"Wake up." Jason said, looking down. "It's time to eat."
Jaime mumbled, blinking as he got up, his armor retracting off of his body, and Bart started to shiver again.
"Maybe we should get some blankets." Jason suggested as Jaime stood up. "You keep him warm?"
Jaime nodded. "I didn't need him getting sick on us. Scarab can transfer heat through the armor."
"You're a lot more selfless than Roy ever was." Jason scoffed, "If I was left shivering in the night, and Starfire wasn't there, I'd stay left shivering, and he'd use whatever sources of heat we had all for himself." he stood there for a second, wrapping a few fingers around his chin. "I don't think there's actually ever been actual friendship in this group, actually. I guess you two are the first." he turned around to go eat, and Jaime followed him.
"Well, Bart and I aren't exactly friends. More like two people who both decided to just abandon the tribe and thought this would be a better option." Jaime insisted.
Jason laughed and he pulled out a flask full of water, "The fuck you mean you aren't friends? You act like it."
"Well, no. We fight a lot." Jaime said, "Lots of disagreements."
"I can see that. I mean, I've already seen the aftermath of your bed dispute." Jason said, "And I can imagine how fucking brutal those fights are, too. How have you not killed him yet?"
"I was going to," Jaime admitted, "a few days ago. I was stopped by Zatanna."
"Damn. I get now why she didn't come with you." Jason said. "Also, when's the last time Bart bathed? Do you even know? He's really starting to fucking smell."
Starfire entered the vault with some fruit she stole from farms.
"No, I don't." Jaime admitted.
"Ah. That's not good." Jason picked up a strawberry and popped the whole thing in his mouth, chewing on it as he went into his bedroom and came back with fresh clothes and a bar of soap. He walked over to Bart's room. "Hey, kiddo. Wake up. You need to clean yourself up. There's a lot of waterfalls in the mountains you can find. Here's your soap and fresh clothes."
Bart mumbled something before sitting up, looking at the clothes and soap in front of him before taking off from out the vault.
"So. Windland. Today sound good?" Jason said as he continued to eat the fruit.
"I was actually thinking maybe we could toy with them a bit." Jaime spoke up. "Think about it. Leave hints that we're gonna destroy their entire town soon, let their last days be spent in fear. Let them try to run and hide."
"Hmm," Jason thought about it, "how would we go about doing that?"
"We can steal a can of bright red paint, write something cryptic on it. Make a straw doll and hang it on a noose." Jaime laughed at the suggestion.
"Ha!" Jason laughed. "I love the idea of that."
"Idea of what?"
"Oh, shit! You're back already." Jason said once he spotted Bart.
"Fastest man alive, remember?" Bart winked.
"Of course. Also, it seems like you don't know we have a lavatory here. Have you guys been pissing and shitting outside this whole time? Savages." Jason rolled his eyes.
"Where is it?" Jaime asked.
"It's attached to our room." Starfire piped in, "Jason installed it himself. We haven't had the time to make a second one. Sorry."
"Anyways, Bart," Jason changed the subject, "Jaime came up with a good idea. To tease the people of Windland for a bit- make them aware of their imminent doom."
"Oh?" Bart looked over to Jaime, "Sounds good." he said.
"Neat. Bart, can you do me a favor?" Jason requested.
"What's that?" Bart asked.
Jason grinned.
x
Bart had painted "YOU'RE ALL NEXT!" on the side of the mayor's house, pinned a map of all of the previously destroyed towns next to it, and left a pile of stolen wooden dolls burning nearby. He stole two blankets from the motel and ran back to the base.
"Everything's done. We can go back and see their reactions." he suggested.
x
They were atop of a flat roof, hidden behind barrels. Jason was getting a kick from seeing the townspeople pace around in confused murmurs and panic. Lex Luthor took off his hat and used a cloth to pat his bald, sweaty head as he looked at the burnt pile of wooden dolls. He looked up and saw a man walking by.
"Robert!" he called, and Robert stopped in his tracks. "May you fetch Mercy for me, please? I need to pay a visit to the Longshadows."
"Yes, sir." Robert sped off.
"What do you think he's gonna do?" Bart whispered to Jaime.
