Title: (You Must) Grow to Love Secrecy (1/5-6)

Warnings: Potential spoilers for entire series and future episodes (yay head-canon ideas and guesswork!) Also, the comics, because they can actually tell us things.

Note: Hello both old and new readers of mine. A few weeks ago I began writing for Young Justice and wrote a story involving Impulse, who I stole from the comics. Imagine my surprise when people told me he'd actually be in the show. In another YJ story I wrote, I had a few team members make a booklet for a returning team mate to highlight a few changes that when on while he was gone. I started thinking: what if I had the newest members of Team do a survival guide for Impulse. And thus became this lovely monstrosity.

Title taken from "When I like people immensely I never tell their names to any one. It is like surrendering a part of them. I have grown to love secrecy." A quote by Oscar Wilde. Tim and Dick would have really appreciated Impulse having done that.

Check end of story for about a billion more notes.

Summary: It made sense to let the newest (and arguably craziest) Team members initiate Impulse. Kind of. Where Beast Boy, Blue Beetle, Robin, and Wonder Girl write a survival guide on Superboy, mangos, and not blowing up buildings, (unless they deserve it).

Disclaimer: I don't own, I'm unlucky like that.

Character fonts and ink:

Beast Boy-green ink, Blue Beetle-blue ink, (Robin)-red ink, Wonder Girl-orange ink

Impulse eagerly face plants onto his bed in the Cave, the first time he's gotten to sleep there in the week he's been in 2016, instead of the welcoming, although still somewhat puzzled, Allen-West household (best grandparents ever, although Bart is vaguely unsure of how much trouble this potentially lengthy visit will get him from his parents, who, for all intents and purposes, will actually be around in a non-wasteland future to get mad at his disappearance).

He blindly reaches for the off switch to the lamp on the desk a few inches away (oh, is that not a strange thing to get adjusted to, not having it shut off by command or clap) but instead brushes against what he will momentarily discover is a thick, dark green binder with a bright yellow sticky note that states Read Me in blue ink.

Impulse opens it, obviously, and faces a title page with doodles of smiley faces, hearts, and little squares that read welcome in loopy cursive in bright orange. At the center of the page is a bolded, glittery Welcome Impulse!

The following page reads (An Introduction) in red followed by green letters forming from the most AMAZING teammates ever! Underneath it goes...

(In light of recent events-)

A.K.A. Robin needing to tackle you to stop you from spoiling everything

For the twelfth time this week

We figured we needed to do this

Just to keep you alive.

Batgirl may still kill you.

We're placing our bets on her.

(-we've decided, for the sake of preventing you from doing something that could potentially alter the time line and force future associates into murdering you, to write this guide book. In it, you will find-)

All of our pretty faces.

Who is actually a member of the Team.

Things we've found helpful being the newest members.

(-all the materials that can give you an idea of what has happened up to this point, basically-)

A tour guide for the tourist.

A survival guide.

(-what you can and can not mention.)

Seriously, there is NO WAY I am naming my daughter that! I refuse!

(See, that is what should not happen.)

Various excerpts from the letter A.

Topic: Aqualad.

Robin's Summary: Kaldur'ahm, formerly known as Aqualad, and now living under the Black Manta alias; protege of Aqualad and Team's first leader. Skills include possessing superior physical capabilities and a competent use of magic that allowed manipulation of water. His subsequent weakness was/still is dehydration. While regarded highly during his tenure with the Team, the shocking death of Aquagirl and a revelation that his biological father was Black Manta led him to abandon the Team and consider them enemies. He is further motivated by the fact he blames the Team, specifically many of his former friends, for Aquagirl's death. Despite his previous loyalties, Black Manta will ruthlessly attack with extreme prejudice and has lost none of his former skills. Use extreme caution.

Why don't I ever get to write the brief summary?

Not that we don't trust you hermano, but between you and Robin, we know who'll actually put a relevant summary.

(If it's going to be an issue) (rest of sentence scribbled out by Wonder Girl)

No! You're the only one of us who even cares to get half of this information.

You guys have a point. My summary would have been: This is the former leader Aqualad. He used to be cool but he went mental over the loss of his fake-girlfriend and daddy issues. Now he's evil. And powerful. Don't let him kill you.

There probably would have been doodles too.

Yup!

Hey, can this be one of those things we can get spoiled if it's gonna change?

Agreed. Dude not wanting to kill us is something I look forward to.

(No!)

Guys! We agreed not to ask that in the guide to stop him, remember? We took a vote.

Fine, fine, no reality spoilers.

Sorry.

Topic: Aquagirl. Accompanying Image A is her three months before her death on April 3, 2014.

