EDITED**
The Flight of the Blue Beetle 6
The first words were the hardest to get out. He knew he would have stumbled with them had not been for his mostly silent (to the rest of the world) partner. He thanked Khaji-Da for helping him get the first words. Thankfully the song was mostly calm but he wasn't sure what they would think for changing the lyrics from Spanish to English. He hoped it made sense because he barely understood some of the expressions.
Transfusion,
Of pure magic for the heart
Honey mascara,
To correct the sadness
Mental tattoo
To mark the imagination
Drinks of light
To make life happier
A pause, violins playing calmly. He did his best not to be tempted to turn away from the screen and watch their expressions. They were very quiet and that scared him.
Television,
To erase the transmission
Sexual revolver,
For the Russian roulette
And I don't know you
Or what will you say
But there's nothing to think about
The darkness
That threats me, skeptical
He took a deep breath trying to trick his mind into believing he was just singing in the shower or at least that no one was watching him.
Nothing that I can lose
Nothing that I can't do
Something to relieve you
Something to cure me
Nothing that I can lose
Nothing that I can't do
Something to relieve you
Something to cure me
The rhythm picked up. They were the same words but now instead of calm he had to pick up his pace. He would have definitely had messed it up if he had tried to sing it in Spanish.
Transfusion,
Of pure magic for the heart
Honey mascara,
To correct the sadness
Television,
To erase the transmission
Sexual revolver,
For the Russian roulette
And I don't know you
Or what will you say
But there's nothing to think about
The darkness
That threats me, skeptical
The room started to spin as he had to pick up the pace again and stick to the rhythm.
Nothing that I can lose
Nothing that I can't do
Something to relieve you
Something to cure me
Nothing that I can lose
Nothing that I can't do
Something to relieve you
Something to cure me
The last parts of the song finally arrived and it returned to a calmer pace.
There's nothing I can lose
That I can't do
That I can't love
That I can dream
He closed his eyes begging for it to finally end.
There's nothing I can lose
That I can't do
That I can't love
That I can dream
When done he was met with a deafening silence. Was he really that bad? He didn't dare turn from the screen where he had been reading from. He couldn't believe it had been so bad. Between him and Khahi-Da he had hoped they had not messed the words. Well, it would be just like him to make a fool of himself, so it was fine, right? He knew he would get shit from Joey and his friends for a few days but he could handle that. Tye and Asami would laugh it off with him and not mention it again. However, he wasn't sure how he was going to face her. Brenda would never admit it but he knew she took pride on her voice.
He heard someone clapping and waited for the sardonic remark.
"I don't know if I should be disappointed you can't sing in your parents' language or hire you to sing at one of my clubs"
He turned and saw La Dama giving him a smile that sent chills down his spine. She was watching him like a predator did at its next meal.
"Tia!" Brenda shouted.
"Mija!" laughed La Dama at her niece's embarrassment, "I know talent when I see it, and I would be stupid not say it"
"He is not that good" muttered Joey before he stood up, "thanks for everything Ms. Cardenas, Brenda" and then he and his friends left. Some of his friends looked back at Jaime as they left, some in awe and others with resentment.
"I guess we should get going too," Jaime said wanting to disappear from the sight of La Dama.
"Would you please think about it?" she said trying to sound sweet, but all he felt was as if someone was dumping acid into his stomach.
"Don't lose your cover Jaime Reyes, amass opportunity but don't use it entirely until the time is right" Khaji-Da reminded him of another advice Batman had given him.
"I will talk to my parents," he said because if this was under normal circumstances, that's what he would have done, "but I don't think they will like the idea" and it was also a polite way to decline the offer.
But the smile she replied with told him it wasn't over.
Brenda walked them out with a blush on her face.
"I am sorry about that," she told Jaime before throwing a glare at Tye, "but I still don't get why you started a fight with Joey"
"The guy pisses me off" Tye shrugged.
"Everyone pisses you off" Brenda said in a bland voice.
"Not everyone," Tye said throwing Asami a look that made her blush, "see you later!" he took his girlfriend's hand and ran down the street with her.
"He really likes her," Brenda said surprised at the sudden burst.
"He does," Jaime said glad his friend wasn't so angry like he used to be. Tye might say the Reach and the activation on his meta-human abilities was a nightmare, but he also met Asami. She could make him happy with just a few words and Tye made her happy with his sudden burst of affection and odd sense of humor.
He then realized they had been standing in silence for a while both lost in their thoughts.
"Ehm… I better get going" he said rubbing the back of his neck.
