Archive of Our Own ^beta

Jaime never had the drive or desire to be in the spotlight, always preferring to be on the sidelines, helping out where he could. That didn’t change when the scarab fused to his spine and he had been thrust into the world of heroes, costumes, undercover missions, and villains.

Then Bart Allen aka Impulse had crashed into his world, turning everything in this world around and almost upside down; first for the unsure past then for the dreaded future, and then into the exhilarating and unknown new future.

When he had learned the truth of why Bart was really here, and how he had kept so many secrets from Jaime in order to protect the future, he had been impressed and shocked. The pain only came later when he had time to reflect on the times they had spent together. It had hurt that someone who he had come to like and respect had used him against his future self.

It made him wonder if Bart actually liked him or even cared, especially now that the Reach had been dealt with. (If any of it had been real, that Bart had been genuine).

They still got along fine when on missions or hanging out with the other teenaged/young-adult superheroes but the warmth that had been there before was no longer there and had been replaced with a tension that only seemed to magnify when it was only them with no buffer in-between.

It had taken a near-death experience of a rather long mission for things to boil over, and rather violently. That had led Aqualad to impose mandatory sessions with Black Canary before they would be allowed in the field. For Jaime, that was fine as he felt like he needed some time for himself; for Bart, not as much as he lived for fieldwork.

Several sessions of hard truths and unpleasant conversations that had been put off by both of them helped to get to the real issues at hand as well as to the feelings that the two of them had buried deep to avoid the hurt.

Even after the sessions and they had been cleared for duty, Bart and Jaime made the time to talk on their own time, to continue the progress they had made with Canary. They talked about what had happened during Jaime had been on Mode. About why Bart had come to the past and what he would have done to stop the ending of the world. About what had been real and what had been fake.

And then they began to talk about everything: foods, likes, and dislikes, places they had seen, things that amazed them, parts of the job, family. Slowly and surely, the tension was replaced by the familiar warmth when the two had been friends. And soon after that, it was replaced by something that was new and kinda frightening but also wonderful.

It was until his mamá had asked who his special someone was that Jaime had the word for what it was.

Armor

The orbs that were shot out of the cloaked figure's hands were spherical and no larger than a grapefruit. Bright white in color and shot at a speed that was easy to dodge, one would assume that they were a seemingly simple spell and not at all dangerous. But the scans with constant but also unnecessary feedback from Khaji Da and the destruction the orbs did when they hit a solid object showed that they were anything but.

The orbs were pure energy condensed – scans showed it was neither magical nor mechanical in nature – that exploded with the force of a small grenade but the damage done on the surroundings was more on the scale of a vaporizing weapon.

The destruction done was similar to the styles of several energy-based villains such as Atomic Skull while the spells were similar to the hallmarks of another group of villains like Felix Faust.

But the interesting thing was that when the orbs hit a living person, it didn’t have the same effect but rather it actually decreased as if the living person had absorbed some of the energy during a collision.

Jaime had found that out the hard way when he had thought to try and tank the damage from one of the orbs when he had maneuvered poorly and couldn’t get out of the way fast enough; that had ended poorly, look no further than his currently broken arm as the result.

Whoever this person was, they were completely new and therefore more dangerous.

Jaime gritted his teeth as he dodged another orb, the humming of energy feeling hot on his back. He managed to adjust the plating on his face as the sand dune that had just been behind him exploded high into the air. The hot sand fell over the immediate area and Jaime shivered as the sand seemed to try and wiggle through the interlocking plating of his armor.

Maneuvering around so that he was behind the column of sand that hadn’t fallen to the ground yet, Jaime sent the command. Within milliseconds his arms had transformed and combined together to form a high-grade energy cannon. The cloaked spell-caster must have sensed the change in the air as through the wall of sand Jaime could see a glowing and growing orb that seemed to pulse in time with a heartbeat.

With seconds the cannon had reached the halfway point of the maximum allowed charge and Jaime fired at the same time when the caster let loose their own attack. When the two attacks collided in the air, there was an ear-ringing boom which was quickly followed by the high pitch whistling.

The orb from the caster seemed to twist and shift and through the blinding bright light, Jaime could see through his blurred vision the blue energy from his own attack mixing and becoming pale from the white of the attack of the caster.

The air shimmered and felt hot and heavy in a way that made Jaime feel uneasy. It was only a few seconds later that Khaji Da scanners went red and Jaime made a hasty retreat as a second boom knocked him out of the air and into a dune that was half rocks.

