Archive of Our Own ^beta

He had walked this way before.

He didn't remember why or when. It was more the matter of Déjà vu, bare feet traveling over soft, moist ground towards a place he didn’t know but had to go to. The sun filtered through the leaves above him, blinding him without warmth. The world around him was a strong shifting of all shades of green. It was a safe place, he realized. This. Here. Right now it was safe. Where he was heading wasn't. The wind came chilly against his bare arms. His steps resided until Jaime finally pulled to a stop, looking into the empty, moving blackness before him. The light was still shining down on him from above, obscuring the darkness grabbing at him with tendrils like smoke.

The road ended in the darkness. He could see the darkness shift and twist, repelled by the safe area around him. He could go further; he knew, could or even should step outside the locked boundaries. But he didn't want to go further. It left an uncomfortable feeling in his stomach, his insides stirring and rolling. So he turned back around. Back into the light.

…. …. ….

Light hit his eyes and Jaime groaned, turning around in his bed as if the soft duvet could protect him from the sun drifting through the blinds. His phone was vibrating angrily on the bedside table. The inconsistent ringing was easy enough to ignore with a bit of practice. Like oh, constantly having someone argue with him from the back of his head. Luckily his companion was silent this morning.

Rolling over to his back, Jaime let a small whine out of his mouth at the sudden ache coming from his midsection. He didn't have to look to know there was most likely a leftover bruise from yesterday's mission. It was normal. His body always hurt in the strangest of places ever since he became the second superhero known as the Blue Beetle. Even the armour couldn't protect him from muscle-ache or an especially hard hit. It could shield him from much, but not everything. And the fact remained that the scarab itself was probably the most dangerous thing Jaime would ever encounter. And with his record of villains during his small career, that was a feat in itself.

Jaime stared up into the ceiling, tiredness finally gone from his eyes. Why was that? Normally, when he was actually able to stay at home for a while, he refrained from thinking about his other life. It was too weird, too out of place.

A knock on the door, followed by his mother's voice as she walked past his room calling "You'll be late!" shook him from the thought. Jaime squeezed his eyes shut, removing the last bit of sleep before moving himself up. 

His phone had gone silent. Snoozed, most likely.

He dressed quickly, throwing his books into the bag beside his bed before running down the stairs. He wasn't late. Even so he only grabbed a sandwich from the table, telling his parents goodbye, ruffling his little-sister’s hair, before he was out the door. His school lay halfway across El Paso, and using the armour it didn't take long for him to cross that distance. For today though, Jaime grabbed his skateboard and rolled down the road the old way. The way he used to do. The way he and Tye used to do.

He didn't want to think about it, zigzagging between pedestrians on the street, but he didn't know how to act when he finally met Tye again. Officially met Tye again. Not run past him as they fought or made sure the youths were set free where they belonged. Nightwing had promised that the kidnapped youths would all be returned to their homes, and that was where Jaime saw as the problem.

They kidnapped kids had mostly been runaways, some definite and some only wanting to get away for a little while. Tye was of the earlier sort. Jaime felt bad enough that he couldn't have been there when Tye returned to his mother.

If he did return that is.

Jaime had had a hard time himself, censoring and explaining his disappearing for over a week. It sure helped that his family knew about his activities outside of his civilian life, but that didn’t mean he wanted to tell them everything. The worry he had put them through by his kidnapping had earned him an earful about being more careful and remember that he wasn’t the only one getting hurt every time he acquired a wound.

(There was his little sister Milagro to think about. To not give any ideas.)

And Jaime's parents were forgiving and loving by default. Tye only had his mother and... Maurice. To say the least this happening would not make Tye step down from his mother's boyfriend's harassment. Jaime sighed heavily. In truth he hoped that Tye had gone and lived with his grandfather, but that was a far-off dream.

With a jump he flew down the stairs to the entrance of his school, landing on his board and twisting to a stop.

For once he was in surprisingly good time. Taking his board underneath his arm and freeing his head from his helmet, he followed the steady stream of youths through the entrance. The halls were filled, in difference to the usual emptiness as he made his way to his locker. A familiar face stood out in the crowd.

The knot in his stomach loosened the slightest bit as he saw the person leaning against the locker next to his.

"Tye." Jaime couldn't keep the relief from his voice. Blue Beetle had known that Tye was safe, well safer, but Jaime Reyes had no idea what had happened. And so he had to act that way. Tye looked up with his face twisted into a frown, which at the sight of his friend turned into a genuine smile.

"Hi." Was Tye's first greeting as he pushed himself off the doors, earning himself a punch to his arm.

"You know how worried I was for you?" Jaime replied, all in earnest, stuffing his things into the locked and slamming the door shut. They mingled back into the rush of students finding their way to the correct classroom.

"I heard." Tye answered. "Mom told me you ran around making all kinds of trouble." Tye shrugged and directed his eyes far in front of him, expression bashful. "Sorry, just needed to get away for a while, okay?"

Jaime had experience from keeping secrets hidden from those closest to him, something he was doing this very moment. By now he should have filled up his quota as the concerned unknowing friend and let the subject drop. "Sure, next time though, don't just call and disappear for days." Tye gave a grin towards him.

"Don't worry about that, mom took my phone. So I wouldn't call." Despite himself, Jaime laughed.

They filed into the classroom with the rest of the students, taking their place to the far left by the windows. Somewhere in the distance a siren was shouting. Jaime shifted on his table so that he could look out the window, blue sky hinting nothing of the slight discomfort in his stomach. Somewhere something had happened. Maybe an accident, maybe something purposefully. Someone was paying for it anyway, and Jaime hadn't been there to stop it.

Granted, it might have been something he had no way of stopping, just as it might have been something that would have taken him two minutes to clear up. But no. He was stuck in biology. Not today though. It was enough to have the scarab talk about his biological levels at every change or ever emotion. He didn't need to go over this with someone who despite all knew less than the parasitic bug in his back.

It wasn't like they were learning something new. Hadn't they already gone through this two weeks ago? In the background he could hear the teacher drone on and on about the wonders of the human body, about the brain's ability to pick things up faster than it can actually understand itself.

Jaime felt like laughing. It was bizarre. The scarab was currently quiet during the class, a small wonder, but he knew how it would have rambled on and on about the faults of the human race. All the flaws and mistakes.

He sure wouldn't like to see a debate about organisms between the beetle and Mr Tolbert. It would either be a small disaster with them disagreeing about everything and a huge disaster if they ever got along.  But for now the scarab was quiet, observing without intervening.

School was over soon enough, the day far from done. The team didn’t have a scheduled meeting later, seeing as yesterday’s mission went fine and accordingly left them in the hope of a day to gather power after a harsh month. Not only had he been kidnapped, but the information on Reach had made his “afterschool-work” an almost 24/7 thing. A day off was as much as they deserved once in a while, even as superheroes.

A day Jaime had hoped he would be able to spend with Tye. They hadn't had much time catching up after the whole Hero-gig started. "I was thinking we could go to the park. Skate a bit?" Jaime asked when they got out, taking note that Tye too had his board with him. The old, red one he had had for ages.

"I have to swing by home first." Tye admitted and Jaime hid his surprise from becoming obvious on his face. So it was fine? He was just going to swing by home just like that? No deliberate avoiding or denial?

"Then let's go." Jaime smiled, before picking his phone up from the back of his pants. "Just letting dad know where we're going." But before he even begun writing, the phone buzzed. The message was a simple text, coming from a hidden and untraceable number he still recognized within a moment’s notice.

[HoJ. 20 - NW]

Hall of Justice, briefing in twenty minutes. Nightwing.

Jaime resisted groaning; of course a normal day was off limit. Before Tye could see what was bothering him so much about the coded message Jaime closed his phone. He slipped it back into his pocket with an apologetic smile towards his friend.

"Something came up?" Tye asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, sorry. Forgot I'm grounded." Jaime replied with an uncertain smile, something Tye responded to with a laugh.

"You? Grounded? No way."

"Yes way. And maybe because I was out late looking for oh I don't know, a friend deciding to go on an unplanned road-trip." This time it was Jaime on the end of the friendly punch.

"Dude, I said I was sorry." Tye said as he fixed the strap of his helmet absentmindedly. "You have to keep fighting."

Jaime blinked, unsure for a moment of what his friend had just said. To make sure he asked. "What did you mean by that?"

"With what?" Tye put down his board and kicked himself rolling, Jaime following suit right after. "Just go before your parents decide to come after you, and fight for your freedom." Tye punched his fisted hand in the air with a smirk.

They said goodbye at the end of the road, Jaime watching long enough to see that Tye went the right way home and was of sight, before he armoured up and took off. He could easily fly all the way to the Hall of Justice, of course, and live with being a little bit late.

Or he could fly the opposite way and use the newly installed Zeta-beam.

