AN: this takes place a year after season 2. They are not dating yet, but they have been best friends pretty much since they met.

Khaji Da talking to Jaime [looks like this]

Jaime talking to Khaji Da in his mind *looks like this*

translations for spanish at the end

"Oh no. This is bad…" Jaime said, slightly panicked. There didn't seem to be any way to escape. "Khaji, ayúdame un poquito, what do I do?"

[Do not move, Jaime Reyes. Any action at this time would be unfavorable.]

"En serio? We're running out of time, here!" Jaime whisper-yelled, so as not to wake up Bart, who had fallen soundly asleep on Jaime's lap on the couch. Jaime had been sitting still for a while now, and his legs were starting to fall asleep. Regardless, the situation would be fine, 'favorable,' even, if it weren't for the fact that Jaime had to pee. Bad.

[The bladder does not need to be emptied for another 6 minutes, Jaime Reyes. By then the Bart Allen will have entered into a deeper sleep cycle. Movement on your part will not wake him at that time. We must wait, Jaime Reyes.]

"Ay ay ay." Jaime rubbed his temples. It had been about a year since they got taken off mode, and at some point along the way Khaji Da had grown to be surprisingly protective over people other than Jaime. Particularly of Bart and his sister, Milagro. "Sometimes I miss you being all murdery. At least then I could pee when I wanted to."

Khaji Da let out a small vibration in response, which Jaime interpreted as something similar to a scoff. Of course, Jaime didn't actually miss the ruthless-murder-bug version of Khaji Da, but he was about to burst, so his bladder did the talking.

It was the middle of the afternoon, but Bart had had bags under his eyes today, so Jaime figured he really needed a nap. Jaime sighed and resigned himself to 6 minutes of keeping still. Khaji Da was right. Waking up adorable things was just wrong, and Jaime was a superhero now. He had to do the right thing.

After what felt like an eternity, Bart let out a soft snore.

"Pues? That means I can move, right?"

[Affirmative, Jaime Reyes.]

"Finally!" Jaime was still whispering, just in case. He gently lifted Bart's head and slid a pillow under it where his lap had been. Then he booked it for the bathroom.

…

Jaime decided to make some food while Bart took a nap. Bart seemed to be having a rough day. Jaime didn't want to pry, but he figured maybe he could help in some small way, like making food. When he opened the refrigerator door, though, he was disappointed to see very few options. So much for a nice gesture. Maybe he could order pizza instead. He closed the door a little too firmly, and Bart stirred at the noise.

Crap. Why did he have to be such a light sleeper?

"Morning Jaime…" Bart mumbled as he stretched out on the couch like a cat.

"Afternoon, Bart." Jaime laughed. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to wake you up."

"That's okay. I guess I didn't realize how tired I was." Bart rubbed his eyes.

"Did you pull an all nighter or something?"

"Not on purpose. The house was empty since Jay and Joan went out of town last night, I guess they'll be gone all weekend. It was all weird and quiet. Kind of reminded me of the apocalypse, you know? And I am not homesick, so yeah I guess I couldn't sleep. Anyway, would it be crash if I stay here tonight?"

Bart hadn't realized that he was speedster-talking, so Jaime had to take a few moments before responding while Khaji Da translated for him.

"Uh, yeah, claro que si. You can stay the weekend if you want."

"Crash! Thanks, Jaime." In an instant, Jaime felt himself get squeezed up in a BartHug™ with his arms pinned to his sides. Sometimes he wished he could get a little warning before these hugs. It wasn't that he didn't like Bart's hugs, but it was awkward not being able to hug back.

Khaji seemed to pick up on the sentiment, so a tendril came out of the scarab, and awkwardly patted Bart on his back. Apparently this was Khaji Da's way of returning the hug while Jaime couldn't.

Bart jumped slightly at the contact, since he hadn't been expecting it. As soon as he realized it was Khaji Da, though, he giggled and pat the scarab in the same manner.

"You know, if you want me to hug back, you could try leaving my arms free." Jaime joked.

Bart released his grip and took a step back. "Oh, uh, sorry. Okay!" And he jumped into another hug, this time sliding his arms under Jaime's instead of over them. Jaime returned the embrace and laughed. He was never much of a hugger until Bart came along, but he'd grown to really love Bart's hugs.

From the beginning, it was obvious to Jaime that Bart was extremely touch starved. He sought out physical affection every chance he got. He would lean on Jaime when they played video games, and grab onto Jaime's hand or arm whenever he had an excuse to. Cuddles and hugs became a frequent part of their friendship early on, and even though it took some getting used to at first, Jaime definitely wasn't complaining.

That night, Jaime and Bart went to bed fairly early. Bart was too tired to stay up late, and he was such a comfortable person to snuggle with that Jaime was more than happy to just lay down with him while Bart slept.