Jaime shrugged, "I don't know." he said in a low voice, and looked over to the other side of the roof, where Starfire and Jason were hidden behind another stack of barrels, kissing.
No wonder why Roy wanted Wally to join them so much, Bart thought, he was probably tired of being third-wheeled all of those years.
"No, no, no." Jaime scolded, placing his left hand atop of his right arm which was beginning to form a sonic cannon. "Yes, I know The Outlaws are annoying, but that's no reason to bring out any cannons."
"I'm surprised he was nice enough to keep me warm last night." Bart commented.
Jaime laughed a bit. "Khaji Da is a weapon, ese. He doesn't care about keeping people warm. He only did such because I made him. The last thing I needed right now was for you to be getting cold and sick."
Bart didn't speak for a few moments. He switched the subject. "When are we gonna kill them?"
Jaime sighed, "I was thinking just that this morning. We're really pushing our luck with prolonging this invasion they want to happen. We have to make it soon."
Bart nodded in agreement. "Yeah, for sure. Maybe tonight? Right before bed, when they're tired? You can stab Starfire through the back, and I can snap Jason's neck before he can even think."
"We'll try that." Jaime agreed, then repeated, "We'll try that."
x
The tribesmen grabbed their weapons at the sight of Lex Luthor approaching their camp. Chief Shadow stood up, his strong, bulky figure walking towards the horse that was racing towards them.
Lex Luthor stopped Mercy a few feet away from camp. Chief Shadow didn't speak.
"Hello, good man!" Lex Luthor cheered, sounding out of breath. "I understand your English is very limited, but may I see your two fellows?"
Chief Shadow was silent for a few moments. "They are no longer with us."
Zatanna came out of her tepee and walked up.
Lex Luthor looked at her for a few moments before speaking to Chief Shadow again. "Have they passed on?" he asked.
"They're not dead." Zatanna spoke to him. "Lex Luthor." she then acknowledged afterwards, scowling at him. "They decided to turn their back on the tribe, and joined The Outlaws. In fact, they were invited in after Roy's death. I don't know why." she sighed, "But the deal that was made is still on. I will take out Starfire and Red Hood, along with Bart and Blue Beetle, in exchange that you will leave me and my tribe alone."
Lex Luthor looked at her in surprise. "My god! That was a twist I wasn't expecting." he exclaimed, "Zatanna, you must make it quick. Omens were left in the town today, signing that they were to destroy the entire town and kill everyone it. We may have to flee soon, and I think you both know which direction we will head."
Zatanna had to stop herself from growling. "Of course." she let out a smile, "I will find them and I will kill them."
"Very well." Lex Luthor tipped his hat, "Then I will be off. Have a good day." he turned his horse around and galloped back into the direction of Windland.
x
Bart and Jaime spent the rest of the day listening to Starfire and Jason have sex, playing poker, and resting on mountains drinking liquor.
That night, it eventually came time to head off to bed. And Jaime did what he was supposed to do.
And it worked, in a way. Starfire did let out a gasp of pain as she felt Jaime's scythe penetrate into her back, but her tough skin made it difficult, and he only got about two inches of the blade in her.
All four of them stood in shock. Jason stared at Bart with hate in his eyes. He pulled out a gun out and shot Bart in the head.
The only thing Bart could comprehend was hitting the floor.
x
Bart woke up in Zatanna's tepee. He'd never actually been in here, he suddenly realized. Her tepee had a soft green glow coming from the top of it, and there were a few tables with books and potions on them. Valor was sitting on one of the tables, watching him.
"Oh, thank god." Zatanna let out a sigh of relief once she saw Bart coming to.
"Was I revived again?" Bart mumbled, sitting up and feeling dizzy.
"No." Zatanna shook her head, "We managed to save you just right before you died, though. You're lucky that Jason's bullet didn't kill you right away, in fact. A millimeter difference could've been instantly fatal. And I wouldn't have been able to bring myself to revive you again. Doing it once is risky enough, twice… well, there hasn't been good results from that, to say the least."
"Where is he?" Bart asked.
"Jaime's in his own tepee. He needs some time alone."
"No, where's Jason?" Bart reworded his question.