They had yet to find another place for the young heroes to use as a base. The older ones, the Justice League, had the Watchtower, but they weren’t allowed there unless under strict emergency. Jaime himself had never been up there. Once the scarab had suggested that they should take the scenic route and fly up, a suggestion Jaime quickly made sure to strongly oppose. First thing was that they weren’t supposed to be there. Second thing, before Bart told him everything, was that he had thought that the bug was overestimating their power and they would perish if they ever tried. Sure Ted Kord had been a genius, but Jaime would rather not trust someone he hadn’t met that much. No matter how much the other heroes praised him.

Now, he was pretty sure they would make it if they tried. The scarab was alien after all, and it would be weird for it to stop functioning while out in space, where it belonged. On the other hand it made the first reason even more clear.

Coming uninvited to the flying fortress of the League in Reach-armour? Not a good idea.

Another bad idea would be to fly to the main entrance of the Hall of Justice, which is why Jaime powered down right in the desert not far out from El Paso. The space around was empty, not a single human soul for miles, and hopefully nothing else sentiment enough to spy on it. And nothing came, the desert resting under the sun. Not like he had expected anything else, but it always mattered to check beforehand, before he stood on the designed platform.

A moment later laser shone over him and scanned, the motoric female voice confirming him a moment later, and El Paso disappeared behind him in a flash.

[---ized: Blue Beetle B-22] He heard the end of the announcement as he stepped into Hall of Justice.

The first one he saw was Wondergirl, lying upside down on one of the fauteuils, hair almost reaching the floor. When he came through the zeta-tube fully, the white light fading, she waved lazily at him. Shattered in the room were maybe not all, but a part of the team. Gar and Robin was stationed before the large screens, the youngest bat tapping away with what looked like some kind of code Jaime couldn’t make any sense of. Robin’s work made a strange black and green light shift over the room.

In a corner of the room Superboy and La'gaan were... talking. Civilly, secretly and quietly to the side. Not a normal happenstance but also not an unwelcome change. Taking another look he realized that Miss Martian was nowhere to be seen, and it didn’t take long to connect the dots. There was too much tension for such a small team.

Not far from them, Mal, Bumblebee and Batgirl, all in civilian clothes, gathered around a table. Studying some kind of map, they argued softly with each other as they pointed out places on the paper filled with blue. He couldn't hear exactly what they were discussing, but 'aliens' seemed to be a reoccurring theme of late. This was for obvious reasons. 

As it was, Jaime couldn’t help but notice a distinct lack of Bart.

Pushing away the thought of scanning the surroundings for the speedster, (god, was he becoming like the scarab?) Jaime flew over to Cassie, who was still staring at him upside down. "You're going to break your back if you stay like that." Jaime reprimanded her as he landed. She reached down with her hands, pushing away and moving up into a handstand. Flipping over into standing position she spun so that she was facing him.

"You're late." She disregarded his statement completely, voice cheerfully bright, without any hint that she was tired or hurt from the latest mission. Hadn’t she’d been hit kind of hard? Sometimes he was jealous of the metas in the group, and their recovery speed.

"No I'm..." In the left corner of his eye, the armour showed him a clock blinking 16.46 with steady interval. Thirteen minutes after the designed time. "Whoa, sorry." 

He hadn't noticed how long it had taken for him to get there. Normally the scarab warned him, with spite and maybe even a little bit of glee, if he was running late and that he wouldn’t make it if not he didn't speed up. Today the bug hadn't bothered him in the least. No waking up before dawn, no complains about the rushed breakfast. No buzz about the ineffectively of not using the armour at his disposal. He wasn't really worried. The scarab could be stubborn when he wanted to, and Jaime was pretty certain that the last time he had talked it had been sometime yesterday. It was a bit fuzzy. 

"You lost track of time?" Wondergirl brought him back with a laugh as she fell back into the chair. She turned her hand up and down as if to swat away the worry reflected in his face. ”Don't fret, Boss himself isn't even here yet. Armour down and take a seat." She motioned out to the empty chairs around her. 

"Right." With little complaint the armour crept away as he sat down next to her. After a moment of silence, another look around the room (Robin's codes appeared to have failed, as Gar looked crestfallen and the third boy wonder was still going at it with a graver expression than before), he leaned over to her. "Do you have any idea what's going on?" He made a small motion with his head towards Superboy and Lagoon-boy. 

To reply Cassie simply pushed away hair from her ear, and tapped the outer shell slightly. 'Super-hearing' she mimed when he didn't understand and Jaime sunk back into the fauteuil, glancing over to see if anyone had heard the exchange. With first glance he didn't notice anything, maybe it would have been easier if he used the armour. But that was probably going overboard.

A minute passed, before Nightwing stepped through the doors. "Hands off the computer." was his first words and Robin sighed, moving away from the codes and putting his hands behind his back. The team automatically gathered in the middle of the room, greeted by Nightwing's smile.

"Good work on the last mission Team." He addressed them. "Sorry to have called you in on such a short notice, but we got some major intel on the enemies."

It seemed that he would just continue talking, seemingly ignorant of the missing teammate. (Even if Nightwing was a bat, and probably knew most about everyone’s' current position).  Still Jaime couldn't help but to raise his hand to ask. "Question, have anyone seen Impulse?"

Just as the words exited his mouth the doors busted open and a flash of white and red almost ran into him. Sliding on the floor Bart brought up his goggles and exhaled as he calmed down. A moment later his smile was on.

"SorryI'mlate. Joanforced me to eatbefore I went here." He apologized, words scrambled and hard to pick up. "Tardiness is genetic in the Allen-genes. Have to live up to the expectations you know."

"Glad you could join us." Nightwing accepted it without a fuzz, smile hinting that it was expected, and continued straight from where he stopped. "Our sources have noticed a significant increase of meta-crimes down in southern US." Pulling his hand up in the air, a holographic screen appeared from thin air. Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Florida were all marked. Red lights were pulsating near cities in every state and with a twist from his stomach, Jaime noticed the one very close to El Paso. "The correct solution would be to interfere directly but..." Nightwing trailed off expectantly.

“…with the recent events we can’t afford to take any risks.” Batgirl continued where he had dropped off. "It might be a distraction for something else. So we cannot allow more than enough firepower. We have to be careful not to fall for anymore traps, and therefore you are not to investigate until we gather more data."

"Blue Beetle." Nightwing singled him out, but not without reason. It was expected, Jaime mused, looking at the red light surrounding his hometown. "Have you noticed anything unusual while on patrol?"

Jaime hesitated. He hadn't noticed anything obviously connected to The Reach. They hadn't come for him again after the kidnapping, and neither had there been a noticeable increase in villains. But if you were thinking crime as a whole...

"...there's this rumour going around about La Dama, a legendary crime-boss in my area. But she usually doesn't involve herself with capes or well, any outsiders." He explained as good as he could. This was more the matter of Jaime Reyes than Blue Beetle, and Jaime Reyes didn't know that much anyway. "I have yet to encounter her."

"Keep on looking." Nightwing nodded before announcing to the whole group. "I need you to be on alert at all times. If you get an emergency call you are to drop everything and report to closest authority, which is Batgirl, Superboy, Mal or I."

"Don't interfere, no matter how tempting it is." Batgirl supplied, with a knowing smirk applied to her face. "Always get a permit from us."

Bumblebee crossed her arms from where she stood, mouth turning into a displeased form. "What if there's an emergency?" she argued, "Are we still to stand back?"

"In the best of worlds, yes." Nightwing sighed, before a corner of his mouth quirked upwards. "But as always, if there are civilian lives on stake, and you for some reason can't get to us, try to at least improvise safely."

The Team replied with various forms of understanding, words ranging from 'Yessire" to "Sure thing Boss". They took Nightwing's request of talking with Mal, Superboy and Batgirl in private as a dismissal and shattered once again. Cassie and Bumblebee disappeared through the Zeta-tube, Jaime only snapping up something about a training-session before their conversation drowned in the metallic voice sending them away.

Jaime was just about to decide whether he should head home, do patrol or practice now when having a normal day was ruined, when Bart zipped in front of him. Quite a mischievous smile on his face.  

"You're being awfully quiet." Bart noted with laughter badly hidden in his voice. "No one-sided arguments? No looking sour for no one's fault?" A little bit of mock-surprise. "Come on dude, I bet you're cooperating with the betting pool saying you're not more insane than the normal quota around here."

"Ha. Ha." Jaime rolled his eyes, sarcasm dripping of his words. With the way Bart was still silent, something too unusual, Jaime figured out that dropping the subject was not on the list. And, he reminded himself, he knew why Bart was so concerned. Giving a small shrug towards his back and his voice sunk down to a whisper. "It's not me. I think the scarab is sulking for some reason."

The scarab had not spoken to him all day, not argued, not helped, not even "helped". No voice. Just silence. But the familiar buzz from his spine was still there, telling him that the bug was functioning and probably working on something that he didn't want a human opinion on. It should make him concerned but as of late the bug had been exceedingly helpful against The Reach. Sometimes if felt like the scarab had more animosity towards its former masters than Jaime himself.

