Chapter Text
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"How's that feel?" Bruce asked, sitting on a hard wooden bench outside of a changing stall. The 12-year-old inside the changing stall stayed quiet, causing Bruce to glance towards the door. "Billy?" he asked, standing up and knocking lightly on the door.
"Billy, you alright?"
There was a small sound- a squeak, almost, before the kid sniffled. The door opened, revealing a child with short, messy black hair, bright, intelligent blue eyes, and cheeks tinged pink. Wrapped around his chest was a black binder, compressing his chest so that it looked flat.
Tears were beading in the corner of Billy's eyes as he sniffled again, looking up at Bruce before swallowing thickly. A small smile was on his face and he rubbed at his eye with his palm. "It feels great, Bruce..." he mumbled before his expression crumpled and he hugged the man's waist tightly. Bruce smiled softly, kneeling down so that the kid could hug him properly. Billy buried his face in Bruce's shoulder, gripping his suit fabric tightly.
"I'm glad you like it. Is the color okay? Thought a peach-colored one might work best for now since it's close to your skin tone," Bruce said, pulling back from the boy. Billy nodded, using his fist to wipe away tears.
"It's perfect- everything's perfect." he mumbled, still wiping at his eyes. "It'd be perfect if it was lime green with pink polka dots," he continued with a small chuckle. Bruce smiled softly, ruffling the child's hair.
"Good- now pull on your shirt, we got one more stop to make," he said with a grin. Billy nodded, tugging his bright red shirt over his head and following the billionaire out of the changing room. They left the store after paying and walked out into the mall- a tall, two-story building with a ceiling made of glass and escalators everywhere.
"So where are we going?" Billy asked, plastic bag full of his old clothes slung over his shoulder.
"You'll see," Bruce said with a knowing grin, to which Billy just furrowed his brow. He continued to follow the larger raven as they went up the escalator and turned a corner- where the elder stopped in his tracks. "Here we are," he said, and Billy looked up.
The sign was lime green and yellow neon, with the curly words 'Salon' lightning up and flickering. He wasn't sure why they were here- what was a salon for?
"I don' understand."
Bruce kneeled beside the boy, setting a hand on his shoulder. "I know that you cut your hair yourself, Billy. These guys went to school to do that kind of thing," he said with a smirk, bringing a loose patch of longer hairs up for the 12-year-old to see. Billy blushed brightly.
"Come on," he continued, guiding the smaller raven inside.
They stood in the doorway for only a moment before a man with sleek red hair in a dark blue v neck came over to them. "Howdy folks, how are you doing today?" he asked, directing hiis question towards Bruce.
"Just fine, thank you. We need a haircut," he said, moving Billy forwards slightly. The red-haired man glanced down at Billy and paled, eyes widening slightly.
"Oh sweetheart, yes you do. Come on, let's get that head of yours washed, hm?" he said, holding out his hand for Billy to take. "My name's Adon, by the way," he said with a grin. Billy smiled toothlessly and took the hand, allowing the stylist to lead him into the store.
Bruce followed behind from a distance, allowing the two to strike up a conversation. "So what's your name, dear?" Adon asked as he helped Billy into a chair in front of a sink.
"Mar- Billy..." the small boy said shyly, averting his eyes. Adon glanced at him, his eyes turning soft before a warm smile appeared on his face.
"Is that a name you chose?" he asked softly as he started to wet Billy's hair and lather soap into it. Billy nodded slightly. "Well, it suits you very nicely, Billy. Always better to be comfortable in your own skin than to be uncomfortable for someone else's sake, I always say," he said, continuing to wash the black locks.
"You don' mind?" Billy asked, glancing up at the red-haired man.
"What? Dear, of course not! It's your name, your life- it doesn't matter what I or anyone else thinks of you. Though, William sounds much more refined than Billy," he said with a wink, getting a small snort from Bruce.
"That's what the butler said too," he commented, looking through a magazine he'd found on a nearby table.
Billy grinned. "Alfred helped me pick it out," he said happily. "He said it was a name I could grow into."
"And it very much is, Billy," Adon said, wrapping the boy's head in a towel. Now, why don't you go sit over there and we'll fix what you've got going on up top, hm?"
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"What do you think Jason'll say?" Billy asked as he and Bruce climbed into the backseat of the limo. Alfred nodded to them in the mirror with a smile as they started off.