"Oh! Well, Jaime had to get you back to the camp as soon as possible, and Starfire took off with Red Hood during that." Zatanna explained.
Both were quiet for a few moments.
Bart broke the silence. "How much danger is the tribe in now?"
She let out a hysterical laugh. "Way, way, too much. Now we have Windland men and Outlaws who're gonna be after us. I'm gonna talk to Chief Shadow and see if we can go somewhere else. It's not worth staying here anymore."
Bart sighed. "Honestly, that's not a bad idea." he admitted. "It's probably for the best." he was quiet again for a minute. "Should I see Jaime, or should he still be left alone?"
"Give him some more time." Zatanna insisted, "He's taking the failed assassination pretty hard. Apparently, even Khaji Da had no idea that the scythe wouldn't go through Starfire's flesh all of the way."
"Y'know, Z, I'm beginning to think we'll never be able to kill her ourselves." Bart said. "We might need a spell."
Zatanna bit her lip in uncertainty. "Maybe. I'm not sure how I could pull something like that off." she switched the subject, "For now, I'm gonna talk to Chief. I'll be back soon." she got up and strutted out of the tepee.
For the first time in a long time, Bart felt alone. Truly, he hadn't been in the west that long. Jason had been here for well over ten years, and Zatanna and Jaime both were living "uncivilized" western lifestyles for over a year. But no, Bart had only been here for how long… ten days?
But it made sense, really. He was Bart Allen, and he always managed to quickly into situations that he didn't necessarily want to be in.
In the span of ten days, Bart was taken in by a tribe, given a mission to go and assassinate people, was captured, destroyed things, met a long lost relative, learned that lots of things on Earth weren't even from Earth, killed a man, met a man from the sea, killed himself, came back to life, joined a group of Outlaws, discovered he was a queer, and he was shot and almost died multiple times.
He laughed to himself. He may have been the fastest man alive, but he couldn't keep up. The west was no escape, not at all.
He exited the tepee and looked at the stars for a moment before entering the one he and Jaime shared. Jaime was sitting with all of his armor active except for the headpiece, and he picked at blades of grass on the ground, not looking up.
"Hey Jaime," Bart said, "Zatanna thinks it's best if the tribe moves to a different place."
Jaime was quiet, and then he spoke, not looking up. "Y'know, Bart," he laughed, "the man in me wants to say to hell with that, to stay and fight. But the Khaji Da in me is saying that if I want the tribe to survive, then that's the most 'logical tactic'. But don't get me wrong, he thinks fighting is a good idea, too."
"So are we gonna fight?" Bart asked.
"I don't know. It's not my tribe. It's Chief Shadow's." Jaime sighed, and he ran a hand through his hair. Bart joined him in the activity of sitting down and pulling at grass.
"I guess that if we leave, and you finally escape your problems, then I'll get a move on." Bart chuckled a little. "I was hoping that Zatanna could put a disguise spell on me, so that I could run back to New York City and live a normal life. As normal as possible, anyways."
"Sounds like a good plan." was all Jaime said.
Zatanna entered. "Pack your things, boys." she said, "We're getting a move on right now."
x
It took a while to get everything together. Tye strapped his last pack to his horse.
"Zatanna," Bart said to her as they watched Tye hop on his steed, "I plan on going back to New York City. I was wondering if you could do some sort of disguise spell so I could try and live my life there without being seen as a criminal."
"Oh?" Zatanna asked. "Are you sure that's what you want?"
"Positive." Bart nodded.
"Well, okay. I can't guarantee that the spell will last, though, I'll try my best." she took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She began her chant, and Bart watched as his body took on changes. She opened her eyes, and smiled. "Still just as handsome as before." she brought him into a hug. "I'll miss you." she murmured.
"I'll miss you too, Zatanna." he replied, embracing her.
She separated them. "Are you gonna go say goodbye to Jaime?" she asked, crouching down and stroking Valor on the head.
"Yeah." Bart replied, and he ran over to Jaime, who'd been watching in the distance. Neither spoke for a second. "I guess this is goodbye." Bart said.
"It is." Jaime confirmed.
"It was nice knowing you. Uh," Bart looked for the right words, "you're somebody I'll definitely never forget. I hope your tribe ends up okay."