"Any idea why?" Bart questioned, leaning back until he was staring at the spot hidden underneath Jaime's sweater where the bug hid. Jaime felt the pressure as Bart poked the scarab through the fabric, that strange not-feeling that he always had in full armour. It was not completely unpleasant. It was more of a constant reminder that there was something wrong about this whole situation. His whole life. He was different from before and would never be able to go back. Not before he was killed. And by then it was kind of too late.

"Think he's still angry about last mission. He turns real bitter every time I don’t listen to his warnings." Jaime shrugged it off with a laugh. "He'll come around soon enough. I'm just hoping he doesn't want a written apology." It was a bad attempt for a joke, and it fell flat out of his mouth.

Bart wasn't smiling.

"You have to fight." Bart looked at him with eyes filled with sadness and regret. It was so out of place that Jaime almost flinched. He didn't understand, only heard Bart's voice sighing like he had given up and didn't care what Jaime replied. As if he didn't care if Jaime replied at all.

"Hey." Jaime put a hand on Bart's shoulder, squeezing lightly. His voice was as soft as he could make it, not the least wavering. "We made it back safe, right?" Bart finally met his eyes, the pupil taking a moment to focus. In more hushed tones he continued. "It's alright. I won't become him."

Bart's face cracked into a smile, his persona back on track and Jaime felt relieved, even though he knew he shouldn't.

"Of course." He decided, and the bad mood was as good as blown away by win. The grin was back in full force as he gestured to the doors. "Race you to El Paso?"

His armour automatically embraced him with only a thought and Bart was out the door in a head-start before Jaime had even accepted the challenge. It was clear that he would anyway. 

"You're on."

…. …. ….

He had walked this way before.

The dream was the same as last times. Only now he knew it was a dream from the beginning. It was strange, walking barefoot on the ground he could really feel, as if it truly were there under him and not just a subject of his own mind. The leaves were still as green and the air fresh in his lungs. Jaime pulled in an extra-long breath, when he felt the slight taste of something else in his mouth. Metallic. He opened the eyes he hadn't even noticed closing. (Had they even been open? It was a dream after all).

Before him the road ended in darkness. Tendrils like smoke reaching for him and Jaime stumbled back, pressing a hand over his mouth and nose. It was quite clear where the foul taste came from, and the smell added together with his stomach clenching in a streak of pain. No. No. No. His mind was telling him to go away, get away. His body telling him to rest.

Forcing himself further back, Jaime battled his body for control, and finally won. Losing balance he fell down on the ground, moist seeping into his pants but still so much better than the darkness that had been licking at him limbs. It didn't hurt anymore and Jaime lay down on the grass.

Somewhere in the forest he heard laughter, laughter he recognized. Safe, his mind spoke. Squeezing his eyes shut he let the sound drown out everything.

…. …. ….

There was something heavy on his stomach.

That was his first impression upon waking up. First thought was that of an enemy, secondary came the realization that the scarab had yet to yell at him or already started the preoccupations to eliminate the threat. Which meant that he wasn't in any kind of danger.

Next to that he couldn't think much more, as the weight bounced once on his stomach. Air pressed out from his body with a huff, before small hands landed on his chest and a familiar, loud voice came from above.  

"Jaime! Sleepyhead!" Milagro seemed to be close to glee, bouncing again and screaming when Jaime turned, throwing his little sister down to the side. He turned over on his stomach to protect it from yet another attack, and just so, it took a moment before she was crawling atop of him again. She seemed to be determinant to be as bothersome as possible.

"Hermanita. Get off." Jaime grumbled into his pillow. No matter how much he loved his little sister, it was way too early for these kinds of games. But if she was going to be like this, he had to stoop just as low. "I'll tell mom."

"Mom said I could wake you if you hadn't woken up yet. So I did." She was so happy justifying her reason, knowing he couldn’t fight back. Milagro fell silent, before he felt her knock on the bug on his back.

For a moment he tensed, before pushing himself up with his arms, effectively making his little sister fall of him once more. While his family knew of his other life, and even were supporting of it, it was still weird to have it a part of his everyday life at home. Like a piece in puzzle not fitting in anyway so it just lay atop of it all awkwardly. He also didn't like Milagro's sudden interest in the hero-life. 

While Milagro was gathering herself, he threw the blanket over her. Leaving his sister struggling with it he picked up his phone, strangely laying on the floor.

"Oh no." Jaime murmured, watching the numbers 07.38 shine into his face. Mocking. He must have turned the phone off still half asleep and then gone back to dreamland. It must have been because of his race with Bart yesterday that had ended with them running (literally) into Gigantica and had been forced to take her down. Made him miss dinner too.

If he had been awoken later he wouldn’t have a chance getting to school on time. Now, with the help of the scarab’s power, it was possible. He freed Milagro from her soft prison he landed a kiss on her forehead. "Thank you for waking me." He said all in earnestly, before lifting her up and not unkindly dropping her outside his door, closing it before she could complain. Changing into the Beetle in front of her was still too bizarre.

"Tell mom I'll buy something in the cafeteria!" He asked of her, smiling when the silence that replied him meant that she was sticking out her tongue, even though he couldn’t see it. The window was already open and he leaned out. A quick scan proved the area clear for flight, and the wings caught wind the moment he started to fall.

Within moments he had ascended the sky and soared quickly over the residential parts of El Paso. The world was quiet around him, too high to hear the noise of the city waking up, and the scarab humming noiselessly. 

"Hey Scarab, why didn't you wake me?" Jaime asked, turning his head slightly to the left, as if doing that eased the conversation between him and the bug. Silence answered him. He frowned, moving up into higher altitude. The cold didn't bother him through the armour, what did bother him was the cold shoulder the bug seemed to give him. 

“Are you listening?” Jaime waited for anything that would mean that the bug was going to answer, but the alien kept quiet, continuing the silent humming from his back.

[…]

"Are you mad at me?" Jaime asked the humming, looking for a response.

[...]

"I don't know what it is if you don't tell me. Dumb human, remember?"

[...]

"Fine. So I'm actually talking to myself for once."

[...]

"Great. Better go tell Bart who won the betting. I'm officially insane!"

Jaime gave up trying to push an answer from the quiet bug. As long as the armour functioned correctly he guessed it was better to not have the scarab questioning his every move and grumble angrily every time it didn't get what it wanted.

But that didn’t mean that he wanted to be completely ignored. It unnerved him to not know what caused this change in the alien, for now he settled on spite. With the scarab nagging in his head, he would have noticed the commotion right away. There was a crash from somewhere, and Jaime immediately went to hovering. Scan showed something moving quickly in the alleys to the left of him, and with one last glance towards his school he switched directions.

A detention was a small price for the possibility of someone’s life being in danger.

Jaime touched the ground and the armour retracted back to his spine. He buried his hands in the pockets of his hoodie and looked around. For a minute the alley was quiet and empty, long enough for Jaime to believe he had seen wrong.

He was tempted to forget about the whole thing, write it off as a bird. But something made him stay, and something made him trudge forward. Cautiously he looked down a nook on the left side. A shadow moved and he was careful not to flinch or move too quickly. Slow but steady he walked closer, and pulled his hands out from his hood. Jaime raised them in a way he hoped looked disarming and not an invite to attack. If it hadn’t yet, there was still the possibility that the thing was only afraid.

“Who are you?” Jaime asked, and something answered him with a buzz impossible to translate into emotion. Inhaling and exhaling Jaime tried a smile. “Come on out. I won’t hurt you.”

Pain erupted in his left knee. The sudden shock made him fall down with a hiss, and with that barely avoided a power-beam meant to make a hole in his head. The armour was around him before his mind had caught up with what was happening.

The thing shot out beside him and away before he could get a good look at it. Within moments Jaime was chasing after it. The pain in his knee was gone and nothing seemed to be harmed. Phantom pain. “Hey Scarab, did you do that?” Jaime asked the bug, eyes constantly following the object far in front of him. “The thing with my leg?” As before he didn’t get an answer. “…just tell me from now on.”

Every time Jaime thought he might be catching up, the creature moved another level and made sharper and sharper turns. Once it forced Jaime into a brick wall, but after assuring no one was damaged he was sure to continue the chase.

The thing moved faster, until he had a hard time keeping up. There was many in the superhero/villain community that had the ability to outrun him, but with the way the speed continued to increase the number of suspects fell rapidly.

It slowly became clear that the being wasn’t trying to shake him off. Every time Jaime lost sight of it, something would invite him to go the correct way. A sound, a light, a movement. It was leading him somewhere through the streets of El Paso.

At one time he was forced to cross a block of houses, almost crashing into a woman hanging laundry in her garden. Jaime managed to steer out of her way, but not without her giving a shout of surprise as he passed. 

“Sorry!” Jaime called back to the woman, even though he didn’t know if she heard it at all.

