Baby Aid

Palo Alto
September 21st 7:30EDT

Bart had arrived at Jaime's house before Jaime was even awake. Both boys had known it would be their turn to help Artemis that Wednesday. The team and agreed to send Artemis help every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the members each taking turns on who would help her what day and it was finally Bart and Jaime's turn to help.

Well, Bart had arrived early in the morning; say around five thirty in the morning and Jaime's mother was more than shocked to find Bart standing outside that early. Not only had she ushered him inside but she had also gone out of her way to make him pancakes, eggs and bacon, as well as making some for Jaime. Milagro had even questioned if he was here to pick up his boyfriend AKA Jaime, but when the speedster flushed red and violently shook his head 'no' Milagro got her wanted response.

At about seven, after breakfast, and after Jaime had forced himself awake; the two boys headed out towards Palo Alto via zeta beams. And at about seven thirty the two boys arrived to the West-Crock household, where shrieks were heard from inside. Bart grimaced before signaling for Jaime to ring the doorbell. He sighed before rolling his eyes and ringing the bell, the shrieks stopping for just a second before beginning again.

A frustrated Artemis pulled the door open, a diaper in one hand and a sobbing Emilia held tightly against her chest. Jaime and Bart smiled before she sighed and let them in.

"thanks for coming guys, things have been crazy lately." she chuckled as she took a seat on the couch covered in not only baby clothes but also toys. Artemis put Emilia down on the couch and swiftly began to change the soiled diaper. Bart couldn't help but notice that Artemis looked so stressed out, she had black bags under her depressed eyes, skin a paled tone, and her shoulders slumped in defeat.

Bart knew that if Wally were here things wouldn't be like this, not only would Artemis had freaked out over the large mess of baby things around the house, but she probably never would have gone on the mission...actually...if she hadn't none of this would have gone this way, and they might not have won...and things might have gone back to the way he had grown up in.

Happy Harbor
January 25th 2052 10:00EDT

"Please!" a woman cried as tears streamed down her face. A nine year old Bart Allen stood to the side, hidden behind a boulder, watching the scene unfold before his very eyes. He had grown up in hiding with his mother and father but had always seen things like this happen. His mom had been killed just last year and his father was captured, he was alone but yet, the scenes like this always frightened him, always urged him to help the women and their children.

"Your pleas will get you nowhere Meat bag." a smaller version of the Blue Beetle growled as it took the shrieking baby from the sobbing mother. Bart had seen this go down more times than he could count on his hand. It was a daily thing, it seemed like every child he saw was always taken and never seen again, the mothers were always heart broken and they either had to get back to work or suffer the consequences.

"But please! It's my baby!" the woman sobbed as she threw herself at the smaller Blue Beetle.

"Your attempt will not be over looked." the robot handed the baby over to another Blue Beetle robot before it flung the woman to the ground and pointed a transforming arm at her. Slowly the plasma gun powered up and horror became evident in the woman's eyes as she held a hand up for protection. Bart had never seen this before, and soon his mind became overwhelmed and he found himself speeding to the woman and pulling her out of harm's way before he knew what was going on.

He had exposed himself.

"Red Alert! Speedster! Red Alert! Speedster!" the robot shrieked as it spotted the dark brown and red haired speedster. Bart went wide eyed before he glanced at the woman.

"Run!" she screamed before shoving him away, a sudden shock surging through her body and her limp body hitting the ground, Bart's attempts ending fruitlessly. Bart stared on in horror before turning to run. He raced away from the scene, knowing all too well he had broken his promise to his father. His father's dying wish "do everything you can to stay hidden and safe." had been his father's last words.

Stumbling forward Bart shrieked and hit the floor with a thump.

"Time to get tagged and get to work Meat Bag." Bart turned, horrified, as the real Blue Beetle stood before him. Realization hit him the moment Blue Beetles hand was wrapped around his tiny neck.

Bart was being taken to where all the children were taken. He was being taken to where the kids were 'tagged' and trained, either to be a REACH weapon or to work and since he had a Meta-gene he would either become a weapon or become a worker. The only difference between the babies that were taken and him was, that Bart was already old enough to be working.

Palo Alto
September 21st 7:40EDT

"Bart!" Jaime snapped his fingers in front of the dazed boy.

"What?" Bart shook his head before realizing he had been dazed out.

