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Everyone except for Jaime had already awoken to a new dawn in the city of El Paso. The fresh sky teeming with swirling streams of blue, orange and pink, looked in on the king of sleeping in. The universe was amused. It hadn’t seen Jaime looking so tired before, sprawled out shirtless over his navy sheets.
It was still hours away from being the standard noon-ish at which he’d usually emerge from his bed to greet his family. But events were taking place on the other side of the galaxy. And that’s why a message had just been sent out to him from the Watchtower.
[“Jaime Reyes.”]
Jaime’s eyebrows twitched as his brain registered some unwanted activity in his mind. His unconscious response was to press his back deeper into the mattress to shut the source of the voice up.
The squashed bug vibrated in annoyance before trying again but much louder.
[“Jaime Reyes!”]
This time Jaime grumbled something in a new language he had just invented on the spot. Khaji Da took a moment to search all the language databases on hand before reaching the conclusion that his host was delirious.
[“Jaime Reyes, you need to wake up.”]
An irritated groan fell from the man’s lips because he knew that he’d finally have to engage properly this time before all hell broke loose. Without opening his eyes - because that was a line he refused to cross - Jaime groggily responded to his beetle.
“Scarab- Is it about Bart?”
[“No.”]
“Is it about Ma, Pa or Milagro?”
[“No.”]
“Then I don’t care.”
[“You have an unread message from Batman.”]
“Ugh. Five more minutes,” he whined. It took a moment before he truly processed the name and shot up wide awake to exclaim it, “Batman?!”
He rubbed his eye sockets before hurriedly reaching for his phone on the nightstand. The bright screen was rather harsh on his eyes at first, but he adjusted quickly enough. He frantically searched for the message before reading it.
Blue Beetle. Come and see me at the Watchtower as soon as possible.
“Dios mío... What- What does he want? He’s never asked me to go see him before?”
[“This scarab cannot derive any context from this message. Recommended tactic: go to the Watchtower now.”]
After a moment of hesitation, Jaime leapt out of bed and began pulling on his go-to black shirt.
“Scarab, can you send Bart a message and ask him to meet me at the phone booth?”
[“Message sent, Jaime Reyes.”]
The zip of Jaime’s jumper signified that he was now ready to leave, save for one thing; shoes. He quickly slipped into a pair of sneakers without bothering to untie the laces and redo them again. The fit was a little loose, but his feet couldn’t care any less. He had business to attend to.
With no time to spare, Jaime yanked his bedroom door open and began traversing the staircase with every intention of making a world record.
The crescendo of plodding on the stair case prompted Bianca to look across from the open kitchen and spot her son as he tore towards the front door.
“¡Buenos días hijo!” she called out.
“¡Lo siento Ma! I’m in a hurry!”
The door slammed concluding their four second conversation.
Jaime immediately felt guilty, but he promised himself that he’d make it up to his mother later. He wasn’t sure whether that would involve doing chores around the house or suffering through one of her unrealistic telenovelas; either way, he wasn’t looking forward to it. And quite frankly, his life was already starting to feel a little like a soap.
Apparently he’d missed the memo that had gone out inviting the entire neighborhood to be out and about today, because everywhere he looked, there was nowhere that he could discreetly armor up. The stress of the situation was tempting him to just armor up in front of his house, but he’d vowed a long time ago never to do that.
Of course, there had been one time that he’d broken that oath. It had been over five years ago when a young Bart Allen had been standing there before him angling for a chill-hang. They had been through everything together: from defeating the Reach, to each having had a failed relationship lasting all of five minutes, to helping one another decide what career pathway to choose for a better future.
The only constant amongst all the chaos, was that they’d had each other.
[“The Bart Allen has messaged back, Jaime Reyes.”]
Jaime smiled and with all of his face as he began running along the footpath, weaving in and out of morning walkers.
“What’d he say?”
[“On my way Blue. Exclamation Mark. Space. Semicolon. Closing parenthesis.”]
Jaime grinned at how literal the scarab’s interpretation of the makeshift emoji was. Bart had recently discovered this and was now exploiting it every chance he got. But Jaime wasn’t complaining by any means. Truthfully, hearing Khaji Da read out his text messages was always a laugh riot. He’d never forget the time he had to explain what kisses and hugs were to the AI.
The man with suddenly heated cheeks - and not from exertion - looked both ways before jogging across the busy street beside him. He was definitely beginning to notice the amount of people around him decrease as he continued running.
“Is Bart already there?”
[ “Scanning for the Bart Allen’s heat signature. Target acquired. He is there, Jaime Reyes.” ]
“Gracias a dios,” he breathed.
Hearing that his best friend was already there waiting for him was all the motivation Jaime needed to kick it up into high gear. The three remaining minutes quickly turned into one, and one more turn put him at the entrance of the secluded alleyway.
The first thing Jaime noticed was Bart’s flattering position.
The speedster was leaning against the brick wall side-on with his arms folded across his chest. Jaime still couldn’t get over how good Bart looked in the scaled up version of his original costume with the red and the cream. There were a few stylistic changes that had been made, but it was still ultimately the same look that had served him well when he had first arrived.
In the time it had taken for Khaji Da to comment on Jaime’s vitals, the speedster was right in front of his best friend.
Bart settled his hands on hips before leering, “Morning handsome. I’m surprised to see you awake this early...”
Jaime sighed with irritation and ignored the flutter in his heartbeat, “Now’s not the time for joking around ese! Oh , and- thanks for meeting me here.”
“It’s totally crash!” Bart dashed the short distance to throw an arm around his taller friend. “I’ll take any chance to chill-hang with my best buddy Blue!”
“This isn’t a chill-hang Bart. Batman sent me a message asking to see me. Dios ,” he whined, “this cannot be good.”
“Okay, calm down Blue.” Bart stepped back and subconsciously ran a hand through his hair like a supermodel. “What exactly did Batman say?”
Jaime ignored the fact that he was unable to answer for a moment because... reasons.
“He- He said that he wanted me to come to the Watchtower as soon as I could.”
Bart raised a quizzical eyebrow as he asked, “And that’s it?”
“Sí.”
Bart chuckled before reaching out to gently rattle Jaime back and forth by his shoulders, “Well then why are you freaking out so much Blue? If it was something totally moded he would have said so in the message.”
Jaime hummed as he pondered over the point, but Bart wasn’t finished yet.
“There’s no need to be moded Blue. I’ll stick with you and we can go together!”
“Gracias Bart,” he looked down at his sneakers. “I knew I could count on you.”
“Course you can!”
Upon looking up again, Jaime couldn’t help but reach out and pull Bart into a warm embrace.
The delighted speedster quickly took the opportunity to snuggle up to the muscular chest hiding behind the grey jumper that he frequently borrowed. It was moments like this when his hope that someday the two of them might be something more would burn the brightest.
After Bart pulled back, he tried for a joke, “Batman should message you more often.”
“You know I couldn’t live with that kind of stress, ese.”
The pair chuckled together before Jaime’s nerves quickly settled back in.
“ Ay ... Let’s just get this over and done with.” He gestured over at the phone booth now with a cheesy grin. “Did you want to go first?”
Bart countered with a cheeky offer, “How about we go together ?”
Jaime half laughed, half scoffed. “We’re not going to be able to both fit in there Bart.”
