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1. The time Jaime and Paco fought Assassins from Juarez.
"This is idiotic." La Dama sneered as she watched on the closed circuit camera. "Remind me again why I'm not having my security forces deal with this?"
Brenda sighed. "Because your security forces usually kill people, and you promised you'd stop that when I'm watching. Because you love me."
"Ah, yes. That." La Dama smirked at her niece. "Well, these people Blue Beetle says are looking for me are trained assassins. I still think we could do better for a security force than a teenager and his alien bug."
"Um, two teenagers and one alien bug." Brenda said sheepishly.
"Oh, no. Don't tell me that - "
"Yes. Paco insisted on coming. To back up Jaime. He brought his stick."
"...I knew I should have updated my liability insurance before this."
---
"Dude, this is just like the horror movies. I feel like there's going to be a masked serial killer with a deadly weapon jumping out at us any minute."
"You're wearing a ski mask and holding a stick, Paco. I'm pretty sure anyone would think you're the horror movie villain right now, Paco." Jaime said as he used the Scarab's heat sensors to check for intruders onto La Dama's territory.
"Huh. You're right." Paco paused. "AWESOME. See anything yet?"
"No yet, just let me..." Jaime was suddenly interrupted by a loud buzzing in his head, courtesy of Khaji Da's alert system. "200 feet away. Three men. You go this way, I'll go that way, and we'll meet up. Good luck."
---
"And you totally sent Paco in the wrong direction, didn't you?" Brenda grinned as she and Jaime talked through the camera linkup.
"Yeah. Sent him to the perimeter, then ambushed the guys and tied them up. I love the guy, but I don't want to see his stick up against their guns."
"Awesome. Now go find him before he ambushes the wrong people with his stick-o-justice!"
"On it!" Jaime laughed as Brenda switched off the camera uplink. They had successfully kept La Dama from getting any more blood on her hands, and Jaime had managed to keep everyone safe in the process. They could definitely chalk this one up as a win.
2. The Time Brenda Helped Khaji Da With His Love Life.
"I can't believe I'm doing this.""Just roll with it, Jaime. I mean, the Scarab deserves to be happy too, right?"
"Yeah, but I've got a limit. I mean, Khaji Da is part of my body. Exactly how will this work?"
"Shh. You're just here to act as an interpreter, remember? Girl talk time."
"Is Khaji Da even a - You know what? I don't want to know." Jaime sighed and listened for the Scarab to communicate with him.
"Okay, Khaji Da. Tell me about them. How did you two meet?"
Jaime waited for the Scarab's reply and relayed it. "We met on a 'superhero team-up' as you call it. He was working with his partner, and I was assisting Jaime. We were able to communicate while the humans were dispatching the aliens, and I sensed a kindred spirit."
Brenda grinned, the trademark grin of an excited matchmaker. "Okay, so now what?"
Jaime relayed Khaji Da's response. "Well, I am not familiar with this planet's courtship rituals. I would like to know how you approach this type of situation."
"Huh. Okay. Every situation is different, but I would just say talk to them, find out what interests you share, and ask them if they want to do something involving them. Don't put too much pressure on them, or you look kind of crazy."
This went on for several more exchanges, until Khaji Da was satisfied and went silent to process the information he had been given. Jaime shook his head at what had to be one of the top ten strangest experiences of his life.
"I think it was cute."
"That's easy for you to say. He's not bonded to your spine." Jaime groaned. "This is going to be ridiculously awkward."
"Okay, but at least you have to admit that Khaji Da and Skeets will make a really cool couple!"
"...No comment."
3. The Time Brenda Thought She Was On Her Own.
God, how had she been so stupid? Brenda silently cursed herself as she lay in the muddy pit at the side of the hiking trail. Sure, Jaime and Paco had been infuriating that day, but she shouldn't have blown up like that at them. They were just being...well, Jaime and Paco. And she shouldn't have decided to go hiking on an unmarked trail to cool off, and she definitely shouldn't have forgotten her cell phone at home...
From there, all it had taken was a slight stumble on the trail, and she had found herself lying on the ground with an ankle that screamed with pain every time she put any weight on it, at least two miles from the nearest civilization. The sun was quickly disappearing over the horizon, and she knew it would be dark soon. She could swear she heard coyotes in the distance, but she told herself that it was just her imagination. She was well and truly alone out here.
"Paco! I found her!"