"Are you free tomorrow?" she asked him fast unable to meet his eyes.
"I…" was she asking him out? It could be she just wanted to hang out. They hadn't been able to spend any time together other than school since she got back.
"You have a meeting at the Watchtower with the Batman, followed by a revision of the records from tonight, then assist your father with his business, and then meet as requested by the Robin"
"What are you? My secretary?"
"Jaime?" she asked with a hint of worry in her voice.
"Sorry!" he said realizing he had paused too long listening to Khaji-Da, "actually tomorrow I will be kind of busy, but if you drop in the afternoon at the garage we can…" they can what? Talk? He felt stupid for even bringing it up, "Or we could catch a movie on Sunday?" wait, did he just ask her out?
"Heart rate increasing, implementing chemical countermeasures" the scarab said before he felt his body relax.
"That…that sounds nice" she said with a little smile that tugged at his heart.
"I will call you later to…" they could fix on a time and place now, but he liked the idea of calling her later.
"Okay," she said still with her little smile, "nothing girly, got it?"
"But you liked…" he was about to remind her she used to drag him to some girly movies years ago when neither Paco or Tye would be caught dead in one, "never mind," he shook his head, "talk to you later" and then he finally left. He ran down the street because he knew that if he walked he would be tempted to look back and if she caught him staring he would surely die of embarrassment.
"Jaime Reyes do not forget your objective" Khaji-Da said and Jaime could swear he heard it sigh.
"I am amassing opportunity, aren't I? Maybe talking to Brenda will give us some hints as to where start to gather proof against La Dama" he offered hoping it sounded logical enough.
"That is correct, but the changes this female causes to your physical chemistry is worrisome" Khaji-Da was still trying to balance the levels of Norepinephrine, Dopamine and others in his brain.
"Is called being young, I am still human, remember?" Jaime said feeling his previous moment of elation disperse. He forgot for a moment back then who Brenda' was related to, but he waited so long to have this opportunity, no; he never thought it would happen and was having trouble believing they were only a few days from going to the movies on their own, not as friends this time but hopefully something else.
If Khaji-Da could sigh, it would have already done it at least a hundred times. It seemed when it came to the female Jaime Reyes infatuated pretty fast, "I am aware this is the stage of your life cycle where reproduction…"
"Don't Khaji-Da! I don't want to hear you talk about that! You already get access to most of my thoughts,"
"Your natural instincts must be curbed then for them not to endanger the objective"
"Is not just instinct," Jaime said though he was aware the scarab had very little understanding of the emotion he believed was behind his behavior.
After dinner he went to search on the internet a movie they could go watch. When he found a few he believed she would like he called her.
"Hey Brenda," he started what the Khaji-Da referred to as the torturous courting human ritual and didn't bother to hide to Jaime he found it difficult to believe their species had survived for the time it had existed.
At the end of all Jaime lay on his bed with a silly smile on his face. He was sure now he had gone mad. He actually had a date with one of his best friends, who is also the niece of a witch mobster. He sat up before changing into the armor and then leaving through his window to patrol. Khaji-Da was right; he had to not lose sight of their objective. He flew over his father garage and everything seemed to be fine. Then he flew over Tye and Asami's neighborhood making sure nothing was lurking the darkness before he flew down town looking for anything out of place. Batman had told him that sometimes the best source of information came from the most affected neighborhoods. Downtown had been known for a long time as the place where small gangs, pickpocketing, drug dealers and others dealt.
He activated the camouflage before flying lower over the now emptying streets. He found this strange as it was usually buzzing with activity of every kind. How long had it been like this? When he first got the scarab he used to patrol this place and stop every crime that he could. They were nothing big, but surely there was a lot of it.
"Traces of non-rational energy detected"
"Repeat after me, magic"
The scarab led him to an alley. At first all he could see was dust but then the scarab pointed to him recent damage to the walls and even some small craters created by explosions and pure force. How come this didn't get called in? (REFER TO "BECOMING SUPERBOY" Chapter 6)
"Scanning complete. Residues are of human origin" Jaime jumped away from the ashes, "…modified to create a threatening creatures on unstable aspects. Likely related to the creature encountered in the warehouse"
"Coyote" Jaime looked up at where Khahi-Da was signaling and saw multiple claw marks on the walls, "how many?"