The speedster didn’t even miss a beat with his smirk. “Wanna bet?”
The butterflies in Jaime’s stomach - which were never dormant for too long when in Bart’s presence - took flight as Bart casually slipped his gloved hand into Jaime’s. The speedster beamed as he led Jaime over into the box with him.
It was a very tight fit, but doable.
“What was that about us both not being able to fit in here Blue?” Bart crowed.
Jaime was simply too busy having a meltdown to respond.
He could literally feel Bart’s entire front against his own. The costume already left little to the imagination, but between his polyester sweatpants and Bart’s spandex, he was certain they could both feel each other’s packages.
[“This host is experiencing sexual arousal. Recommended tactic-”]
“¡Cállate Scarab! I- I need to concentrate!”
Despite his best efforts, all Jaime could think about was how excited he was. If he ever did manage to get into bed with Bart, he wasn’t going to be disappointed, that much was clear.
Whilst on the subject, Jaime took a moment - out of curiosity - to look down and see how Bart was handling their situation. If his face was of any indication, he wasn’t even trying to hide how much he was enjoying himself. Jaime wasn’t sure why Bart enjoyed toying with him so much. It was just a shame that Bart wasn’t doing this because he was actually interested in him. It was obviously just another in a very long line of stunts to try and embarrass or annoy him.
That was just a part of their dynamic, and it worked.
The two stood in silence staring at each other expectantly, until the grinning speedster had something to say.
“Aren’t you forgetting something Blue?”
“¿Qué?”
By way of explanation, Bart reached up and tapped his cheek with a red-gloved finger. It took a moment before Jaime realized what Bart was saying but without words.
“Oh…”
Jaime cleared his throat and nodded. It took a moment to gather up the courage necessary, but he figured he’d comply with the request. It didn’t really feel like quite a big deal to show his gratitude to Bart in that way. They were already essentially at second base anyway, what was one little step back?
Jaime leaned down the short distance and pressed a nervous kiss to Bart’s cheek.
Bart’s eyes widened in shock, which Jaime had not been expecting to see when he had leaned back.
“Uhh Blue... As crash as that was, I was referring to your face? You might want to… y’know… armor up before we go into the Watchtower ?”
“ Oh… I- I thought you were asking me to give you a kiss as a thank you for coming along…”
Bart couldn’t help but crumble into laughter as Jaime got concerningly red in the face.
“ No ,” the speedster grinned, “but you’re welcome to kiss me anytime Blue.”
Now there was nothing Jaime wanted to do more than armor up, purely just to hide the raging blush in his cheeks. He couldn’t believe he had misread the situation so spectacularly. Wishful thinking had completely replaced all his common sense. He felt so incredibly stupid.
Judging by the look on Bart’s face, the speedster wasn’t going to let him forget this; ever .
Without another word, he carefully armored up in the confined space and prayed for a quick transportation. Now that the two men were ready, they looked up at the scanner to activate it. It swept over them with a blue ray of light before announcing a successful verification for both of them.
“Recognized. Blue Beetle. B22. Recognized. Impulse. B23.”
An all too common flash of blinding, white light engulfed them both.
---
The pair rematerialized on the deck of the Watchtower, standing side by side. The first thing they noticed was how empty the lobby was. Usually there were costumed superheroes standing around in the clearing talking to one another. Sometimes one of the senior members would even be using the large holographic screen by the glass windows for an interplanetary conference.
But there was nobody to be seen. A feeling crept into Jaime’s gut that this was all Batman’s doing and that he had intentionally arranged everyone else’s schedules to allow for a fleeting moment of privacy.
Bart had sensed his best friend’s fear, so he flung an arm around his neck in the hopes that his touch would calm the taller man down.
“It’s all crash Blue. We just have to go and find Bats. He’s probably hanging around here somewhere.”
“I’m right here.”
Both Bart and Jaime startled, spinning around to find the owner of the gruff voice. It was a universal hatred amongst the entire superhero community that Batman could make such stealthy entrances or exits when he wanted to.
Jaime was the first to speak, his nerves so clearly bleeding out into his tone.
“Hola Batman… What did you want to see me for?”
“I have a favour to ask.”
Jaime looked over at Bart in surprise for a moment, only to see the speedster doing the same thing. His mind came up blank trying to think of anything that he could do that the caped crusader couldn’t .
“Oh... What is it?”
“I’m hosting a charity event this evening for the Saint Swithin's Orphanage in Gotham. It’s a bachelor auction and I’d like you to participate.”
“Me?” Jaime almost took a step back. “Why me?”
“The event promised ten eligible bachelors, and someone dropped out.”
Jaime was desperately trying to think of a polite way to say no, but he was admittedly terrified of the dark knight. A few moments had passed before Batman’s eyebrows threaded together impatiently, startling Jaime into airing his brain’s thought processing out loud.
“Uhh-”
“You’re not seeing somebody are you?” Batman made a point of looking directly at Bart.
Jaime and Bart quickly looked at one another and swallowed.
“No. Bart and I- aren’t together.” Jaime couldn’t help but hang his head a little lower, feeling utterly devastated by having been made to say that to Bart’s face.
Bart looked like he wanted to say something, but then changed his mind. He could tell that his best friend really didn’t want to do this, and he didn’t want that either. The thought of a dinner date with Jaime being auctioned off to some random, wealthy woman made his blood boil.
Suddenly, Bart stumbled onto the key that could save them both.
“I just remembered, Blue can’t go!” The speedster mentally patted himself on the back and smugly began to explain why his best friend couldn’t attend. “We have a mission tonight with-”
“I’ve already reassigned it.” Batman interrupted, folding his arms across his chest.
Bart instantly deflated.
Jaime had really appreciated Bart’s valiant effort to try and rescue him, but it was apparent now that the man behind the cape and cowl was not going to take no for an answer. So Jaime caved.
He was almost tempted to agree only on the condition that Bart was also allowed to come, but he didn’t want to subject his best friend to a night of feeling uncomfortable and out of place. It was already awful enough that he was going to have to suffer through that.
“Ok. I guess I’ll see you tonight… Where is it exactly?”
“Wayne Manor at six o’clock. Black tie.”
Jaime nodded. Now that Batman was satisfied, he was able to attend to other pressing business.
“I have to go, I’m needed in Gotham.”
Bart and Jaime remained standing defeatedly as Batman strode off without another word before disappearing on the Zeta platform in a flash of white light. Jaime was certain that Bart was thinking along the same lines as him, but he put the request out there anyway.
“Let’s go home ese,” he mumbled miserably.
Another flash of white signified their joint exit a moment later.
---
Minutes later, the pair were flying high in the sky above suburban El Paso, with moods ocean deep. The contrast was almost dizzying, which is why neither of them had spoken a word to each other since leaving the ground.
Truth be told, Jaime was just content watching the wind course through Bart’s auburn hair. It kept waving back and forth peacefully like coral on the ocean floor, in an endless loop. The tranquility wasn’t ruined when Bart’s soft voice broke him from his thoughts.
“I’m sorry Blue.”
“What for?” He was genuinely confused.
“I tried to think of another reason you couldn’t go. Guess I wasn’t quick enough.”
“It was nice of you to try at all Bart,” he smiled.
“Well, I could tell you didn’t want to go…”
“Can you blame me?” Jaime half laughed. “I’d way rather spend the night with you.”
