jaime’s favor.

Before Barry could speak, Hawkgirl swooped in with, “I had heard that Jaime didn’t even report the incident to us. We had to hear it from his friends after he had run off to go find Bart.”

“ Yeah, well he was inju - ”

“And didn’t he actively avoid coming in to ‘sort this mess out’ until the following day.”

“ Yeah, but!- ”

“I think we need to take a break.” Batman rose from the table after his interruption having had enough of watching as the brother-sister bond between Barry and Shayera was torn apart by their argument. The costumed adults awkwardly dispersed into two groups to discuss even further despite this being their designated time to nab some fresh air or get a drink. Barry was far too upset to even think about food or water; that alone should have spoken volumes.

“Barry are you sure you’re not trying to compensate for Bart being mad at you?”

Turning to face Bruce incredulously, Barry’s mouth gaped with offense for his intelligence.

“How did you know?”

“I figured your little outburst back in the interrogation over the misunderstanding wouldn’t be the end of it.”

A little squiggle of black hair swayed over Clark’s forehead as he asked, “What outburst?”

“It’s not important,” he huffed, “What is important, is that Jaime saved Bart’s life in the nick of time. Bart had been living in an apocalypse , helping the resistance to try and defeat the Reach. He’s one of us! A superhero! We shouldn’t turn our backs on our own! We fight for right!”

The Martian interjected a thought. “I wonder how Bart is coping with the trauma of his past?”

“Like a champ!” Barry pleaded with his hands, “He’s got the Allen fighting spirit ! He wants to help save lives here too! And so does Jaime! They’re both good men who have good hearts.”

It didn’t take long for the table to reconvene for further discussion before the vote was held.

Meanwhile miles away back on the gigantic planet of Earth, Jaime held Bart in his arms, the small argument with Barry still on both of their minds. The speedster’s eyes gave up and snapped open like broken elastic bands.

“I’m too moded to sleep.”

An alert Jaime exhaled an apology over the back of Bart’s neck, “We can talk about it if you want Amor?”

Jaime loosened his snug grip on Bart so that he could wriggle to face him for a conversation.

“I feel like he doesn’t see me as an adult. He sees me like... a victim. And I get why, I do . It’s just, he doesn’t take me seriously. I know I come off as excitable and innocent, but there’s a lot more to me than that. It’ll take some time for me to adjust to this timeline, but... I’ll be fine. I just wish I could convince Gramps of that.”

“I think he’ll come to see that on his own soon enough?”

“I hope so,” he sighed and gazed off into the distance; a million and one things on his mind.

Rubbing a thumb over Bart’s forearm, Jaime asked, “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?”

Bart suddenly smirked and locked eyes with Jaime. He quickly pinched at a wrinkle in Jaime’s shirt and tugged on it.

“I can’t say I’m fond of this shirt…”

A loving eye roll turned into a big grin, “I can change it for another one?”

“Or you could just… crush it commando style?”

Jaime burst out in uncontainable laughter, “Amor, you do know what that means, right ?”

Bart bit his lip playfully for a second, “It would mean I get to have some very crash dreams tonight.”

“Wow!” he chuckled incredulously wondering how Bart had somehow picked up on that phrase since the last miscommunication, “You really aren’t innocent are you?”

Just as Bart went to answer, Jaime’s phone buzzed aggressively on the bed side table. Someone other than his soulmate wanted his attention. The still-dressed model leaned over and read the string of incoming messages. Bart hadn’t quite gotten the flirting out of his system yet.

“Who’s trying to steal my man away from me?”

Jaime’s heart fluttered with honor over the comment as his phone screen illuminated the blush on his cheeks. His concentration was torn between trying to read the incoming messages as well the sudden explanation for Bart’s flirting.

“ Two people, actually.”

“Wow!” an impressed grin settled on his ruby lips that Jaime was struggling to look away from, “That much competition huh? I guess that makes sense. You’re quite the catch...”

The crimson in Jaime’s cheeks was starting to concern him, but he laughed it away and thanked Bart awkwardly. The daydream of him kissing Bart hailed down in his mind, but he was still more than happy to wait until Bart was ready. He knew the speedster would notify him when it was time. And with any luck, the flirting gushing out of Bart was a good sign that it would be soon.

“It’s my friends Tye and Virgil,” he sat up with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “The ones I told you about... They’ve asked to speak to me. Apparently they can’t sleep either.”

“There must be something moded in the air tonight.”

“I should probably go and speak to them actually. I haven’t seen them since...”

The words floated off into non-existence with a pressing urgency to move on from the past. Bart wouldn’t stand for the frown on Jaime’s face. He had to do something to rekindle the spark in his eyes. Cuddling up really close to Jaime’s chest to shock him awake, Bart posed a question.

“Can I come with you?”

The sudden curve of Jaime’s smile was the only answer Bart needed, and yet he got verbal confirmation anyway. The appreciation in Jaime’s gaze was unspoken, but Bart heard it.

The two were quick to crawl out of the bed and face the cool night air looming in the room. A catch-up at Tye’s house was quickly arranged. Jaime pulled up a map on his phone and allowed Bart to study it so he knew where to go. Then it was time to go.

“Ready to run?”

The passenger gave a quick nod before the driver scooped him up; and the ride was over just as quickly. Jaime thanked Bart as he placed him down gently on the porch of Tye’s place. He began to get lost in the pleasure that was feasting his eyes upon the freshly windswept hair adorably toppled on both sides of Bart’s head.

The decorative door flew open with a bang, catching Jaime off guard and forcing him to jump a little. His two guilt-ridden friends looked at him through shot nerves whilst Jaime looked back wearing a similar expression for a different reason. 

And now it was official. They were all back where it had all begun; with the addition of the man at the epicenter of it all. The four exchanged glances frozen in an awkward atmosphere. Eventually, Jaime chipped through the ice and took the plunge.

“Hey Tye,” he glanced weakly to the other man in the doorway, “Virgil.”

The two both returned the awkward hello with a mumble. Virgil thought he would try to electrify the atmosphere with some humor.

