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Bart might have fucked up a tiny bit.
Okay, maybe he’d fucked up big-time.
In his defense, how was he supposed to know not to touch that weird plant? He’d touched loads of plants before, and none of them had done anything like this to him. He was all feverish and shaky and it was so, so weird. Like, if he didn’t hug someone right this second, he was going to keel over and die.
He was so lucky that Robin gave everyone those distress-beacon things, or he’d have no way to contact anyone… besides Max and Helen, but then he’d just get in trouble for touching weird plants, and he’d rather die than wash dishes for a week.
“Robin?”
“Impulse?”
“I messed up.”
“... what happened?”
“There was this weird plant in the park in Manchester, and I touched it, and now I’m gonna die.”
“Wait, slow down–”
“Can’t. Gotta keep running.”
“What are your symptoms?” Robin asked. “I might be able to figure out what you touched?”
“I feel really hot, I’m shaking, and I really want a hug.”
“A hug…?”
“Really bad. Like I’ll die if I don’t get one.”
Robin sighed. “I’ve seen something like this before… a strain that Poison Ivy developed. It must have gotten imported to other states. Maybe migrated?”
“Is there medicine or something?”
“We thought all the specimens were destroyed, so we never developed an antidote.”
“What am I supposed to do? I feel like my skin’s crawling. Screaming at me.”
“Easiest way to manage the symptoms is with physical contact,” Robin answered. “Is there anyone you can go to?”
“Max will kill me if he finds out,” Bart mumbled. “Can you come to the hideout?”
“I can’t get away from Gotham right now…”
“Can you send someone? Anyone?”
Bart could just about hear the sound of Robin tapping at his desk. “Okay… I have an idea. If you go to the hideout, I can send someone to you. You’re gonna have to wait at least an hour, though. I’ll get her there as soon as possible.”
“Who’re you sending?”
“Spoiler.”
The line clicked off before Bart could figure out if that was the person’s name, or if Tim was really intent on keeping that a secret.
As Steph entered the Secret Sanctuary, she quickly found Impulse – Robin had told her that his name was Bart – was bundled up on a plush couch. There was a blanket around his shoulders, as though he had attempted to wrap it around himself and given up halfway. His eyes were distant and a little glassy, and he was shaking like a leaf in a strong wind.
“Hey, Bart, right?” Steph said, as she approached, careful to not move too fast and startle him. “I’m Spoiler.”
“It’s your name…” Bart mumbled, half-delirious. “I wasn’t sure…”
Steph chalked the weird comment up to Bart’s delirium, and squished in next to him on the couch. “Cuddle pollen, huh? Nasty stuff.”
Bart shuffled closer to her. “Sucks…”
Steph put an arm around his shoulder. “It really does. I got hit with it once, and I felt like I was gonna die.”
“Mhmmm…”
“If you wanna get closer, you can,” Steph added, a little awkwardly. “I don’t mind.”
Bart hesitated. “Don’t wanna make it weird.”
“I really don’t mind.”
“Okay…”
Bart ended up halfway on Steph’s lap before he gave up, his knee digging into her thigh, making her wince. He didn’t move from that position, probably too tired, so Steph took the initiative, sticking her hands under his arms and hauling him the rest of the way onto her lap, which would hopefully be a more comfortable position for both of them.
“This okay?” Steph said, tucking the blanket around Bart’s shoulders and putting her arms around his back, in hopes that the extra contact would help, even if only a little.
“It’s good,” Bart mumbled, resting his head on Steph’s shoulder. His arms hung loosely by his sides, and he was hot to the touch, even through the sleeve of Steph’s Spoiler costume. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it,” Steph said, leaning her head backwards to rest on the back of the couch. She hadn’t really thought about how long it would take the pollen to run its course - a few hours maybe? It felt about that long when she got hit with it. She’d probably be here a while, especially since she didn’t know how long ago Bart got hit, or if the pollen would react differently to him because he was a speedster. “Hey, Bart?”
No reply. Steph lifted her head to look at him, and realised that he had gone completely still. He was probably sleeping or something. Made sense - the pollen drained a lot of energy out of you.
Nothing she could do about it, except wake him up, and it looked like he needed his rest, so she decided against it. Maybe she’d take a nap too…
Yawning, Steph leant her head backwards, closing her eyes. She’d just… close her eye for a minute.
Yeah, just a minute.
She couldn’t help that the position was weirdly comfortable. Like hugging a red-haired, weighted blanket. Soon enough, Steph was dozing off too, with Bart still in her arms.