"Artemis went back to bed, or at least went to bed." Jaime corrected himself. "She gave me a list of things to do, she wants us to help her organize this place a little, Artemis also told me where the formulas were for Emi,"

"Emi?"

"Yeah I gave her a nick name hesse." Jaime chuckled before pointing to Emilia who was still resting on the couch, now silent and eyeing the two older boys. "Well she also told me where everything was, like the diapers, clothes, baby supplies and stuff." Jaime shrugged before walking over to the coffee table and throwing the papers down on to it.

"So, we just gotta watch her all day?" Bart eyed the baby on the couch.

"Yup."

"Sounds crash." Bart grinned before Emilia's face scrunched up and she broke out in a shriek. "Uh dude what do we do?!" Bart stumbled backwards as Jaime rolled his eyes.

"Artemis said she might be hungry in a while, I'm guessing that's now." Jaime lifted the girl up into his arms, being careful to support her head and neck. Jaime headed to the kitchen, a slightly stunned Bart right behind him.

"What do babies eat?" Bart questioned.

"Baby food; mostly mushed up stuff since their stomachs can't digest solids yet, plus they can't really chew them. But since she's still not even a month she only drinks milk." Jaime chuckled.

"I'm guessing you know a lot about babies?" Bart questioned and Jaime shook his head.

"I helped a little with Milagro but other than that I've never had experience with babies before." Jaime looked around the kitchen before finally finding the gallon of baby water.

"Uh, I can start cleaning if you want?" Jaime nodded at Bart's offer.

Bart headed into the living room, eyeing the large mess, there were a few soiled diapers laying near the couch, some dirty baby clothes and clean baby clothes mixed together around the couch and on the floor, the table had dirty bottles on it and white powder, all in all, Bart had no idea where to start cleaning.

Jaime on the other hand, had finally put the baby formula powder into the bottle and had begun to feed it to the no longer crying Emilia. Jaime headed into the living room and was stunned to find it sparkling clean, Bart cleaning the window on the far wall near the slide open door.

"Did you clean all of this in the time I made a bottle hermano?" Jaime stared in awe at the clean room, not having expected Bart to have made even a little bit of progress in the three seconds he had spent out here.

"I suppose." Bart shrugged before grinning. "Crash or what?"

"Totally crash." Jaime laughed before taking a spot on the clean couch. Bart had become more than a little excited, he'd had plenty of time to come to the realization that he and Jaime were babysitting all day together; like a married couple.

Bart of course didn't point this out, not wanting to cause an awkward day for them.

After Emilia had finished eating, Bart offered to burp her. Jaime, a little reluctantly, handed the baby over and warned Bart not to try and force her to burp quickly, it might take a while, but before he had even finished his sentence or Bart had even started, Emilia let out a large burp, a soft noise, sounding like a giggle, following. Bart laughed before handing the baby back to Jaime.

"That has got to be the best burp known to babies ever." Bart laughed before they both force at the sudden sound of Emilia upchucking on Jaime's grey jacket. Both boys, a little horrified to look down, sat in silence before Jaime finally spoke.

"It's seeping through my shirt too and it's warm…" Bart scrunched his face in disgust before moving himself to the other end of the couch.

"You should probably change…" he suggested before Jaime offered the baby and Bart denied the offer pointing to a baby rocker on the other side of the room. Jaime rolled his eyes before heading over and placing the baby gently into it and powering it up. Soon a soft tune of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' began to play and Jaime headed out of the room.

Bart was quick to move the rocker closer to the couch and stare at the baby who also stared back.

"You're cute." Bart spoke bluntly. "With your little red and blonde strands of hair and sparkling gray eyes. I think I could even play connect the dots with all those little freckles you have." Bart laughed as he tapped the babies nose and earned a smile from her.

Jaime grinned as he stood in the door way, watching Bart interact with the baby.

"You know, when you're older, if Wally isn't back, I get to be your teacher." Bart grinned at the thought of getting the chance to teach somebody to be a speedster. "I'll teach you every trick in the book! Heck you might even be better than me." Bart grinned.

"Do you tell her this every time you come over?" Jaime chuckled as he headed back into the room with his jacket now gone and a small stain on his shirt. Bart blushed furiously before shaking his head.

"No, I just thought it'd be pretty crash to talk to her, that's all." Bart shrugged.

"Sure." Jaime grinned before sitting on the couch and flicking the TV on via the remote. The two boys sat there for about an hour before falling asleep along with Emilia.

