"He's just really crash." Bart groaned as he dropped into the chair. "Really crash; totally crash even."

He tossed his head back angrily. "Bart, dude, you're talking to yourself again. You said you'd stop that."

He rolled his eyes at his own words. "Well who else am I supposed to talk to?"

"Oh I don't know." He answered himself. "You could always maybe, do this in your head. It's called thinking. Most people have that ability."

By which point, Bart had had it up to here with himself, so he folded his arms and crossed his legs in anger.

But really? Jaime Reyes was so crash.

But it felt kind of lame to say that. Because 'crash' was a term ahead of its prime, and no one really knew what it meant. Bart used it way too often for it to have a single coherent meaning. So, if he told Jaime that he thought Jaime was crash, Jaime might end up comparing himself to chicken whizzies, or the idea of succeeding Wally West, or that feeling you get when you go to the amusement par and get off a really huge roller coaster then want to go again.

And none of those were really what he was aiming for?

Okay, the last one was kind of close, but Jaime wasn't a giant metal contraption that put you on a thin line between life and death. (Or at least, not anymore. Bart took care of that, remember?)

But really, crash was his back up word. The word he immediately fell on when he couldn't think of the right one. So when he tried to describe the way he felt about Jaime Reyes, the only thing that filled his mind was crash. So. Totally. Crash.

"I'm gonna ask him." Bart finally resolved.

"That sounds like a terrible idea, Bart."

"Oh come on, Bart. I'm not gonna be obvious - I'll just ask an innocent little question."

"Bart-"

"Don't argue with me, Bart. You're doing this."

And that was the end of his conversation with himself, as he jumped from his chair and ran down the hallway.

—-

Bart burst into the commons room in a blur, glancing around him.

The contents of the room were Jaime, and Cassie.

"Hermano!" Bart grinned wildly at his friend. "Sorry Cass, I've gotta borrow your guy for a second."

And he did not bother listening for permission as he grabbed Jaime, and escaped the room with him.

Back in the hallway, Bart didn't release Jaime's hand as he tried to slow himself to a 'brisk walk'

"Hey - hey slow down, Bart." Jaime snatched his hand away quickly, slightly jet-lagged at the sudden movement. "What is going on?"

"I don't know a word." Bart complied instantly.

Jaime narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"I'm trying to figure out a word. It's not crash - it's gotta be something else."

Jaime walked a circle around Bart. "What was that? A time when Bart Allen won't use the word crash? Impossible."

"I know!" Bart followed the circling motion, so that they almost seemed to be dancing around each other. "So, big deal."

Jaime ceased the dance, and continued their stroll down the hall instead. "So what is it? Can you describe it?"

Bart jumped in front of Jaime, and stopped him in his tracks. "It's the way you feel about someone."

"Hate."

"Ese, if it was hate, I would just say 'really not crash'" Bart groaned, walking backwards now as Jaime continued forward. "It's a good one, I think. Kind of scary though."

"Love?"

"No, that's really really crash."

"Like."

"Really crash."

Jaime paused. "So what? Is crash like, I don't know, a neutral adjective?"

"What?" Bart furrowed his brows. "What are you talking about?"

"If liking something is really crash, then just being crash would be like?" Jaime shrugged. "Is that like, not caring about it?"

"No, something crash is awesome."

"This makes no sense."

"It's like when you get off of a roller coaster!" Bart threw his arms up, holding them there through his description. "And you just want to get back on, even though you could totally die or you might throw up the next time!"

Jaime leaned into the shorter boy at that. "Uhm, what?"

"It's like- Like." Bart groaned, dropping his arms and circling behind Jaime as he pushed him further down the hall. "It's like the worst thing ever, but you kinda like it."

"Uh-"

"And it's like you like the person, but the fact that you like them is the worst and dumbest thing, ever."

"Bart-"

"So it's not crash at all. It's not crash in the slightest, because you kind of hate it! A lot! But you still like it because you like them." Bart stopped pushing Jaime. "Does that make sense?"

Jaime stepped forward, then turned to his friend. "So it's not crash."

"It isn't crash!" Bart assured him.

"No, hermano, it's not crash. You're off by a vowel."

Bart leaned back. "What?"

Jaime shrugged. "Sub a u for the a."

"Uh?"

"Not c-r-a-s-h; it's c-r-u-s-h."

"Excuse me?"

Jaime wagged a finger in Bart's face. "Not crash, crush."

"Oh." Bart's face was alight when that finally processed. "Oh."

"What? You okay?" Jaime asked, noticing Bart's change in expression.

"This is…" Bart turned to a wall, and promptly walked into it. "This is really uncomfortable."

"Why did you have to pull me out of the room to ask-" Jaime narrowed his eyes. "Ohh, I see." He strolled over to Bart, nudging him in the ribs. "Cassie, huh? You're gonna have to fight Tim tooth and nail if you're expecting-"

"No." Bart span to face Jaime and immediately cut him off. "No no. No no no NO no no." He swiped his hands around between their faces. "The answer is no."

Jaime grinned, because now he wanted information. "Oh come on, tell me."

But Bart was having none of that today. "Oh God - no."

"Bart! Come on!"

He shook his head, glanced back at Jaime, and shut his eyes tightly.

"Bye." Was all he said, and then he promptly ran away.