"Estimated thirty to thirty-five" Khaji-Da informed, "meta-humans of mostly non-rational abilities were involved, five to six of them"
Jaime thought over this. One of those creatures along with two meta-humans had slaughtered close the seventy people who gathered in a warehouse a few nights ago. He didn't want to imagine what thirty-five of them could do in the city. The people had to know something was going on, otherwise they wouldn't be hiding inside their homes. Then again there were metas who were able to defeat them in this neighborhood. Was this them not getting in their way? Also, why had the authorities not received any reports of it.
"Khaji-Da, I want the crime and disappearance statistics of this area for the past year. I want to know around when things started to change"
He took a sample of the ashes to ask the Watchtower to analyze or at least have Zatanna tell him why they were human but looked nothing like one.
"Three months ago the amount of dealers and thieves brought in from this area started to go down, but at the same time the amount of disappearances has increased, many of times related to the same lines of illegal activities"
"Any details of the investigation to find them" surely the disappearance of so many people has started a more serious investigation.
"Most are set as low risk disappearances"
"Meaning they probably think they just skipped town and since they are of shady backgrounds they are happy they are gone. They don't care how many of them"
"Don't let emotion cloud your judgment"
"I am not" he said before sighing, "is just not right to ignore something like this. They are still people"
He continued to patrol hoping to find one of those things still lurking but he had no luck at all. He wasn't sure what time it was when he returned to his room, but found a sandwich at his desk. He was glad his family understood. The next morning though it was a Saturday he didn't lose anytime and left for the Watchtower promising to eat something there.
"Aren't you an early bird?" Black Canary said with a smile, "now what is this I heard of Batman using my office"
"He… he is trying to help me with some stuff" he said glad to be wearing the armor so she wouldn't see him blush. He hadn't thought they were kicking Canary out of her office.
She sighed since she was not ignorant of what Jaime was dealing with, "just remember he is not the only one that can help you"
"I won't," he said before he went to her office where Batman was waiting for him.
"Repeat the rules," Batman told him immediately when he came in as he held a cup of coffee.
Jaime was a little taken back but then started telling him the rules he had taught him in their previous meeting.
"Assume nothing. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Don't look back; you are never completely alone. Everyone is potentially under opposition control. Go with the flow, blend in. Vary your pattern and stay within your cover. Any operation can be aborted. If it feels wrong, it is wrong. Maintain a natural pace. Lull them into a sense of complacency. Build in opportunity, but use it sparingly. Don't harass the opposition. There is no limit to a human being's ability to rationalize the truth. Pick the time and place for action. Keep your options open. Technology will always let you down. Once is an accident. Twice is coincidence. Three times is an enemy action. Don't attract attention, even by being too careful"
When he finished he wondered where he had messed up. He could think of a few but never the Dark Knight would start for the first one.
"You still assume that girl doesn't know anything about what her aunt is doing" he started and when Jaime opened his mouth to defend her Batman gave him a reproaching look that made him stop whatever he was going to say, "it might be by her own will or she maybe is being manipulated by La Dama…"
"She might be under her control," Jaime said with a frown. It didn't exactly mean Brenda was innocent, but it gave him hope that she had no choice but to live with her aunt.
"I can't be pointing to you every mistake you make. You have to realize what they are yourself until it becomes a second nature" he said before drinking from his cup of coffee, "now you tell me, what else did you do wrong"
Jaime thought of the rules again.
"I was found out by Brenda in one of La Dama's rooms, where she kept her ingredients. If Brenda is really under her control she might have already searched the room for the bugs I left behind" anything that can go wrong will go wrong, "I should have hidden, used Khaji-Da's camouflage abilities and passed unperceived"
"If we receive any recording from that room have your armor analyze the voice patterns in case they try to feed us fake information" there were ways to fix some of those mistakes, he would also make the teen learn how to think around them, "what else?"
"It felt wrong how La Dama was looking at me," Jaime said with a frown as he recalled the way she smiled at him, "I am not sure if she is up to me, or she is after something else"
"She would have already taken action if she believed you were involved with the League," Batman said, "more than likely is related to your performance from yesterday. She does own a few clubs and might be indeed interested on hiring you"
"My parents will never allow it," he said with confidence.
"If she decides to forward the offer to your parents you must make sure they accept" Batman said and before the teen could complain he explained, "most of her money laundering goes through those clubs. If you incorporate you should be able to gather more proof against her"
By the time they were done Jaime was starving. He went to the lunch room and got some breakfast.
"Where to next?" Jaime asked Khaji-Da. His brain was still hurting from all he had been talking with Batman.
"I was able to synchronize to the frequency to which the bugs report to. The recordings can be revised as you assist your father with his business"
Jaime nodded hoping he wouldn't have much trouble with the kids from the juvenile corrections.