His eyes narrowed when he realized he was being led into bad places, houses dwindled away and was replaced with empty buildings still waiting to be repaired and storages. Warehouses with broken windows. A number on the side on the orange material in front of his eyes told him that the speed was decreasing. They were nearing the goal and he was catching up. The armour was almost able to get a lock on the thing.

From all his adventures as the local superhero, Jaime knew these streets better than the one he was chasing. He knew that if they continued this way they would eventually end up in a dead end. Just as he though the chase ended between three grey warehouses. The buildings were blocking the morning sun and creating a thick shade shrouding his target and Jaime finally stopped to catch his breath.

He landed and let the wings retract down. Lifting his right arm (for attack or defence, whatever came first) he called out to the dark.

“Hello?” Something moved and Jaime braced himself for whatever there might be. He hadn’t expected what it actually was. A Reach Soldier stepped out from the shadows, blue shell not unlike his own. In actuality, the Beetle looked exactly like himself. It was like looking into a frightening mirror. The scarab spoke, but Jaime couldn’t understand the sound like crickets playing. His own bug didn’t translate.

With his body full of tension, the noise of a trashcan falling behind him was enough to make him twist his head back. Realizing the mistake the second after it was done, he turned back around. The Beetle was nowhere to be seen. Cursing himself for losing sight of it Jaime broke into a sprint, but no matter where he looked and even when he used his armour to scan the surroundings.

It was gone.

With a sigh Jaime powered down, getting back in his civilian clothes and started to walk. The chase had led him to the outskirts of El Paso, rundown houses and warehouses all around him. He would be late to first class anyway now, so it was just as well to check the place out.

Batgirl’s voice in his memory reminded him to not engage, but Nightwing’s orders to keep look-out kept him going. If this had something to do with Reach, incomplete information could be dangerous.

The streets were quiet and empty, the folks usually going around here already gone with the first sunbeams. He wasn’t going to lie. It wouldn’t be the first time he encountered trouble during a look-out around here. But that was just the normal thugs, men and the occasional women going into hiding as soon as they spotted something blue in the sky. 

He wasn’t catching the big-shots red handed while dressed up in full armour.

A large warehouse caught his attention. It looked like it had been abandoned long ago, but the door had a modern security system that looked too expensive for being in these parts. When he went closer it became apparent that something or someone moved on the inside. Quickly looking around after nearby cameras Jaime jogged closer. The bug could with no doubt crack the code, but he didn’t need a voice in his head to tell him that that was a bad idea.

Some crates stapled on the side proved to be everything he needed to climb upwards to the closest window. Flying would have been easier, but there were more chances that he would get caught. Especially if this really had something to do with the Reach. With a scraped knee and a bruise blossoming on his leg he kneeled on top of it all and looked through the dusty glass.

What was inside wasn’t something unexplainably alien.

It still wasn’t anything that was supposed to be in the middle of El Paso, without his knowing. Dread gather in his stomach as he saw the light of the Zeta-beam fade. He didn’t need the scarab to tell him that this one wasn’t from the League.

Someone moved on the inside, and this time it was someone human. A buff man, with a gun strapped to his side. He moved about the zeta-tube and fixed with a glowing screen. The next moment the very material the tube was made of blinked out of view. It came back a moment later, looking like the time Jaime’s favourite game malfunctioned after a glitch, before once again the warehouse looked empty except the lone man.

The same man that started to turn around and Jaime hurriedly ducked down from view. Better safe than sorry.

A buzz in his head warned him, and Jaime quickly jumped down into the empty space between two crates. There was a thud as he landed, making him grimace and sincerely hope that it hadn’t been loud enough to attract bad attention. Like them coming to check after him.

It wasn’t like he was trapped, not unless the bug suddenly and inexplicably stopped working in his favour. (A fact that was frighteningly possible). The large doors of the warehouse were dragged open, from the sound they were making, and closed soon after again.

“You finished it?” The voice breaking the silence was male, sounding like he was somewhere in his late twenties, anxiety thick. Jaime hadn’t seen that one.   

“Calm down.” Another voice answered, this one older, maybe somewhere around forty to fifty. That sounded more like one he had watched through the glass.

“Boss wanted this to be done yesterday!” The young one urged, then, quiet enough that Jaime had to strain to hear. “She’s not been in a good mode lately. Do you think they…?”

“Not our business.” There was a warning in those words. “We just follow orders.”

Jaime swallowed as the men walked past him and pressed further back against the crate, listening to their voices fading away into murmurs he couldn’t understand. He kept still a few moments more, before letting his human skin give away for something harder.

It was only a hunch, and should probably have remained just as much. Only Jaime remembered the conversation that had taken place in the Hall of Justice yesterday. There was only one name that appeared in his mind, who could be the cause of this. Without even needing to, Jaime raised his hand to his ear and with a single though the com built into the armour cracked to life.  

“Robin, do you copy?” Jaime said, listening into the silence coming after.

“Blue? What’s up?” Robin’s voice carried through the receiver after a minute, sounding a bit out of breath.

“Think I saw something, something Reach.” Another outstretched silence and when Robin’s voice came back it was quieter and in work mode.

“You need backup?”

“No. Lost it, it’s probably long gone now.” A sigh. “But that’s not why I called. Remember what we talked about yesterday?”

“Sure?”

“Do you think you could find someone for me? She goes by the name, La Dama.”

…. …. ….

He had walked this way before.

The ground was now familiar. He knew where every rock was, knew where to step to avoid the roots stretching from the trees and hiding under the grass. The line would soon come, the line where green stopped to rot away into darkness always reaching after him. Maybe it was only his imagination, but it seemed to move closer every time he dreamt this specific dream.

Now it was in front of him, reaching out over the line like it was something living, something that wanted to devour him. The tendrils of darkness shuddered back into the complete darkness. It was like standing on the edge of a cliff, staring down into a vertical sea. He stood there for a moment more, before spinning around and letting his feet take him back the road again.

Leaving nothing but laughter, green leaves and the blue sky high above.

…. …. ….

“Dodge!” Cassie’s fist missed Jaime’s face with a breath’s length. He followed the movement backwards before taking a jump up in the air, shooting away a beam towards her. Cassie rolled out of its way before crouching and flying up towards him. His arms changed into two identical blades, and Cassie parried their attack with her bracelets before throwing a punch.

The hit shook him through the armour and Jaime moved back and up away from her trying to get a distance before she caught up. He tried thinking up a new tactic, but the armour reacted instantly at her continued attack and the blades grew together to form a shield that instantly morphed back after her next hit and gave him an opportunity to strike back.

But Cassie dropped down instead of moving to the side or flying above him and she grabbed his right ankle with both hands.  The ceiling world became a blur for a moment before the back of his head smacked into the floor. Blinding white pain.

His head swooned for a moment before realizing that she was still going after him. His hands sunk back into what looked like fingers, but the tips turned sharp like claws and he was pretty sure that if she came at that speed and hit one of those spiked she’d be pierced.

Instead he opened his palms and placed them at the side of his head.

“I yield!” The fist meant for his face stopped a decimetre over where his flat nose. One second, two, and something angry in Cassie’s eyes faded away into genuine happiness. A moment later she laughed and the fist now opened to help him up. He accepted it and barely had to use any strength himself as she dragged him up to standing.

“Come on, let’s go another round.” She smiled and moved back, hands lifted as if she prepared to meet him in a boxing-match.  Jaime matched her smile but the let the armour fall away.

“And giving you another chance to give me brain-damage? No thanks. Take Bart instead.” He motioned with his thumb towards the other side of the room where Robin tried to trip the speeder zigzagging around him.

He must have heard the conversation, because the blur switched direction towards them and he stopped in between them long enough to say “Rude, no offence Cassie, but rude. You’re talking as if I’m going to lose.” before returning to his fight. It was over within moments, as Robin had had enough time to prepare a small cascade of balls rolling on the floor.

Bart laughed and jumped over them, not expecting them to explode and emit a substance not unlike chewing-gum both in colour and in consistence. He was stuck and Robin smiled before putting a staff under Bart’s chin.

“Who wasn’t going to lose did you say?” Jaime teased as Bart fought his prison a moment more before Robin threw another ball towards it. Some kind of liquid spilled out, drenching the chewing-gum and making it hard. Bart cracked it with vibrations and shook the remaining strands of pink of his uniform.

“Ugh, not nice Blue, not nice.” Bart muttered almost soundlessly and Jaime smiled a little bit bigger.

Two claps brought their attention, and the four of them turned to see Canary in the doorway. “Good work all of you.” She sounded proud and her expression said nothing less. “I think you deserve the night off, so you can all head home until next week.”

Cassie looked disappointed, just as Bart for the lesson cutting short. Robin looked unchanged, but they all knew that he had Gotham at his bidding if he wanted more work for the night. Jaime only wanted to go home, but before he moved Canary stopped him.