“So… Is this the infamous Bart we’ve heard so much about?” 

Tye rolled his eyes at the joke because they both knew who he was; and had seen him through the portal. It took everything Tye had not to hit Virgil over the back of the head for his foolish attempt to lighten the atmosphere; transparent small-talk was the worst.

“Si,” Jaime shifted the weight from one leg to the other as he looked over at his soulmate, “Bart this is Tye and Virgil.”

“Nice to finally meet you guys.” 

The two men in the door frame were taken aback by the amount of unexpected enthusiasm in Bart’s tone. The speedster stepped forward and shook their hands as past-customs dictated.

“Uhh… Come on in.”

Knowing the layout of the land, Jaime navigated his soulmate through uncharted waters. The sea-foam carpet was trodden on as two pairs of men diverged across the lounge room to the adjacently positioned couches. Usually the two-seater - with a better view of the television - was reserved for Tye to practice being a blanket draped over the whole thing, but he generously shared it with Virgil this one time. Once they were all seated, the host spoke first.

“Jaime-,” clearly tired eyes looked away as he halted to reroute whatever he had planned on saying the first time, “We’re sorry about dobbing you in.”

“It’s alright.”

A not so subtle look of surprise that didn’t fool Jaime, was shared by his two mates.

“We thought you’d be mad?”

“Well I’m not,” he sighed distractedly, “We all did what we felt was right that night hermano.”

Jaime’s close friends shared a warm smile of relief. At the point of hearing Jaime address Tye with the Spanish nickname, they both knew he was genuinely not upset with them as they had feared. Virgil crawled out of the tv cabinet he was staring at; now feeling comfortable enough to speak.

“So you don’t regret y’know... putting your membership on the line?”

It was something Jaime had truly forgotten about, with all his attention and focus on his soulmate. He supposed the League would be taking action on the front and soon. The thought now hovered over his head. Little did he know, the decision had already been made and was waiting for him in space.

“Not at all,” he smiled longingly as he leaned over to look at Bart, “I knew I had to save him.”

The speedster rushed into a quick hug with Jaime before returning to his spot and addressing the two friends of Jaime’s with an update of paramount importance.

“We’re going to save Khaji Da too.”

A long finger pushed up the orange bandanna falling down in front of its owner’s eyes.

“Is there anything we can do to help?”

“We’ll let you know.” Bart smiled warmly at them.

Feeling the need to chime in quickly, Jaime added, “Gracias.”

Once again, an uncomfortable silence settled over the room as two of them became acutely aware of how Jaime was still lacking a scarab. Bart had yet to become accustomed with the fleeting glances Jaime made every time the scarab spoke to him. Tye and Virgil felt like even in the five minute conversation they had already shared, Jaime ordinarily would have done it once by now, and it was just weird how still he was now. Bart on the other hand…

Tye and Virgil flinched as they were startled by a red blur zipping all around them before it was back beside Jaime where it had begun.

“This is such a crash place Tye!”

“Thanks man,” his eyes narrowed in desperation as he tried to think of a way to engage with the speedster in return, “Uhh… Tell us a bit about yourself.” For some reason he felt like he needed to justify himself to prove he wasn’t the prying type. “I mean… If you’re Jaime’s soulmate, we’ll probably be seeing you a lot. May as well get acquainted.”

“Oh,” he scratched his head for a second before grinning, “In the future, I was Batman’s sidekick.”

Jaime rolled his eyes as Tye and Viril gasped with excitement like school children.

The man with an affinity for electricity asked, “Did you ever get to ride in the Batmobile?!”

An orange bandanna leaned forward indicating to Bart that it could be trusted with the secret as Tye asked, “Do you know who he really is?”

“Yes to both actually.” Bart proudly puffed out his chest before Jaime deflated his ego.

“Oh knock it off Amor , you were never Batman’s sidekick.”

A cheeky grin in all its splendor challenged Jaime, “How would you know?”

“There’s no way you would have been a Robin . You’re too impulsive.”

“Alright!” Bart threw his hands up in defeat. “Ya got me! But I have taken a ride in the Batmobile and I know who he really is. So that’s gotta count for something right?”

The two gullible lads who had every right to feel irritated by having fallen for Bart’s joke only laughed, they couldn’t even be mad with the speedster. They were both far too amused by how irritated - but in a loving way - Jaime looked by Bart’s need to push his buttons.

“Let me guess, is Batman actually a robot?” Virgil grinned as he laid back reaching over to rest his hands behind his neck. “Cause’ that would explain a lot.”

“If he was, you wouldn’t be allowed to go anywhere near him sparky .”

Upholding old traditions, Jaime and Tye high-fived. Truth be told, Jaime always felt bad for rewarding Tye for zinging Virgil. But make no mistake, the way Virgil could dish it out meant he begged for it on occasion.

Jaime and Tye shared a good chuckle until they noticed Bart was looking confused. They quickly filled him on the toaster story despite Virgril’s insistent protesting. There were only three sets of laughter afterward, and one scorching set of eyes glaring away. Virgil was desperate for a distraction.

“Hey guys, why don’t we play a video game or something?”

The proud owner of every console known to man sat up, “I’m up for it! Jaime?”

Jaime took a moment to patiently turn to his soulmate, “You in Amor?”

“Sure! Sounds crash!”

A passionate debate broke out between Tye and Virgil over which game they should all play. Bart and Jaime grinned at one another quietly enjoying the live entertainment - which was better than any video game. Eventually, they old married couple decided on a racing game. Tye was quick to snatch the disc out of Virgil’s grip as he didn’t want the walking voltage anywhere near his expensive console. He already felt anxious handing over his controller as it was.

Bart was trying to hold it back, but he eventually had to let it fly. He nervously cleared his throat.

“Uhh… guys. I actually don’t know how to play?”

Virgil made a judgy look for the fraction of a second it took for Tye to elbow him. 

“Ow!” Virgil whined for half a second, “ Oh- sorry.”