"I think he'll be proud of you, Billy. Proud of you for being brave enough to be yourself," Bruce said, leaning back in his seat. The small boy grinned widely, bouncing in his own seat as he watched the cityscape pass him by.
He never thought his life would end up like this- in the back seat of a limo with Mr. Wayne, Batman of all people, being someone he actually wanted to be. He'd been born as Mary Batson, daughter of the famous archeologists C.C. and Marilyn Batson, but it'd never been something that'd been truly him. When his parents died, he'd only been 7, and had jumped from foster home to foster home before falling through the cracks completely.
When he'd gotten his powers, along with a muscular, magical form that made him feel complete, made him feel more like himself than he'd ever felt before, he'd been determined to be more like this as his mortal self. Sure, he may not have the muscles, but he could still be the scrappy little boy he preferred to be rather than the little girl who was supposed to act a certain way, say certain things, and look a certain way.
Becoming Captain Marvel had sparked something in him that he realized had always been there. He was just thankful that Bruce had eventually taken him in, and more importantly, supported him in this.
The limo pulled up to Wayne Manor, the place he'd been living for the past week already, and Billy was already bouncing in his seat. Jason, the second oldest and one of the 2 sons living in the manor currently, (the other was Dick Grayson) had discovered the small raven on the floor of his bedroom, scissors in his hands and tears in his eyes as he cut half-hazardly at his shoulder-length hair.
The 15-year-old had scooped him up in his arms and let him cry into his frame, hushing him softly and holding him for what felt like years. Afterward, he'd sent the boy off with Bruce to get the things he really needed to get done- which seemed to be hair and clothes.
Billy slid off the seat when Alfred opened the limo door for him, his sneakers touching the pavement in front of the manor with a thud. He glanced back at Bruce, who followed him out and shut the car door behind them. "Why don't we go show Jason and Dick your new look, hm?" he asked, glancing down at the 12-year-old.
The boy nodded with a wide smile, following his caretaker up the front steps and into the large manor. As soon as he was inside, he was tackled to the floor by a large mass, slobber coating his face and making him giggle.
"Titus no!!" he heard a voice call out, and the large mass, who he now realized was the Great Dane Titus, was heaved off of him. The ravne sat up and wiped the drool off his cheek with another giggle and found Jason trying to wrestle with the large grey dog on the carpet.
The dog won in the end, plopping his butt down onto Jason's chest and pinning him there. "Okay, well that's just not fair," the 15-year-old said with a roll of his eyes, glancing towards Billy. "Billy! Dude you look amazing! Thank god they fixed your hair..." he said with a smile, sitting up and shoving the dog off of him.
Billy grinned even wider when the 15-year-old opened his arms and allowed Billy his turn to tackle him onto the floor. Titus started barking eagerly, bounding around the pair as Billy dug his forehead into Jason's small chest. "Thank you, Jason..." he mumbled as the elder sat up with the boy in his lap.
"Of course, little dude. I'm just glad you're happy," he said before pulling the boy into a headlock. "No more tears from you, alright kid? Or I'll call in the big guns," he said with a noogie to the smaller raven's head.
"Big guns?"
"He means ME!" another voice said, causing the pair to look up at the top of the grand staircase and see Dick, clad in full Nightwing gear, sliding down the railing with a laugh. He got to the end and flipped off of it, landing on his feet and barrelling towards the pair.
The boys let out a scream as the eldest raven tackled them, swooping them up into a bear hug and twirling them around. "They like to say that I don't have any powers, but that's not true you see! I can sense when my little brothers are despairing within a 500-mile radius!" he said with a laugh, getting a groan from Jason and a fit of giggles from Billy.
"Alright, alright, put em down, Dick. You have a patrol to do, I take it?" Bruce asked with a quirk of a smile and a raised brow.
"Oh right- Yeah, Blüdhaven's havin' some trouble and I thought i'd go check it out," he said, setting the boys back down on the floor. "Lovin' the haircut though, Billy," he said, ruffling the kid's hair before taking off.
Jason rolled his eyes with a chuckle, allowing Billy to help him up off the carpet. "That's Dick for ya. Way too much energy and nowhere to put it." He glanced down at the 12-year-old before grinning. "Come on, the PlayStation is callin' our names and I don't think you have a profile made yet."
Billy smiled softly to himself as he started to follow Jason up the stairs, listening to him ramble on about the games he had and what they would play. He glanced back down at Bruce, who gave the kid a thumbs up and a grin.
Maybe this would work out after all.
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