A/N: I usually would never write BluePulse, but this had to be done. I started this before the episode "Intervention" because I feel like this would've been a good take. This fic works under the pretense that the scarab has control rather than the Ambassador.

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or any associated characters.

KillKillKill

Jaime Reyes, this is not safe.

The Latino teen felt that prickling feeling in the back of his spine that meant Khaji Da was gripping on harder, those little legs of his digging deeper into his skin for that nerve connection. "Shh..." he murmured to the empty night's air, trying to lull his inner voice back into silence. There was no time for talk. Bart was right next to him, and they needed to stay quiet; he did not wish to wake his slumbering boyfriend.

Jaime Reyes, we must kill the Impulse. He is a danger. He knows the future.

"He doesn't know, now hush," hissed Jaime to the air. He squeezed his eyes shut. The night's cold air nipped at his neck where his skin was raw and red from Bart's pecks and nibbles. "I need sleep."

He needs to be eliminated.

"I'm not going to kill him," snarled Jaime with a long, low sigh of malcontent. His muscles tightened and then relaxed against his will, Khaji Da displaying his power, simple as it might be. "I won't."

He felt pressure against his back, but not from the scarab. Bart was shifting in his sleep, restless. His bare back was touching his lover's as he tossed and turned, still running, even in his dreams.

"I love him, alright? Now cállate!" Jaime pulled the picnic blanket, now turned actual blanket, tighter around himself, still making sure Bart was covered so their nudity would not show.

He is a danger to the plans of the Reach, Jaime Reyes. He must be eliminated.

Jaime took his own voice into his head, realizing he was desperate to let Bart rest in peace. He's all I have left of my own humanity, can't you at least leave me something? I have to leave my home, my mother, and my friends. Can't I have just one thing?

He is a threat.

I love him.

Love is a dangerous emotion, Jaime Reyes.

The teen scoffed aloud and then quickly silenced himself as he realized he may still disturb Impulse. It is. But he makes me feel good. I'm saving him from a terrible life by keeping him with me, right?

The Impulse must die.

All Jaime wanted was to save him.

That day, sitting out in the desert with an umbrella, a few massive gallons of water, a picnic basket full of Chicken Whizzees, and a blanket, Bart had told Jaime the whole future. The Team had died off one-by-one, and then the Justice League fell apart when the six deemed intergalactic criminals were sentenced to death. The Reach became Earth's only hope and the dependency levels grew dangerous and finally the people succumbed to the force of aliens that finally decided domination was exactly what they wanted. The Beetles came in to clean up shop, pick off the last of the heroes, and then inhibitor collars were used to suppress any possible metagene. A whole world of slaves and no one to protect them.

The worst part for Jaime was watching Bart's face the whole time and seeing the sheer terror and pain wiping across his features as he relived so many dark stories and memories that could only be the worst possible future for the world as he knew it. The world was falling apart and Bart explained, once more, that Jaime would be the cause of such a downfall.

Bart only wished he knew how and why.

So there was still hope for the Reach's plans even with Bart still in the picture. He was missing half the puzzle and his optimism acted as a blindfold to how Jaime was already being controlled. Bart could still live and coincide with the Reach's master plan as long as he did not interfere. Jaime understood that. And he wanted that- he wanted nothing more than for Bart to live so he could have love and retain that small bit of his own humanity no matter how painful it was to let the rest of the world go and burn.

The Impulse must die, repeated Khaji Da.

"He doesn't need to die for the Reach to live," murmured Jaime to the empty aired night where cold, heartless stars twinkled above and the moon smiled thinly in the sky. "He's mine." His lips pursed and he stretched one foot out to search for Bart's. And he found it and then retreated back into his own personal space.

Bart twitched for a moment and reached out for Jaime, his hands searching for the warm, tanned skin that he knew had to be there. Cold fingers touched and then felt at Jaime's back and then slowed, stopped, and Bart was deep asleep again, comforted by his boyfriend's presence.

"I won't let any of you take him from me," murmured Jaime, speaking to the scarab but staring at icy stars in a dark night sky. The emptiness and solitude were daunting. "Bart is mine."

He must die.

You won't kill him.

No.

The quiet that echoed in his head after that was peaceful, and he thought for a heartbeat that he may be able to sleep.

Why? questioned Jaime, his lips pursed together tightly.

The Impulse must die. But not today.

"All things die," breathed the now soothed teen as he let himself sink into the warmth of the blanket...

"Sorry," came a whisper from behind him, just above his ear.

Then there was this pain, this immense pain, as a knife thrust right into his heart with killer precision, and the armor was not fast enough to protect him. Jaime found his lungs not working, his heart at a stop, Khaji Da screaming in furious rage as he tried to lift an arm that would not move as the muscles were quickly becoming limp with Death's unyielding grip.

Bart's face replaced the moon and stars and darkness. "I love you too," he whispered feverishly, tears glowing in those green eyes. "I love you." He touched Jaime's convulsing, anguished face and winced at the expression that remained there even when that final breath was drawn: betrayal. "But I love the world and humanity more..."

A/N: Leave a review? Constructive criticism is welcomed, thanks for reading.

~Sky