Bart chuckled to himself and that’s when Jaime had realized the double meaning behind his words. He quickly leapt to clarify that he was a gentleman, probably an octave higher than necessary.
“To- To chill-hang! Not to…”
“Kiss me like you did this morning?” Bart offered cheekily.
“I- That was- You said!” Jaime tried to defend himself but kept tripping up on the most flustered state he had ever been in (and Bart was loving it). “Ay, dios mío,” he whispered, giving up on life.
“Would it make you feel better if I evened the playing field?”
“What do you mean?”
Bart flicked the face mask with a finger to implicitly ask that Jaime retract it.
So he did.
And then Jaime got the surprise of a lifetime when Bart leaned in to press a quick kiss to his cheek.
“There you go!” The speedster announced cheerily. “We’re tied! Feel better now Blue?”
Jaime felt like he might fall out of the sky.
He could barely concentrate on keeping the scarab and its recommendations in line when he was busy trying to sear the feeling of Bart’s warm lips against his cheek into his memory forever. He knew the kiss had been a joke for Bart, but that rush he had just experienced was something he wanted to chase again and again.
“Uhh… Gracias.”
The faceplate quickly came back down so that Jaime could be one with his thoughts.
He wanted to know if he and Bart could work something out about going on a real date (unlike the pity one he’d be attending later in the evening). Bart had been out of the closet as gay for a long time, so he was already lucky enough to be the right gender. But whether Bart would be interested in him specifically was another story. And he also had no idea if Bart would even be comfortable risking their friendship like that.
But he wanted to try, he had very strong feelings for Bart.
For the remainder of the flight, Bart casually talked about things like he always did. It was almost as if the kiss had never happened, but Jaime couldn’t stop thinking about it. Thankfully, they reached his bedroom window soon enough so that he could armor down and move around, letting all the excess energy in his mind dissipate.
Bart raised his visor to watch as Jaime paced around in his room seemingly unsettled.
“Everything okay Blue?”
“Yeah.” Jaime ran a hand through his hair, “I’m just not looking forward to tonight, ese. I’m also kind of tired.”
“Well your sleep-in was interrupted this morning.”
“Yeah,” he chuckled at how well Bart knew him. “Maybe I’ll catch some more Z’s before tonight.” Technically there was no need for a ‘maybe’ in that sentence. He had already made up his mind and made this known by pulling his black shirt off before flopping backwards onto the unmade bed.
Bart shifted on the spot feeling hotter than usual, prompting Jaime to look up from the bed. The words were out of his mouth before he could think twice about it.
“You can stay if you want?”
“Oh. Sure!” Bart beamed. “That’s crash with me. Can I borrow some of your clothes?”
Jaime chuckled quietly, “Sí.”
While Bart practically dived on his grey jumper, Jaime watched carefully hoping to catch a glimpse of the speedster flashing a bit of skin.
[“This host's anticipation has released a significant amount of dopamine, Jaime Reyes. Recommended tactic: seduce the Bart Allen.”]
Jaime almost flailed at that, but managed to remain relatively still before barking back at the beetle.
“I’m not going to seduce Bart, Scarab! I only offered for him to stay because he came all the way over to chill-hang, and I wanted to sleep instead. I didn’t want to be rude!”
The bug prepared itself to share a series of arguments that would expose Jaime’s logic for what it was - which was utter nonsense - when Bart slipped into the bed beneath the covers. Khaji Da knew that there was no point even trying to get Jaime’s attention back now.
The two men were lying at opposite sides of the bed staring at the ceiling, and neither spoke for a solid minute.
That was until Jaime did, looking over at Bart.
“I can literally feel you wanting to hug me right now, ese,” he grinned.
The speedster laughed musically before asking, “Is that an invitation Blue?”
Jaime rolled his eyes affectionately and then held out his arms.
“Ven aquí.”
Bart nearly ripped the bed sheets in his haste to tear across the bed and get into those muscular arms waiting for him. The speedster gazed up at Jaime, eyes sparkling with appreciation. Jaime acknowledged the grateful look by resting his chin above Bart’s head before letting out a happy sigh.
It only took a few minutes listening to the sound of Bart breathing, to relax Jaime into sleep.
The speedster on the other hand, was far too excited to sleep. His overwhelming elation was beginning to manifest itself as energy that craved release. Ideally, he would have liked to have run around the world a few times. But moving meant disturbing Jaime and leaving his side; neither of which he was willing to do. So he settled for the next best thing; trying ridiculously hard to fall asleep.
Eventually, they were both sleeping peacefully in one another’s arms.
---
The television had credits running down the screen one second, then it was black the next. Bianca lowered the remote and set aside her thoughts about the late afternoon telenovela she had just finished watching. She leaned back on the cappuccino couch and thought back to earlier in the morning when she had been making breakfast.
Her son had sounded rather stressed during his hasty exit from the house.
Given that she hadn’t seen or heard from him all day, she wondered whether it might be worth checking his bedroom to see if he had returned. He did that a lot. Slipping in and out of the family home with no predictability whatsoever. But what else could she expect when her son was a superhero?
The floral dress she was wearing swayed around her legs as she walked out of the living room and to the base of the stairs. She braced the rail and patiently made her way up, grinning when she reached the top as a thought crossed her mind about how ridiculously quickly Bart could traverse the stairs by comparison. The speedster was frequently in her house visiting her son, and she had seen - or more rather not seen - him ascend them.
She didn’t take another step, pausing to think for a while longer.
Bart was definitely a charmer, and she still took a moment to be grateful every now and again that he had come into their lives. Jaime’s in particular. Her son had been through a lot in his life, most of which she had failed to shield him from. She often felt guilty about it. But Bart, he had always been there for Jaime, when she couldn’t be. In her opinion, the most impressive thing about Bart wasn’t his superspeed or other special abilities, it was his loyalty.
Perhaps she shouldn’t have been so surprised when she did walk the rest of the way and opened Jaime’s bedroom door.
She swooned internally at the adorable sight of Jaime and Bart cuddling.
It was truly flooring to look at the two men and know that in an instant, they could become extremely dangerous superheroes in order to save the world from any threats. They both looked so innocent and at peace. She was almost a little jealous really and suddenly felt like taking a nap. But she knew she couldn’t because dinner was only a few hours away and she wanted to be awake to cook. Especially if Bart was joining them. There was no bigger boost to her ego then having him as a guest at the dinner table.
She chuckled and went to shut the door, accidentally bumping it against the wood a little too loudly and making a noise.
Jaime opened his eyes and craned his neck immediately.
“¿Má? ¿Eres tu?”
As Bianca opened the door again, she noticed Bart was awake too. Oops.
“Si hijo. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you both.”
“It’s fine,” he reassured. “What time is it?”
“Nearly five o’clock.”
“¡Maldito!” He looked over at Bart who was slowly blinking to life, “Bart I’ve only got an hour left to get ready and fly over there.”
Bianca felt like she was missing something.
“Where are you going?”
“Ba- Bruce Wayne asked me to be part of a bachelor auction for charity,” he grumbled. “It’s a black tie event and it’s probably going to last a few hours.”
Bianca’s eyebrows nearly hit the ceiling.