Sand, sparks of bright colors, hot air, and plasma rained down over the area. Even though he was battered and exhausted, Jaime was lucky he could feel about 1/5 of the heat through his armor. Khaji Da and Jaime had been constantly working on adjusting parts of the armor t counter both the new and old threats that seemed to be rising daily, such as plate thickness and energy transfer.

It was good to know that some of the hard work seemed to be paying off; easier to explain a minor burn and a broken arm rather than 3rd-degree burns and several fractured ribs his parents.

The world was now spinning around him, appearing as a kaleidoscope of dark blues and dull tans which was bordered by black. Though the armor had tanked the damage, Jaime was really beginning to feel it. He took in a deep breath and slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, one arm supporting him while the other transformed into a cannon.

The world was silent, not a soul in sight or being picked up on any of his scanners. Whoever that had been had escaped in the chaos. Jaime sighed and he lowered himself back down. He was not looking forward to the mission debriefing.

“Blue!” came the cry as Impulse seemed to suddenly appear in front of him, worry making him look almost comically older than he actually was.  

Well, at least he would have Bart beside him, hovering over him like a protective and super speedy mother hen. Misery did love company after all.

Feelings + Spanish

“Good morning. Buenos días,” Bart parroted back, the pronouncing much better than it had been last week. Jaime nodded with a smile and Bart returned the smile.

When Bart had learned that the past had many upon many cultures, languages, religions, and so on, he had been shocked. You didn’t need to be a genius but rather a good listener to be able to fit the small pieces of the world Bart had come from; to streamline a post-apocalyptic with a tyrant fixated on efficiency, it was probably easier to stamp out the minorities and make everyone speak the same language.

So for a while, Bart had thrown himself into books and documentaries about the world of nearly any and every topic under the sun and whatever caught his fancy that day. So when Bart had approached Jaime about Spanish and his Mexican culture, he had been surprised and even proud that it was his culture that seemed to capture the attention of the speedster.  

(The real reason for the hyper-fixation wouldn’t come out until after Jaime had been put on Mode and the talk about everything else would come after the near ending of the world by the Reach).

So when the two had talked and Bart would interject with random Spanish words, Jaime had let it slide; it wasn’t like Bart meant any harm when he had spoken Spanish in the drawn-out way. But eventually, it became akin to nails on a chalkboard for Jaime to hear his mother tongue mangled so badly.

It was only when the Reach invasion had been dealt with and the dust had settled to allow for normal life to return that he had the chance to sit Bart down and propose language lessons. If Bart was going to interject his conversation with random Spanish words then by whatever holy power was out there, he was going to pronounce the words correctly.

So here they were, in Jaime’s room with the door open as per his mother’s request, sitting across from one another crossed-legged with a pile of cards between them. The cards were from an old set that Jaime’s Abuela had used to teach Jaime and then later Megro Spanish when they had been toddlers.

Jaime pulled out another card from the pile. The card would either have a simple phrase or sentence written, one side was in English and the other in Spanish. The English side was to Jaime as he already knew the cards off by heart.

“Good afternoon,” Jaime said. He watched as Bart seemed to mull over the phrase, his mouth parting slightly to mouth the words. Jaime squashed the small urge to kiss Bart and was grateful that Khaji Da was listening to Jaime’s order of not giving unwanted observations of Jaime’s physical and mental reactions to Bart. He already had to deal with enough teasing from Megro as it was.

“Good afternoon. Buenas tardes,” Bart said the pronunciation once again much better than it had been last week.

“Good,” Jaime said. “You’re getting better already. You’ll be a natural in no time.”

Bart grinned before it took a hint of being mischievous as he quickly looked through the pile of cards before seeming to find one he wanted. Jaime furrowed his brow, the card was gray and the font was purple; that card didn’t belong in the set.

Jaime felt himself blush when he truly comprehended the sentences as Bart all but purred out, “Puedes hacer que cualquier chico se enamore de ti. Eres bien pinche lindo, inteligente y comico.”

Jaime’s face went a whole new shade of red as he jumped from off of his bed to yell down the hall towards his sister’s room. “Megro! Stay out of my language lessons!”

Bart let out a hearty laugh as Megro opened her door to blow a loud and wet raspberry at her older brother before retorting. “Why are you mad anyways? I’m helping him with his Spanish! At the rate you two are going, you’ll be 50 before you make a move. I’m just trying to help.”

Before Jaime could make a remark, he felt Bart grab his arms around his midsection and press warm lips to the shell of his right ear. What Bart whispered made Jaime wonder how red his face was and if steam was coming out of his ears. Jaime did want Bart to practice new sentences on his own time, but this wasn’t what he had meant.