“Jaime, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Uh,” Jaime threw a look back, but the three others were already on their way out of the makeshift training centre. Black Canary had that look of a teacher now, and not the kind where she would kick their asses and then give them tips on how to move on. This time she was concerned. “Sure.”

“I watched your fight with Wondergirl. You did well, but you could have continued further than that.” Jaime’s hand found the back of his neck and he started to rub the skin while counting the tiles on the floor. Of course she would notice. Black Canary placed a hand on the side of his arm, comforting, but all Jaime wanted to do was to hide in his armour from her eyes.

“I know these weeks have been hard on you especially.” She spoke softly now, coaxing him to look at her. “You care for them, but holding back is no good way of caring. You know this Jaime; you’re stronger than you think. And you need to trust you teammates to be strong too, because they are. You have to fight.”

“Why does everyone say that?” Jaime whispered and looked up at her for an answer she didn’t have, eyebrows scrunching together.

Canary tilted her head slightly in confusion and Jaime gently shook her hand off. She pulled away and stood back to her full length. “Know that my door is always open if you want to talk about something.”

“I know.” Jaime admitted, lying in the unspoken promise that he would actually tell her if something was wrong, biting his tongue about the cold rock lying heavy and secure in his chest.

He expected to go home for the night, crash into his bed and maybe text Tye or study for that test on Monday, but when he walked out of the make-shift training room he found he wasn’t alone. Robin, Bart and Cassie waited for him outside. All in uniform.

“So, I heard we have an investigation going?” Cassie smirked, and cracked her neck, arms crossed over her chest. “Something about potential bad-guys?”

“I found her. Your ‘La Dama’.” Robin said, pulling out a photo from one of his pouches and reaching it over towards him. “She sure wasn’t easy to find, but once I put in some words in the right places… she’s quite famous.”

“Long story short.” Bart was fixing the glove on his right hand, and pulled his mask down. “Let’s go!”

…. …. ….

La Dama was a surprisingly young woman in her thirties, with rich, brown wavy hair. But it was not that that made him sure of who she was, neither was it the gun that she pointed in his direction. It was in the way she sat, the way her chin was up. It was in the total, practiced calm that she bore.

Another world she might have been a powerful enemy, or even a powerful ally. This was not it. Now she was only someone he vaguely recognized, and he couldn’t for the love of his life remember from where.

“Blue Beetle. I was wondering when you would appoint a meeting with me.” La Dama said, leaning back in the brown leather chair even with her gun never leaving his direction. “I take it your friends have already taken care of my bodyguards?”

“What do you know?” Jaime asked, skipping replying and taking a careful step towards her. He didn’t want to appear threatening; the gun couldn’t (hopefully) crack his armour. In the end it seemed that she knew that as well, and she laid the gun down in the table.

“I have nothing to tell, little Beetle.” She said, almost in a sigh. Like it had been a long day and Jaime remembered the words at the warehouse. It all made him surer that ever that she knew something he had to know, but he wouldn’t get it out of her.

“I’m not going to hurt you. But I need to know who you’re working with.” She stared back at him, delicately raising an eyebrow. “Is it the Light? The Reach?” He waited for a reaction and gained nothing more than a twitch at the side of her lips, like she was trying not to smile. There was something pitying in her expression, and it was quite clear that she didn’t take him seriously.

The smile was finally allowed the bloom, at the same time she tipped her head to the side like she was watching a child. A child she didn’t particularly liked very much. “Take my advice. You have nothing to gain by coming here, and I suggest you leave before I have to call in a few favours to get rid of a bug-infestation.”

For the first time in a while Jaime wished that he had the scarab’s voice in his head giving him suggestions of what to do. He probably wouldn’t follow them, if it meant bringing any harm to someone who as of yet hadn’t done anything towards him, even though she could. Now he wasn’t even able to come up with something to say as he turned his back to La Dama and began to move out.

He took two steps before something made him stop. The same something that made him turn around again. It was much more than a hunch but he had no idea what it came from. In the back of his head he knew that it should have been the scarab who would have informed him with words. Maybe this was simply another way, a more direct way of knowing without actually telling.

La Dama had seemed prepared for his arrival; the act had almost been perfect. Almost. He almost didn’t notice the photo lying face down on her desk, halfway pushed under the black placemat as if she had been looking at it and then put it away in a hurry.

Before she could see what he was about to do, Jaime moved and snapped the photo up.

A young girl with freckles and carrot-coloured hair was looking back at him. Next to her were a buff guy with a large, genuine smile and his arm around her shoulder, but it was obvious that the focus of the photo had been the girl.

La Dama snatched the photo out of his hand, but Jaime had already recognized the two of them. They were in his English class. Paco and… Brenda he believed. Even when La Dama had taken the photo from him, she was now straightening put a small crease on it. Carefully. Like it was extremely precious to her.

“La Dama, what…” Jaime began, but stopped when La Dama struck him with a furious glare.

“Out.” She said pointing to the door with the photo clutched in her other had.

Jaime looked as gently as he could as he tried to remember seeing Brenda last Wednesday, coming up blank. “What have they done to her?”

For an instant it looked like she was about to scream, pick her gun up and shoot him or more likely summon some mystical/magical power that all villains seemed to find when it really mattered. Instead her body sagged, and she exhaled slowly.

“I only take care of my own. I suggest you do the same.” La Dama was wrapping her arms around herself, pressing the photo to her chest and this time when she looked up she wasn’t a crime-lord anymore. Just a lost mother, caring for a child that wasn’t even hers. “You have to fight. Jaime Reyes.”

He was out of the door within a moment, the use of his own name finally catching up.  It was only barely that he remembered to radio Impulse, Wondergirl and Robin that they should go before he sped off over El Paso.

The Zeta-tube, The Reach, family and laughter in the forest.

The armour melted away right before he landed outside their porch. The speed disappearing made him lose balance for a moment and he stumbled before taking a grip on the wall. He hesitated only a second before opening the door and stepping into his house, heart beating abnormally fast and something was wrong something was very, very wrong.

The buzzing was louder than ever, ringing in his ears.

“Mom? Dad? Milagro!?” He called, listening after sounds, any sounds at all.

A beat, then quick steps down the stairs and Milagro coming down, pig-tails bouncing with every step. She was watching at him with that look reserved only for siblings who embarrassed each other and she stopped by the end of the stairs.

“What?” She asked, looking mildly confused and before Jaime could help it he was lifting her up from the floor in a tight embrace. "Moooooom, Jaime is being meeeean again." Milagro whined, squirming in his arms, pointing out a small pink tongue towards him as she tried to come loose. Jaime didn’t let her escape, but ruffled both his and her hair by rubbing them together.   

Their mother came walking from the kitchen, a plate in her hand and a towel in the other. She sighed unimpressed, with only a small smile playing on her lips. “And here I thought that you weren’t home to help with the housework.” She said and Jaime would have felt guilty if he hadn’t just been out with the team just as he had told her.

“Mom, don’t stand there! Help me!” Milagro continued to screech, even when a small giggle escaped as he spun her around.

"You have to fight." Bianca Reyes said, shaking her head with a smile. Eyes strangely blank with sadness and regret. Jaime froze, looking at his mother with wide eyes. During this time Milagro had the time to slip away from him, though not before stomping hard on his foot. Nothing about this got through to him. Only the words repeated over and over again. 

"What did you just say?" He asked for confirmation while taking a step back. His mother blinked once as Milagro reached her, and she picked her daughter up with a laugh, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I said: "Do you always have to fight?" She repeated while gently buffing her head against Milagro's. The younger broke out in a smile and happily head-butted back before she jumped back down. Bianca reached forward and ruffled Jaime's hair affectionately. "Really you two, you're going to give me grey hairs any day now."

Jaime stood still as his mother took Milagro’s hand and led her away. Milagro laughed, and Jaime’s stomach clenched with the sound. Dread laying deep. Laughter in the forest.

Bile was rising in his throat. The pain in his stomach became unbearable and Jaime watched the world twist and turn. The pain of hitting the floor was the only thing that made him realize that it was he who had turned, fallen from pain.

Dots gathered in front of his eyes. Trying to blink them away it became harder and harder to open his eyes as he clutched his stomach. His hands became warm, and wet, liquid slipping through his fingers, breath stuck in his throat. It hurt. It hurt. It hurt.

His back hummed with activity. And then it all stopped.

…. …. ….

He had walked this way before.

…. …. ….

Jaime pulled in the fresh air. His breath was shaking and stuttering, body working quickly to get air back into his lungs and making sure he was really alive. His stomach was churning and threatening to spill.

[Took some time did it?]

The voice sent him into alert consciousness within the moment and he rolled over to the side and moved up into a crouch. The voice was with no doubt from the Reach, even if it took a moment for Jaime to realize that it hadn’t exactly spoken in English to begin with. Jaime froze as he looked up. He’d expected maybe Black Beetle at worst, but what he saw when he looked up made blood drain from his face and his breath seemed to block something in his throat.  

