Metal Has No Heartbeat (A Blue Beetle/Jaime Reyes [Young Justice] Fanfiction)

One: From Heartbeat Music

"Hey mom."

The flowers in the vase on the bedside table are dead. Mahiko stares at them, fingers tapping nervously on the fresh bouquet she has in her hands.

"That sounds stupid," she scoffs, "Hey mom, like this is some tragic teenaged fanfiction."

She places new flowers in the vase, throwing the old ones in the bin. 

"Jaime tried to call again," She carries on like it's completely normal and the woman lying in the bed might respond, "I'm too scared to answer." Of course, her mother can't speak whilst in a coma. "And...Oh! Doctor Magnus says that the development of my powers is at an unsafe rate. Too fast. The other kids aren't a strong as me."

Mahiko's grey eyes stare down at her mother. The woman has the given traits of an Hispanic woman; tanned skin, dark brown hair and brown eyes. Yet her skin is dull and it has been a long time since those eyes have opened. They were usually wide and fierce, a dark shade of brown- almost red sometimes. 

Mahiko thinks they are what drew her father in.

Her father. 

Thinking of the Japanese businessman is a rare occurrence as of late, especially since it has a year now. His lie is that he is a danger to them. It is, after all, his fault her mother suffered a gunshot wound to the head. 

Run out of things to say, the Japanese-Mexican teen stays seated by the hospital bed in silence. What she wouldn't give to speak to her mother again, or answer one of Jaime's calls. Anything that resembles their life in Texas.

Eventually she falls asleep in Creeper's Point general hospital, as she has many times since moving there. Set on the coast, the beach lines the town and is the fruit of its very being. It is the home of brilliant scientist William Magnus and a safe place for Mahiko with her powers. 

He is the one to wake her up.

"Platinum," Doctor Magnus' voice stuns her through her com. Mahiko jolts awake, "Return to the Haven please."

Yawning and cracking her spine, Mahiko responds tiredly, "You got it Doc." The teen gives a last smile to her mother, before grabbing her skateboard and walking out of the room.

As usual, Mahiko wears her graffiti covered converse shoes and black shorts. Her top mirrors the graffiti style and hangs loosely from her shoulders to her waist, exposing her torso.

Her red-dyed sleek hair hangs straight as a pin, reaching her hips. She puts her snapback hat on backwards and throws her sunglasses on.  When she has her headphones placed over her ears, blasting songs by M.I.A, she races down the sun kissed main street of Creeper's Point on her board.

The group of kids who great her with shouts of "Hey Mahiko!" get racing fist bumps as she speeds past a café. People nod to her or shout at her as she streams past, heading for the town's coastline.

A dual cab truck drives near, the tray full of surfboards. Mahiko manoeuvres her board onto the road like it's nothing and grips the back of the vehicle, allowing herself to be pulled down the road along the shoreline.

When the dual cab passes by a set of shipping containers beside a grand beach house, she lets go and flies down the corner road, waving to the driver who beeps out.

"Open up Doc," she says into her com when the door to the shipping container-turned-lab comes into view. The heavy metal door swings open welcomingly.

Grinning, Mahiko does a board flip over the step and skates casually into the container, which is in fact, connected to eight more. The establishment goes fifteen floors underground as well. The real lab is down there.