Be Impulsive

"So, how goes the Krolotean decryption?" Robin asked as he and Beast Boy entered the computer center of Mount Justice.

Standing in the middle with holoscreens surrounding him, Nightwing flipped through various alien texts and other graphs. His eyes clenched behind his mask as he quickly skimmed through data block after data block.

"Wait, when did we get Krolotean data?" asked Beast Boy.

"M'gann and J'onn were able to obtain a hard drive from the Krolotean computers on Malina Island before the explosion. Been working with the computer for a while translating and decrypting everything," Nightwing answered.

"And he's been working so hard, he's been forgetting things. Such as our party date tonight," another voice entered.

Everyone turned to see the lovely Mistress of Magic, Zatanna. Her boots clicked across the floor as she straightened out her blue blazer. Smirking, she walked right up to Nightwing and held his chin between her thumb and index finger.

"We're gonna be late," she teased.

"It's just a fundraiser, Zee."

"A fundraiser for the deaf! And besides, it's hosted by Teddy Dimas!"

"Wait, Dimas? As in Dimas Delis? The Deli King? Why is he hosting a fundraiser at our apartment building?"

"Because he's a tenant."

Nightwing's eyes widened in shock behind his mask.

"Hold on! The Deli King is our neighbor?!" he asked.

"Well, he lives in 6B, but essentially yes, we live with the Deli King."

"How am I now just hearing about this?!"

"It's cuz we never attend any of the tenant meetings!" Zatanna rolled her eyes, "Which Bunny is seriously getting onto us about it. We really need to take this opportunity to ingratiate ourselves with the other tenants. Y'know, be part of the community!"

"What about that Broadway director or whatever who lives on the 10th floor?"

"Oh Oliver? He stopped asking about smokes and mirrors when I joined the Leagued and revealed I had magical powers."

Beast Boy and Robin stood by on the sidelines patiently waiting for Mister and Missus to finish catching up. Bored, Beast Boy started picking his nose while Robin began tapping his foot impatiently. Finally fed up, Robin raised his hand and interrupted the happy couple.

"Uhhh can we please get an explanation here?!" Robin asked.

"Huh? Oh sure. See Dimas Delis have like the best dips in all of Bludhaven. Seriously, their hummus is to die for!" Nightwing explained.

"Of course, he's good at making hummus! He's Greek!" Zatanna added, "Teddy seems nice. Kinda surprised he didn't ask me to perform at this fundraiser."

"Maybe he didn't want to be a bother and wanted to be considerate of your time."

"Well, that's very sweet of him."

"Noooo!" Robin facepalmed, "I'm talking about the Krolotean info!"

"Ohhhhh," Nightwing and Zatanna said in unison.

Getting back on track, Nightwing rearranged the holoscreens into a more easily readable presentation. Various images of DNA, previously abducted humans, and other alien texts appeared onscreen.

"The Kroloteans were kidnapping humans to be used as guinea pigs," Nightwing began, "They were looking for something inside of us."

"Like what?"

"It's hard to translate, but the closest word we got is…..'meta-gene'."

"Heh never met a gene I didn't like," Beast Boy joked.

Everyone glared at that young lad. Just as Beast Boy sheepishly chuckled, a loud alarm blared throughout the cave. Sparks of blue lightning began appearing throughout the room.

"Uhhhh Zee?"

"Baby, it's not me!"

"Warning: Unknown energy impulse detected!"

The lightning focused itself into the center of the room and started forming a ball. More bolts crackled fiercely as the light orb grew. Nightwing and company backed away slightly before a big flash of light revealed a metal, crudely built pod appeared out of thin air. The jukebox shaped object landed with a wham right in the middle of the cave.

"Be ready for anything," Nightwing ordered as he pulled out his escrima sticks.

Robin readied his staff while Beast Boy and Zatanna got into a fighting stance ready to jump at whatever came out. The pod door opened with a hiss as a red gloved hand popped out of the smoke. A young teenage boy wearing a red and silver suit jumped out. He stood tall, brushed his brown hair back, and fixed his yellow goggles. Smirking, the mysterious traveler threw his hands up and struck a pose.

"TA-DA!" he exclaimed.

"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!"

"Computer, lock down Cave!"

"Acknowledged. Authorization: Nightwing B-01."

"Well, I think we found our unknown energy impulse," Beast Boy commented.

"Oooooo Impulse! I like it! I shall henceforth be known as…..IMPULSE!" the traveler exclaimed.

"Who are you!" Robin asked.

