"Knock it off Bart! We're gonna get caught!" I whispered into the darkness in front of me. He was up there somewhere, ripping the wooden boards off the door.

"Rel-ax hermano." He ran to my side, pushing me into the darkness. "I do this all the time in the future, gets the blood pumping ya' know?"

The Impulse is speaking nonsense. I suggest fast retreat.

"Hah! Like that would do any good!" I spat at the scarab. Bart had gotten used to my random outburst in the time we'd spent together. He didn't seem to be phased by much anymore.

"Running away won't do any good, it should know I'm faster." He snickered at me, pushing me farther into the darkness. I lowered my night vision and looked around.

He let go and ran ahead. I lost sight of him. The sun had set fast, it seemed like only minutes ago it had been light. I spotted him ahead, pulling the last piece of timber off of a gap in the house.

We hadn't been on a mission in what seemed like forever. After Mount Justice blew, we just lazed around, waiting for a call. But with no home base, it was kinda pointless. Bart decided to kidnap me and go on an 'adventure'. And apparently his idea of an adventure was breaking into an abandoned house.

"Come on!" He maneuvered himself through the Bart-sized opening and disappeared inside the house. I sighed and squeezed myself through.

The house was like a museum. Everything was immaculate and ornately decorated. The fine layer of dust coating was the only good sign that the place was abandoned.

"Woa dude. This place is huge!" I heard Bart's voice echo from upstairs. I quickly followed the sound. I heard his pattering feet moving through all the rooms until he stopped suddenly.

I caught up with him in a small bedroom in the east wing. He stood, facing a broken window with the moonlight shining in. He actually looked very picturesque, with his silhouette outlined by the moon.

I looked around the small room. Honestly, it looked like the perfect place for one of those moves where the kids break in and some creepy dead lady ends up haunting all of them and killing the one by one. But I tried not to think about that.

In it's prime, it must have been a cozy room. There was a large bed a warm looking fireplace that took up the entire far wall. I lugged a pillow from the bed and put in on the floor. I sat down, leaning on the dresser.

"So." I looked up at him as he turned around. "Tell me about the future."

"Ah ah, no can do. You know the rules of time travel! Can't alter the time continuum thingie!" He waved his hand and plopped down on the ground across from me.

"Oh come on…. You're no fun." I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

"What exactly did you want to know?" He eyed me suspiciously.

"Hmmm, I don't know. Nothing about me. I've heard enough." I tried to move the topic into lighter ground. "So do you have a girlfriend back there?"

"Hah! Nope. Never was much into girls back home." He added a laugh at the end of it.

The Impulse is lying or hiding something. I can detect a false note in his voice.

I didn't say anything back to the scarab. He didn't have anything to lie about, at least, not anything bad. So it didn't seem like it mattered.

"What about you? No girl?" He crossed his legs and propped his elbows up.

"Nope." I shook my head. "Can I just ask yes or no questions about the future?"

"Sure, fine, whatever hemano." He didn't smile. I knew he didn't want to talk about it, but it needed to know.

"Hmm, do Superboy and Miss M ever get back together?" I asked out of pure curiosity.

"Nope." He smiled, happy he didn't have to give more than a one word answer.

"Does Nightwing ever replace Batman?"

"Yep."

"Does Batman die?"

"…yes." He answered slower.

"Does Robin lead the team?"

"…no." His smile fell.

"Why?" I could care less about Robin leading the team or not, but the way he said it. Like he wouldn't get the chance.

"You said yes or no questions cheater!" He put on a fake smile.

"Sorry." I paused. "Does Robin quit the team?"

"…no."

I knew the answer to the next question. I knew the answer but I still had to ask it.

"Does he die?" I looked up. He looked away from my gaze, I saw a glisten in his eye.

"Yea." He didn't turn back.

"Who else is dead?" I looked down, I wasn't joking anymore. He looked back at me, pleading. He didn't want to answer. "Tell me."

"Beast Boy…" He paused and sighed. "Zatanna, Kid Flash, Aqualad, Black Canary, Flash."

"I'm…I'm so sorry…" I put my head in my hands. And he didn't say it because he knew it was true. All of these people were dead because of me, because of what I would do. Because of what I would become. He didn't say it wasn't my fault because it was.

They were expendable.

I groaned and shut my eyes. Sometimes I felt that the scarab was me. It was taking over my body, my thoughts. It could make me do what it wanted, like during the explosion at Mount Justice. It was horrifying, knowing that something so evil was you.

"That's why I'm here." He was quiet now. It really was all a front, the way he acted around everyone. He had seen some terrible things in his life. More terrible than any of us could imagine. "To stop you."

"I'll do anything to prevent it. I will. I'm so sorry. I wouldn't ever- I wouldn't." I shut my mouth and pretended that it was all just a bad dream.

"I know you wouldn't." He scooted over to me and put a hand on my back. The dust swirled up around us, making the air thick to breathe.

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't say it anymore." He lifted my head up. "I'm here to stop this from happening. Don't apologize for something you haven't done. I won't let it happen. I won't. It'll be different…" He mumbled off and I couldn't tell if he was trying to convince me or himself.

It had to be different. It had to.

The scarab said nothing.