"I do, too. Thank you, Bart." Jaime said.
"Well, uh… goodbye, Jaime." Bart concluded.
"Goodbye, Bart."
Bart looked down before speeding off and grabbing his bird. He waved at the tribe before speeding off towards the east.
x
Bart had only been running for about two minutes before he was blasted in the back and stumbled to the ground. Valor let out a screech and took off towards the sky.
Bart moaned in pain, looking behind himself. Green acid began to seep into his skin.
Oh no.
He heard a squawk from Valor before there was a loud sound of an explosion, and the sound of Valor's gears and pipes clattering to the ground.
Bart knew what had happened. Tears began to silently stream down his face.
A pair of feet could be heard jumping onto the ground, and he didn't dare look up. Jason Todd's boots were soon directly in front of him.
"Bartholomew, Bartholomew, Bartholomew. Tsk, tsk, tsk." Jason grabbed Bart and held him in an upright position, causing Bart to let out a yelp of pain. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Jason Todd's green ones looking right at him. "Come on, buddy. I thought you were better than that!" Jason scolded, and laughed a little. "Did you seriously think you could just run away like that? Seriously?"
Bart didn't speak.
"Talk to me, kiddo!" Jason exclaimed.
"I'm not going to be bothering you anymore." Bart mumbled, "Let me go."
"Let you go, huh? Let you go back to New York so you can tell Bruce and Dick all about me and where I am, and what I'm doing? The second they have a hint of where I am, that's the second they're coming out to find me and finally lock me up for good." Jason snarled. "Yeah, no thank you. And if I'm gonna be honest," Jason let go of Bart and he dropped to the ground. Bart saw Starfire hovering over him. "I should kill you. But I'm a nice guy, and I decided that I'd rather give you an option."
"An pption?" Bart croaked.
"An option, yes. Here's your option, kiddo. I saw your tribe hauling ass out there. Star and I are going to go kill them. Now you have the option to either run eastward and not have to deal with us, but live the rest of your life with crippling guilt, or you can go after us to try and save your stupid clan and die. Your choice. Choose wisely." Jason said.
Starfire picked up Jason and she took off into the sky.
Bart grunted as he sat up, and looked around. Scattered pieces of Valor were to the left of him. He grabbed the pieces, and looked at the mess that was gathered in his arms. He collapsed to his knees and cried.
Maybe the bird was just a machine, but Valor had still meant a lot to him. That wasn't the only reason he cried, though. He cried because he knew that people in the tribe were going to die, and he was too weak to help. He cried because he knew he was probably going to die if he tried to go back and help. He cried because he knew he'd never forgive himself if he ran away and lived. He cried because goddamn, did he regret not pulling the trigger of that revolver back in June.
He sighed, placing the pieces of Valor near a boulder before sitting on the boulder itself. He remembered Kaldur'ahm, and his talk with him. What would the man advise that he do?
Did Kaldur ever regret running from his home of Atlantis? Probably. He seemed so unhappy being at the wrong ocean, so… hollow.
Bart would never be able to live with the crippling guilt of leaving Jaime, Zatanna, and the tribe behind. He needed to go back and help, even if it meant the death of him. So what if he died? He'd done it once, and he could do it again.
With that, he sped off back towards the western direction.
x
Bart arrived to where his tribe was at the same time that Jason and Starfire did. The tribe members let out yells as they pulled out their weapons, firing arrows at Starfire. She landed on the ground, and Jason was let out of her grasp. Jaime took off for Starfire, and Jason shot his bullets towards the tribe, shooting a few of them off of their horses. Zatanna yelled, and Jason flew backwards through the air before tumbling onto the ground. Bart ran up to him and like Roy, began to attack at Jason as brutally as he possibly could, every ounce of anger flowing out of him like water.
Except this time he didn't get a chance to finish him off, because Starfire had blasted him in the back. Bart fell on top of Jason, who coughed up blood from the impact and moaned in pain. Bart rolled himself off of Jason and quickly ran, dodging the bullet that had been shot at him. He didn't manage to avoid the second one, though, and fell to the ground as he was shot in the leg.