"You're not real." Jaime spoke the first thing that came to mind, and the Blue Beetle smirked, a horrible expression on his face. Triumphant. Condescending.

"Not real? I'm you. I'm as real as you want me to be.” His voice was like sandpaper or nails screeching against a blackboard. Blue Beetle walked with heavy steps towards him and Jaime scrambled up, armour wrapping around him. He was lucky it did. Before Jaime could back any further Blue Beetle moved faster than what should be possible with his body.

Even through his blue shell Jaime felt his neck strain as Blue Beetle wrapped his huge hand around his neck. If he had still been in his soft human flesh, his spine would with no doubt already be broken. The better tactic would be to fire away a beam, this close it had to hurt, but panic as he couldn’t breathe made him claw at Blue Beetle’s hand. It did absolutely nothing, and Blue Beetle looked disgusted.  

"Sad, emotional trash. I can't believe I ever was like you." The Blue Beetle threw him back and the power made Jaime bounce once before sliding to a stop on the ground. He curled into himself, stomach flashing with pain.  The Blue Beetle kept coming closer. “Remember yet? Or are you going to keep dreaming all your life away."

"You're not real." Jaime insisted, pushing up with as much strength he could muster. Away. Get away.

A barking laugh. "Something about you really is defective. I've already told you. I'm you. I'm as real as you want me to be. So your true question should be: Jaime Reyes, are you real?"

His hand morphed into a cannon and before Jaime could move, a burning beam shot out. He felt it hit him right in his belly; felt the armour burn away like it was made out of paper, felt it pierce his stomach. The everlasting pain he had had these last days amplified with a terrible force. This wasn’t a wound that had just appeared, this was a wound that hadn’t healed.  

"I'm dying." Jaime whimpered through the metallic taste.

The future Blue Beetle laughed, stalking closer and Jaime backed away, armour falling away from his skin and leaving him unprotected and scared. Terrified. But not because the knowledge that he couldn’t fight his future self, not because the blood he tried and failed to keep inside with his hands.

No, it was because of the words Blue Beetle spoke next.

“Are we even still alive?”

And there was black tendrils running out from Blue Beetle’s eyes, out from his mouth and Jaime was falling backwards, squeezing his eyes shut and the darkness started to take over, no air left to scream with.

Light filtering through green leaves.  

He had walked this way before. Many, many times before.

Now he was running.

Jaime ran, the soles of his feet ripped bloody against the sudden harsh ground, switching from the moist forest floor to broken rocks. Hint of a fight. A big fight. Running didn’t hurt and his speed didn’t slow. He didn’t feel anything. Didn’t feel anything as he in the corner of his eye saw his team-mates shattered all over the ground. Cassie bent backwards over a rock (don’t break your back). Bart still twitching on the ground in spasms.

(They were alive, somehow he knew). It didn’t hurt. It was impossible for it to hurt. Because he was in his armour, and he was flying.  And he remembered.

…. …. ….

The Hall of Justice was bright as they stood gathered in front of Nightwing. Jaime blinked at the familiar sight. Up above, a holographic map filled with red blinking lights had their attention. Nightwing was talking "…our sources have noticed a significant increase of meta-crimes down in southern US. We have reasons to believe that the Light and their partner are involved.”

Batgirl stepped forward and the holographic screen split behind her, forming smaller screens filled with data. “Also, in all places of importance we have suspected Zeta-tube activity. We believe they are jamming our signals so it could be much worse than we expect. With the recent speed the invasion has taken, it’s important that we try to wipe it out before it grows.” She said. “Therefore we are forming teams to investigate.”

“Superboy, I want you to take Blue Beetle, Wondergirl and Impulse to check out the activity in El Paso. Is that clear?” Nightwing asked, rhetorically, Jaime had since long learnt that not paying attention to briefings was not something you did. “Beetle. This is your hometown, and I will not interfere too much, but you have to remember they are likely doing all this to get to you.”

[The Nightwing is correct][This is highly irrational and unnecessarily dangerous]

The voice in his head made him jump, but it didn’t seem that anyone else took any notice. Jaime wanted to answer the scarab, just something small, when he realized that he couldn’t and instead his own mouth answered “roger that” in choir with the rest of the team.

He was powerless as he moved together with Cassie and Bart to Superboy, who gathered in a corner of the room. Bart was by his side and threw an arm around his neck, pulling him down in the same movement. “I know El Paso almost better that Jaime, so you can trust me to lead you right.”

“Right.” Superboy’s lips quirked upwards. “We’re still using the Zeta-tube.”

[Do not worry][Should the Reach attack this team is perfectly fitted to make a hasty escape][They will not drag us down]

That was far from what he was worrying about. He was more worried about the laugh that he made when Bart cracked a joke and how every once in a while, the scarab talked at random. As if it answered him. Jaime couldn’t move a thing, and after trying to resist his body moving on its own, he gave up and relaxed, following with the movement as they waited for the other teams to disappear into the light.

“Before we start, do I have to remind you that this is a scout-mission only?” Superboy said as he tapped their destination into the tablet next to the tube. “I want you to keep your radios on at all times, and no running off alone. Okay?”

The machine scanned them, and in the middle of the female voice accepting the input Hall of Justice faded away, and the next time Jaime opened his eyes he was flying high over the desert, red lights in his eyes scanning the surroundings.

Something moved in his peripheral view and while he wanted to snap his neck over to the side to get a better look, his body still didn’t do as he wanted to. Cassie flew before him and dropped down from the height before spinning around. In the distance he could see the hidden Zeta-tube that they had arrived from. They both stopped and stayed levitating as she raised a hand towards her right ear. The radio in her ear started to blink as she pressed it.   

“Wondergirl to Superboy. We’ve scouted the outer areas and drawn a blank. Nothing strange so far. Over.” Her voice echoed a millisecond later in his ear and Impulse’s voice took over, his tone faster and that windy noise revealing that he was on foot, flying far and fast over the ground.

“Nope, completelyempty over here too. We’re thinking about moving inwards, you follow?”

When she looked over to him, he shrugged helplessly and she made a court bob with her head. “Sure thing, we’ll head over right away. Beta Team B2, out.”

[The Impulse is currently seventy kilometres north from our position][He is still moving but I have a lock on his radio-signal]

“Let’s go.” Jaime said as they started to descend and they followed the small red light signalling where Bart was. A blue light blinked into view further away, forming a small Superman–crest and Jaime watched the Blue and Red light meet each other, Impulse and Superboy joining up to wait.

The ground was moving quickly beneath them, vegetation cracking out over the ground as they moved closer to the outskirts of his town. The sun was heading down in the horizon, sending a red echo over the plains and if he turned his head the slightest bit east the beams blinded him though the armour’s defences.

Just as the first houses started to gather beneath them, the screen flashed before stabilizing and Jaime pulled to a death-stop. That was weird. The blue and red lights were still blinking, shining brightly.

“Blue, is something the matter?” Wondergirl had stopped some metres before him, and her expression was questioning and concerned.

“Sorry, I don’t…” Jaime paused in the middle of his sentence as something popped next to his ears. The surrounding sounds faded into something to the background, as something much clearer came through.

[Are you listening?]

Jaime jumped at the voice in his head, not only because he wasn’t fully used to it, but rather that it was all wrong. That wasn’t the voice of his scarab, but it was still terribly familiar.

[I know you can hear me, dearest brother]

A shiver down his spine accompanying the chuckle coming from his mind. Jaime refused to look around and completely reveal the fright coursing through his vessels at the sound of Black Beetle’s voice speaking to him through static. Not the same as the scarab, but still not the same as Bart’s silent humming through the radio. Black Beetle was closer.

“Blue?” Cassie asked, cautiously glancing around and with one hand prepared on her rope.

“Just a moment.” Jaime said, his own voice copying hers by going down low. Just as she had done back in the Hall of Justice, he tapped his finger against the side of his head and something grim settled over Wondergirl’s expression. “How?”

[Did I forget to mention?] Black Beetle continued, sounding not the least concerned about the anger in Jaime’s voice. If anything, he sounded amused. [We’re family][But your meat also has a family, do you not?]

Wondergirl clenched her fist as she watched him, prepared for whatever to come. In the distance the sun moved further down beneath the horizon and the first stars came to watch from the still bright sky. It was hard to breathe, as if the hot air of El Paso decided to drain all oxygen from his lungs.

[We were planning to expand the research on the similarities between close genetic bounds.][Like siblings]

The cold streak froze his mind, everything seemed to slow down and the only thing he could hear was the frantic beating of his heart. Milagro. The sound of the world came back as the connection was broken, but the words were still ringing in his ears.

[I am sorry][I was not aware that the Reach would be able to connect with our mind] The scarab informed him, sounding annoyed. [This is not optimal]

“Black Beetle.” Jaime choked out, not knowing if it was fear or anger or some unholy mix of the two that made his voice crack in the middle. “He has my sister.”

