Chapter Text
Murmurs rippled across the room as all of the superheroes chatted quietly amongst one another while they waited for the news. All of the Outsiders were patiently awaiting M’Gann’s announcement, all except one.
Jaime stood there with his arms folded, staring Bart down with an exasperated look as the speedster took his tenth guess regarding the news to beceit them.
“I wonder what it could be amigo!” Bart’s excited smile stretched as wide as the horizon.
“I don’t know...” Jaime sighed feeling the exhaustion in every bone in his body. The mission they had just returned from had really taken it out of him. Who could expect anything else when going up against the Shadows?
The Martian density shifted upwards through the floor and solidified with a smile bordering in size to Bart’s. The speedster was ready to kneel and beseech the leader for the new news. He couldn’t take the anticipation. Jaime shook his head watching his best friend bite his lip with anticipation. God, he’s so excitable… and it’s kind of cute. Jaime smiled as the thought flew across his mind.
“We have a new member joining the Outsiders!”
The announcement sailed over Jaime’s head as he was rocked by a chorus of excited cheers and gasps.
“Wait-” he leaned close to Bart’s ear to whisper a question, “ What’s going on?” He’d been so distracted by Bart’s endless show of adorableness that he hadn’t actually heard the news.
“We have a new team member!” Bart exclaimed.
Why is he so excited? Jaime couldn’t help but feel uneasy seeing his best friend so excited about getting to meet a new person. He had Jaime, why did he need anybody else?
Why am I becoming so possessive?
[I can tell you Jaime Reyes.] The scarab was quick to step up to the plate to take a swing.
Not interested.
[You’re jealous.] Disapproval was all Jaime could hear in the hissed retort.
What part of ‘not interested’ did you not understand, Scarab? And I’m not jealous!
“Jaime?” Bart questioned for the fourth time, before waving a hand in front of Jaime’s eyes as if he were blind. Jaime wasn’t admittedly too fond of Bart’s habit of doing that; but what other choice did the speedster have, it was the most effective way to pull Jaime back down to Earth again.
“ Blue , you seem moded?” Soft, leafy green eyes extended concern.
“I’m fine.” Jaime’s tone was flatter than the floor they were standing on.
“Everybody, we have a new team mate. He has just graduated from the J.R.A.”
The bald woman went on to bore the team with a cliche speech regarding the new candidate’s past accolades to justify why they deserved membership. Everyone was quick to tune out.
Bart craned on his toes ever slightly to align his lips with Jaime’s ear cap on the deep ocean blue armor. With a splash of cheek, he whispered his witty remark to avoid interrupting M’Gann’s speech.
“J.R.A. huh? What’s that? The Jaime Reyes Association? I’d join that club! ” Bart winked the second Jaime turned to shoot Bart an impressed grin.
That was pretty clever.
[Does the Bart Allen know nothing!] The scarab’s tone was all disgust before it adjusted to that of a more superior, all knowing one. [The J.R.A is the Justice Recruit Association that-]
Dios mio, Scarab! He knows what the J.R.A. is! He was making a joke!
The Latino rolled his eyes. Given the sheer frequency he found himself repeatedly flinging his pupils around the curves of his eyes, he was surprised he still hadn’t broken them.
[I fail to see the humor...] Khaji Da retorted.
I’m not surprised.
“Everyone! This is Damian...”
M’Gann took a step to the side to reveal the young adolescent sporting a scowl behind her. The slitted glare he shot out through Batman-serious eyes caught everybody off guard.
The Outsiders stared blankly at the ludicrously young new member of their team and awaited a reaction or a comment. The biological son of Batman remained stiller than a statue, glaring.
“ Okay... ” M’Gann stepped back in with a nervous chuckle to deflate the tension in the room.
“Tim, can you please take Damian on a tour of the Premiere Building?” M’Gann saw sense in making the request of Tim since he was already well acquainted with Damian.
“Sure.” Tim confidently answered taking a step forward. The professionalism Batman had drilled into Tim was seeping out, and Cassie was noticing it. Even Bart and Jaime noticed it. Tim seemed, unlike himself. It had taken a while to get him to loosen up, but he seemed to revert to his old self whenever exposed to any Bat-family related stimuli.
Damian turned and walked off sharply choosing to be his own tour guide, leaving Tim to run off after him looking like a fool without any control over his younger successor.
“Now, I know what you are all thinking,” she rubbed her forehead in the hopes it would aid her quest to choose the right wording for her plea, “I know Damian seems a little rough around the edges, but please don’t take it personally. I’m sure he just needs time to adapt.”