"Uhhh doy, I just told you!" the traveler rolled his eyes before speeding like a blur towards the young hero, "I'm IMPULSE! It's dramatic! Catchy. Like Robin, Nightwing, Beast Boy, and of course the lovely Nightingale!"

The apparent speedster zoomed over to take Zatanna's hand and kiss it. Too shocked and confused to do anything, Zee just stood there while Nightwing glared at the bold young man.

"Ahem," Nightwing growled.

"Ah right right can't be crossing lines. That wouldn't be crash," the red and silver speedster apologized, "Anyway is Blue Beetle here? I hope he's here. I'd LOVE to meet him!"

On that note, Impulse zoomed away towards the Cave's kitchen.

"Robin, Beast Boy, take him down, now!" Nightwing ordered.

Robin sprinted in Impulse's direction as Beast Boy turned into a cheetah. Over by the team showers, Impulse looked around admiring the various faucets before turning all of them on. Happy with his handiwork, he sprinted away leaving cheetah Beast Boy to slip on the water and smash into the wall. In the kitchen, Robin figured he had the zooming speedster cornered and swung his electrically charged staff. Unfortunately, Impulse was far too quick and easily dodged the telegraphed attack. Running down the hallway, the speedy traveler noticed the ground turning mushy, almost sticky. To avoid that mess, he quickly ran up the wall and along the ceiling to the end of the hallway.

"Hah! Classic Zatanna move. Turning the ground into quicksand. Or a tar trap. One or the other," Impulse chuckled.

*WHAM*

From the boy's blindside, Nightwing slammed his shoulder right into Impulses face knocking him out cold. Immediately handcuffs were tightly placed on the boy's arms and legs.

"Bet you haven't seen my moves," he smirked.

"And I bet you've got plenty," Zatanna joked as she kissed his cheek.

Moments later, Impulse woke up, now sitting with his arms bound to a chair. Still groggy, he shook his head a little. His vision was blurred but slowly cleared up to see Robin, Beast Boy, and Zatanna staring at him.

"Ughhh totally feeling the mode right now," he groaned.

"Alright, let's start from the beginning. Who are you?" Robin asked.

"Well if you must know, I'm simply a tourist from the future! Honest!"

The three heroes glanced at each other in confusion. The boys looked to Zatanna hoping to find some guidance seeing as she was the most experienced person at the moment.

"I dunno," she shrugged, "I've heard of spells that can be used to revisit memories, but I can't think of any that can straight up take you to another time."

"Ohhhh you haven't done your Victorian England trip yet," Impulse commented.

"What?"

"Nothing! Nothing! Spoilers!"

"Still not sure if we believe you," Robin said skeptically.

"Hey now! C'mon. We're friends! Or at least we should be. I'm one of you! Part of the hero legacy! I'll prove it! My name is Bart Allen. Grandson of Barry Allen, the Flash!"

"Noted. Not believed, but noted," Garfield gave a thumbs up.

"What's not to believe?" Bart groaned, "Time travel tourism is TOTALLY a thing! You really think all those cosplayers at Comic Con make those wicked costumes in this era?!"

"Uhhh I work in showbiz. There are some really talented costumers out there," Zatanna corrected.

"Touché. But still! I've clearly got Flash's speed and his amazing, good looks! I can't wait to meet him…err in his prime! Haha."

"Well 'Bart'," Nightwing entered, "Coming all the way from the future, you must have worked up quite a thirst."

Walking over, he held up a glass of water which Bart eagerly sipped on.

"Ohhhh wait a minute! You need a DNA sample! Hah classic Dick Grayson move!" Bart laughed before spitting into the glass.

"Wait…..he knows!?" Robin realized.

"See! I know stuff only a future boy would know! Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Garfield Logan, Zatanna Grayson! By the way, 'Tanna. Love that you're wearing blue again. So glad I made it to the era where you and Dick are back together again."

"Uhhh I'm still Zatanna Zatara….wait what do you mean the era when Dick and I are back together again!?"

"Ahhh spoilers! I'm gonna stop talking now. Yup yup yup that'd be crash I assume."

"Crash?" Garfield asked.

"Yup yup," Bart answered, "Always best to crash the mode. Never good to feel the mode. Mode is bad!"

"….ok?"

"Recognized: Malcolm Duncan A-10"

"Oooo that sounds like a door. What schway timing!"