“That’s… unexpected. Well at least you’ll be doing something nice for charity.” She turned to address her son’s sleepy companion now. “Bart sweetie, are you going with Jaime? Or you can stay for dinner if you like?”
That caused Bart to sit up straight, much to Jaime’s amusement.
“Nah, I’m not going with Blue. It’s not really my scene. I can already see all the desperate husband hunters swarming around Bruce Wayne.” He shared in a short chuckle with Bianca before continuing. “I’d love to stay for dinner though! Your cooking is so crash .”
“Gracias. Well I’ll be downstairs preparing dinner if you need anything.”
Jaime thanked her before she left, and then got out of bed to head straight for the closet. He shoved all his shirts and jackets aside on their hangers revealing his suit bag. He’d only ever worn it once or twice before but he knew it would still fit. Lifting it out and into the light, he unzipped the bag and began laying his outfit out beside Bart on the bed.
The speedster just watched silently, enamored by the way all Jaime’s muscles moved. Bart could honestly say, without hesitation, that he had never in his life been more attracted to anybody than Jaime, both physically and emotionally. It was a dream come true just to be in his bed, and on the verge of seeing Jaime take his pants off.
And that was Jaime’s first point of business; replacing his sweatpants with dress pants.
He hesitated because he knew Bart was watching him. In fact, he was watching Bart, watching him; and rather intensely. He couldn’t help but wonder if this was a little mean, and whether it could be considered as teasing to undress in front of his gay best friend like he planned on doing. Was there really any harm in trying to interest Bart with a little sneak peak? He thought about it for a little longer before coming to the conclusion that Bart’s costume revealed the exact same shape that his trunks would, so it was totally justified.
Moving quickly and without making eye contact - because he was still super nervous - he pulled his pants down in front of best friend and slipped on the dress pants.
Bart curled his fingers into the sheets something fierce, just so that he didn’t act on impulse for those few glorious seconds seeing Jaime down to one final layer of clothing.
He wanted Jaime.
He wanted Jaime bad .
Meanwhile, Jaime slid each arm into the white shirt and started doing up the buttons before finally looking back over at Bart. The speedster’s pupils were fully blown and even the green ring of Midori swirling around them was darker than usual. He figured that had to be a good sign of attraction; either that or Bart was still thinking about the offer of a home-made meal from before. Honestly it could have gone either way given how primal Bart usually looked at the dinner table. Boy did he love his food.
“Hey Bart, would you mind helping me with the tie and collar?”
Bart was behind him an instant, fingers brushing against his neck as he slowly lowered the flap of material to hide the tie around his neck. The speedster brushed off the man’s shoulders and helped him into the jacket. Once done, Jaime straightened up and smiled.
“I’m going to grab a drink from the kitchen. If you come with, I might be able to find a packet of Chicken Whizees in there for you?”
“You sure know how to keep a guy interested, Blue.”
Jaime quickly turned away from that devilish grin so that he could blush in an undignified manner without being seen. He quickly led the pair down the stairs and to the kitchen, where he finally thought his cheeks would get a break. How wrong he was.
Bianca’s eyes widened and she immediately paid him a well deserved compliment.
“You look very , very handsome, hijo.”
Bart melted into the grey countertop nearby resting his chin on the cuff of Jaime’s jumper that was adorably too large for him.
“Handsome indeed, Blue. Very muy caliente .”
Bianca laughed from the stove, providing Jaime with a well-needed distraction from his heart’s desire, who seemed to be unable to shift his gaze away from him.
[“This is good.”] Khaji Da noted sinisterly. [“The Bart Allen is displaying signs of attraction to this outfit. Recommended tactic: where this suit during a seduction.”]
Back in the outside world, Jaime actually gripped at his head. For anybody that had never seen him do it, they’d naturally be concerned. But this was far from the first time Bart or Bianca had seen him do it.
“There will be no- I’m not- Just- Quiet!”
Bart moved from around the corner and zeroed in on his best friend suspiciously. He really hoped that his compliment was responsible for Jaime suddenly getting frustrated with the beetle. He was praying it had been a warning about Jaime’s heart rate or something along those lines. But it could have just as easily been an intrusion where the bug had scanned his vitals and Jaime didn’t approve. But he had nothing to hide. He just wanted Jaime to fall in love with him. And he was willing to wait a lifetime to see if the man would come around.
“Everything alright in there Blue?”
“Yeah.” He thought on the fly. “The scarab’s just complaining about my tie not being straight.”
Bart stalked right up to him and looked at the tie. He was right. Damn. His theory about the bug’s pestering was wrong. Nevertheless, he wasn’t about to complain about getting to brush his fingers against Jaime’s chest.
“The bug’s right,” he grinned. “Nothing straight here.”
Jaime rolled his eyes and nearly shivered as Bart sensuously slid his fingers down his jacket to lift it up. Once there was room for movement, the speedster used a finger to guide the tie a little further to the right.
Bianca subtly watched on, noticing how Bart took ten times longer than any human would need to push an object such a short distance. When the speedster was done, he looked up at her son, and the pair shared a heated gaze that she was truly surprised hadn’t set off the smoke alarm.
She truly didn’t understand how neither of them hadn’t snapped yet and given into temptation. It wasn’t her place to meddle, but even she was getting to a point where she was daydreaming about whacking Jaime over the back of his head with a flip flop for ignoring such obvious passion.
Nevertheless, she cleared her throat because she did have a few questions to ask as she continued stirring the pot.
“So when do you have to leave?”
Khaji Da provided an exact time to ensure an arrival at six on the dot, but Jaime wanted to leave and get there a bit early. After all, this was Batman they were talking about. He was confident that the host would probably appreciate an earlier arrival on his part.
“I’ll leave soon. I want to get there early just in case.” Jaime watched as his mother nodded, and then debated with himself whether he should ask the question that came to mind. Of course, he gave in quickly enough. “How long do you think would be reasonable for a dinner date?”
Bart was quick to chirp up from beside them with a smug grin.
“Five minutes.”
“I’m serious, ese.” Jaime turned to direct the rest at his mother now. “Whilst I don’t want to be doing this at all, I don’t want to be rude and end the date too early. Would an hour be okay?”
“I think that sounds fair. I suppose it also depends on how much money they spend. What if you sell for thousands of dollars?”
Jaime chuckled before rolling his eyes, “Like that’s going to happen.”
“Don’t put yourself down Jaime,” she chided. “You’re a thoughtful, intelligent, handsome young man with lots to offer.”
Bart grinned, standing up straighter to happily agree, “I hear that!”
Bianca gestured at the speedster with a reddened wooden spoon, “See? Bart agrees with me.”
Jaime rolled his eyes for the second time that minute before an annoyance washed over him out of nowhere. Somehow that line had struck a nerve in his heart.
“Ma, he’s just saying that to be nice. No lo aliente.”
Bianca shoved her spoon aggressively back into the pot because she was genuinely annoyed with his blindness over Bart’s feelings for him. Jaime could tell she was gearing up for war and he didn’t want to put himself in an ever worse mood than he already was. So he armored up and dismissed himself.
“I have to go. I’ll see you both when I get back.”
And then he was gone, surprisingly quickly.
Bart nervously approached Bianca, regretting his decision to have waited until now to be pulling out of dinner as he had planned on doing all along. It wasn’t ideal, not with Bianca looking a little infuriated and in need of friendly company.