Jaime simply smiled and waved Bart over the short distance to look at his controller for a tutorial. Jaime was almost as surprised as Virgil and Tye when Bart suddenly stood up before walking over to sit directly in his soulmate’s lap. Jaime’s stunned expression soon turned into a flustered one, but he quickly warmed up to the idea of wrapping his muscular arms around Bart to show him how to use his controller.

It was admittedly hard to concentrate, feeling Bart’s spine curve perfectly across the front of his chest. The warmth he was radiating made him want to hum. He pressed on to the best of his abilities, determined to teach Bart everything he had to know in preparation for the game.

Meanwhile, Virgil watched on with jealousy. He eventually leaned over to Tye to whisper.

“How is that Bart will cuddle up with him like that, but I can’t even get Cissie to hold my hand?”

“Simple... You don’t look like Jaime.”

Virgil spared a quick glance at the stunning man from El Paso and let out a cheating sigh. Even if he had to admit Jaime was gorgeous, and he was straight with a soulmate. Though he knew Tye was teasing him, he knew the real reason Bart was getting cozy with Jaime so quickly was because they were developing an emotional connection. It was common for soulmates to develop these feelings over a long period of time, but they seemed to be moving swiftly through the course. Virgil pinned a mental note in his brain to ask Jaime for advice later.

“I think I’m ready to crash this game!” Bart announced happily.

Virgil grinned and shook his head before murmuring to himself, “Oh he is so going to lose…”

Jaime knew that both his friends were unfamiliar with the lingo and were in for a surprise. If anyone knew speed, it was Bart. And if Jaime had any faith in anyone winning the game, it would be Bart. That man was always in his heart. Suddenly, Virgil’s high pitched man-cackle broke Jaime from his daze. He had been so distracted he was now in last place. It was now he was super glad the scarab wasn’t there to berate him for being so carelessly distracted.

It did however allow for Jaime to relax and truly enjoy the mortified faces of Tye and Virgil as Bart slayed, coming in first with ease.

“Well that was crash! Who’s up for another-” Bart’s phone started ringing in his pocket and he quickly whipped it out to answer after apologizing without checking the caller ID- “Bart Allen.” A few seconds of silence passed before Bart exclaimed with surprise. “Gramps? Why are you calling me so late? I thought you’d be asleep?”

“The Justice League just took a vote on Jaime’s membership.”

Bart looked over at Jaime and could tell he knew instinctively what the call was about. He swallowed thickly.

“And?”

“You’re not going to like what I have to say...”

Chapter Text

All three sets of eyes were trained on Bart, eagerly reading his facial expression’s ability to foreshadow. The speedster knew that given the guilty volume of a whisper at which Barry was speaking, only he could hear the Flash. Whilst he didn’t want to be the one to break whatever undoubtedly bad news was coming Jaime’s way, he did want to be the one who had the opportunity to comfort him. It only felt right. Barry’s voice cut through his thoughts.

“The League voted Jaime out,” his grandson’s offended gasp barely got any air time before he continued speaking, “but I argued until they kind of changed their minds.”

“What do you mean ‘kind of’ ?” Bart tried to talk as quietly as possible.

Jaime and Tye exchanged a confused look, not being able to piece together any of the puzzle.

“They said Jaime can only stay on the team if someone supervises him on missions...”

Bart rose to his feet to let the steam brewing in his feet flow more easily through him.

“That’s so moded!,” he angrily swung his free arm up like a golf club, “Who is he stuck with?”

“ Me… ”

And like an untrusting twig, he snapped. 

“You’re babysitting my boyfriend!” And just like that Bart’s eyes shot open as he spun around wearing a mortified expression. He flashed an innocent grin and laughed nervously before disappearing with a whoosh. Neither Jaime, Tye or Virgil had any idea where the speedster had run to.

Virgil grinned cheekily and nodded at Bart’s - now - boyfriend whilst teasing, “Way to go Jaime.” 

Jaime rolled his eyes and quickly rose to his feet to chase after Bart. Meanwhile, out on the lawn in the backyard, Bart paced back and forth as he tried to contain his anger and imagine it evaporating out of him.

“ Gramps , this better not be another way for you to try and get Jaime alone again so that you can get all up in his grill because if it is -”

“It’s not! I swear!” His tone was begging to be believed more than an innocent man in the slammer. “No one else volunteered, and I know how important he is to you... So I put my hand up.”

Bart let out a long heavy sigh and looked up at the beautiful blanket of stars. Why was the universe being so cruel to poor Jaime? After a stretch of silence that almost made Barry question Bart’s presence, the younger of the two speedsters spoke again softly.

“Thanks Gramps.”

He supposed he should be grateful that Barry came to the rescue. He couldn’t have bared the sight of seeing Jaime crushed for losing his superhero gig. It meant a lot to Jaime, his passion for helping people ran deep and anybody could see it.

“I just want you to be happy Bart.”

Bart smiled softly as he watched the man who made him feel that way everyday hurry towards him with concern; and it wasn’t even concern for himself or his future on the team so much as it was worry for the speedster’s emotional wellbeing. Bart could see it in his warm brown eyes.

“I know...” Bart turned away ever slightly to pretend he hadn’t noticed Jaime coming before concluding the phone call. “I’ll see you tomorrow Gramps.”

The goodbye came in an effortless - grandfatherly love - kind of tone. “Alright, night Bart.”

“Night Gramps.”

Jaime was now officially at Bart’s side, tentatively resting a hand on his shoulder cap. His mind was still stuck processing a particular word that Bart had accidentally let slip moments earlier.

“Are you alright? You seemed kind of… moded… by what Barry had to say.”

“Yeah, I’m crash. I’m more worried about you… And what I said…”

Jaime didn’t like how distant Bart had sounded. It was like he was up in the same clouds that the Latino had caught him admiring earlier. Gently prying, Jaime asked about what had been said during the conversation with Barry.

“The League said you can only go on missions if you’re supervised by someone…”

Jaime nodded thoughtfully as he filled in the blanks. “Barry’s my supervisor.”