Brenda looked up to see the searchlights from Jaime's armor scanning the area as he and Paco broke through the brush. "Jaime? Paco? What are you - "
"Your aunt called us when you were late coming back. We figured something had to be wrong, so we decided to search for you." Paco grinned, poking Jaime. "Told ya she'd be around here."
"Yeah, good going, Paco." Jaime knelt down beside Brenda. "Are you okay? You fell?"
"Yeah." Brenda gritted her teeth as the relief at being found allowed her to focus more on the sharp pain in her ankle. "I think I broke something."
Jaime gently took Brenda's foot in his hands and had Khaji Da focus in on it, doing a quick scan. The scarab beeped hastily, and Jaime nodded. "Yeah, you definitely broke your foot. We should get you to a hospital."
Brenda nodded as Jaime helped her up off the ground, letting her lean heavily on him and Paco. After a long walk out of the woods followed by a short fly to the nearest hospital, Brenda was lying in her bed at home, her ankle set in a cast. She was in pain, exhausted, and annoyed at the fact that most of her plans for the next month were ruined. But somehow, the sight of the goofy, vaguely annoying sketches Jaime and Paco had left on her cast made it hurt a little bit less.
4. The Time Milagro Wanted to be a Superhero.
The Reyes household was usually pretty calm and peaceful around the holidays. The family got along, and even if they had their arguments, Bianca would not have any fighting around Christmas. But when Milagro announced to the family that she wanted to celebrate her 15th birthday by becoming a superhero - and had even produced her homemade costume to show everyone - it had kicked off one of the biggest rows the Reyes family had ever seen. Sure, it was everyone against Milagro, but she was a teenager and had the stubbornness of the entire family combined, so it was a much closer match than it looked. The family had never been so glad to have backup home for the holidays.
"You struck out too?" Jaime asked.
"Dude, you have no idea!" Paco shook his head. "She ran circles around me. By the end, I kind of wanted to be her sidekick."
"Okay, it's pretty clear that you two aren't going to be able to handle it. Time to let me try." Brenda laughed and pushed by them to enter Milagro's room. She had always gotten along with Jaime's sister, and she had two years of persuasive speaking from the debate team at Texas A&M under her belt now.
Milagro was sitting on her bed, arms crossed and obviously annoyed. The makeshift Blue Beetle costume she had sewn together was lying next to her.
"Looks pretty good. I didn't know you could sew."
"I learned online. It wasn't too hard." Milagro smirked. "So I guess you're next in the parade? Fair warning - I'm pretty set on this."
"I gathered. I knew it was easy to break Paco, but man, that was quick."
"Well, he is a boy. And so is Jaime. They're pretty cool for boys, but you can still trick them easily enough."
"Well, yeah. I've been doing it for over ten years." Brenda sat down on the bed next to Milagro. "So...why do you want to be the next Blue Beetle so much?"
Milagro shrugged. "I don't know. I mean...I trained for it. All my friends - Iris, Lian, Damian - they've been getting together to be the new Teen Titans, and I kind of want to join them."
"That makes sense. But are you sure this is how you want to do it? I mean, I don't really remember you wanting to be Blue Beetle when you were younger."
"Well, not really, but it is a family legacy. It makes sense." Milagro paused a second, then grinned. "I always wanted to be a Green Lantern. Just like..."
"Guy Gardner!" Brenda laughed. "Your brother's BFF. Do you still want that?"
"Of course!" Milagro pouted a little. "Stupid age requirement. I've got more than enough will to go around."
"Yeah, I think your family saw that today." Brenda laughed. "I don't know. If I was you, if I was going to do the hero thing - and trust me, I'm not crazy enough to think I could stop you - I'd want to do it right. Even if it took a little longer."
"Well..." Milagro stopped and played with her hair for a second. "Do you really think I've actually got a real shot at a GL ring one day? I mean, they're pretty rare."
"Jaime says it's been over a decade since anyone from this sector got one, so they're probably due, right? And like they'd be crazy enough to pass you up. You'd hunt them all down."
"Damn right." Milagro grinned. "I guess I'll tell my friends that I'll join when I've got my powers. And I can still hang out at the Tower."
"Naturally." Brenda said as she ruffled Milagro's hair, and got up to leave the room.
"You actually pulled it off?" Paco gaped as Brenda related her success.
"Seriously, wow." Jaime shook his head. "I thought that was a lost cause."
"It's like I said..." Brenda grinned. "Some things need a woman's touch."