“Your…” Cassie looked as horrified as he felt. “Superboy! Impulse! Come in.” She spoke into her com, looking as if it had insulted her personally. Her teeth were gritted as she waited for a reply. Something she obviously never got judging from the way she exhaled quickly and her body turned rigid. “Static. I can’t get through to them.”

El Paso looked just as quiet and undisturbed as before. Now he knew that wasn’t true. The red and blue lights had separated, and moved quickly through the streets of El Paso and further out, towards their position. He made sure to tell Cassie that. With a promise to return with them as quickly as she could, so that he could go save Milagro, she was off towards the same path that they had travelled only minutes ago. Jaime didn’t stay long either.

“Scarab, please. Find my sister!”

[Locating…]

[…]

[…]

[Match to the genetic data of Milagro Reyes found]

A green light appeared on the screen of his eyes and without questioning or hesitation the rocket grew on his back and spat fire hard enough to send him a good distance away. It led him away over El Paso, his own school flashing by beside him and then delving deeper into the city before the houses started to disappear one by one, leading him out in an empty park. The green light was still shining strong and he landed on the ground, looking around carefully.

[I cannot place her position closer than this]

“…that isn’t necessary.”

The area was empty of people, hidden away in a clearing with cliffs guarding the small vegetation living there. It was perfect for a fight. And that was something that the Reach had planned, as Black Beetle’s laugh rang over the area and Jaime snapped his head up to the side, as the bigger Beetle jumped down from the cliffs, facing him.

Milagro was kicking in his arms, tiny fists pounding against his armour and if it annoyed Black Beetle, he sure didn’t show it. He seemed to enjoy the anger in Jaime expression. “Let her go.” Jaime’s hands were shaking, longing to transform into something that could protect his sister, something that could beat Black Beetle without getting her any harm. Anything that didn’t frighten her.

Surprisingly, Black Beetle did let go of Milagro, and she instantly came running towards him. Without a thought Jaime grabbed Milagro and lifted her up in his arms, turning her head into the crook of his neck so that she wouldn’t see Black Beetle anymore. She wasn’t shaking, but the quietness told him enough.  

“Jaime I’m scared.” His heart clenched in a way that both filled him with anger and such protectiveness he hadn’t felt before. She was clinging to his armour, even with the knowledge that he would never drop her. Never let her down. And he wasn’t thinking of doing it now either. Black Beetle would follow immediately if he tried to get away, but somehow he had to make sure that Milagro would be safe. They all knew that he couldn’t fight as long as she was near.

He rested his chin on the top of her head, and then whispered quickly and clearly to her. “Listen to me, Hermanita. You run as fast as you can, and try to find people, try to stay in sight and…” As a last thought he produced a small tracer and pressed it into her hand. Hopefully the League would see the distress signal before The Reach would. “…know that I love you very much.”

He put her down on the ground, gently, and all the while never letting Black Beetle disappear from his view. Carefully he pushed her behind him and stood up, arms widening to form two shields. He buried his feet into the ground, taking stance, and shooting off towards Black Beetle. They clashed, armour meeting armour with a deafening clang.

Black Beetle was still smiling as he moved his right arm and punched Jaime off, his body flying backwards like a ragdoll before the scarab activated engines to stabilize them. “Did you really think I would be here alone?”

Jaime spun, right in time to see the red soldiers of the Reach surround Milagro, and right in time to see one of their spears light up with electricity. “No!!”

Right before the beam struck its target, the dust moved up around them, and Jaime tried to make out the shape that interfered with the beam. When the air cleared, the ground was churned and slightly smoking, and a metre away he recognized the white and red shape holding his sister.

Impulse was cradling Milagro to his chest as he got up. His uniform was dirty from the part where he had slid on the ground, everything to get both him and Milagro out of the way. She looked shaken, but didn’t seem hurt. The redhead pushed up from the ground with the one hand and didn’t even spare a glance towards Black Beetle. All it took was for Bart’s and Jaime’s eyes to lock for only an instance and then the speedster disappeared once again in a blur of colours.

The soldiers were shattered as Superboy landed in the middle of them, the ground almost making a crunching sound beneath his fists, before punching two of them and jumping out of the way. While the Reach was preoccupied with Superboy, Cassie had loosened her rope and threw one end at Superboy, before they moved together and ensnared the group. A throw and a punch later and the soldiers slumped down. The two powerhouses landed next to Jaime and as Cassie cracked her fingers her lips turned into a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Impulse will warn the others, once he gets out of the Reach’s range.” Superboy said, crossing his arms over the crest on his chest. “We have to keep him busy until then.”

One, two, three seconds ticked away, before Superboy moved forward and Jaime and Cassie followed after, splitting right and left. That was when Black Beetle finally moved, moving in to clash with Superboy head on and at the same time shooting a metal piece towards Wondergirl. Superboy was pushed back, and Wondergirl had to spin and change direction, but it gave Jaime an open opportunity to form his arms together to a sledgehammer, driving it towards Black Beetle’s head. It missed, and the force sent him out of balance and down on the ground.

“Blue! Down!” Superboy yelled, and Jaime followed suit. A moment later he felt the quick touch of something on his back, and then Bart flew off and landed a foot into Black Beetle’s face, managing to drive him back with the force of his speed alone.

“Hey, careforadance with me?” Bart bounced off and turned just in time to avoid Black Beetle getting a lock on him. Those times when it failed, someone was there to block the attack.

”First away with the speedster.” Black Beetle raised his arm and Jaime shrugged back as small bugs flew out from the armour. They instantly followed Impulse and he dodged them all, twisting to the sides and quickly turning to avoid any of them touching him.

[Destroy them!] The scarab shouted in his mind and Jaime lifted his hand before realizing that he couldn’t shoot. There was a chance he might hit Bart. Too late they both noticed a pattern. The bugs started to form a sphere around the speedster and grew, melded into each other.

A black barrier closed around Bart and Jaime broke away from the fighting. Punching the shell did nothing at all, not even a small dent and he placed his hands on the ball. “Impulse, are you okay!?”He shouted, hoping that it would pass through the thick barrier.

“Yeah!” Came the muffled response from the inside. “I’ll just vibrate out!”

[Stop the Impulse] The scarab warned a moment too late and Jaime flinched as Bart screamed from inside the sphere. [This technique melds metal and a force of energy together][It is impossible for the Impulse to escape from the inside]

“You could have said it before.” Jaime hissed, desperately listening for something that told him that Impulse was okay.

[Do not worry][The level of energy is not high enough to kill a speedster]

It shouldn’t have calmed Jaime as much as it did, knowing that Impulse was still trapped inside and most likely unconscious, but the fact that he wouldn’t die was enough for now. The scarab didn’t need to remind him that the Reach liked taking their enemies prisoner, for things worse than death.

Wondergirl and Superboy were better at keeping up against Black Beetle than they had been the first time. With Wondergirl flying up into the air and Superboy left on the ground he managed to punch him upwards, and she responded to the force by crossing her arms at this wrists and falling down high speed, sending Black Beetle into the ground.

It didn’t keep him down long. Soon Black Beetle rose from the dust and grabbed Wondergirl’s ankle in the air. She kicked him with the other one, but didn’t get away from his grip. Jaime winced as she was thrown right into Superboy with a power that made a heavy sound both at the first hit and a second later when they both crashed and rolled on the ground.

Neither of them got up.

“Now then.” Black Beetle made that awful expression between a smirk and a grimace. He cracked his knuckles and Jaime took a step backwards, eyes darting to the sides after something he could use.

And he watched himself as from outside his own body, his doppelganger moving backwards as the Black Beetle stalked against him. And he blinked, opening his eyes to look up at him. His body moved on its own accord as he was swept away by the memory.

“Little brother. I believe it’s time to release you.” If it wasn’t for the smile, it almost seemed like the Black Beetle was sad. More likely pitying.

“And that’s reach-speak for destroy.” Jaime hung his arms down his sides, waiting for whatever attack that would come.

“Correct.”

The Black Beetle charged at him, arms turning into a ram and Jaime’s arms turned to shield, and he braced for impact. Only that the last moment the ram morphed into a sharp spear. A spear that slipped through his defence too easily and too fast that he almost didn’t realize what happened before it was done. It pierced through his armour, through his stomach and out below his right shoulder blade. He remembered surprise and pain. He remembered screaming and the scarab’s voice in his inner-ear, softly calming and ever logical.

[Host] [You are dying] [Release control to me so I can heal our body]

He crashed to the ground, Black Beetle kicking him once before leaving him to roll out bleeding on the ground.

Through the pain and his sensed rapidly disappearing Jaime shook his head. Whispering voicelessly "no, no" over again as his hands came up filled with blood. The armour had already closed around the wound, but his insides were still too damaged to salvage on his own. He was still dying and the only way to survive would... would be to give up completely.

