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Chapter Text

Billy Batson was pretty good at sensing when he was in trouble. It wasn’t one of his superpowers, but just something that living in the foster care and the streets had taught him over the years. Fawcett City was no Gotham, but when you didn’t have anyone looking after you or a permanent roof over your head, you learned quickly to adapt and survive. One way to survive was to know when you were in trouble and needed to get out.

In Billy’s case, he had about ten seconds to get out of his tent and as far away from it as possible before something rammed right into it and smashed it into pieces. Billy, who had just been trying to fall asleep and suddenly extremely awake, almost stumbled on his own feet as he ducked behind a nearby pillar in case anything flew in his direction. The unused subway tunnels weren’t maybe the nicest or the cleanest place to live, but right now he was thankful for his surroundings. There were some spots to hide in, and also enough room so Billy would be able to keep his distance from anyone trying to attack him.

When he peeked around the pillar, he let out a silent sigh. His tent and pretty much everything inside it was ruined, bits and pieces littering the already dirty floor. Nothing in it had been too expensive, but for a twelve-year-old street rat, it was almost everything he owned. Raising his gaze from the floor, he only now noticed the figure standing nearby the ruined camp. The man looked quite ordinary. He was clearly much taller than Billy, who couldn’t wait until he was the same height as Captain Marvel, with brown, short hair and a messy beard. Billy didn’t recognize him, but there was something wrong with his eyes. Maybe it just looked like it because of the darkness of the subway tunnel, but right now it seemed like the man’s eyes were completely white.

Billy still wasn’t sure what had hit his tent, but there was no time to wonder about that. The white-eyed man was looking around slowly, and Billy turned back behind the pillar before he would be noticed. He could wonder about the man’s motivations and all that stuff later, once he was up at the streets and could transform. Maybe his next living space shouldn’t be this far underground. The subway tunnels were rarely searched, and no one cared if someone lived there, but it was also under a thick layer of earth, concrete, and other stuff that prevented any lightning strikes from reaching him.

He started sprinting towards the stairs. He glanced back once, and that was enough to make him run even faster – the white-eyed man had turned towards him and started running as well. Well, if there was one thing that Billy was good at, it was running. That had been his specialty even before he got his powers from the Wizard; especially useful when running away from bullies or the police. It took him only a small moment to reach the stairs and start running towards the surface.

What was happening? Was it a zombie invasion? He would have understood the police raiding the place and taking him with them. He would have understood other homeless people finding the blocked staircase that led to the tunnel. But this was some guy with white eyes who specifically rammed into his tent with absolutely no warning or reason, and was now chasing him up the stairs with determination in his blank eyes. Billy sped up once more and almost collided with another white-eyed man, this one blond, who gripped his shirt and pulled him towards him. Billy didn’t recognize this man either, but didn’t hesitate to kick him in the stomach. The pain didn’t show on the man’s face, but he did double over and his grip on Billy faltered just enough for the boy to back away and search for another escape route.

Before either man could reach Billy again, he saw the final staircase that led to the street above. This was the perfect time to get out without anyone wondering where he actually came from. Even if it wasn’t the middle of the night, people didn’t really use that street if they didn’t need to. The boy started running again. He could come back later to get the stuff he didn’t want to lose, but right now he just needed to get out and find another place to stay for a while.

The night air was fresh outside the tunnels. Billy took a deep breath after climbing over the warning sign blocking the entrance to the tunnels and looked back. Both white-eyed men were still after him, but they were considerably slower in their movements. Not “stereotypical zombie-movie” slow, just slower than a kid who had been running for his entire life. Soon they would reach the surface, and that worked for Billy. Now that there wasn’t a bunch of obstacles between him and the sky, he already knew what to do. He dodged behind a corner where curious eyes couldn’t spot him from windows and almost smiled to himself.

“Shazam!” he called out. It took only a second for the lightning to strike him, and then Billy Batson was gone.

Captain Marvel was ready to defend his city.

Except in this case, he was probably defending himself more than his city. He still didn’t know why Billy specifically had been targeted. He was pretty sure no one knew about his secret identity, and even if they knew, he would have expected something… more to come after him. Two zombies felt almost like an insult against him, even if he wouldn’t be able to transform right away. Unless it was just some freak accident and he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, something didn’t make sense here.