Robin's Summary: Aquagirl, informally known as Tula, was a member of the Team from November 2013 to her untimely death on a mission. She possessed similar, but stronger, magic capabilities as Aqualad and also had an electrical generation skill. Fondly remembered for kindness and loyalty. While the girlfriend of Tempest, Aqualad took her death the hardest. Tempest has no such ill will towards the Team.

(Best to avoid this topic at all costs, especially to senior members of the Team.)

Seconded!

Alright, I know we agreed, but you can tell us if she's coming back to life. This is too important not to learn.

(No, he can't!)

Blue!

Zombies?

No!

(You guys can't keep it together on the memorial page? Really?)

Hey!

(Wonder Girl excluded.)

Thank you.

I'm proud we lasted this long.

(Yeah, five entries. Be thrilled.)

I know you're rolling your eyes at me on paper!

And we're moving on...

Topic: Artemis

Wonder Girl's Summary (because I loooooove her): Alright, first off, she is amazing and has brilliant aim, even though she is mostly retired to go to college with also mostly retired Kid Flash. Most people don't know her secret identity (I'm special) so don't give it away. But she and Kid Flash have been together forever, so spoilers for them won't be as tragic or shocking. Right? Cause they can't break up.

If I can't write them, neither can she!

Wonder Girl, you're talented in various ways. Now give Robin the book back so he can write the summaries down.

No, I've got this!

Seriously?

Don't interrupt me, I wasn't finished!

Wonder Girl's Summary, part two, because my friends are rude: Just remember she's in her early twenties and still in college, alright? And her life is still a big question mark so don't upset her by saying how much you know. Cause she can kill you. But you know that by now, because she A-has to still be amazing in the future and B-you learned your lesson the hard way when it came to upsetting kickass girls with Batigrl.

Should I even bother arguing with this?

Back off, Robin didn't!

That's because he's smart enough to stay out of it.

There's nothing for him to stay out of; what did I say that wasn't true?

The rest of the conversation is peppered with games of tic-tac-toe in the margins with red and blue ink.

Topic: Adam Strange

Robin's Summary: A scientist who works with the Justice League in relation to Zeta-Beams and the leading expert on Rannian culture-

Beast Boy's Summary: He has a jet-pack, speaks gibberish, and could potentially marry an alien. I want to follow him around one day and write down everything he does. Then sell it. Or use it in my future television shows.

That's so wrong, it's almost right. Approval, ese.

Blue! We can do this and make you my partner. We'll even edit out the parts where you talk to yourself!

Do I have a role in this too? Female demographic would love me as a role model.

And they wouldn't love us?

Blue, maybe. You? No.

Sis can cover it for us. You stay away. Like Blue says, no me gusta.

I never taught you that.

Then television did; it doesn't matter where I got it.

(Impulse, please, I implore you, do not accidentally reveal anything to Dr. Strange. He'll take it too far and will be our prime example of you being too dangerous. So please, don't.)

Various excerpts from the letter B.

Topic: Batgirl

Robin Summary: Batman's protege, Batgirl's true identity remains classified.

Subtle, T-man, real subtle.

What the-?

Why did you call him that?

(...)

Robin Summary: Her skills in a variety of fields, such as hacking, gymnastics, and stealth, are top of the line, with her specialty being in technology. Batgirl commands respect and is one of the most prominent and successful members of the Team.

Basically, we think she's God, and you already got her steamed.

We know she is. She has powers!

(That above was a joke; please do not accidentally reveal her possibly getting powers or going through an extreme shift in skills.)

No duh it was a joke.

Well can you blame him? Impulse got so twitchy when he saw her walking around that she got suspicious. Don't let the Bat People get suspicious.

I don't understand why he was surprised, either. Maybe he just has a different Batgirl in the future?

This is the first one though, dude, so don't get confused.

Did anyone ever ask Impulse just how far he's from in the future?

(Roughly forty years.)

Then, another Batgirl makes sense.

(Yeah, but hopefully he won't shout, "You can walk?" at that one, forcing her to hunt him down and make him elaborate.)

That was hilarious.

It kind of was when she dropped down on him from the ceiling.

Did he ever tell her what he meant?

(I doubt it, Nightwing and Kid Flash pulled her away pretty quickly.)

Her right hook to them was awe inspiring though.

Yeah, if you get the chance, train with her. Everybody lives!

Topic: Beast Boy

Beast Boy Sumary: God, am I handsome. And witty. And impressive.

And egotistical.

Oh, big word!

This is going to be so helpful.

(I can't let this go on.)

Robin Summary: Beast Boy, age thirteen, powers to shift into any animal, including foreign, alien entities, although certain animals can cause more stress on the body and force him to transform to a smaller, different animal after a certain length of time and activity.