“Yes-” his tone was quick to reassure- “ but! He promised me he is going to behave himself!”

Jaime chuckled but appreciatively squeezed Bart’s shoulder, “I’m not scared of Barry, Amor . I just really want him to like me… I want all of your family to like me.”

“Barry does like you,” he grinned a little, “Speedster’s are just very overprotective…”

“You can say that again,” he found himself chuckling a lot sooner than he had expected.

“Are you sure you’re not moded Jaime?”

“Si,” he smiled warmly to make sure Bart believed him. He chuckled again before adding, “Trust me Amor , I can handle Barry...”

--- x ---

“I can’t do it!” 

Jaime smeared the sweat on his forehead with a blue boxing glove, ignoring the burning sensation of a loose stitch of Velcro ploughing into his skin.

“ Yes, you can!” 

Barry’s tone held no apologies, but there was a supportive smile on his face. He forced Jaime to stalk around him in a circle with a motivational grin. The blonde had endless energy to spare, he hadn’t even broken a sweat. The raven-haired man was drenched in perspiration and had pulled off his shirt a long time ago. All he had left were his silky, navy, boxing shorts.

“You’re too fast! I am never going to be able to hit you!”

“Not with that attitude kid.”

And just like that, Jaime charged at Barry one last time with a series of uppercuts and jabs. The Latino let out a short, sharp, shiny breath with each movement; not losing his breathing pattern even as an obvious disappointment rained over his face. He hadn’t even come close to landing a fist remotely near Barry.

“¡Me rindo!” Jaime threw his hands up and went to sit down on the cornerpost of the square.

Barry didn’t understand a word of Spanish, and even he could translate what Jaime had said. The experienced Justice Leaguer sighed and looked off to the side. He could understand Jaime’s frustration; they had been training for weeks and his level of improvement had been good, but not great. It was time for another pep talk.

“I know you’ve got what it takes to be a good hand to hand combatant Jaime. You’ve certainly got the strength!” Barry grinned and gestured at Jaime’s abs with a bandaged hand before continuing. “But strength isn’t everything; and neither is speed. You need a mixture of both, but everyone needs to find their own balance.”

“ Ay. I miss having a Scarab,” he looked down at the floor, “Back then I didn’t need agility.”

“It’s good to have back-up skills just in case.”

The creak of a tired iron door signified a third man entering the private gym. Barry immediately noticed Bart’s signature smile; which quickly disappeared as the Flash impulsively shooed him away with a hand. With confusion splashed across his face, Bart backed out of the doorway from which he’d just come through. He knew it was eavesdropping, but he couldn’t help but prop the door open with his foot just a crack, so that he could listen to what was being said.

“Hmm,” his blue eyes glowed with intelligence, “I think I haven’t been going about motivating you the right way…”

Mocha irises rose to look up at Barry again with curiosity.

“ Bart. Pretend like Bart is watching you train. Or better yet, like you're fighting to save him.”

Jaime hopped off the post onto his bare feet and began walking around Barry slowly; this time, with a much more intense expression. Barry grinned at the dramatic shift in Jaime’s stance; now he looked like a predator. The world’s second fastest man was relieved to see that reaction. He couldn’t help but wonder if he was testing Jaime now and abusing the powers Bart had trusted him with; but they were rolling with it now.

Without a word, Jaime striked. It was still easy enough for Barry to dodge the incoming fists, but Jaime’s speed and stamina had improved significantly. The father-to-be was surprised to feel an emotion begin to cloud his brain as he watched Jaime fight; it was pride. He was really proud to see Jaime giving it his all for Bart. It made him wonder whether he and Don would get a chance to bond like this someday.

Out of nowhere, Jaime even began to throw in a kick or an attempt at a leg swipe; which hadn’t even been part of the training. Here Barry had been, feeling unchallenged for the past few hours, and now Jaime was a whole new person; an emerging threat.

With one last exertion of energy, Jaime shouted attempting to lay one last fist on the speedster’s chin; but he still missed by what felt like miles. Suddenly, he cursed in Spanish and began walking away. Barry hadn’t even had a chance to drown Jaime in compliments or Gatorade, before he was swinging over the ropes to leave.

“Where are you going?”

Jaime didn’t respond. Instead, he stalked up to the innocent boxing bag hanging off to the side of the boxing ring. Barry knew where this was going, and didn’t even bother trying to stop Jaime as he lunged and began attacking the red cylinder using a much shorter version of the assault choreography he had flawlessly executed on Barry.

Barry ran over to Jaime’s side after he dislodged the bag from the hook with an almighty kick.

“Are you alright Jaime?”

The man in question wandered aimlessly over to the bench a few feet away before sitting down hopelessly. He was quick to bury his face in his hands as if he were an embarrassment; which Barry didn’t quite understand.

“There’s no point in me training anymore... I’m not going to be able to hit you.”

Barry zipped over and took a seat close beside Jaime, before laughing a little.

“You’re being way too hard on yourself,” he flung a towel around his neck “You’re training with a speedster... but I think you know that already. What is this really about?”

“ How am I supposed to protect Bart if I can’t even protect myself?” His upset eyes pleaded for an answer. “He won’t even need me!”

A finger quickly came up to scratch at a golden eyebrow for a moment; whilst the brain just beneath it was hard at work crafting a response.

The grandfather grinned widely before clasping a hand securely on Jaime’s shoulder, “Don’t you worry, I’ll be keeping a close eye on Bart. I’m not going to let anything happen to my grandson . But it’s good to hear you sound as crazy as I do.” Barry bought himself a bit of confidence by taking a swig of his water bottle. “And uhh… Bart will always need you. You’re his soulmate…”

Jaime nearly jumped out of his skin as the door to the gym slammed open, Bart making his presence obscenely obvious. Barry cringed imagining the dent in the wall, and hoped that Wildcat wouldn’t take issue with it. The only reason Barry had called in the favor to borrow the retiree’s gym was because he knew Jaime wouldn’t have been able to concentrate in the Watchtower gym; not with tensions still floating around.