Suddenly, Impulse's body intensely vibrated, breaking the chair and freeing his appendages from the handcuffs. With a wink and a nod, he sped away leaving behind the four heroes. The hanger doors opened revealing Mal and his motorcycle. Just as he was about to roll into the cave, a red blur blew by him. Confused, Mal looked around swearing he heard someone say, 'Hi Mal. Bye Mal'. Before he could react next, a green falcon flew by his head capping off the weirdest two minutes of his day. Back in the main computer room, Robin crossed his arms rolling his eyes.

"Gar doesn't stand a chance, does he?" Boy Wonder 2.0 asked.

"Nope," Boy Wonder 1.0 answered, "Impulse is way too fast. But at least we can track him."

"How?" he asked as Nightwing pulled up a holoscreen, "A tracer will just fall off at his speed."

"Not if he drank it," he turned back to wink at his successor.

"Ohhhhh subcutaneous micro-tracker in the water. Nice!"

"Thanks. Looks like he's heading straight for Central City. I'll have to make a call."

Just Outside the Arconia

"You sure leaving this whole Impulse thing to Wally is a good idea?"

"Don't worry, Zee! Sometimes it's best to just let speedsters deal with their own. Besides, nothing much else we can do. I already have the computer comparing Bart's DNA with Barry's and scanning that pod thing for any traces of tachyons. Best thing to do now is go to the party."

"Oh now you wanna go…"

"I mean, it might be fun."

"Baby, you just want to go for the catering."

"Zee, honey, it's free Dimas Deli food! Free hummus! The man's got like at least five different types of hummuses and they're all delicious!"

While Zee was happy to see Dick in a chipper mood and ready to part, part of her couldn't shake what Bart had said earlier. Getting back together? That would imply she and Dick broke up at some point. But that couldn't be right. Bart also called her Grayson. That meant she and Dick got married too. Could Bart really be from the future? Could he really be telling the truth? When was this inevitable break-up then? Was it soon? Was it years from now. All these thoughts swirled around in her head. To think that she would ever break-up with Dick completely stunned her. Or would he dump her? Impossible, right? Both outcomes had to be impossible. Also, what did he mean by Victorian England trip?

"Zee? Zee!"

"Huh? Sorry what?"

"We missed the crosswalk light."

"Huh?"

Snapping back to the present day, Zatanna realized that she and Dick were still walking home back to the Arconia to get ready for Teddy Dimas's fundraiser party. Apparently, she got so lost in her thoughts, she completely forgot to cross the street.

"Sorry, Baby," she shyly grabbed his arm as they continued walking.

"What's going on, Zee? You've been kinda tense ever since we left the Cave."

"And you're not?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean, y'know. Aren't you a little bothered by what Bart said? That bit about us getting back together? It means…..we break up at some point."

"Oh."

"Oh?" she asked pulling him to stop walking, "That's all you can say?!"

"It's just well, I don't really believe in all that stuff. Predetermined fate or set in stone timelines or whatever. I don't really know what our future holds. We may break up. We may not. All I know is right here and now, I love you, Zee. I love you with all my heart."

"I love you too, Baby. But doesn't it scare you? Even a little?"

"Slightly yea. But I also know futures are fluid. Who cares if some kid claiming to be Barry Allen's grandson implies we break up! The more important note is that he said we get back together, Zatanna Grayson."

"Ok yea I really liked it when he confirmed we get married."

"Of course we're getting married! I'm just finding the right moment to propose."

"Uh huh sure you are."

"But seriously Zee," he took both her hands in his, "I'm more of a 'we make our own future' kind of person. Even if whatever Bart said is true, I think we have a chance to change the future and alter his predictions. Who knows? Maybe something as simple as changing our coffee order or trying out a new shampoo would mean that we never break up in the future."

"Or it could mean we break up sooner than expected."

"Hey, whatever happens, I'm happy to have lived in the here and now with you. Better to have loved than never loved at all…but obviously I prefer the future where we grow old together after having like ten kids."

"Ten?!"

"Zee c'mon with the amount of sex we have, I'd be surprised if we have less than four."

"Hahahh. God I love you."

"And I love you."

Standing just outside the building entrance, Dick and Zee were lost in their own little world again. The blue of their eyes locked onto one another refusing to let go. They stood in the middle of the sidewalk blissfully unaware of the people sidestepping around them. Closer and closer their lips moved towards each other. Centimeters apart, they could feel each other's breath.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

*THUD*

Out of nowhere, something fell hard right onto the sidewalk near the Arconia entrance breaking Dick and Zee's trance. The surrounding crowd both panicked and gathered near the fallen object.

"OH MY GOD IT'S A PERSON!" someone cried out.

With eyes widened, Dick immediately began shoving his way through the crowd.