The zombies reached the surface and started looking around. Maybe “zombies” wasn’t a fair name for them, but Billy had no idea what else to call them. Neither had said anything so far, and their expressions hadn’t changed even once during the encounter. Maybe they weren’t decomposing or walking with their hands stretched in front of them, but until he had a better word, he would call them zombies. Now fully capable of defending himself, Billy stepped back to the street and took a closer look at the assailants.

He hadn’t been wrong – both men’s eyes were completely white. There were no irises or pupils: only that unsettling blankness that would have made anyone uncomfortable. Despite that, when Marvel entered their line of sight, they immediately turned towards him. They didn’t seem surprised to see him, but right now it seemed like they were incapable of expressing any kind of emotions.

“Do either of you have anything to say for yourselves?” Captain Marvel asked. Neither zombie moved just yet, but they hadn’t blinked even once after spotting him. Marvel wasn’t exactly anticipating an answer, so he was delightfully surprised as one of them spoke.
“Bring me Billy Batson”, said the one who had destroyed Billy’s tent just moments ago. Even though the words clearly came from the man’s mouth, something didn’t feel right – it didn’t sound like the words belonged to that man. Before Marvel could reply, the other one spoke as well.
“Bring me Billy Batson”, the man repeated, and Marvel took a surprised step back. Both men sounded exactly the same. Not similar, the same. It was like someone had a recording and played it twice from two separate loudspeakers. Marvel didn’t recognize the voice, but he was willing to bet that it didn’t belong to either of these men.

“Sorry, but Billy Batson’s unavailable. You’re dealing with me”, he said, ready to attack if either zombie tried to attack him, “who’s asking?”

Well, everything would have gone too well if he got an answer to that. Marvel racked his brains, trying to remember if he knew anything about anyone who either knew his secret identity or was otherwise pissed enough to send zombies after him. Captain Marvel obviously had enemies who wanted him gone, he knew as much himself, but he could think of only three people who knew his secret identity. Doctor Sivana was still in prison after their last fight, and even though he clearly had enough hate towards Billy to do something like this, he didn’t have the means. Captain Marvel made a mental note to check whether or not Sivana had been able to escape prison, but doubt plagued his mind. Another person to know about the Earth’s Mightiest Mortal’s secret was Black Adam. They had gone head-to-head multiple times, but last time they saw each other they had formed a truce, however uneasy. Marvel didn’t exactly like the man, but he knew him well enough to know that he would have come himself instead of sending mindless zombies after him.

And the last one was the Wizard, who didn’t have any real reason to do anything like this. If he wanted Billy to come to him, he only needed to ask. Not even that; his magic was powerful enough to call Billy to him anyways, and all this nonsense would have been needless. That left no one that Captain Marvel already knew, and just knowing that was unnerving.

Just as he was about to hope that the zombies realized the futility of their task, one of them dashed towards him. Marvel dodged just enough to get out of the way and grabbed the man by the back of his shirt, trying to figure out if he should go all out or not. These didn’t seem like bodies who had woken from the dead or anything – both were wearing clean clothes, didn’t have any injuries that he could see, and didn’t look especially… well, dead. If they were, Marvel wouldn’t have had to worry about hurting them. Now he didn’t really want to injure them just in case they were merely brainwashed and didn’t even know what they were doing. If that was the case, Captain Marvel could only hope that they wouldn’t remember this meeting if and when they became themselves again.

The other zombie took his chance and lunged towards him. Marvel spun around, still holding the brown-haired zombie by the shirt, and dodged. Still moving, he sped to the other side of the street and wondered if he should knock them unconscious. If he knew for sure that these men were attacking him by choice and not because they were mind-controlled or zombified or something similar, he wouldn’t have hesitated as much; it would be very easy to just knock them unconscious. He didn’t know how much permanent damage something like that could do, and he knew he’d immediately feel bad if these guys were just innocent bystanders. He would have gladly fought some sentient crocodiles right about now, just to avoid thinking about this.