M’Gann smiled warmly before flying off, her cape flapping loosely in the wind as she left. The group’s sights were lowered again before they dispersed. A preoccupied Cassie stormed off after Tim hoping to implement some damage control. The rest of the heroes headed back to their rooms. Bart and Jaime began walking towards the zeta tubes to beam back home.
“Uhh Blue?” The speedster’s soft, nervous voice immediately caught Jaime’s attention. It was soft and yet somehow sharp enough to pierce through his tough armor, straight to his heart.
“¿Si?” Jaime turned to face Bart with clearly open body language.
It was amazing how quickly Jaime’s frustration towards Bart melted away looking into those eyes. He had admittedly still been holding a grudge from the speedster’s unjustified excitement over the new member on the team. The possibility of Bart meeting someone to replace him was still loitering around in his mind and was whispering insecurities to him. It didn’t matter how quickly it had become apparent that absolutely nobody was going to become Damian’s friend, Jaime had still been mad.
“Do you mind if I come over to your place?” The question came in Bart’s normal tone, but Jaime knew those emerald eyes well enough to see an unusual cloud of anxiety shrouded in them.
“Not at all.”
Jaime was the first to walk the remaining short distance through the circular entryway before fading into particles, followed closely by his best friend. The taller of the two waited for his best friend to materialize in El Paso, and he was quick to talk when he had.
“I’ll run us back to your place! It’s faster than you flying.” Bart leered as he scooped Jaime up without his permission.
Jaime sighed as he looked up at his best friend’s irrepressible smirk, “Fine.”
Bart grinned wider and took off. Despite the trip lasting less than a fraction of a second, Jaime had still miraculously had found the time to think about how strange his and Bart’s relationship was.
A large portion of Jaime’s low-key, latent hostility towards Bart as of late had stemmed from a place of confusion. There were a storm of feelings he couldn’t quite understand brewing within him. Every time he was with Bart, he felt his heart get heavier, as if he needed to say something. But he didn’t know what it was. And the scarab’s hypothesis had only irked Jaime. But Khaji Da was right, and he hated when his spine’s sidekick knew him better than he knew himself.
Maybe I do love Bart?
Jaime couldn’t explain it, he didn’t want to be fatally attracted to his best friend. But he was. His relationship with Bart - which was currently best friendship - was the most stable, healthy and meaningful thing in his life.
Sure, he loved his family; his caring mother, protective father and bratty sister. But Bart : the boy who had come back to stop him from destroying the world, who had changed his mission to save him despite the repercussions it may have had on the future, meant so much more.
He also knew that Bart cared about him alot; probably too much. The speedster had already demonstrated that he wouldn’t accept anything less than Jaime being completely alright, even when the stakes suggested he needed to be terminated for the sake of all life in the universe.
Back outside of Jaime’s whirlwind of thoughts, Bart lowered Jaime onto his feet in the backyard. It was now time to swap. Jaime picked Bart up and flew him up to the second floor where his bedroom resided. The pair entered through the window on the North side of Jaime’s bedroom. It was second nature to them now, having repeated the routine countless times.
Jaime felt an instant connection to the atmosphere in his room. It was where he mulled on his confusion and frustration regarding his feelings for Bart the most. It felt odd having the man occupying his every thought, causing him trouble, standing in the thick of it all.
“Can I get you a drink?” Jaime made the offer hoping it would serve as a distraction to his rapidly beating heart.
“I wouldn’t say no to a glass of water.” Bart finger gunned at Jaime hoping for a laugh. Instead, Jaime turned and paced straight out the door towards the kitchen, the great escape. Bart quickly hid his disappointment because he had to get ready before Jaime came back.
Jaime returned and went to hand over the glass of water when he noticed that the speedster was holding something behind his back.
“Whatcha got there?” Jaime quickly settled the glass down on his desk to the side of the room.
The speedster grinned knowing he was busted, before bringing out the box that was about the size of his head out into view. The cube was wrapped up in gift paper the same shade as Jaime’s armor and was tied up with a red ribbon to match Bart’s former costume.
“I got you something.” Bart’s tone was so soft and soothing it sent chills down Jaime’s spine causing the scarab to splutter.
[Jaime Reyes! Your emotional state of mind is a liability. You are making us weak! You must stop-] The scarab’s scolding only escalated in volume until Jaime lifted his index finger up to inform the scarab that he was not listening. The beetle sizzled in bile and resentment.
“Why?” Jaime’s tone had been as curious as the way his hands had reached out to grab the box from Bart’s warm hands.
“ Oh, ” his arms fell down to his sides sadly to match his tone, “You don’t remember?”
Jaime’s eyes widened in concern. Mierda! Jaime had instantly remembered what was special about the current day. It wasn’t Bart’s birthday, he would never forget that. However, he had forgotten the next most important thing.