“Well if it isn’t my two  favorite  men!”

Barry shook his head with a grin and got up to give his grandson a hug at super speed.

“How’s it going kid?”

“I just thought I’d check up on you two,” he grinned mischievously, “Make sure you weren’t fighting for real .”

“Ha-ha.” Barry sighed internally because he knew he was likely never going to be let off the hook for having given Jaime a hard time when they had first met.

“Gramps, can you give me and Jaime a minute alone please?”

The blonde nodded and disappeared without another word. Bart snapped into action wrapping his arms seductively around Jaime’s neck from behind the man’s broad back. He intentionally let a hand drag across Jaime’s muscled chest, purely for his own thrill and excitement.

“ Hey you. ”

“ Hola... ”

“He’s right y’know...”

Jaime looked upward at his boyfriend as best he could given their positions. He could tell Bart had heard and seen everything just by the grin he was wearing. Bart felt Jaime’s entire back expand in his hold as he inhaled, before it shrunk as he sighed it all out again.

“I just don’t like the thought of not being on missions with you. I want to have your back!”

“Pun intended?” Bart wiggled his eyebrows as he leaned over Jaime’s shoulder.

“ Bart- ”

“I know, I know,” he hummed apologetically, “but you know I can take care of myself? I think this might have more to do with you feeling moded by a lack of purpose.” Bart grabbed his own chin with a free hand as he played psychiatrist. “You haven’t done a superhero gig in weeks and you know it won’t be the same without Khaji Da. But I promise you babe, we will get him back.”

The patient on the bench - not couch - sat in silence for a few moments thinking over what Bart had said before agreeing with him. But he turned around as best he could to look straight Bart in the eye as he passionately defended a point.

“I might be moded by a lack of purpose like you said… but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to protect you with my life. I’d do anything to save you Bart... Lo prometo. ”

Bart gazed back softly into Jaime’s dilated eyes. The browns orbs shook with vulnerability at even the thought of Bart not believing him. Jaime needed to know Bart believed him; and Bart was happy to reassure him. But first, Bart zipped into Jaime’s lap to sit on his legs facing him.

“I know you would. You’ve proven it to me already,” he smiled with amusement and looked off to the side; which admittedly puzzled Jaime. “Perhaps I can convince you that I believe you without words?”

“What do you mean?”

Bart looked at an adorably innocent Jaime and chuckled before leaning forward slowly enough that the non-speedste r could actually process what was happening. The speedster approached his boyfriend on a curved collision course that rapidly made Jaime’s heart hammer in his chest.

Jaime tried not to explode as Bart’s lips left a gentle kiss on his cheek. He wanted to scream from the rooftops with joy. Bart had kissed him! Even though the kiss had been on the cheek instead of the lips, it was still a sign that Bart had taken one step closer to making Jaime’s dream a reality.

He had promised himself he would refrain from the temptation of kissing Bart, and he had. That being said, the desire to do so had been killing him slowly with each passing day.

A thick gulp ran down his throat as he allowed that dream to play in his mind. His cheeks immediately went red as he imagined passionately shoving Bart into the wall behind them and getting frisky. He melted into Bart’s lips, into the speedster’s touch, and began to moan as a quick hand began to slip down the skimpy gym shorts to-

“Babe are you alright?” The guilty party for Jaime’s affliction couldn’t help but laugh. “Your entire face is red... Maybe you should have a drink?”

“ Ay , si. I’ve been... working out too hard.”

“ Sure... ” Like the rule breaker he was, Bart had seen right through Jaime’s ruse, even though he wasn’t supposed to. He winked at Jaime as he chuckled internally thinking that technically Jaime’s earlier comment had been true to one part of his body.

Using his flexible core, Bart leaned over from the comfort of Jaime’s lap to snatch the water bottle cowering under the bench, before delivering it to his boyfriend with a grin.

“ Dios. It’s really hot in here…”

What happened next made Jaime wonder whether he could ever trust himself again. It wasn’t intentional, but he twisted the lid off the water bottle and began pouring it all over his head and chest. He was genuinely hot after all, it had nothing to do with the subconscious hope of seducing Bart. He would never do such a thing...

If only Khaji Da had been present to inform Jaime of the wonderful effect his water-show had had on the speedster. Bart had watched in slow motion through lidded eyes as the crystal clear water had splashed over Jaime’s sexy features. Even Bart’s tongue had come out of hiding to watch the performance from his bottom lip. The speedster had blinked a few times, a lusty gaze permanently set on Jaime.

When Jaime opened his eyes again, they almost fell out of his head. He had not been expecting to see Bart looking so- aroused . It was something out of one of his nightly dreams.

No...

What was he doing? He had made a promise. He was not going to give into the temptation that was kissing Bart. Bart had to make the first move of his own accord. Sure, maybe he was trying to usher things along; but he couldn’t help himself! He had an immense attraction to Bart. And his head and heart truly believed Bart was almost ready for more. Bart had been flirting with Jaime a lot lately, and it was drawing him in. He was playing with fire; hot, sexy, speedy , fire.

Opting for a distraction as the guilt set in, Jaime opened his mouth and fire extinguished the mood with a lighthearted question.

“Got any tips for me on how to beat Barry in the ring?”

Bart suffered a series of quick blinks as he fell all the way back down from heaven to Earth. The seduction was well and truly over. But he didn’t want it to be. Ironically, part of him had now decided he wanted Jaime to make the first move. There was something so hot about the thought of Jaime just cracking under the heat of their chemistry, and passionately kissing him.

“How about, if you can so much as graze Barry, I’ll give you another kiss?”

Jaime’s eye’s lit up brightly with determination and he rose to his feet, lowering Bart with his arms. Bart almost drooled as he watched Jaime’s muscles move around sensually as he hopped back into the ring to begin preparing. He wanted to win, it was as clear as day.

Barry returned a minute later, very much surprised to see Jaime having one last wind.

“You up for one more round Barry?”

“I’m ready when you are.”