While he was deep in thought, the zombie turned around in his grasp and hit him straight in the jaw. Captain Marvel hadn’t really worried about that – it was rare for humans to punch him hard enough to cause any significant damage – so the wave of pain that overtook his face took him by surprise. His grasp on the man faltered but he managed to not let go. When the man went for another punch, Marvel managed to take a hold of his hand and push him against the wall, trying to keep him as far away as possible.

“I’m asking you again. Nicely. Who sent you?” he asked, trying his best to sound intimidating. He had heard multiple times from some Justice League members – well, pretty much only from Batman – that despite his powers, he wasn’t really threatening when trying to intimidate someone. Captain Marvel disagreed, but he had learned very quickly that trying to argue anything against Batman was useless. And, faced with these emotionless zombies, whose white eyes were as blank as printer paper, he felt like maybe Batman was sometimes right. Not always, but sometimes. Maybe it had something to do with his costume. He really liked the colors and the style, but black would have been obviously more intimidating.

He didn’t get an answer to his question. The other zombie tried to claw at him again, and Marvel punched him to the gut so he’d stay down for a moment. If he couldn’t do anything that would risk their health permanently, he needed to find some other solution for this problem… especially since some lights had started to turn on in the nearby windows, and he could see sleepy faces peeking out to see what was causing the noise outside. One particularly grumpy-looking older man kept staring at him with vehement anger, and Captain Marvel couldn’t help but wave at him with a sheepish smile, after which he picked both of the zombies up and flew up, still not entirely sure what he was doing.

If they were just going to keep on attacking him, he needed to find a place to stash them. His first thought was the police station, but that didn’t seem safe. Not only because the officers would be placed in danger, but also because he didn’t exactly trust the police. He also didn’t want the zombies to blurting out his name to the FCPD, just in case they’d start to track down who exactly the zombies were after. His other options weren’t exactly great, but he just needed to hold them somewhere until he could figure out how to return them to normal.

And in case they couldn’t be returned to normal…

Captain Marvel shook the thought away. He shouldn’t think like that. There was always a way, and he was going to find it… somehow. He didn’t have a plan, but who needed plans? Not him!

He sighed, took a better grip of the struggling zombies, and decided to stash them in the only place he could think of right now: at one of the unused warehouses near the subway tunnels. Of course, they wouldn’t be completely safe, but at least he could block them in and really think about his next line of action without having to worry about them. As long as these two were the only ones after him, he could handle keeping them away from himself and all others.

It took only a small moment – Marvel flew them in, threw both men in one of the smaller storage rooms inside the warehouse and moved a huge, empty container in front of the door. It wasn’t a permanent solution, but it worked for now. He could hear the zombies smashing their fists against the metal door, but even if they could somehow get through that, he doubted they’d get through the container. Hopefully, they wouldn’t tear each other apart, either.

Captain Marvel sat down on the container and leaned his jaw against his hands. It was almost funny how natural it felt. He did spend most of his time as Billy, who was considerably smaller and thinner, but this grown-up body was him as well. When he first gained these powers from the Wizard, he’d had some troubles getting used to everything, but in the end, he had adjusted to it very quickly. Marvel leaned back, looking at his hands. Being a superhero would have been even better if he didn’t have to worry about some random zombies attacking him or worrying about Sivana breaking out of prison. Other than that, it was pretty cool.

And speaking of superheroes, he probably needed help with this case. He didn’t want to admit it, but this wasn’t something he could handle alone. If more zombies came after him, there was going to be a time when he wouldn’t be ready for them. He did have to sleep at some point, and it took only one mistake for those things to catch him.

Fortunately, he knew someone very good at solving mysteries.

Chapter Text

Batman had visited Fawcett City maybe two times. Once as Bruce Wayne, on a business trip that eventually led to nowhere; the other time as Batman, helping Captain Marvel with an especially annoying villain. That was the thing about the whole city. Everything felt annoying. Maybe it was just because he was very used to Gotham’s grim atmosphere, but at least there he knew what to expect. Clark would have called him paranoid – well, Clark did call him paranoid on a weekly basis – but that was just how his brain was wired.

This time Captain Marvel had contacted him directly. Damian had been the one to receive the call and quickly directed the call to Batman, who almost hoped it was just a social call. He didn’t not like Captain Marvel, but he wasn’t exactly quiet about how much the man irritated him. Much like his city, he was something Batman couldn’t read as easily as he did Gotham and its citizens.