Jason was reloading his gun when Zatanna shouted something else, and he was paralysed, the gun's barrel frozen in time, pointing directly at Bart. Zatanna was the one who was next to get blasted from Starfire, but it affected her much worse than it did Bart. With Zatanna being wiped out, Jason was able to move again, and Bart's disguise blew away like dust. He stood up, and so did Jason. Both were limping, bleeding, sweaty, and breathing heavily. They simply stared at each other for a few moments. Jason pointed his barrel at Bart again, and was about to shoot, when there was a crashing noise behind them, and Starfire had practically been thrown into the Earth, digging up dirt as she slid across the ground. She narrowly avoided Jaime's plasma blast that followed, and she flew by, grabbing Jason and retreating with him into the sky.
Bart collapsed back onto the ground. His eyes began to roll to the back of his head. Jaime flew up to him and picked him up. All he heard was, "Thank you, Bart." before falling unconscious.
x
Bart woke up in a cot, next to Zatanna, who was pretty badly hit, but visibly breathing. "Where are we?" he mumbled to Jaime, who was sitting next to them.
"Not too far away from the battleground." Jaime informed him, "But we had to stop to help you two."
"I'm okay now." Bart yawned, and he stretched, though the activity caused him immense pain. He sighed, and looked up at the clouds that floated by in the sky. "Valor's dead."
"Que?"
"Valor died. Starfire blew him into bits." his voice quivered. "I have his remains set down by a boulder not too far away."
"Maybe you could go grab them and we can have a proper burial for him." Jaime sighed, "Speaking of which…"
"What?" Bart asked.
"We're gonna have to do a burial real soon." Jaime said.
"Who died?" Bart asked.
"Nobody, not yet." Jaime sighed, "It's Tye. Jason managed to shoot him in the chest. He's bleeding out, and since Zatanna isn't conscious and we can't wake her up, there isn't anything we can do."
"He's your best friend. Shouldn't you be with him?" Bart asked, and he sat up, looking at the dying man some distance away, who was being cradled in his weeping father's arms.
"I can't watch him die like that." Jaime said, "I can't handle it."
Bart got off of his cot, and walked to the group that surrounded Chief Shadow. "Bart." he whispered once he saw them, "Come. Come see my son."
Bart weaved himself through the group before getting on his knees and looking at Tye. "Hello, Tye."
Tye smiled. "Bart. God of Speed." he said in a weak voice, "Thank you, Bart. Thank you for protecting my tribe." he coughed. "Bart?"
"Yes?" he asked.
"Jaime is my best friend. I love him very much, but I'm going to die. You must be the one to take on that role of companionship now. Please take care of him. Love him, Bart. Love him even more than I did."
"I will," Bart promised, "I will."
Tye smiled again, and then he began to have a small conversation with his sobbing father. Bart could feel his own tears spilling down his face. Eventually, Tye nodded off, and his soul had moved on.
Loud sobs were heard from the Longshadows, and Bart looked over to Jaime, who didn't cry, but just stared at the ground. He sped over. "Tye's passed."
Jaime just nodded.
x
The tribe decided to keep moving on, even though Zatanna was unconscious and Tye was dead. Both of them were carried along with the group, and eventually Zatanna woke up, though she was very weak and dazed. She, too, had cried when she learned what happened to Tye.
Eventually, they came upon a secluded, mountain-like place with lots of streams and waterfalls flowing throughout it. They decided to settle there. They were hungry and tired, but they had to keep working. Some began to begin Tye's burial, others hunted and gathered water, and both Bart and Jaime helped set up the camp once again.
A few hours passed, and they ate a solemn, cold dinner before holding a ceremony for Tye before going to sleep for the night.
"I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep." Jaime admitted.
"Me neither." Bart agreed.
Jaime began to walk away and look out from an edge of the mountain, looking at the illuminated world below him. Bart sat next to him. "Do you think The Outlaws will bother us again?"
Jaime shook his head. "No. We're not going to be bothered by Windland, either. We're going to be okay, at least for a little while." he sighed, his eyes meeting Bart's. "Do you still plan on heading back to New York?"
Bart shook his head. "No." he said, and then he looked up at the full moon in the sky.
"Good." Jaime smiled,
"Because I don't want you to leave."