Bart grinned and propped himself up on the post, eager to watch the next match. The stakes were higher than any boxing match ever. The moment could have only been made perfect if Bart had of had a bucket of buttery popcorn to tame his excited stomach.

A silent bell chimed in Jaime’s head, and he imagined Bart kissing him even if it was on the cheek again. He wanted that prize, and all he had to do was tag Barry, even if microscopically. Using that motivation, he focused on the patterns he had observed in Barry.

He had noted that the man had a tendency to step to the right more, it being his dominant leg and all. Trying to simulate a recommended tactic of his own without the bug’s assistance, Jaime became his own Blue Beetle momentarily. Suddenly, he had an underhanded plan; but he needed the handicap so it was fine. Besides, the goal wasn’t to perform well, it was to win.

Knowing Barry was slower on his least dominant leg, Jaime used his speed and strength better than he ever had to back Barry towards the post where Bart was watching excitedly.

“Watch this uppercut Bart!”

Jaime had said that for two reasons. Firstly, he knew it would distract Barry by making him hyper aware of his grandson’s presence behind him. Secondly, he wanted to trick Barry’s eyes into remaining fixed on his dominant fist as it went up for an uppercut. What Barry hadn’t been expecting, was for Jaime to swing his left off to the side un-strategically at the same time.

The Flash saw the surprise swing coming and stepped aside messily trying to be careful of not backing into his grandson; but Barry had not moved quickly enough for his hip to avoid getting the lightest brush in the history of brushes. The side of Jaime’s knuckle had done it. Bart had seen the microscopic contact and watched Barry’s shirt become snagged for a nanosecond.

Jaime’s plan had actually left himself open for an incapacitating jab that Barry had obviously left alone, but he had made sure to immediately pass the constructive criticism along. Bart grinned at how unbothered Jaime looked by the lecture. The real winner knew who he was. 

“Let's call it a day Jaime,” he patted Jaime’s back, “You’ve done really well today champ!”

“ Gracias ,” he appreciatively extended a hand, “I couldn’t have done it without you Barry.”

The two men shook hands tightly before both turning to look at Bart with smiles. Even though Barry began talking directly to Bart, the younger speedster was struggling to take his eyes off his shirtless boyfriend. Thankfully his grandfather hadn’t seemed to notice though.

“Iris is making dinner tonight, did you two want to join?”

“Thanks for the offer Gramps, but Jaime and I are going out tonight.”

“ We are? ” This was news to Jaime’s eyebrows.

“Didn’t you have a voucher you wanted to redeem?” 

Bart’s leer caused Jaime to rub at his neck excitedly. He obviously hadn’t forgotten about the kiss he’d earned, but he had been expecting to get it shortly after his eleventh hour victory. Nevertheless, it seemed like his boyfriend had plans; and Jaime was more than alright to see where the night would take them. Maybe Bart would even treat him to more than one kiss?

“ Si, ” he now turned to face Barry as opposed to a smug Bart, “How about we all have dinner tomorrow night?”

Barry couldn’t even hide a beam before exclaiming, “Sounds good! I’ll see you two tomorrow.”

The - unaware - third wheel saluted the pair before running off. He was ecstatic that Jaime had made the effort to lock Bart in for a dinner with his family. His smile greeted the wind ruffling his short-cropped hair affectionately. It would seem he and Jaime were on much better footing now. Even more importantly, his grandson appeared to be getting happier and healthier. Barry couldn’t wait to see what great things the future held for Bart; and neither did the younger speedster.

Chapter Text

Storm clouds slowly began rolling into Central City against the backdrop of a scarlet splashed sunset. The first crack of thunder warned all that trouble was about to rain down on them all. A blue thunderbolt was whipped against the skyline, creating a sight for all to behold. A sight that was currently being marveled by two men looking out the window. Somehow the two found the clash of red and blue unnaturally soothing. The speedster expressed a thought.

“It’s kind of beautiful isn’t it?”

Jaime grinned before looking down at the soulmate wrapped up in his muscular arms.

“ Si. Very. ”

Bart chuckled as he shifted in Jaime’s embrace, “Not me. I meant the sky.”

“Yeah. That too.”

“I bet you it’s going to start raining in a minute.”

The two blinked as another neon flash of blue signaled the beginning of Bart’s psychic prediction. At first it was a few drops timidly running down the sides of the window trying to go unnoticed. It wasn’t long until the rain came pouring down on the city knocking on everybody’s rooftops to ensure they were heard.

“See,” Bart grinned smugly, “I told you it was going to start raining.”

Jaime nodded vaguely before speaking with a hint of surprise, “Huh? Well what do you know? There’s thunder and suddenly mi novio can predict rain is about to fall? Impressive .”

Bart squinted at Jaime choosing to back down just this once.

“If you don’t want to talk about the weather, I’ll change the topic then.” 

Bart stood up grinning and ignored Jaime’s arms as they gasped chasing after the speedster leaving the cuddle.

“To what?” Jaime inquired.

“How about I show you my crash new costume?”

To say that Jaime got excited was an understatement.

“¡Si! Estoy muy emocionado de ver este disfraz que diseñó.”

Bart chuckled before gazing at Jaime fondly.

“You do realize when you get all excited you start speaking in all Spanish, right babe ?”

The speedster grinned as the information brought to light trickled into Jaime’s brain. Bart could tell the moment it had clicked just by looking at his soulmate’s face. A wave of blue light bathed over Jaime’s defined facial features as a bolt of lightning threatened to strike a tall tree nearby. All Bart could do was try to calm his racing heartbeat, Jaime was mesmerizing in any light.

Smirking, Jaime quickly retaliated, raising an eyebrow as he quipped, “I didn’t think you had a problem with me speaking Spanish... Mi Amor ?”

Bart took a few more steps towards their shared closet offering protection from the speedster’s weakness. A poorly hidden shudder had shown Jaime he could grin with victory already.

“ Believe me I don’t, ” Bart reassured, “Just throw some English in there though to help a speedster out.”

