Thanks a bunch for the reviews! They meant a lot!
"Bart!" Wally's voice is the first thing he hears a he limps through the Allen's front door.
"Whoa, what's happened?" Barry demands, just as shocked as his nephew before rushing over.
"Bart waves them both off without a word as he makes his way towards the stair case.
"Are you hungry, sweetie?" Iris calls gently, her face contorted into a concerned frown.
"Yeah, Grandma Iris." Bart whispers, his voice laced in pain as he slowly makes his way up the stairs.
"Kid?" Wally mumbles, not sure whether to be angry or worried.
"Come on." Barry mumbles after the sound of Bart's door shutting sounds through the house.
"I'll go alone." Wally states and rushes up the stairs.
Bart's been staying in Wally's old room. And when Wally walks in, he's shocked to find that nothing's really been moved.
"What are you doing?" Bart demands form the corner. He's peeling his suit off with a pain streaked face.
"I came to check on you. What happened?" Wally asks and stares at the other kid's bruised torso.
"Blue Beetle." Bart growls and winces.
"Here, let me help. What did this guy do to you?" Wally asks as he helps slowly remove the skin tight suit.
"A lot of things. I kind of passed out at some point; woke up in the bio ship." Bart sighs.
"Nightwing hasn't called to say anything." Wally mumbles to himself and watches Bart sift through the closet.
"He was in just a bad of condition as the rest of us." Bart sighs.
It's now that Wally actually looks at the other speedster.
His back is covered in scars and burns...the skin that should have healed itself rises and dips with every blemish.
Wally doesn't even wan to think about what the kid had to go through in order for his body to not be able to heal itself.
"They're scars, West." Bart mumbles as he pulls on a pair of sweat pants and a long sleeved T-shirt.
"Why didn't they heal?" Wally asks, not used to seeing the kid so serious.
"Do you really want to know?" Bart asks softly.
"...not really." Wally sighs and looks over to find Iris walking into the room with a bowl in her hands.
"I made chile." she states with a warm smile.
"Thanks, gram." Bart sends her a grateful smile and forces away the pain long enough to walk over and take the large bowl.
"No problem." Iris pecks the boy's cheek before walking out.
"You need to refuel." Wally mumbles when Bart plops down on the bed.
"what do you think I'm doing?" Bart demands between spoon fulls of the food.
"What's your problem?" Wally growls.
"My problem? I have many. Where do you want me to start?" Bart growls.
"What happened to the nice kid that I met?" Wally growls right back.
"He doesn't exist. I'm done putting up a character so that you people will be happy. I came here to accomplish a mission. That's what I'm going to do."
"You're a mess."
"No offense, but your opinion isn't very valuable."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"You're such a hypocrite, West."
"What?"
"You're demanding to know where the happy kid is? Don't you think we should be asking you that?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You know, I thought that the reason you were so uptight was because of what happened to Grandpa. Now I see that it's just who you are."
"What are you talking about?"
"You dropped your supposed best friend like a sack as soon as your girlfriend told you she wanted to be normal!" Bart barks, changing the subject with ease.
"That isn't true!"
"You turned into this serious business guy the moment you two started dating."
"You don't know what you're talking about!"
"You left Dick to deal with the team alone!"
"He has M'gann! Conner!"
"He was left alone at the moment he really needed you! They don't know him the way you do. He's falling apart inside, and you're too busy to notice! You only care about your girlfriend!"
"You don't know what you're talking about!"
"That's enough." Barry's voice breaks them apart as that moment.
The blonde speedster's voice holds no emotion as he steps forward.
"I'm out of here." Bart mutters and sets the now empty bowl down on the bedside table.
"You're not going anywhere." Barry growls and grabs Bart's elbow before he can speed away.
"Come on Grandpa, let go." Bart sighs.
"What happened to you?"
"I got a little hurt; no big deal."
"Where are you going?"
"Why does it matter."
"Answer the question, Bart."
"I'm just going for a run."
"Bull. Where are you going?" Wally mutters with a glare.
"Smallville."
"What for?"
"Why do you care?" Bart demands.
"Tell me." Wally demands.
"I'm going to help the others. Can I go now?"
"I'm going with you." Wally states.
"What? No!"
"He's going." Barry nods in approval.
"whatever. I'll meet you there." Bart sighs and waits for his grandfather to let go before running off at top speed.
.. ...
The barn is full of teenagers when Bart arrives.
Nightwing is still in his tattered and shredded suit, tending to Batgirl's cheek.
"How can I help?" Bart asks as he takes in the sight in front of him.
"Beast Boy's due for new gauze." Dick mumbles, still focused on the task in front of him.
"Alright. Hey, BB...come over here for a sec?" Bart calls as he grabs the roll of white medical gauze.
"This won't hurt right?" the green skinned thirteen year old asks softly as he limps over.
"Just a little." Bart mumbles and slowly lifts the other's shirt to reveal pink gauze.
"Can you maybe not wrap it so tight?" Garfield murmurs.
"Sure."
"What are you doing here?" Bart looks up at Dick's voice to find Wally standing beside him.
"I came to help." Wally mumbles as he lifts his goggles from his eyes.
"Whatever. Grab a first aid kit and help Arsenal with his shoulder." Dick mumbles and looks up at his best friend...letting his eyes trail over the familiar Kid Flash suit.
"Sure." Wally sighs and moves.
Bart returns to his own task and sighs.
He doesn't like this...but he doesn't really have a say in how things go anymore. He just has to go with the flow and hope for the best until he completes his mission.
.. ...
"Hold still." Conner mumbles softly.
"It hurts." Tim grits out and winces when he feels the stitches tighten.
"Sorry; we don't have morphine." Conner sighs and pulls back to inspect his handy work.
"I know."
"They aren't visible." Conner states as he ruffles his boyfriend's hair so that it falls onto the ebony's forehead.
"Thanks...Bart's here." Tim mumbles and watches as the red haired boy helps Dick pick up silently.
"He's been really quiet, lately." Conner states.
"He doesn't know what to do."
"What do you mean?"
"The guy he's in love with is...going to be the biggest bad guy ever. He's trying to stay positive."
"Trying."
"He doesn't want to admit that Jaime's gone."
"Jaime's not gone, Tim."
"He's not here."
"But he will be soon. Jaime's not a bad guy. He's just caught in the middle of a hurricane right now."
"I hope things get better soon. Bart can't take much more of this."
"Things will get better."
Across the barn, Bart makes his way outside with a bag of trash.
The cool air tickles his cheeks as he dumps the bag into the trash can outside with a sigh. And for just a split second, Bart le's his hard façade drop...and he looks up at the stars with a pained expression.
A star streaks through the sky in a blur and Bart quickly shuts his eyes tightly.
"I wish Jaime would come back." he whispers before letting his eyes flutter open.
The star is gone...and behind, it's left a dark blue blanket dotted with small white diamonds.
The stars are pretty...but Jaime still wishes Jaime were there...with him.
So, you guys voted and screamed at me : ) so, it's been decided that there will be a Fluff filled chapter and soon after, a smut filled chapter.
Now, for another thing to vote on!
would you guys like
1) The smut to be a result of Bart and Jaime not having seen each other for a long time.
or
2) Bart starts teasing the scarab and Jaime decided to take its advice on 'taking Bart'