Megro let out a grunt of teenager-like disgust before she rushed out of her room, no doubt on her way to tattle to their mamá about the new turn in Bart’s language lesson.

 “How was I?” Bart grinned, his lips still pressed to Jaime’s ear. “I think I’m getting pretty good.”

“Yup,” Jaime agreed his head swimming and his voice coming out with a dazed tone. “You’ll be a natural alright.”

'A natural of raising my blood pressure' was the finished thought but there was no need to stroke Bart’s ego anymore than it had been today.

Kord Industries

“Hey Blue,” Bart's words are a gentle murmur as if talking to a wounded animal. “Found you.”

Jaime almost didn’t hear those words much less even hear Bart’s approach if it hadn’t been for Khaji Da. Having spent so much time with the speedster on and off the clock of being a Hero had allowed Khaji Da to fine-tune his sensors and scanners to everything biological that was Bart Allen aka Impulse.

A hand, warmer than a normal person with a tingle of static electricity, was on his shoulder before it slowly moved across his upper back. Had Jaime been in a better mood, he would have enjoyed Bart’s touch more; had he been in a worse mood he would have shaken it off. But he feels numb, so he does nothing.

Jaime lets himself be pulled into a half-hearted hug, his head now resting on Bart’s bony shoulder. Even after the year Bart has spent in this timeline, he had retained his lean and even bony frame; starvation in one’s youth would do that to a person.

“I heard,” Bart began. “I know….this isn’t what you want to happen but you gotta trust in the League on this decision.”

Jaime barely has the energy to snort so instead he just pressed his face into Bart’s neck, allowing the warmth to seep into his tired aching eyes.

Ted Kord, founder, and CEO of Kord Industries who had also been the second Blue Beetle, inspired by his mentor and the first Blue Beetle, Dan Garrett. Ted had been a good-natured and kind man who had been friends to many in the Justice League. Gifted with a technical mind that rivaled Batman’s he had done what he could have done as a Hero.

To everyone who worked the Job, he had died in an explosion against Light operatives who had wanted the Scarab – had wanted Khaji Da – back in operation on July 16, 2015, in the El Paso branch of his company.

To the public, there had been an explosion caused by an overheated gas main in the El Paso branch and Ted Kord had gone radio silence with his Board of Directors after July 25, 2015. He had been declared missing on August 03, 2015, and after a year missing with no leads was finally declared legally dead.

The president of Kord Industries, a bald but rather sniveling man (in Jaime’s opinion), had been promoted to CEO and had just announced a possible merger with the advanced technology branch of a massive multi-billion dollar company.

That company was Lex Corp.

Jaime never had felt such a combination of white-hot rage and indignation with sub-zero chill go through him until he had heard that bit of news. The only other time he had felt such strong and almost uncontrollable emotions that he could compare to was when he had been put on Mode; the terror of what could happen next, the exhaustion of screaming himself hoarse at the Reach Ambassador.

“What if it doesn’t work out?” Jaime asked his voice barely above a cracked whisper. “What if Lex gets his hands on….”

Jaime didn’t need to finish but he didn’t have to, Bart knew what he was referring to; Kord had had multiple hideouts across the country, all with its own laboratories and servers. Even if the League had done overtime in removing and scrubbing down all traces of the Blue Beetle, there always seemed to be a lingering and nagging feel of unease.

That, someone, had missed something, even after all hideouts had been picked over by a fine-tooth comb by the greatest minds of the League.

Jaime felt himself lost; he didn’t know much about the former Blue Beetle but he had heard enough tales and adventures that he could get a sense about the man. Some days he wondered if he was truly living up to the legacy left by Ted Kord and if he was making him proud by continuing on the mantle.  

Seeing Kord Industries slip away, even when it had never been his in the first place, felt like he was losing a large piece of the incomplete puzzle that was Ted Kord.

Bart didn’t answer but only pulled Jaime into a tight hug; long, nimble fingers rubbed soothing circles on his back as Bart laid his head on top of Jaime’s, allowing the world to become muffled.

It was only a week later when a news update came out regarding the merger; the deal had been pulled. Instead, Kord Industries would remain as-is with a new CEO taking over and was looking at several possible large collab projects between three major companies in the US; Wayne Enterprises, Queen Industries, and Cyberwear.

The relief that Jaime had felt made him actually have to sit because his knees had been so weak. Bart only had given Jaime a smile with an all-knowing look in his eyes; Jaime should have known better than to doubt the League.

