Fireflies

Bart (and a small side of Barry)

No one could quite understand why Bart liked the little glowing bugs so much.

Sorry for the long update wait. I had this chapter halfway finished, but was not completely satisfied with it as I wrote myself in a corner. I scrapped it to use this version instead. I think it worked out much better. I guess this could take place post "Before the Dawn". It's your choice.

Disclaimer: If I owned Young Justice, Bart and some others would be in it more, a few relationships would be mended already, the cave wouldn't have exploded, and most importantly, it would be on right now. *Sigh. Now onto chasing Fireflies.

Bart flopped down and leaned back on the sofa. After a few seconds of counting spots on the ceiling, he got up and zoomed over to the movie collection. He frowned once through with a quick scan and sped into the kitchen. Finding no sign of his new favorite snack, he ended up back on the sofa and groaned. Needless to say, Bart was extremely bored.

He had gone to see Jamie, but his fellow teammate was busy studying for his Pre-Cal finals and stated that he didn't need any more distractions since he's already had one nagging at him for the past couple of hours, trying to do his homework for him. Leaving Jamie to argue with himself, Bart went back home. Well, the future speedster assumed that staying with his young grandparents was going to be his home now.

Bart went through the list of other people he could hang out with in his mind again. Wally was busy sulking and didn't want to be bothered, Garfield had to catch up on his schoolwork since he had been slacking, and the locations of the others were disclosed to him. He considered seeing what Tim was up to, but quickly dismissed the idea after learning a while back from his surprise visit to the Batcave. Dick kept his promise of electrifying the secret entrance if the speedster decided to drop by unexpected again.

Tired of being cooped up in the house, Bart grabbed his cell phone (as an agreement with Barry and Iris to have) and took off for a run. The speedster enjoyed the feeling of everything moving past him, yet joining together in a brilliant blend of colors and shapes. It was as if the world turned slowly in a way.

Spotting an unusual greenish glow in a vast empty field, Bart skidded to a stop and went over to check it out. It took him a moment to realize what twinkled above the ground. He smiled and moved to examine the fireflies closer. He had never seen them before so this was quite a sight for him.

"There must be like ten million of them." He said to himself in astonishment.

Grouped together, the fireflies blinked in a pattern that almost looked like rain drops that slowly floated to the ground. The speedster actually stood still for more than a moment, staring at the scene with wonder. Soon, he was caught in the middle of the peaceful shimmering cloud around him. They seemed to put out a show, gracefully dancing everywhere in the field. Bart longed for this picture to last forever.

Barry walked into his home and headed straight to the kitchen for a night snack. The long day at work plus the quick attempted bank heist to take care of on the way home left him starving. With a sandwich piled high and a bag of Chicken Weezies in his hands, he headed toward his bedroom where Iris most likely was already in bed. On the way, he paused when he caught sight of a glow coming from the spare bedroom for Bart. Peeking in through the crack of the door, he furrowed his brows in confusion to the jar of fireflies sitting on the nightstand. The Flash failed to notice the blur that snatched the bag of chips out of his hands until Bart was on the other side of the room.

"Thanks for the Chicken Weezies," Bart replied through a mouthful. Barry rolled his eyes and mentally told himself that he had the chips hidden for a reason as there was another speedster living in the house hooked on them.

Snatching a handful of chips, Barry asked, "What's with the fireflies?"

Bart stared at the jar and smiled. "They're really cool." He merely replied.

"Hmm," Barry shrugged and left before his grandson could take any more of his food.

Bart continued on his munchies as he watched the handful of fireflies creating a dull glow like a lantern in their enclosed space. He still had no idea what it was about the lightning bugs that fascinated and left him feeling calm. Maybe it was the gentleness and the small spark of light they always emitted that provided a comfort to the young speedster.

He would never admit it to anyone, but he often had trouble sleeping, afraid to wake up and find the world in ruins. Sure, it was a little aggravating to be stuck in the past, yet he enjoyed spending time with his family and having a good group of friends he could lean on. There was also so much more that he could do in this time compared to the one he came from. All Bart could do was remain upbeat and happy to be there which in truth he was.

Bart again peered inside the jar. He decided that the fireflies represented hope with the tiny speck of light that kept making its presence known. That was enough in Bart's mind to see that whatever the future held now, they could get through it.

Don't know if this can really be considered a songfic, but oh well. I was inspired by Owl City. He always has such interesting and creative songs and for some reason I pictured Bart for this. I tried to keep it as nice and fluffy as I could without getting too deep. Anyway, don't forget to leave a review and add me to alert if you haven't already! :D