“Uhh Missus Reyes?”
All her anger evaporated at that, and was now replaced with amusement. No matter how many times she told Bart to call her by her first name, he always seemed to default back to that.
“Yes Bart?”
“I’m really sorry but I’m going to have to pull out of dinner…”
Bianca adjusted her glasses and folded her arms as she stared at the young man gauging a theory. A grin surfaced on her face after a moment.
“You’re going to the bachelor auction aren’t you?”
Bart smirked, making his answer obvious before he had even spoken.
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
“A mother knows her son,” she replied smugly. “ And his best friend.”
“Well, I should get going. I have to get dressed and sneak into the venue. Rain check on the dinner though!”
Bart turned on his foot and Bianca nearly made the speedster jump through the kitchen roof with her desperately quick plea.
“Hijo wait! I have something for you.” Bart quickly turned around with a curious smile, so she continued. “Why don’t you get dressed and come back here to see me before you leave?”
A powerful gust of wind ruffled her dress against the cabinets at knee level, before she realized he was gone. A second later it happened again, although this time he had reappeared in his own black suit and a red tie. She tilted her head in awe and approached him, laying a hand on his breast pocket.
“You look so handsome as well.”
“Thanks... Bianca.”
She smiled warmly at that before noticing something else that amused her.
“I thought it was black tie?”
“It is,” he grinned. “I wanted to stand out though.”
She chuckled and patted him lightly on the chest before excusing herself, “Just give me one minute. I’ll be right back.”
Bart nervously tapped his foot while he waited, worrying about all the women that were probably undressing Jaime with their eyes. Every second he wasn’t there, was another second that Jaime might need saving. But he needed to give Bianca the benefit of the doubt that whatever the reason she had asked Bart to stay back for, was worth it.
When she re-entered she was holding something behind her back. Bart leaned to try and look behind the woman, which is when she took mercy on him and brought the white envelope out from hiding and handed it to him. When he looked inside, he gasped at all the bills in it.
“Missus Reyes… I- I don’t know what to say?”
“I want you to win, sweetie. I hope this goes a long way towards helping.”
Bart leapt forward to hug Bianca.
“This is so crash of you,” he whispered. He almost felt like he might cry, but he didn’t exactly want to show up to the swanky event with tear tracks on his cheeks. So he didn’t. He pulled away and smiled at the generous woman to see if she had anything to say. And she did.
“Well… What are you waiting for? You have a date to win! ¡Correr!”
Bart flashed one last blinding beam before disappearing with one final gust of wind.
---
On the outskirts of Gotham, lived two ludicrously large mansions around a bend in the road. The smaller one fading into the background was the Drake Household. And the larger one that could probably have been spotted from the Watchtower, was Wayne Manor. Both were surrounded by a fence for security reasons, but there were multiple openings in the gates to allow easy access for guests.
That was the first thing Bart noticed as he skidded to a halt ahead of the two properties. He had visited Tim’s house a few times with the team, but never Wayne Manor. It was strange seeing numerous gaps in the fence, because he’d never even noticed them during his previous visits.
He took one long look at the building he was planning to sneak into. It was huge. Which made his job spectacularly easy. There were small hedges lining the multiple driveways that lead up to the gigantic circle encompassing a water fountain. And cars were banked up for miles. Bart pitied the poor staff who were on the clock as parking valets.
Nevertheless, he had no time to waste.
Luckily, he had two feet that could carry him inside before one of the security men at the door could blink. Again he assessed the building that was so large, that it basically looked like a table with all its columns and rows. There were at least three floors denoted by the lights in the windows he could count. That was actually a height at which he could reasonably gain enough traction if he wanted to.
And when he thought about how much he wanted to surprise Jaime, he knew that he’d have to choose the option that would best allow him to remain out of view, and the third floor would do just nicely. It would be difficult to lurk around in stealth mode given what he was wearing though.
Maybe wearing a bold red tie hadn’t been such a good idea after all...
Acting on impulse, he took off.
He ran in a wide arc around the property and approached it from the back, noticing one window in particular that was not lit up. That was his target. He continued picking up enough speed so that he was able to run up the wall with ease. Once in line with the window, he phased his foot first which slipped straight through, along with the rest of him a moment later.
It had required an impressive amount of control over his phasing abilities. Barry would have been so proud. Who was he kidding? He was proud of himself. He was so telling Barry about it later. Probably Jaime too.
Focusing his attention on the new surroundings, he realized that he was kneeling on tiles. It was still hard to tell what kind of a room he was in when the only source of light was a slither of gold under the door. He stood up quietly and ran over to the door and started feeling around for a light switch.
When he found it, he flicked it on and discovered that he was in a very large bathroom.
All things considered, that had worked out well for him. Especially because the bathroom had a huge mirror on the wall and his tie had come undone during his trek up the side of the building. He quickly tucked the tie back in and neatened his suit. He left his hair though, loving how it looked even more windswept than usual. It made him wonder whether he should run up buildings more often.
Returning to the mission at hand, he dashed back to the door and took a deep breath. He pushed the handle and strode out confidently, ready for anything. And just as quickly all the air in his lungs fell out of his dropped jaw at the sight before him.
The majority of each floor was hollow in the middle, cut off by railing so that the ground floor could be seen from every level. In between the floors hung a captivating crystal chandelier that thinned out the closer it got to the thousands of women roaming about on the ground. There were a hundred or so guests on the second floor and maybe thirty on his floor. Apparently most of the socialites had formed groups and were all nursing a glass of champagne.
It almost felt like a crime not to have one.
As if on cue, a waiter startled Bart from the side.
“Would you care for a glass sir?”
Bart smiled and took a glass before thanking the man. He had no interest in drinking the fizzy beverage, but it would at least help him blend in. Well, as much as one could blend in when being a man at a predominantly female event. He wondered whether asking the waiter about the burning question on his mind was a good idea, but he didn’t really have any other options.
“Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering about the bachelors. I can’t see any of them from up here. Where are they?”
“Oh. They are in the East Wing. If you head down those stairs over there-” the man gestured to the corner of the floor- “and go to the ground floor, you’ll see the East Wing of the building. There’s a stage and chairs for those who are participating in the auction.”
“Thanks! Also, what time does the auction start?”
“Half past six. Guests will be asked to take a seat and grab a paddle for the auction.”
Bart thanked the man again before walking down the stairs at a human pace, as much as it pained him. But he couldn’t draw attention to himself. It took a while, but he eventually made it to the ground floor and his mouth gaped.
The waiter wasn’t kidding, the East Wing was an entirely separate side of the building. It was like a whole new building, next to the current one. And he could see a thousand pearly white, fold-up chairs neatly lined up with gaps in between. It almost looked like a fancy concert. There was a stage at the front with a microphone and ten chairs for the bachelors.
But still no sign of Jaime.
Bart slipped through the crowd and noticed a dozen tables stationed together against the wall supporting the weight of a thousand navy paddles sporting white numbers. He knew it was naughty, but he wanted a lucky number, so he used his super speed to grab paddle twenty-three before tucking it into his suit discreetly.
Twenty-three was Jaime’s Zeta tube designation.
He hoped it would bring him good luck.