A soft chuckle escaped Jaime as Bart winked at him. Keeping the thought to his chest as he hung his head a little lower, Jaime thought about how impossibly smooth Bart was; and just when Jaime didn’t think Bart could get any smoother, he looked up.

“Ta-da!” Looking down from the gods who had blessed him with Jaime as his soulmate, Bart’s grinning eyes sought out Jaime’s. “ It’s pretty crash huh? ” The confidence in the speedster’s tone tugged at Jaime’s approval, however Jaime remained speechless despite his dropped jaw.

The only thing that moved was Jaime’s eyes which continued scanning Bart from top to bottom.

Jaime’s eyes first acknowledged that familiar head of hair which his hand loved to call home. 

Then, it was the transparent, butter yellow visor failing to blur the two emerald orbs which caused Jaime to melt every time he saw them. 

Preceding that began the prominent thunder-bolt strip of an ironically colder shade of red, demonstrating that Bart was his own flavor of the Flash family and not to be confused with Barry. A lack of an emblem on his chest also signified this, however the golden, lightning ear caps glinting in the warm light of the bedroom were unmistakably symbolic of the Flash family. The rest of the costume was a warm cream, save for the bolt-matching red boots and gloves.

“ Woah… ”

Bart turned to look out the window beaming as the sky flashed again, almost as if to approve of the reveal; and that’s when Jaime noticed it. All the rain in the sky wasn’t going to cool him down now that he had noticed how tight the suit was, especially in the southern region.

“So,” Bart chuckled expectantly looking back at - the presumed to be red with jealousy - Jaime, “Is this crash or what?”

“It’s so crash Bart,” Jaime whispered in awe, “So totally crash.”

“Thanks! I designed it myself actually. I like to think of it as my masterpiece .” 

Bart wiggled his eyebrows playfully as he began to get lost in flexing in the costume for good measure.

The joke had Jaime laughing in no time, thankfully providing a distraction from the annoyingly addictive, ample curve boasted below Bart’s belt line. Just as Jaime thought his cheeks were cooling down, Bart sped over to the bed and hoisted his right leg up next to him at a perfect right angle. 

The man on the edge of losing it shoved his hands into his lap just in case and tried to ignore the open body spread before him.

“Feel this material!” Bart leaned in closer. “It’s so smooth!”

Jaime stuttered something unintelligent in hesitation before Bart’s gloved hand made the trip for him to guide the Latino’s hand back to rest on the white kneecap. Jaime shifted his palm a fraction to feel the texture of the suit, and Bart wasn’t kidding. The material was a fluffy, white cloud personified; and the jealous storm clouds outside raged with thunder.

Clearing his throat, Jaime managed, “It’s very crash mi Amor. I can’t wait to see it in action.”

There was something about Bart’s sudden grin that made Jaime wonder if his soulmate was aware of the effect this costume had on him.

“ Don't worry babe... I won’t be the only one looking good on our next mission.”

Something made Jaime swallow new nerves. “What do you mean?”

“I had them make you a costume too,” Bart revealed excitedly.

“ Uhh- ” Jaime tried to look out the window as if the sky would hold the answer on how to respond. But of course the entire view of the outside world was obscured by heavy rain. 

Sensing Jaime’s clear reservations, Bart was quick to drown them out.

“You’re going to love it! It’s so crash! Close your eyes and I’ll get you dressed up in it.”

A concerned Jaime tried to speak again to no avail.

“ Don’t worry!” Bart laughed. “I won’t strip you naked ! I’ll just put it on over your current clothes.”

All the rain in the world wouldn’t wash away the blood rushing to Jaime’s entire face. He knew he was blushing and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. All he could do was comply with Bart’s request and stand in the middle of the room with his eyes shut whilst praying that the costume he was about to be put in had a paper bag on top. 

Once Jaime had reached the middle of the room, he closed his eyes with a shaky breath, held out his arms ever slightly and awaited the worst.

A sudden gust of wind blew past Jaime and then all he could feel was a constant pinching everywhere.

Bart gently guided Jaime over to the mirror doors on their closet before softly instructing, “Open your eyes babe.”

Jaime’s beautiful brown irises were displayed to the world once again, and Bart was watching them keenly for a reaction. 

The taller of the two’s eyes widened as he found himself staring at the familiar costume. 

It was largely a rip off of Ted Kord’s costume, with a few details paying homage to the scarab’s mostly unreplicatable armor.

“Do you like it?” 

Bart’s timid question floated around in the air, but Jaime was still processing.

The same symbol from Khaji Da’s chestplate was strapped across his chest and arms, separating two shades of blue. A darker blue pooled from the brash black symbol up to the top of Jaime’s head where a pair of bumblebee yellow goggles sat perched. 

From the symbol down, a lighter blue swam until a black belt with a gold buckle cut it off; much like Jaime’s circulation where his crotch bulged in a cringe worthy pair of - worn on the outside - underpants. After the embarrassing fashion choice, the light blue continued on Jaime’s arms and legs until each limb was capped with a dark blue boot or glove accordingly. 

He looked… different... to say the least.

Inspired by the weather outside, a whirlwind of emotions was brewing in Jaime. It was really sweet for Bart to have arranged a costume for him to wear on their next mission. The gesture alone meant a lot to Jaime. 

He couldn’t help but worry that he could be letting down the Blue Beetle legacy by wearing a similar costume to that of Ted Kord. Looking over at Bart’s beam chased away the fears that lingered in his mind. Jaime smiled back warmly over at the speedster and gazed at him.

Jaime’s heart skipped an unhealthy number of beats as Bart raised his hands and lifted the visor of his own costume onto his forehead. Bart sighed happily now that he could get a better look at Jaime modelling the new costume. 

Seeing Bart in his sleek, flattering costume with his emerald eyes exposed and dazzling before him sent Jaime’s heart into a loving frenzy. The look drove Jaime wild with lust, which he quickly exhaled through - determined to stay in control - lips. He almost kicked himself - not that he could in such a restrictive costume - as he realized that he still hadn’t answered Bart’s question.