The memories of the future were too much, false as they were, still haunted every time he closed his eyes. Bart’s words in his ear. The feeling of power in his body, aching to be released. Aching to be used. 

The armour had always been just that. An armour. But for the first time it started to creep inside him, modify his very cells and structure and turning them into something new. Like someone was cutting his limbs off one by one, finger by finger. He was disappearing into the mode.

[Jaime Reyes][Fight this nonsense] The scarab's voice, more urgent, angry in his head as the blood continued to flow. The softer, buzzing. [Let me help you]

He should be panicking. He was dying. He would never see his parents again. Would never play with Milagro again. Would never hang with Tye again. Would never see his new family, his new friends ever again. Would be locked down as a memory down far underground with the surviving heroes watching his hologram quietly, before walking away getting ready for the next mission. 

He should really be panicking. But what filled him in that current moment was just a pure feeling of serenity. Calmness, like falling asleep after an exhausting day. It was simultaneously the worst and the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to him.

The voice in his mind was angry now.

[You have to fight] The scarab said with annoyance and with the panic that Jaime should be feeling, if not his eyelids had been so heavy, if not the darkness seemed so alluring and he gladly let himself be pulled in by the black liquid wave collapsing all over his mind. He was disappearing.

[Idiot Human]

Right before the darkness swallowed him, a blue shimmer shot up and surrounded him, a sphere locking the last of his consciousness inside of him away. Powerful green was the last thing he saw before the blue closed, and Jaime landed. The armour crept away until he was once again barefoot against the cold ground. He could feel again. He was alone again. He raised a hand towards the shell around the dream, touching the metal responding to his touch like a stone dropping into a pond. Then it became silent again.

Like rock, like wood, like metal.

Silence.

Light filtering through the leaves above him.

A blue shimmer.

"I'm dead." He spoke out loud to himself, stepping back from the wall as his realization made the world around him crumble. The shell held but he could see through it now, could see the darkness, the original program hiding behind waiting to carry itself out. To swallow the last of his mind and only leave the true Infiltrator behind.

[No][But neither are you fully alive]

Jaime whirled around at the familiar voice. Not because he was surprised to hear it, but rather that it came from behind him, not from inside him. What met him when he turned around was the Blue Beetle, his armour given life, watching with a sad, regretful expression. The same eyes as everyone else watching him had in this world. The same eyes that had been watching him all along. Pushing him to remember.

“What is this world?” Jaime asked, motioning to the rapidly crashing reality around them.  

[Forged by your memories and wishes][I only filled it with information stored in your mind][…and some I have calculated together myself] The scarab explained, not flinching as the forest started to burn in a blue fire behind him. The Beetle tilted his head to the side. [Jaime Reyes][Are you happy here?]

"Yeah. I was."

[Query: You want to stay?]

"No. I think it's time to wake up." Jaime hesitated for only a moment before turning back and touching the glass-like construct before him. His own reflection stared back, hazy and eyes obscured enough to seem all black. "Will I survive?"

[The body is no longer at harm][It is your mind I cannot repair][You have to fight]

And Jaime nodded, looking back into the darkness kept at bay. Far up above him the shell started to crack and black nothingness poured in. Jaime stumbled back, surprised but strangely not afraid. He felt the scarab come up behind him, three pairs of arms wrapping around him. His skin started to burn, scorching hot like a fire and he almost heard it hissing. Just as it started to become unbearable the heat was replaced with cold. It was with a chill the armour surrounded him into a familiar embrace. 

When he spoke it wasn’t his voice. It was metallic and chirpy and wrong. Not his voice, their voice.

[Together]

Shards of blue crashed and flew down over them, and everything was blown away by a green explosion.

…. …. ….

Voices.

Lights through the crack in his eyes.

A slow humming in the black of his head.  

His body hurt. Not in the way of bruises and broken bones, but that tense uncomfortable feeling of having your limbs bent into the same position for hours. His muscles weren’t happy with him. That was something that not even the armour could protect him from.

The light that blinded him was overwhelmingly green, stinging the moment before the screen in front of his eyes shifted and shielded him from the direct light. He tried to move; his hands outstretched abnormally to the sides, and found that he couldn’t, not enough anyway. 

“Hey! He’s up!” Guy Gardner’s voice was cutting in his ears and he groaned, opening his eyes fully and finally seeing the green chains holding him. The same chains that dropped and faded away the moment the lantern had seen him awake. “Goddamn it Kid, you gave us all a heart attack.”

The armour crept back as Guy’s constructs had all disappeared, and Jaime dropped his arms down and moved his legs from underneath him, all limbs happy to finally be moved after… how long had it been?

“Crash! Honestly crash.” Bart was next to him in a moment, close in his personal space as if inspecting for something (and Jaime pretended to not know what that something was). His throat was dry, even swallowing hurt. He had so many things he wanted to ask, so many things he needed to check and understand, but his current condition didn’t allow that. Luckily, Bart seemed to understand in the blink of an eye.

“Your sister is safe, Blue. She’s fine.” He promised, a hand on Jaime’s shoulder and a genuinely relieved smile on his face. “I left her with your parents, and I managed to take contact with the Justice League and they are all okay. We’re all okay. And you are too right?”

[All systems are running] The scarab, if something, sounded smug. [We are, as the Impulse says][“okay”]

And for the moment, Jaime decided to believe that.

…. …. ….

The bell had rung five minutes ago. Slowly the school started to empty, happy students celebrating the weekend and paying no attention to the boy sitting on the side of the steps. Jaime typed on his phone, telling Bart that he would be late to the training-session this afternoon.

[Is this really necessary?] The scarab said and Jaime opened a new text message.

[I think so. Always better to have allies than enemies] He wrote, erasing it right after the scarab had read it through his own eyes. At first, the scarab didn’t answer him. Though Jaime was majorly sure that it didn’t agree with him on that subject.

[Allies can betray you]

[But enemies would never help] He countered, just before a black car pulled up before the school.

Jaime picked his bag up, just as the last students emerged from the school. Brenda and Paco passed him without paying much attention. Something he was about to change as he ran after them, calling out. “Hey!” They both turned around, glancing towards each other confused before stopping. “So sorry, but you’re in my English class, right?”

“Yeah.” Brenda said, and hesitated only a moment before she seemed to remember. “Jaime, was it?”

“Sorry, but I completely lost my paper… Can I copy one of yours?” He laughed uneasily, hiking the bag up higher on his shoulder. “I’ll make it up to you, promise.”

They started to walk the path down from the school and closer to the black car, talking easily, before a woman stepped out from the car and while she didn’t obviously glare at him, she ignored him and turned to her niece with a gentle smile.

“Brenda. Wait in the back.” As in afterthought she added: “You too, Paco.”

“Sorry, my aunt is seriously overprotective.” Brenda apologized and rolled her eyes, but greeted her aunt with a kiss on her cheek.

“…and kind of scary, you have no idea…” Paco stage-whispered, quickly silenced by a glare from Amparo Cardenas and dragged into the car by Brenda. 

The silence left behind was starting to get uncomfortable before Jaime sighed, lifting his hands up in a disarming matter. “You know who I am, and I know who you are.” He started, watching for any change in her expression. Finding none, he continued. “And we both know about Reach.”

“What do you want?” She replied, mistrust palpable in the way she crossed her arms and her eyes narrowed, mouth tightly pressed together. But she didn’t disagree with him, or immediately refuse, which was as good as it could get.

“I want to make an alliance.”

…. …. ….

[That was unnecessary] The scarab said, once they had travelled home for the night. [We have enough allies and/or friends at the current moment]

“Maybe. But I think we need all help we can get.” The alien bug didn’t answer, and somehow Jaime saw that as a small victory.

Gently, he pushed the door to Milagro’s room open, pitch black darkness meeting him. The slimmer of light he let in fell on the side of his sister’s bed, and after deciding that she couldn’t fake those deep sighs he slowly crept over the floor as to not alarm her. She was moving slightly, but not with a fit, and in her arms Milagro was clutching a small green plush-lantern. She slept easier with it close, and Jaime breathed easier knowing that she had it near. The tiny signal inside it she could use in emergencies to call for help was hidden even from his scarab, and that was a good thing.

“116% Reach-proof!” Guy had said proudly as they had watched Milagro play with her new present, never letting it escape her hands for more than a second.

She didn’t stir as he kissed her forehead before exiting the room, content with seeing her soundly asleep without any apparent nightmares.

Now the only thing left was for him to go back to sleep. He wasn’t afraid to close his eyes. It also didn’t frighten him to open them to a familiar view of green leaves and a blue sky. Only now there was a complete different landscape leading out from that familiar place. Black tendrils had been frozen blue, reaching high and low. He stopped at the edge between the two worlds, breathing slowly and listening to the sounds of laughter and the ground vibrating under his feet with a soft humming. Jaime exhaled, and took another step forward. He knew the way.

He had walked it before.