Chapter Text
Mt. Justice was unusually quiet. Most of the team had cleared out after the mission, leaving the place still except for the soft hum of the zeta tubes in the hall.
Jaime sat in the common room, retracting the last bits of armor. The scarab folded neatly back into his spine with a low mechanical sound, and he finally let himself breathe. A rare moment of peace.
Then a burst of air brushed his face.
“Done!”
Bart was suddenly there, legs over the back of the couch, upside down, hair pointed to the floor and a grin on his face. He held two smoothies upright.
“Two protein berry blasts,”
Bart announced, holding one out.
“You looked like you could use it. For, you know, whatever that was back there.”
Jaime blinked.
“My what?”
“That thing you did with the suit,”
Bart said, waving a hand.
“You were all pew pew, laser bug mode. Pretty cool, but kinda terrifying.”
Jaime took the cup, still catching up.
“Thanks… I think.”
Bart laughed, stretching until he was almost sliding off the couch.
“Don’t mention it. You earned it. Saving my butt and all.”
“You ran straight into a wall of gun wielding criminals.”
“Strategic distraction,”
Bart said, grinning wider.
“You’re welcome.”
Jaime rolled his eyes, hiding a smile behind the straw. He didn’t notice the scarab hum faintly against his back.
Observation: Heart rate elevated. Cause: Impulse proximity.
Jaime froze for half a second.
“Not now,”
he muttered under his breath.
Bart glanced over.
“What?”
“Nothing,”
Jaime said quickly.
“Talking to the scarab.”
“Oh, cool. It talk back?”
Jaime hesitated.
“Sometimes. Mostly just… comments.”
Bart grinned.
“So, like, you’ve got your own built-in peanut gallery.”
“Yeah. Something like that.”
The scarab clicked again in his mind.
Observation: Impulse is smiling. Target appears pleased.
Jaime pressed his lips together.
“Seriously, stop.”
Bart tilted his head.
“Stop what?”
“Nothing.”
Bart’s grin widened.
“You sure? You’re making that face again.”
Jaime sighed.
“I don’t have a face.”
“Oh, you totally do,”
Bart said, sitting up.
“It’s the same one you make right before you say you don’t like something but secretly do.”
“I don’t-”
“Yup, that one.”
Jaime glared at him, but Bart just laughed, light and bright, the sound echoing off the metal walls. Jaime tried to act annoyed, but the corners of his mouth betrayed him.
The scarab hummed again, quiet and knowing.
Observation: Target smiling.
Jaime groaned.
“Shut up.”
Bart raised an eyebrow.
“You talking to me or the bug?”
“Yes.”
Bart stretched his legs out across the table, sipping his smoothie like he hadn’t just spent the entire mission bouncing off walls.
“Y’know, you should hang out here more. You’re always either training or doing homework or whatever.”
Jaime scoffed.
“You say that like those are bad things.”
“They are when the rest of us are trying to have fun, c’mon, man. You gotta learn to chill.”
“I chill.”
“You so don’t.”
“I’m literally chilling right now.”
Bart leaned in with a grin.
“You’re arguing. That’s not chilling. That’s, like, anti-chilling.”
Jaime sighed and sank deeper into the couch, trying not to smile. “You’re making me out like I never relax. You can’t talk. This is the longest I’ve seen you sit still. You’re not that chill.”
“And yet you keep hanging out with me,”
Bart said, proud of himself.
The scarab’s low hum crawled up Jaime’s spine.
Observation: Impulse’s presence induces positive emotional response.
Jaime stiffened.
“No it doesn’t,”
he whispered.
Bart blinked.
“What doesn’t?”
“Nothing.”
Bart smirked.
“You sure talk to that thing a lot.”
“It’s… persistent,”
Jaime said.
“Persistent sounds like a polite way of saying annoying.”
Jaime gave a small laugh despite himself.
“You have no idea.”
Statement: Host’s physiological signals suggest attraction.
Jaime choked on his smoothie.
Bart sat up fast.
“Whoa dude, are you good?”
“Fine,”
Jaime coughed, waving a hand.
“Went down the wrong pipe.”
Bart eyed him suspiciously.
“You sure? You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“Just don’t worry about it.”
Bart shrugged, leaning back again.
“Okay, okay. But seriously, if that scarab’s telling you something weird, maybe I should get a translator or something.”
Jaime let out a weak laugh.
“You couldn’t pay me enough to translate what it says.”
“Now I’m even more curious,”.
Scarab hums louder.
Jaime’s jaw tightened.
“Stop.”
Bart grinned.
“Hey, if it’s talking about me, you can just tell me. I won’t be offended.”
Jaime felt heat crawl up the back of his neck.
“It’s not, just drop it.”
Bart lifted his hands in mock surrender but didn’t stop smiling.
“Alright, alright. Secret bug business. Got it.”
He slouched lower in his seat, sipping the rest of his smoothie with a loud, lazy slurp. Jaime watched him for a second before looking away, pretending to scroll through his phone.
Observation: Host’s attention repeatedly returns to Impulse. Emotional irregularities persist.
Jaime pressed a palm to his face.
“You have the worst timing,”
he muttered.
Bart, still watching him from the corner of his eye, smiled faintly.
“You sure you’re okay, Blue?”
Jaime forced a small, steady breath and nodded.
“Yeah. Just tired.”
Bart didn’t push. He gave a small nod, then stood, stretching with a yawn.
“Alright. Get some rest, man. Try not to let your space bug keep you up all night.”
Jaime managed a laugh.
“No promises.”
Bart grinned, zipping off down the hall in a blur of red and yellow.
The room fell quiet again. Jaime sank back into the couch, pressing the heel of his hand against his eyes.
Scarab clicked once, almost inquisitive.
“Yeah, yeah,”
he muttered softly.
“I know.”