"Move! Move! I'm a police detective! Bludhaven PD! Out of the way!" he shouted trying to get to the scene.

"Trap eht aes!" (Part the sea) Zatanna whispered.

A gentle wind force slightly shoved people aside creating an alley for Dick to swiftly make his way to the point of impact. When he got there, he found a blonde girl in a gold dress and faux fur waist-length jacket. She looked to be aged somewhere between 19 and mid-20s. Unfortunately, she was lying on the ground lifeless and bleeding profusely from her head. Immediately, Dick looked up towards the top of the Arconia trying to find anyone suspicious looking down. He then grabbed his cellphone to contact dispatch.

"This is Detective Grayson. I'm at the Arconia. A woman early to mid-20s just fell from the top of the building. She's dead at the scene. I need back up immediately."

"Copy that Detective. Sending a squad to you now"

"Zee, help me with crowd control."

"Dick, the fundraiser. It's being held on the roof."

"….You gotta help me! Make sure no one up there leaves the building. I have to stay down here."

"Copy. Etativel!"

Quickly she flew up to the Arconia's roof finding crowds of people in dresses and tuxedos. Music was still blaring. Folks were still dancing. Not a single person was aware of all the commotion going on in the streets below.

"Tuc Cisum." (Cut music).

With the song abruptly stopped in the middle of a verse, the party goers all stood around confused. A small group started berating the DJ who was equally perplexed and started mashing buttons hoping to restart the party. Finally, someone noticed Zatanna floating above them.

"Hey look! It's Zatanna! Maybe this is part of her show!"

*WOOOOO*

*ZATANNAAAA*

*YOU'RE SOOO HOT*

"Sigh. Yfilpma ym eciov," (Amplify my voice) she rolled her eyes before her booming voice startled the party goers, "Everyone please listen. A girl has just fallen off this roof and crashed onto the pavement below. She didn't make it. Detective Dick Grayson of the Bludhaven Police Department has asked me to tell you that no one is allowed off this roof until further notice. A full investigation will commence shortly."

"What? What kinda show is this?"

"Pft party pooper."

"Why would we listen to you?!"

"Yo chill she's a Justice Leaguer man! This might be serious!"

"Serious? I can leave when I want to leave! And she can't stop me!"

Anger, panic, and confusion permeated throughout the now raucous crowd. Zatanna creased her brow and rubbed her head a bit in annoyance. Fortunately, the Nine-Nine's prompt response bailed her out from a full-on riot.

"Hey are those sirens?"

"Yo I see police lights down there."

"Oh shit Zatanna was telling the truth."

"Wait was that girl murdered!? Did one of us do it?!"

"Oh, now you people listen to me…" Zatanna groaned.

"Holy shit I left my stove on…"

Moments later, medics removed the body from the premises and the police fenced off the area of impact with crime scene tape. Dick, Rosa, and Jake gathered in the lobby to try and compare notes from everyone they interviewed.

"Ok so based on the ID she had on hand, the victim was Zoe Cassidy. Annnnd that's all we got?!" Dick scratched his head.

"No one at the party recognized her. Dick, you live here. Don't you recognize her?" Rosa asked.

"She's definitely not a neighbor me or Zee have run into. And Bunny, our Tenant Association's president, confirms that Zoe does not live here."

"What's she doing here then?" Jake asked.

"It's a party. A big one. Held by Teddy Dimas."

"Oh hey! Of Dimas Delis? I love their hummus!"

"Focus Jake!" Rosa scolded.

"Right right! Sorry sorry."

"Maybe I can help," Zatanna came up, "It's not necessarily a spell I'm great at, but I think I can try and recreate the scene with astral projections? I'll have to start at where she hit the pavement and go from there."

"Anything at this point, Zee."

The group moved out from the lobby and over to the fenced off area. By now, the police had drawn a chalk outline of Zoe's body. Her blood sadly still stained the hard concrete. Zatanna sat down with her legs crossed near the chalk outline and closed her eyes.

"Wohs em ruoy yrotsih!" (Show me your history).

As she opened her eyes, they glowed a dim blue. Her body gently levitated from the ground. A blue silhouette rose from the ground and flew upwards towards the Arconia's roof.

"Holy shit magic is real?!" Rosa exclaimed.

"Yea, Rosa. Zatanna's a League member. How else is she gonna fight aliens and other crazy supervillains?"

"Hey now Peralta. Not all aliens are villains."

"Oh yea, Dick? Name one alien that came to Earth without the intent of conquering us humans."