All that was left to do was kill twenty-five minutes and wait for this thing to begin. So he blended into the crowd so deep that he almost lost his sense of direction. It was especially hard to concentrate when he noticed that many women were actually eyeing him off as if he were one of the bachelors and not a bidder. He kind of wished he had worn a rainbow tie to send a message. Oh well, as long as women were hitting on him and not Jaime, then he was content.
He accidentally bumped into a table and spun around to apologize when he noticed that there were flyers on the table. Curiosity got the better of him and he picked one up.
It listed all ten bachelors.
He began reading through them all.
Bruce Wayne. No surprise there . Dick Grayson? Bart knew that Nightwing was in a relationship, so he technically wasn’t a bachelor. But obviously Dick just wanted to do something nice for charity, and besides, he was perfectly capable of fending off a ferocious woman if needed.
Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner. Two green lanterns. One clearly better than the other. Bart cringed and spared a moment of pity for whoever ended up winning a date with the most obnoxious superhero he knew.
Jefferson Pierce. Black Lightning had been very unlucky in love, so Bart hoped that he actually managed to meet someone nice through doing this event.
Eel O’Brian and Damon Wells. There seemed to be a trend again. This time with two stretchy heroes, Plastic Man and Elongated Man.
Next was Jim Harper, the former Guardian.
Second to last Raymond Palmer, the Atom.
Which left only one more name…
Jaime Reyes.
Even reading his best friend’s name made his heart quicken. He swiftly raised his other elbow and downed the glass of champagne in one go. Realistically, he knew that liquid courage didn’t work on him, but it was nice to pretend. He was a little worried that he might be making a fool of himself by doing this, and that Jaime might actually be embarrassed to be bet on by a guy in front of all these people. But he had to take that risk. He just had to.
It turned out that worrying incessantly passed the time like Bart wouldn’t believe, because the next thing he knew, a loud voice suddenly boomed from the East Wing grabbing everyone’s attention.
“Good evening ladies and gentleman. This is your auctioneer Lucius Fox speaking.”
The crowd laughed at the imitation of a pilot’s greeting before the man continued.
“Could you please all make your way into the East Wing and grab a seat? Oh and, don’t forget to grab a paddle on the way if you’re interested in participating in tonight’s auction. I promise it’ll be a lot of fun.”
The women excitedly began to file into the chairs, starting at the front and filling them out backwards. Bart hung at the back, wanting to remain as out of sight as possible. And things worked out even better for him than he had imagined. There weren’t enough seats which left a sea of women standing around the edges of the room holding their paddles, and he simply hid behind it.
“Great! I believe we’re ready to start now. Okay ladies ,” the man at the microphone said excitedly, “who’s ready to bid for the most romantic dinner of their lifetime?!”
Most of the women in the room whistled and cheered. Some even clapped. But Bart remained completely silent. He was going to choose his moment just right. And he wasn’t revealing himself until it was time to bid on Jaime, that much he knew.
“Alrighty! Let’s bring out the ten eligible bachelors shall we?”
The roar from all the women in the room this time was much louder.
“Here they are!”
The auctioneer gestured towards a small door, from which the ten men filed out of in perfect order according to the flyer. Bart’s eyes bugged out when he realized that they must have been waiting in an East East Wing. How many wings did this building have?! He took a moment to remind himself that he should be grateful, the extra dimension was actually shielding Jaime from all this hungry competition he was surrounded by.
But it was nice to see Jaime again, even if he did look super uncomfortable.
“Let’s hop right into it shall we?! Bachelor number one! Bruce Wayne!”
Another deafening wave of cheering threatened to make Bart’s ears bleed, but he hung in there.
This was all for Jaime. And he was worth it.
Lucius took the microphone off the stand and started speaking into it.
“So Bruce, tell the crowd a little bit about yourself.” He handed the microphone over to the impeccably dressed man.
“Thank you Lucius. Good evening all, I’m Bruce Wayne. For those who are unaware, I’m the owner of Wayne Industries.”
The crowd gave a soft laugh at that before falling silent to let him continue.
“I wanted to host this event tonight to raise money for a very worthy organization. The Saint Swithin's Orphanage. I have personal ties to the owners and I know that they’ve come under some financial hardship recently. I offered to write them a cheque but they didn’t feel comfortable accepting one from me personally, so I proposed this evening as a compromise. And thankfully, they were on board with it. It also gives us all an opportunity to have some fun and mingle with friends.”
Many people raised their glasses in agreement. Thankfully no one was drunk enough to spill their own drink on them. At least not yet anyway.
Lucius took the microphone back and looked over at the other nine bachelors who were still seated on the stage beside him.
“I’ll ask each bachelor to introduce themselves with their name and a fact about themself. I also have a different question for each bachelor, just to keep things interesting. So, I’ll start with you Bruce since you’ve already introduced yourself. My question for you is... What is your biggest secret?”
The crowd all took a deep breath and remained deadly quiet, no one wanting to miss the man’s answer. Bart couldn’t help but smirk, along with all the bachelor’s knowing what the man’s answer should be, but what it wouldn’t be.
“Well Lucius, I can’t very well go and share my biggest secret with everybody now could I? Maybe I’ll share it with the lucky lady who wins a dinner date with me.” Bruce grinned, and that was never a facial expression Bart had expected to see on Batman’s face ever.
Lucius laughed and then took the microphone back, eager to launch into the auction itself.
“Okay then! How about we start the bidding off with a thousand dollars for my good friend Bruce Wayne?”
A sea of blue paddles rose from the crowd. Bart was actually having difficulty spotting a single woman who hadn’t raised their paddle.
“How about five thousand dollars?”
That certainly thinned out the crowd, but there were still about a quarter of the paddles held high. Bart was truly impressed. That was a lot of money to spend on a single dinner.
“Seven and a half?”
There were less than a hundred paddles now.
“Ten?”
A dozen high rollers remained. But one woman in particular was determined to win, so she stood up and made herself known, waving paddle number seventeen around.
“Fifteen thousand dollars!” she called out casually.
Lucius seemed almost too stunned to speak for a moment. But he regained his bearings and gestured over at the blonde woman in an elegant black dress. She was proudly showing off a handbag with a silver clasp shaped like a cat’s head.
“Does anybody want to top that?” A pause of silence gave Lucius the confidence to begin the countdown. “Going once… Going twice… Sold! To paddle number seventeen!”
The women all clapped supportively and settled down for bachelor number two.
Bart zoned out for most of the bidding wars that followed. Dick had sold for nine thousand, nine hundred and seventy two dollars. The women had gotten freakishly specific in his bidding war for some unknown reason. The remaining bachelors had all sold for round numbers.
Hal had sold for eight grand. Guy went for three. The following five all ended up selling between five and seven thousand dollars.
And then, it was Jaime’s turn.
Lucius motioned for him to come across to the microphone and Bart couldn’t help but notice the way his legs didn’t seem to want to cooperate. Jaime was trying so hard not to look miserable and it was breaking Bart’s heart. He wanted to run over and give his best friend a hug and tell him it would be okay, but he resisted.
“Bachelor number ten! ” The showman in Lucius really came out to play as he arrived on the lucky last bachelor for the night. “Tell us your name and an interesting fact about yourself.”
Jaime hesitantly took the microphone and realized that it was going to take everything he had to make it through this bidding war. It was the last place he wanted to be. He had spent every second up until now in his happy place. But he wasn’t going to be able to stay there for much longer. So he made the crowd wait a little bit longer as he stole one last moment there.