“It’s five years today...” Bart’s pupils flickered between the box and Jaime’s own. Thankfully, he hadn’t looked quite as upset as he had sounded.
“I know... Since you came back to the past.” Jaime offered a small apologetic smile. He was going to crucify the scarab for allowing him to forget later.
“ Yeah ,” he peeped with a smile, “I got you a little something. It’s nothing big or anything. But I just want you to know that you’re my best friend and that I think you’re really crash... I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for you.”
Jaime admired the speedster rub at the hairs washing over his nape nervously as he rattled on about his feelings. Muy lindo. The beetle on Jaime’s back was unable to squash the thought that bounced around proudly in Jaime’s brain for a few moments.
“Gracias.”
Jaime’s smile grew as he pressed replay in his mind to listen to the sentiments that Bart had shared. He kind of felt like a fool for having gotten so worked up and worried about Bart replacing him with the new teammate earlier. It was as clear as the speedster’s emerald eyes that he had no such ambitions. They both knew their chemistry could not be replicated.
“Open it amigo!” A friendly chuckle creased the speedster’s eyelids.
Jaime looked down before eagerly tearing into the gift wrapping and opening the box. Inside, a soft shirt rested in a folded position. Jaime lifted up the customized shirt and held it up to the light in his bedroom to gaze upon the picture printed on it. In the dead center was a selfie they had taken five years earlier when their friendship had still been relatively new.
“Dios mio!” he gasped, “Look how young we are!”
Beyond that, Jaime was speechless.
“There’s another shirt in the box, a second one for me. We can match!” Bart exclaimed excitedly, before his hands dived into the box to snatch the second shirt. He quickly slid it on over the uniform he was still wearing before throwing his arms up over his head, “Ta-da!”
He lowered his arms as he chuckled happily in tandem with his best friend. The pair gazed intensely at one another for a moment feeling a strong surge or emotional and spiritual connectivity.
Jaime swallowed as he felt the emotions that were brewing in every cell in his body become too much.
“Gracias, Bart.” A thin film of tears coated his eyes as he smiled back warmly.
Bart rushed forward to hug him tightly. The speedster shut his own wet eyes as he enjoyed having his cheek pressed against Jaime’s muscular chest. He was pleasantly surprised when he had felt Jaime’s left hand reach up and cup the back of his head to tighten the embrace.
The emotional moment tipped over a little more as Bart clutched at the familiar feeling of Jaime’s jumper under the tips of his fingers. He really loved hugging Jaime; he also loved Jaime.
The feelings Bart had for Jaime crashed over him like the wildest waves in the world, as he stood there in an embrace that was elating his soul. Bart had of course never mentioned his feelings for Jaime, to Jaime; or anyone else for that matter.
The speedster was not willing to risk his best friend to the secret of which he was unsure how Jaime would react to.
“You’re my best friend Bart.” Jaime could barely concentrate as he took in the intoxicating scent of Bart’s over-shampooed, auburn hair.
“You’re my best friend Jaime.” Bart’s cheeky tone conveyed his competitive nature.
When Jaime released the speedster after a minute of heart warming bliss, he slid the shirt on over his jumper and looked down to examine it thoroughly.
“Woah, your hair used to be so different.” Jaime chuckled as he flicked through precious memories in his mind.
Bart chuckled lightheartedly, “Yeah I like it longer, that’s for sure.” He flicked his fringe dramatically earning a hearty laugh from Jaime.
“I don’t know… I think this suited you too. You look really good with both.” The older man’s cheeks went crimson as he realized he had failed to stop the compliment from coming out. He was glad that his wide eyes were still aimed down at his shirt at an angle that was surely out of sight to Bart.
Sometimes Jaime forgot the best thing about being short, it gave Bart the best possible view of his face. Bart saw the blush and caught the comment to press to his chest like a Valentine card. He screamed with joy internally but decided not to pass comment for Jaime’s sake.
“Haha! Your hair is still exactly the same! You still look just as good as you did back then!”
Bart settled his hands on his hips wearing a cheeky grin. He was much more confident with complimenting Jaime than the latter was with him; and he didn’t mind one bit.
Jaime chuckled at the cheesy grin he was graced with, “Gracias.” He shook his head and let out a nervous laugh, “Hey… Did you want to... stay the night? We can celebrate?”
It was the least he could do given he hadn’t even gotten Bart a gift! He wanted to return the gesture as best as he could. He knew Bart loved spending the night at his place, and he was determined to make Bart feel extra special to compensate for his guilt.
“Crash!” Bart exclaimed in the most predictable turn of events ever.
Jaime nodded with a smile, a very warm and happy smile.
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