A/N: Hey guys. This is just a little one-shot I wrote, partly to get me back into the swing of writing (I've had writer's block ;~;) and partly because I love Bluepulse and I haven't yet written anything for them. So here we go! ~ velvie
Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice.
"Bart, won't you have one?" M'gann asked, smiling. I looked down at the tray of cookies she was thrusting in my direction and slowly reached out for one. I suddenly drew my hand back before taking one.
"Are you sure there's going to be enough for everyone?" I asked, looking around at the team. They were all happily munching on their own cookies.
"Of course! If not, I can always make more. Go on Bart, have one!" M'gann replied. I quickly grabbed one before I had the time to stop and change my mind. I examined the cookie in my hands. I had never eaten a cookie before coming to this time. I have had many since then, but I always hesitate before eating anything. I bit into the cookie and swallowed the first bite. I was nearly full already and I'd only had a bite. I tried not to grimace as I forced down the rest of the cookie. After finishing the last mouthful, I realised I couldn't keep it down. I bolted to the bathroom and threw myself down to the floor by the nearest toilet. This is so embarrassing. I heard someone's footsteps running towards the bathroom and I quickly tried to clean myself up so I could pretend I was fine.
"What's wrong, hermano?" Jaime's voice echoed through the bathroom. I stood and took a deep breath before walking as confidently as I could out of the stall.
"Nothing, I'm fine" I said, forcing a smile onto my face.
"I can tell you're lying" he replied bluntly. I quickly glanced sideways at the mirror and saw I was pale. It was obvious from the start that I'm not fine.
"What else can I say?" I asked, slightly desperate. I can't tell him the truth but I don't want to lie.
"You can say what's wrong. I'm here for you, hermano. You know that." Jaime said, his face softening with concern. He smiled slightly and looked over at me patiently. I felt my knees buckle from a mixture of longing, weakness and sickness. I felt myself falling, but before I could feel the pain of my body hitting the tiles on the floor, something caught me. Or rather someone. I opened my eyes that were tightly shut just a moment before and saw Jaime smiling down at me. I could feel tears trickling down my cheeks and I was shaking in his arms. He pulled me round so he was sitting and I was cradled gently in his arms and lap.
"I'm sorry" I whispered, sniffling. Jaime gently wiped a few stray tears from my cheeks with his thumb.
"Shh. It's ok. It's ok." He coaxed. We sat there for a while, not talking at all. I looked up at Jaime, who was staring, lost in thought, at the wall opposite. I quickly thought through what I was going to say before taking a deep breath.
"In the future, things are different. You must know that, it's obvious, right? Anyway, there's not a lot of food around which means the people of the future eat less. A lot less. Sometimes I went days without eating and didn't even bat an eyelid. Sometimes when I found or received food I'd give it to someone who needed it more. You'd think that because I'm a speedster, I'd need to eat more, like Wally or the Flash. But for years I'd worn an inhibitor collar and that suppressed my need to eat lots so much that when I removed it, that need was gone permanently. Maybe the collar was modified to do that or something. Whatever. Point is, now I'm in your time, I need to eat to fit in but I can't because of my past in the future. You get me?" I sighed at the end, and looked back up at Jaime. He was still staring at the wall. Slowly, his head nodded in comprehension.
"Yeah. I get you." He said, pulling me tighter into his arms. We sat there in silence again, and I couldn't help but wonder why he was so quiet.
"What are you thinking about?" I asked quietly. He looked down at me for a brief moment before replying.
"How we're gonna get you through this."
"What do you mean?" I asked, now confused.
"Well you can't just not eat, hermano. That's not how the present works." He sighed. He must have seen that I was still confused, because he continued. "We eat pretty well here, especially the team. If they catch on, you'll have to tell them, and something tells me you don't want that. So we need to think of a way of getting you to eat more, like a boy your age should. You're 13, right? 13 year old boys eat a lot of junk food."
"So what are we gonna do?"
"We're gonna get you eating well. Every day, you're gonna eat just a little tiny bit more. Think you can do that?" He asked, smiling down at me. I nodded. "Good. I hope you plan on staying In the present for some time, because otherwise there's no point to this and I'm just going to ruin things for you in the future." I stiffened at the last part of the sentence. Jaime must have felt it, because he hugged me tighter again. "You ok?"
"Yes. I'm fine." I replied, trying to force a more convincing smile this time. He couldn't know just how badly he'd already ruined my future. He must have bought this smile, because he didn't question me any further on the subject. We sank back into the comfortable silence and sat for a while, enjoying each other's company. I pulled myself up to sit beside Jaime. He turned to me, a sudden seriousness taking over his face.
"You are staying, right?" he asked. His face displayed his desperation to know the answer. I smiled at him.
"Yeah, I'm staying. Hermano."
A/N: I hope you liked it. I'd love to know what you thought of it, so review!