He pictured Bart’s face, bright and smiling before gorging himself on Bianca’s food. He imagined rolling his eyes at that, and getting to listen to that beautiful laugh of his. There was nowhere he’d rather be. It was all the motivation he needed to just get this over and done with.
“Hola. I’m Jaime, and I’m studying to be a dentist.”
Lucius took the microphone back and asked the unique question he had set aside just for bachelor number ten.
“And tell us Jaime... How would you describe the perfect date?”
Bart was pretty certain he had never watched Jaime so intently in his life. The answer to come could actually give him the most valuable insight he could possibly need for a real date with his best friend. And the best part was, Jaime still had no idea he was even in attendance. He watched the thoughtful man accept the microphone again before thinking long and hard.
“I guess…”
Jaime trailed off and closed his eyes so that he could actually picture it, and then suddenly he was smiling . And it was the first proper smile Bart had seen all night and now he needed to know what Jaime had envisioned. The anticipation was starting to tear him apart.
“It would probably have to be under the stars in the El Paso desert.”
The crowd swooned loudly, and Bart couldn’t help himself and joined in. If Jaime wanted a date under the stars in the El Paso desert, then Bart Allen was going to provide. The dinner dates that came of the auction were all to be hosted in the private courtyard outside. Bart was sure that Bruce would have spared no money making it look like a dream. But it still wasn’t Jaime’s dream, and if Bart won, he was going to make it happen.
Lucius smiled warmly at Jaime’s answer, impressed by the sincerity of it. Most of the bachelors had half-assed their answers to the probing questions, but Jaime had been vulnerable and honest, and he couldn’t help but provide kudos for it.
“Well, with any luck Jaime. You might be able to go on that date sooner than you think.”
Jaime knew that Lucius was only trying to be nice, but the thought of going on that date with anyone but Bart instantly made him feel ill. In fact, it was beginning to show on his face as he awkwardly handed the microphone back to Lucius.
And now it was time for the bidding. Bart had suddenly never been more focused in his life.
“Let’s start the bidding for Jaime at a thousand dollars!”
Many paddles soared towards the ceiling initially. But one by one the women in the crowd began noticing the expression now splashed all over the man’s face. Jaime was no longer able to hide just how desperately he didn’t want to be up there. There was clearly somewhere else he wanted to be.
“How about two thousand dollars?”
Jaime was now just staring down at his shoes, waiting for the bidding to be over. It was another stroke of genius that caused a lot of the paddles that had initially been raised to sink out of sight. Bart couldn’t be happier with how his best friend was sabotaging his own bidding war, whether it was intentional or not (though he suspected the latter). It only made his job winning easier.
Bart scanned the floor very carefully and noticed that there were approximately a hundred paddles still left. Apparently, there were still many women determined to turn the man’s frown upside down. But that was Bart’s job, and he wasn’t letting anybody else take it from him.
“Three thousand dollars?”
The majority of remaining women hesitated, before looking over to confirm that Jaime was still staring down at his shoes, and then lowering their paddles. All that was left was a handful of paddles scattered far and wide.
Lucius looked like he was about to jump to four thousand, but Bart was ready to make his surprise appearance and cut to the chase.
He quickly slithered through the wall of dresses before him and proudly shoved his paddle high in the air before shouting out towards the stage.
“Five thousand dollars!”
Many gasps and whispers scuttled across the room as the women turned and spotted a man participating in the bidding war. Bart made a conscious decision not to look at their faces because he was only concerned about one in particular. A handsome face that was only now just piecing together that it had heard a strangely familiar voice, if the man’s eyebrows were anything to go by.
It took a second, but then Jaime looked up and realized who it was.
It was Bart.
Bart had come to the auction! To bid for a dinner date with him! Initially, his jaw dropped and Bart just winked at him from the back of the room. He couldn’t help but smile and go a little red in the face from the special attention. In fact, nobody had ever made such a grand gesture for him before, and he was touched.
“Wow!” Lucius beamed and gestured over at Bart. “Number twenty-three offering up five thousand dollars for Jaime! Going once-”
Suddenly, a Latina woman in a white dress stood up in the front row interrupting Lucius just before he had finished closing the deal.
“Six thousand dollars!”
Lucius began to gesture at the woman waving paddle seventy-six but Bart didn’t give him the chance to.
“Seven thousand dollars!” he shouted.
“Seven and half!” she countered, glaring viciously over at Bart now.
[“Biofeedback of the woman indicates hostile intent towards the Bart Allen. Attack!”]
While Jaime was resisting the temptation to let the bug off its leash for once, Bart was doing his best not to scoff at the woman’s attempt to try and intimidate him. He had faced much scarier villains than her. But he wasn’t going to let her sway him. He continued, his arm held as high as it could go.
“Eight thousand dollars!”
The woman hesitated now and all eyes were on her to see if she would go up again. She glowered at Bart something fierce, as if he didn’t even belong in the auction. It almost felt personal. Bart even wondered if she might be homophobic. She begrudgingly went up again.
“Eight and half!”
Jaime didn’t think his eyes could bug out anymore, but he was wrong when Bart dealt the next blow in his bidding war with the woman.
“Ten thousand dollars!”
Bart simply stared straight back at the woman daring her to test his devotion. A devotion that had spanned for years, traversed timelines and gone to hell and back. As the memories poured into his mind, a fire burned bright in his green eyes, they were almost gold instead of green.
After that, she quickly conceded defeat and sat down.
There was such protectiveness burning in Bart’s eyes that any of the women having second thoughts didn’t dare to raise their paddles. Lucius slowly recovered from the shock of it all and drove it home.
“Ten thousand dollars for bachelor number ten. Going once… Going twice… Sold! To paddle twenty-three!”
The majority of the crowd clapped to congratulate Bart, respecting the wealth he seemingly represented. But he didn’t care about any of that. Status, power, money; it all meant nothing to him. He just wanted Jaime.
And speaking of, that’s where the speedster’s eyes were still. Bart had finally lowered his paddle now that he had secured the win, but he just couldn't take his eyes off of Jaime. His best friend was frozen on stage with shock, staring right back at him. Lucius even had to clear his throat to send a hint to the tenth bachelor to return to his seat.
Bart couldn’t help but laugh quietly to himself as they maintained eye contact as Jaime went and sat down again, still looking truly gobsmacked.
Lucius took to the microphone one last time for the evening, but neither Bart or Jaime heard a word he said. They were too busy looking at one another.
“And that brings our night to a close! Could the bachelors please meet their winners in the courtyard for their dates? I’ll hand you back over to our host Bruce Wayne for the afterword. Thanks for having me. You all have a lovely night.”
The crowd applauded thunderously as Lucius exited through the door to the magical land beyond where the bachelors had originated from. Bruce stepped up to the edge of the stage to quickly wrap up his speaking part before heading outside to attend his very expensive date.
“Thank you all for attending this evening. You’ll find free food and drinks, courtesy of the Wayne foundation to your left. For those of you who didn’t buy a bachelor this evening, please find the donation station to your right. Please give generously. Thank you.”
There was another round of applause before the air became heavily clouded with laughter and conversation.