Bart's cuddles were different than his hugs. They were still warm and sweet, but much softer. Jaime felt more delicate when they were cuddled up like this. It was like the two of them could disappear into each other, and the world could stay on pause until they felt like coming back.

Jaime had a living weapon that was engineered to protect him fused to his spine, but it was only moments like these that he could honestly say he felt completely safe. Before long, he found himself drifting off with Bart into sleep.

...

2:05 A.M.

[Wake up, Jaime Reyes.]

Khaji Da sent a small shock throughout Jaime's body to wake him up.

"Ay!" Jaime jumped at the sensation and almost fell onto the floor. He noticed that he must have moved around at some point, because he was all the way on the edge of the bed.

[The Bart Allen is in danger. His heart rate has increased drastically. He must be awakened.]

Jaime looked over to see Bart curled in on himself, breathing heavily and whimpering in his sleep.

"He's having a nightmare." Jaime explained as he moved closer. He gently put a hand on Bart's shoulder, and Bart flinched and jolted awake with a gasp. His tear-filled eyes darted around the room in a panic, not yet processing that it was a dream.

"It was just a nightmare, Bart. It's okay, you're safe." Jaime said in the softest voice he could and pulled his hand away from Bart's shoulder. Jaime couldn't help but feel like he was the worst possible person to help in this situation, considering Bad Blue was most likely the source of those nightmares.

"J-Jaime?" Bart's breath shook, but Jaime's voice seemed to calm him down a bit.

"It's me, I'm right here."

Bart let out an unsteady breath and wiped the tears from his cheeks. "S-sorry… Did I wake you up?"

"Don't worry about it, we're even now." Jaime smiled, trying to lighten the mood. Bart gave a small smile in response, but another small stream of tears was already beginning to replace the ones that he had just wiped from his cheeks.

"Do you… want to talk about it?" Jaime asked on a limb. Bart hadn't opened up much about his past since he revealed to Jaime that Blue Beetle was the "biggest, baddest big bad" there was in his timeline.

Bart shook his head and pulled himself towards Jaime, burrowing into him as if the warmth alone could protect him from anything. Jaime didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around Bart, wishing that it could. He hated seeing Bart like this. He hated that even with the timeline fixed, Bart still had to live with the trauma from things that were never going to happen. Jaime wished he could fix it. That he could go back (or forward?) in time and stop anyone from ever hurting Bart.

But it was fixed. And Jaime couldn't even stop the nightmares. It wasn't fair. All he could do was hold him. And at least for now, that seemed to be enough for Bart.

Still, Jaime felt a tear prick at his eyelashes for everything Bart had been through.

Because of him.

"I'm so sorry…" Jaime whispered. He would never understand why Bart chose to trust him after everything, but he couldn't be more grateful for it.

After a short pause, Bart answered with a yawn, "For what?" Jaime couldn't see his face, but he seemed to have stopped crying.

"I don't know. For ruining your life, basically." Jaime hadn't actually meant to start this conversation now, but he was so tired that his filter was turned off.

"Huh? That's, like, the opposite of what you did." Bart said as he sleepily wrapped his legs around Jaime's, apparently not realizing what Jaime was getting at.

Bart sounded like he might be ready to go back to sleep soon. Jaime figured they could have this talk another time, when they weren't both half awake. For now, it was nice to know that Bart didn't still associate him with Bad Blue. If Bart of all people could forgive Jaime, then maybe Jaime could move past it someday, too.

"Thanks, Bart, go back to sleep, okay?" Jaime closed his eyes, smiling.

"Mkay… g'night, Jaime."

"Night, Bart." Jaime began drifting off.

Bart squeezed Jaime's body like it was a pillow, then mumbled something, barely audibly.

"I love you, Jaime…"

Jaime's eyes shot right back open. Suddenly, he was not half asleep anymore.

What just happened? Did Bart say that on purpose? Or was it just sleepy talk? Did he mean it? Does he love Jaime as a friend, or…? Jaime's heart was pounding in his throat.

[There is no immediate threat, but this scarab is unable to halt analysis and must remain on high alert until heart rate is lowered.]

*Ay ay ay, what does that even mean?*

[You must calm yourself, Jaime Reyes. You are stressing me out.]

*Bart just told me he loves me! How am I supposed to calm myself? What am I supposed to say?*

[According to my observations, concealing human emotions is ineffectual. However, no response is necessary at this time, Jaime Reyes. The Bart Allen lost consciousness 4 seconds ago.]

Just then, a small snore from Bart confirmed it. Maybe it was just sleepy talk, but Khaji Da was right. There was no point in holding it in, not now.

"I love you too, Bart…"

Translations:

Ayúdame un poquito - help me out a little

En serio? - seriously?

Pues - well

Claro que si - of course

AN: So sorry for the long wait between chapters here. I've been in a bit of a rut. I hope the wait was at least a little bit worth it!

let me know what you think :)