You make me sound so boring. I'm not going to waste my energy and zest for life on you.

Let him continue, and then you can scribble in the margins, okay?

Whatever.

Robin Summary: Due to genetics shared with Miss Martian, Beast Boy's powers created a shift in body chemistry, leading to his every day appearance and green skin. With the use of technology developed by such groups as Wayne Industries, camouflaging and holographs allow Beast Boy the potential to pass in human form for hours at a time.

I love animals and my sis, and I could have been in real trouble without the Team, so I'm grateful for all of this, even though it's kind of a pain not looking fully human. Maybe some day I'll have better use of my powers and body, and it won't be an issue.

(Impulse, that was not permission to tell him anything.)

Oh come on! He's already told me plenty!

Like what?

(That only makes it worse.)

Oh, by the way, I'm up to the boxing glove in terms of souvenirs, so don't tell me what else I pick in the future, cause then it won't be fun.

I like how that's where your concern is.

Topic: Blue Beetle

Do I need to do this?

Yeah! Or else he could accidentally tell you something that hasn't happened yet.

He specifically asked for you that first day he came. He knows something. Or a lot of things.

(We're doing it for everyone as a safety measure.)

Blue Beetle Summary: No one knows my secret identity, and I have a reputation for talking to myself only because the armor I wear has an independent voice that is really wicked. As in, let's kill people wicked. Hopefully, you can drop me a secret hint about that going away. I'm in my teens and if you, for any strange, future-y reason, have any information on my friend Tye, I would love to hear it. Thanks.

(Why can't you all do that?)

Oh, Blue, we never knew. Why didn't you tell us?

And what's wrong with this Tye guy?

He's still missing, and it's been three weeks.

(Break time. We need to learn more about this.)

Various excerpts from the letter C.

Topic: Cheshire

Why are we covering this?

Who is this woman?

(Classified; Impulse just needs to know a few key facts to prevent possible information leaks.)

What could he possibly spoil about her?

Robin Summary: Still married, one child. Better relations with heroes despite being wanted in four countries. Avoid topic.

She had a kid?

Someone married her?

So she's a criminal?

(Topic over.)

Topic: Clones

Nightwing Summary: Hey guys, great what you're doing for Impulse. But don't forget clones. Those on the Team involve Superboy and formerly Red Arrow. The original Speedy is still missing, so make sure to keep this subject brief. Alright? No idea what Impulse knows in the future.

(He needs to stop going in my room!)

So that's how he got this.

I thought we weren't allowed to use the clone word in front of Red Arrow?

Yeah, that was a part of initiation.

(I need to change the password again.)

Robin checked out. I elect myself to take his place.

No.

No.

(Someone distract Nightwing with something shiny while I take care of this and get the D-F papers.)

I'm not I should find this as amusing as I do.

Eh, they're good.

You have no clue how badly Batgirl has them under her thumb. Sometimes I just keep silent to see her own them.

And so ends part one of Grow; this will be the shortest chapter of them all; I thought of extending it further, but that would have forced this to be published about a week from now (I'm about to start the next chapter of my other current Young Justice story, We Were Once Perfect so potential readers of that, expect it soonish.) This is the first time I'm ever going to have multi-chaptered, constantly updated stories going on at the same time. I'm super excited. Anyway, updates will be on the slightly slow side with this for the next week or two, just because WWOP is a few chapters away from being finished, and I still need to pick some words the group will have to define (although my favorite is Property Damage). And other chapters will have much more than just three letters, but I wanted to get this out here before the next episode.

As for the character tags, this will eventually be placed as Impulse when that is an option. Until then, I've placed it under Tim Drake (because I shamelessly love him) and Cassie because she has some opinionated remarks coming up. If you liked this story, alert it just in case the tags change soon. God, life would be wonderful if there was just a Team option!

If you have any opinions or ideas of what else this motley crew should be commenting on, feel free to tell me so in a review or PM. I respond to everything and love all you readers, hit makers, and reviewers alike.

As always, have a lovely day, and thank you for reading.

Previews for future installments

This is a mango, aka the greatest fruit ever. If you see the kitchen stocked with them, offer me one ASAP. I love them and will totally remember this when I have to choose between flying you to safety over someone else, like Beast Boy. Or I'll remember not to drop you. MANGO! MANGO! MANGO!

Wonder Jerk!

Has she actually done that before?

(Yes, yes she did.)

Drawing of a heart in Wonder Girl's mango-orange pen.

Summary: Red Arrow

(Before I start this, can we all agree not to interrupt me? There could be serious repercussions for too much information getting out and fucking this up.)

You can swear?

You can swear?

You can swear?