Jaime blinked for a moment, and then noticed Bart was gone. He stood up quickly, looking for the speedster in the exact same spot he had made his surprise debut. A moment later, he felt his phone begin to buzz from the pocket in his pants. He had a feeling already that it was Bart, and one quick glance at the phone confirmed as much. And when he answered it, he found himself blurting out the first thing on his mind.
“¡Dios mío! Bart! What were you thinking?! Ten thousand dollars is a lot of money ese!!!”
“Calm down Blue, I’m technically only paying nine thousand...”
“What?! What do you mean?”
“Your mom gave me a thousand.”
Jaime’s eyes made a record for being wider than they had been all night.
“¿QUÉ?”
“She wanted me to win,” Bart replied smugly.
“I- I can’t believe this…”
“Well you’d better believe it, because it’s happening. Also, it was for charity Blue! That’s what we do, we help people.”
“Sí,” he supposed Bart had a point, which did make him feel a little bit better about such excessive spending. “I guess you’re right. But I still can’t believe you spent that much money just to have dinner with me.”
“You didn’t seriously think I’d let some floozy try to steal you away from me did you?”
Jaime laughed at that. Long and hard. And he already knew that Bart was smiling on the other end of the line. He wished that he was there with Bart in person so that he could actually see the speedster’s gorgeous smile.
“Where did you run off to? I want to see you.”
“Rumor has it your perfect date would be under the stars in the El Paso desert… So if your beetle would be so kind as to fly you over here, then I’ll make your dream come true. Oh and, take your time. It’ll give me a chance to get everything ready.”
“ Bart ,” his voice dipped into a level of tenderness he didn’t even know he had. “You didn’t have to-”
“I know.” Bart supplied softly but surely. “I wanted to.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can, Bart.”
“I’ll be waiting, Blue.”
Bart chuckled softly before ending the phone call.
Jaime almost armored up then and there in front of all those people, effectively blowing his cover. But he didn’t. He immediately turned to his sidekick, who was his best hope of getting to the desert as efficiently as possible.
“Scarab, I have a mission for you. Can you get me to Bart as quickly as possible?”
[“Mission accepted, Jaime Reyes. Scanning the building. The quickest way out is through a backdoor in the waiting room we were in earlier, but we will need to pick the lock.”]
Jaime turned and ran through that same door with renewed energy. It was a very simple room on the other side with minimal furnishings, other than a few couches. Thankfully the fewer obstructions made it easier to spot the door through which he’d be escaping through. Once he had run over to it, he armored up down to his hand and allowed the beetle to pick the lock.
Once picked, he slipped outside and armored up fully, taking off towards the nearest Zeta tube in Gotham. The night was already rolling in thick over the crimson sky. But El Paso would be darker, and he was just hoping that some of the stars were already out. Not only for his sake, but for Bart’s. He had imagined it would be more romantic that way during his moment on stage. And all the other times he had imagined it.
It didn’t take long before he reached the heart of Gotham, and he couldn’t have teleported out of there quick enough.
---
The skies of El Paso were a midnight blue and the stars were coming out to play. It might have been Jaime’s imagination but they seemed even brighter than usual. Everything was coming together perfectly, and he had no doubt that Bart would have set up something really romantic for him. Somewhere... Thank goodness the Scarab would be able to help with finding him.
Further on the horizon, Jaime suddenly spotted something glowing.
When he got closer, his jaw fell open a little bit.
“Woah…”
There was a huge heart outline made in the form of hundreds if not thousands of candles. In the middle of the heart, he could see an outdoor table with chairs, a few more candles, as well as his dashing speedster waving to him.
As soon as Jaime’s feet had hit the ground, he armored down and was nearly bowled over by Bart hugging him. The pair shared a joyful laugh before the speedster pulled back getting down to business.
“I know that technically because I paid for this date, you’re supposed to sweep me off of my feet. But I’ve never been one to play between the lines,” he grinned.
“I don’t know if I can live up to the expectations of a ten thousand dollar dinner date ese,” he rubbed at his neck nervously and chuckled.
“You’re worth every cent Blue. And more.”
Jaime rolled his eyes playfully at the cheesy line.
“Are you seriously saying that you would have spent more than that?”
“Doi!”
“Okay, when would you have stopped?”
“I wouldn’t have.”
[“Voice analysis indicates that the Bart Allen is telling the truth.”]
And then suddenly it hit him.
The whole thing had been a desperate attempt for Bart to try and keep Jaime to himself. He now believed that there weren’t any lengths that the speedster wouldn’t go to in order to protect him and their friendship. A few steps closer to Bart’s soul-bearing eyes confirmed another suspicion that had now come to mind.
Bart was scared.
His smile was all hope, but his eyes were all fear. And Jaime understood why. Jaime had made that mistake once before, choosing head over heart. A cover to hide something he wasn’t ready to face. It hadn’t meant anything, but the damage had already been done. He still felt guilty about it a lot. He felt guilty for so many things he had done to Bart; present, past and future.
But Jaime had always known deep down that his heart had always belonged to the boy who had come back to the past in a time machine. And if that was what Bart also wanted, then he’d gladly give it to him. But he’d need to ask first otherwise he’d never know. So he did.
“Bart…”
“Yeah Blue?” He smiled, completely unaware of what was coming his way.
“I can’t help but wonder whether you wanted this to be a real date?”
The speedster laughed distractedly before shrinking in on himself.
“Can you blame me if I did? You’re quite the catch, Blue.”
Jaime sighed, because Bart was still deflecting his questions with humour.
“That’s not an answer Bart.” He watched as Bart tensed, sensing his frustration. Yes he wanted Bart to be happy but he also needed to get to the truth first. So he pressed on seriously, adding a little joke at the end to soften things. “Y’know you could have just asked me? On a date… Instead of spending ten thousand dollars.”
Bart shifted on the spot before making himself vulnerable enough to ask Jaime the most important question of them all..
“Would you have said yes?”
“¡Sí! Yes, Bart. I would have said yes,” he said passionately with a little laugh at the end.
“Really?” Bart stood a little taller looking like he had won the lottery, before an immediate confusion had settled in. “Why?”
“So many reasons Bart!” He laughed in disbelief. “You’re so kind, caring and warm. Funny, handsome, intelligent. But most of all- because I- Te amo, Bart.”
The only sound that was carried through the desert for the next few moments was just the wind. Jaime couldn’t take the silence anymore and tried to prompt Bart out of staring at him in awe.
“Bart? How- How do you feel about me?”
Jaime got his answer in the form of love pressed against him in the shape of a speedster. His lips were no longer lonely, and he kissed back to say hello. They spoke with gentle movements, tilting their heads in adjacent rhythms meeting each other again and again.
Both of their minds were blown.
Bart pulled away panting, resting his forehead against Jaime’s because he needed the strength.
“I love you too Jaime.”
“Good.”
“I’ll give you another ten thousand dollars if you kiss me like that again?”
Jaime laughed through a pant of his own.
“ Amor , I will kiss you whenever you want, wherever you want.”
“In that case, can I get a rain check on our dinner babe? There’s somewhere else I wanna be kissed.”
“Si. Y yo también.”
Their mouths crashed together again in an impatient mess and they tumbled down into the sand, laughing in one another’s faces sweetly. The stars above twinkled, chuckling along with them. And now it was crystal clear to both men that they’d never have to wonder how the other felt about them ever again. It was true love both ways.