Fluff + Teen Titans + Friends

Jaime wasn’t sure what the plot of the movie was or even what its title was. All he knew for sure was (a) it was a new romance movie, having come out within the last 3 months and (b) had been chosen via a majority vote which consisted of most of the female young adult heroes that were currently residing within the Titan Tower. With their busy schedule and emergencies seeming to pop up from every corner, it was a wonder that even they were all here.

Jaime would have called it unfair and demanded a new vote be done but that would have required him moving and then finding a new movie to propose for the monthly Titan Movie Night. That would have cost him his spot as well as Bart’s spot and he wasn’t willing to disappoint Bart because, for some reason, was a sucker for typically trashy rom-com movies.  

So he stayed where he was and only moved when Bart came with the snacks that would be shared between the two of them. When the lights had gone out and the movie had started did Jaime stop paying attention; he would get Bart to tell him the play-by-play later.

As the movie droned on and Bart made his way through the mini-mountain of snacks and drinks did Jaime find himself every so often moving and shifting in his seat. A scene where the two main characters were yelling at each other in the rain found him sliding into the cushions while later in the movie during a dream sequence that involved the subway had him leaning strongly against the arm of the couch.

It was near the ending which still needed the grand declaration of love and out-maneuvering the blonde and rather bratty antagonist – which strongly reminded Jaime of the head cheerleader from El Paso – that Jaime found himself lying down on the couch with Bart basically on top of him, head on his chest and over his heart.

This hadn’t been the first time the two of them had found themselves in this position while watching movies together but it was the first time in a more public place, which involved not only their friends but also their team leaders.

Soon the movie was over with a happy and satisfying ending for the two lovers and as soon as the credits rolled did the lights come on, nearly blinding some people as they blinked the spots from their eyes.

 “Aw,” cooed Cassie. “You guys look so cute!”

Jaime fought the urge to hide in his hoodie as he and Bart slowly sat up. Now he remembered why he had been hesitant to come to movie night. He thought the teasing he had gotten from his sister had been relentless; this was now going to be never-ending.

“Surprised you just didn’t start kissing during the movie. The atmosphere is just right for a romantic evening,” teased Stephanie as she wiggled her eyebrows. Jaime didn’t give in to the urge of flipping her off but he did stick his tongue out which was returned.

Dumping their garbage into the large can by the door, Jaime and Bart walked side by side towards their rooms, the hands brushing with every step. While they weren’t permanent residents of the Tower and helped out the Titans when not busy with their own teams or missions, there were plenty of spare rooms they could borrow as long as they cleaned up after themselves.

“The movie was nice,” Bart said softly, his green eyes seeming to glow under the lights.

“Yeah, it wasn’t bad,” Jaime agreed.

Bart smirked before linking their arms together and asked, “Did you even watch the movie, or were you dozing off again?”

Jaime didn’t reply and Bart let out an amused chuckle. It was only when they had entered their spared room that Bart locked the door and pulled Jaime into a deep kiss which only ended when they had to breathe.

“That’s a shame you didn’t pay attention,” Bart murmured, his eyes half-lidded and his lips just a hair from Jaime’s. “There was a really nice scene I thought we could try and re-enact but since you didn’t pay attention….” Bart trailed off while looking expectantly at Jaime and he sighed, having lost the battle before it began.

“We can watch on our next date night,” Jaime groaned before flopping on his bed. Bart only laughed as flopped next to Jaime, weaving their fingers together.

“You would love those movies too if you actually paid attention,” Bart teased. Jaime grunted in response before pulling himself up along with Bart so that they had their heads on the pillows.

“Maybe,” Jaime said before giving Bart a soft smile. “Or maybe I just enjoy spending time with you.”

Bart blushed as he burrowed his face into Jaime’s shoulder. “That’s not fair Mister Casanova. You can’t say lines like that.”

“Why not sugar plum?” Jaime asked, watching in amusement as Bart’s blush spread further. “I am sure you have heard worst lines from those rom-coms you like so much.”

“Or,” Jaime began, as Bart looked up at him with narrowed eyes. “Is it because this Casanova has a silver tongue that knows all your little secrets and the right places to tease?”

Bart let out a squeak, his blush taking on a whole new shade of red. Jaime was giving his answer via a pillow hitting him in the face. The night quickly dissolved into minor chaos as the two began a battle royal and was only told off an hour later by a rather grumpy Barbara to ‘take it outside or sleep like rocks’.

They decided on the 2^nd option as they reassembled the bed back and curled under the covers, giggling like mischievous school girls until early in the morning when they finally fell asleep, wrapped up in blankets and each other arms.