At about ten in the morning Emilia let out a cry, both boys jumping awake. Jaime was quick to lift the baby from the rocker and check her diaper only to find it soiled yet again. After a quick diaper change her cries didn't stop.

"Is she hungry again?" Bart questioned.

"Probably." Jaime nodded before heading to the kitchen.

"Wait I want to make this bottle!" Bart rushed past him and grabbed the gallon of baby water. "How much?" he questioned, his eyes shining with interest.

"Give her five for now." Jaime pointed to the five on the nine ounce baby bottle.

"Dude she's a speedster, she's probably hungrier than that." Bart filled it to the nine before Jaime sighed in annoyance.

"If she doesn't finish it you will." Jaime snapped before Bart repeated that in a high pitched mocking voice. Jaime rolled his eyes before telling Bart to add two scoops of baby formula and to shake it well.

"Can I feed her?" Jaime shrugged and handed over Emilia who threw her hand up at Bart and tugged on his shirt. "Dude I think she likes me." Bart laughed before heading to the living room and plopping down, feeding Emilia with a wide grin plastered to his face.

After her feeding, Bart began to burp her and Jaime smiled sweetly, Bart was getting the hang of the whole babysitting thing.

"Hey guys?" both boys looked to Artemis, who was completely dressed and had a handbag on her shoulder. "I'm going to go do the grocery shopping, I'm sure you guys noticed but Emi eats a lot and I need to buy more formulas and water." Both boys nodded before she walked over to the already burped Emilia. "Bye baby." She baby spoke before planting a kiss on the smiling babies forehead and leaving the house.

"So…what if there's an emergency?" Bart questioned.

"911."

!~*~*~!

Neither boy could have expected Artemis to be gone all day. They had expected probably an hour or two but when she finally came home at eight both boys had admitted they were in over their heads. Dick had stopped by to visit Emilia and Artemis at around two in the afternoon and had stuck around to wait for Artemis but after she didn't come home at about four he had gone on his way.

They had even run out of water at about seven and Emilia had been crying ever since, boy boys frustrated and attempting to quiet the baby but their attempts ending fruitlessly.

Once Artemis had arrived and given each boy a fair share of pay, both boys refusing it, they left the house.

"Thought I'd go crazy in there hesse." Jaime laughed as they headed to the zeta beams

"Me too." Bart sighed before the thought of them being a married couple crossed his mind again. "Dude, did it occur to you that we were like…a married couple all day?" Bart spoke, completely serious.

"You're…uh joking right?" Jaime questioned with a slightly discomforted expression before Bart broke out in the most believable laugh he could muster.

"OF course I am dude, what did you think?" he laughed before looking away. "I better get home, I'm staying with Grandpa Barry and Grandma Iris tonight, they wanted me home by nine." He didn't wait for a goodbye from Jaime before he bolted.

After arriving outside his grandparent's home he plopped down on the swing outside in the yard. He sighed before gazing at the stars and becoming lost in his own thoughts. Jaime's expression and tone coming each and every time.

A bit boring maybe, but hey at least there was no Cassie and no real fighting between them! And let me just say…you're all going to love the next chapter… it's called peppermint and here's a small bonus, it's from the next chapter:

He had kissed his best friend.

Felt the lips and tasted the lips of the boy he had strong feelings for. Never before had he experience that…not even with Julie.

Julie…Julie had tasted like strawberries. Had been so soft, but never as ecstatic as Jaime… Jaime. A grin popped onto Bart's face before he turned over, ready to fall asleep again.

Peppermint. Jaime had tasted like peppermint. A shocker, but amazing, peppermint had now become Bart's favorite scent in a matter of a few hours. And before he fell into dream land again, he determined one thing in his mind.

He was going to taste peppermint again.

Oh my gosh guys I'm horrible… guys, that was from the next chapter, and don't worry about the name Julie, you don't need to worry about her, she'll never be in this ever except being mentioned a few times here and there, maybe even a flashback if you guys want?

Um, I think that's it…so ya, leave a review, comment, prompt, request, suggestion anything! Guys, I love hearing from all of you.

-xXRandomnessXx

PS. So, so, so, soooo sorry I didn't update sooner! I had this chapter sitting on my flashdrive since last week and I have NO idea why I didn't post it until now! I'm so sorry.