“Si. It’s really crash, mi amor. Gracias.” He smiled over at Bart adoringly.

Bart grinned and leaned comfortably against Jaime’s side as the pair looked at Jaime in the mirror. The grin took a quick vacation to announce, “Course it is! And you’re welcome. ”

“It is a bit tight though... I’ve never worn spandex before. I almost feel naked...” Jaime’s eyes traveled south before his volume spiked north. “Dios mio! You can almost see my-”

Bart dreamily sighed as he happily supplied a response melting into the sight, “ I know… Isn’t it cra- ” It took a moment for Bart to realize the word ‘naked’ had been used in a negative context. He quickly straightened up and cleared his throat, “I mean… it’s hardly noticeable?”

Jaime rolled his eyes and shook his head grinning.

“ Bart… You’re as see through as these goggles.” 

Jaime then quickly lifted said goggles before wrapping an arm around the chuckling speedster; and pulling him up against his side.

“Ooh! I almost forgot the best part!”

An energetic Bart broke away from Jaime to grab him and rotate his body to face the mirror at such an angle where he could see his back over his own shoulder.

“Look!” Bart rested a finger below the feature, “I even got them to print a scarab on your back where Khaji Da used to be.”

Jaime turned to face Bart with a soft gaze, but there was a complexity in his tone.

“ Bart- ”

The speedster jumped to justify himself as quickly as possible, all the while terrified that his noble intentions could have resulted in doing more emotional harm than good.

“I wanted to honor him.. and remind you that he’s still with you.”

The next thing Bart knew, Jaime’s nose surged forward and locked itself alongside his own. 

All Bart could feel was the hot air on his face as he visibly watched Jaime restrain himself from proceeding any further into Bart’s territory.

“Kiss me...” Jaime let a brief second pass before begging, “ Por favor. ”

In that moment all Bart could hear was Jaime’s breathing rather than his request. Shallow, unsteady breaths fell from the lips begging to be caressed, that also wanted to return the favor. 

Jaime’s uneven breathing was enough to set Bart off. 

Without leaving enough time to inhale himself, Bart tilted his head and dove right in. 

He was pretty sure he officially died as he put his heartbeat’s need to function aside for a solid minute purely just to focus on the kiss.

Their lips worked together in tandem as they played tug of war with the overwhelming affection they shared for one another. Jaime’s hands were instantly on Bart’s waist pulling him closer to his body than the spandex costume surrounding him. 

Bart’s indecisive hands couldn’t settle for a favorite spot; they just wanted all of Jaime and kept wandering over him.

The sound of hungry kisses and soft moans somehow drowned out the buckets of rain pelting down on the roof above the two love birds. And just as Bart thought his heart couldn’t soar any higher, Jaime pulled back far enough for a forehead rest to whisper something.

“Te amo Bart.”

Bart’s world was forever changed, and Jaime could see it in the speedster’s eyes.

“I love you too Jaime.”

Their hearts crashed together like their lips as another intense makeout began. Jaime hoisted Bart off the ground like he was a feather and approached the bed as the speedster wrapped his legs around the sturdy waist.

Taking things a step further after he had laid Bart down, Jaime began to press passionate kisses into the curve of the speedster’s neck.

Bart almost whimpered at how good it felt before suddenly whining his lingo in vain as Jaime hit just the right spot.

“ Hnmf! CrAsH- ”

Jaime pulled back in surprise having never expected to hear Bart sound so frustrated - let alone due to sexual tension. Previously he hadn’t been sure whether they’d ever cross this line, but given the look in Bat’s eyes, he could tell they were likely going all the way.

An aura of awe and appreciation floated between them as Jaime smiled at the flushed speedster warmly - that was of course once his own head had stopped spinning. It was the most alluring sight Jaime had ever seen.

The two stared at one another knowingly, chests rising and falling at the same time.

“Did you want to?” Jaime swallowed nervously and gently took the time to rest his forehead on Bart’s. “There’s no rush Amor. I’m not going anywhere.”

Bart took a moment to slow down time for himself to savor the moment. He already knew what he wanted. There was no question. He was just a little nervous because he’d never been this intimate with anybody before. It was scary, but mostly exhilarating, and with that all sorted, he sped things up again.

He answered his boyfriend by kissing him so desperately that it would be known to him that if he had to wait a second longer he would explode. 

Jaime gladly indulged Bart and continued kissing him without a care for the howling winds outside. Neither of them were paying any attention to the worsening storm, only the hormonal ones brewing inside of them.

Before they knew it, the blinds were shut and the costumes were off; and Bart was finally getting to experience Jaime, body , mind and soul. 

The speedster’s heartbeat quickened to a pace he had never even achieved by running at his fastest. The anticipation was overwhelming as they rolled around together reveling in the skin to skin contact.

The more Jaime kissed him, the more he started vibrating involuntarily; which ironically spurred Jaime on even more. It created a dangerous cycle of almost climaxing too quickly, but luckily both men had excellent stamina and were able to regain control when they wanted to. 

The loud rainfall was perfect, drowning out all of the sounds which naturally flowed from both of their mouths; making it feel like this was just a shared experience for them and only them. The world wasn’t allowed in on it.

Every now and again Jaime would speak Spanish and Bart was gone. 

There was nothing that could save his heart from failing when hearing those sounds.

When the extremely active pair finally collapsed in one another’s arms hours later, they just gazed at one another. 

The rhythmic blankets of droplets on the ceiling helped relax the pair from their recent, overwhelming highs. There was just bliss anywhere and everywhere. 

Jaime’s hand made its way over the covers to Bart’s before interlacing their fingers.

“How are you feeling, Amor?”

Bart looked over and beamed at the love of his life.

“I’ve never felt crasher.”

“Me too.”

They shared a laugh before wriggling closer to one another. Bart didn’t rest until he was snuggled up against Jaime’s comforting chest. He never wanted to leave that moment, but he knew he’d have to. But the disappointment quickly faded as Bart realized he’d be happy, as long as all the moments that followed had Jaime in them.