"…..Superman."

"…that's on me, I set the bar way too low."

"Uhhh you detectives gonna go follow that astral projection and find where Zoe fell or what?" Zatanna asked clearly strained and irritated.

"Right Right! Sorry, honey. You're doing great!" Dick kissed her cheek before rushing back into the building with Jake and Rosa in tow.

Finally, the three detectives and magician arrived at the roof. Streamers and tables full of snacks and food were still scattered about. Eventually, the group spotted Zoe's astral projection over by a small hidden corner. Now, the silhouette stood by the edge of the balcony.

"Ok. Let me see if I can playback what happened," Zee said twisting her hand as if she were turning a dial.

The silhouette moved slightly. It flailed its arms a bit and then pressed its face into its hands as if it were crying. More hand gestures and what looked like yelling followed. Aggression and annoyance then exuded from it. Some handwaving ensued, and it looked like it pushed against someone. Suddenly, the silhouette lost its balance and toppled over the balcony falling to its death below. Finished with the playback, Zatanna stopped levitating and stood back on the ground with her own two feet.

"Ok. Well, based on all that, it looks like Zoe was arguing with someone," Rosa concluded.

"Agreed. Whatever disagreement she had with this person, it was intense enough to lead to physical contact and being pushing off the roof."

"Zatanna, are you not able to like try and project who Zoe was fighting with?"

"Sorry, Jake. That was a super advanced spell. I'm not quite there yet. I was only able to lock in on one essence. I figured Zoe's would be the most important."

"You did great, Zee. This at least classifies the case as a homicide."

"Thank you, Baby."

"It's a lead, but we're definitely gonna need more evidence. Is there anyone we haven't interviewed yet?" Rosa asked.

"Actually, I haven't spoken to Teddy Dimas yet," Dick realized.

"Yea. Kinda odd how he isn't here at his own party," Jake scratched his head.

"Some of the witnesses said they saw him around the party. But it's very suspicious he didn't show up for an interview."

"It's getting late. We'll have to call him up tomorrow. Nothing much else we can do here."

"I agree with Jake. Thanks for your help, Zatanna."

"Any time, Rosa."

"And uh…could I get two tickets to your show?"

Bludhaven Docks Hours Later

"You're late."

"Yea well I had to deal with a speedster from the future and a homicide at my apartment building. It's been a long night, Kaldur."

"Then my apologies for bearing more bad news. The Light is still wary and untrusting of me."

"Seriously?!" Dick groaned.

"Yes. There are members who still question my allegiance. Admittedly I cannot entirely blame them. It is difficult to fully believe someone who's been on the side of good for as long as I have to suddenly turn coat."

"Yea it's not very whelming on this side either."

Dick leaned against the wall with his arms crossed while Kaldur stared off into the bay. Both stood around in an awkward silence unsure of how to proceed.

"What if we expanded the circle?" Dick broke the tension.

"Hmm?"

"You're gonna have to perform a big act of loyalty to the Light. Whatever that is, it has to be something that's going to devastate both the League and the Team. And honestly to do that, we're gonna need some help setting things up."

"This will not look favorably upon us then, my friend. We've deceived our friends and colleagues for quite some time now. Bringing them into the fold will not only reveal to them that we've been lying, but also ask them to perpetuate this lie."

"We're running out of options, Kal. Progress has plateaued since Malina Island and my gut is telling me the Light is making a big move soon. It's not like we're telling everyone. Just the people we need to make this work."

Kal gritted his teeth a bit as he contemplated this next move. His brow furrowed with hesitance but ultimately, he had to agree with Dick.

"Ok. We will do what we must."

"Yea. I don't like it either. But it's for the mission, right?"

"For the mission," Kal nodded.

*RING RING*

"Huh?" Dick pulled out his phone.

"What is it?"

"Roy er Red Arrow's found the original Roy Harper…."

AN: Heyo! Sorry I haven't updated this or "Everyday is an Adventure with You" in a while. I've been on vacation (again haha) and I've going through some internal struggles for a while. It took a bit to get back into my writing groove so hopefully this chapter is enjoyable for yall. I struggled a tad with this chapter because "Bloodlines" is mainly a Flash episode for YJ. I just really wanted to include that Impulse introduction. So I decided to tug on one of the many plot threads I've left hanging previously. The second half of the chapter is a big set up for stuff later down the line. You may recognize it along with many other related Easter Eggs I've sprinkled ever since Dick and Zee moved in together. Anyway, I hope yall are doing well. Cuz...well the next chapter is gonna be a doozy :p