And then he went on to talk something about some kind of “zombies” who were apparently roaming in Fawcett City. There weren’t any useful details or anything that Batman could have used to remotely check what was going on, so despite his mental objections, he needed to go there in person. Sure, he could have sent someone else there instead, but if these really were… zombies… then he needed to check the situation himself. No matter his thoughts on the man, Captain Marvel was still a part of the Justice League and the League helped each other. Even if this trip turned out to be a waste of time, at least Batman could say for certain that it was a waste of time.

Captain Marvel was waiting for him when he landed on a rooftop with the Batplane. Marvel had been adamant that he should get there as soon as possible, and didn’t even elaborate on the urgency. Thanks to this, Batman was feeling justifiably irked when he stepped out of the plane and walked up to the man. It was the early hours of the morning, and most people were still fast asleep in their homes. From Batman’s understanding, Captain Marvel wasn’t someone who operated mostly in the darkness, so the timing was pretty interesting.

What annoyed Batman the most about Captain Marvel was the fact that he had never, ever been able to figure out his secret identity. It was infuriating – he knew pretty much everyone else from the League down to their personal addresses and blood types, yet this guy managed to hide his identity so completely that Batman couldn’t even say for certain that he lived in Fawcett City. Ever since he’d heard the name ‘Captain Marvel’, he’d been trying to find out about his personal life, his secrets, anything he could dig up, and came up empty-handed. Everything he knew about the man was things that Captain Marvel himself had told him, and that felt inadequate, to say the least. Marvel was rash, childish and excitable, just the type of person Batman could usually read with relative ease… and still, no chance.

“Thanks for coming, Batman!” Captain Marvel greeted and stuck his hand out in greeting. Batman didn’t shake it and instead looked around. Things were quiet and peaceful, something he didn’t associate with a possible zombie threat. Marvel withdrew his hand with a sheepish smile.
“Yeah, the zombies. Well, I’m not sure if they’re actually zombies, that’s what I’m calling them. They aren’t speaking much and mostly just try to attack, so I think it’s kind of the same, right?” he said with a cautious smile, waving his hand towards the staircase.
“Where did you find them?” Batman asked and followed. At least locking the “zombies” in a warehouse had been a good enough idea: there they weren’t capable of attacking any civilians or causing needless destruction and panic.

“Some nearby abandoned subway tunnels”, Captain Marvel shrugged his shoulders as they descended. Batman raised an eyebrow.
“Did you receive a notice, or was there a reason for you to be in the tunnels?” he asked. He could’ve sworn he saw a slight blush on Marvel’s face, but if it had been there, the man was quick to hide it.
“I was patrolling.”
“In… abandoned subway tunnels.”
“Well, I did find zombies, so good thing I was there, right?”

Batman didn’t have enough energy to press for more information. He simply couldn’t understand this man. Despite the title, “the Earth’s Mightiest Mortal”, sometimes he wasn’t even sure Captain Marvel was actually a human. Clark seemed pretty certain of it, but the story of some wizard simply bestowing life-changing powers on a random man seemed pretty out there. Batman hadn’t voiced these doubts to Marvel himself, but every time something like this popped up, so did the thoughts.

When they reached the ground floor, Batman could hear a slight “thud! thud!” sound coming from somewhere. Captain Marvel gave him a meaningful look and walked up to a huge container.
“I trapped them over there. The container’s just here to keep them in for certain”, he explained, “I wasn’t exactly sure how strong they were, so I didn’t really trust the door to do the job. Or, I mean, what if they had some metal melting superpowers or something?... Well, I guess then they would have been able to destroy the container as well, so that doesn’t seem to be the case. Anyways.”

Captain Marvel kept talking as he lifted the container – which was at least four times taller than him and seemed to be made of some kind of metal – and lifted it like it was just a slightly heavy bag. This was one of the reasons why Batman really wanted to know more about him: if he were to turn against the League and humans in general, there were only very few people capable of stopping him. Learning his weaknesses was crucial in order to keep everyone as safe as possible. He knew most of the League didn’t appreciate his files on everyone’s weaknesses, but if the disaster were to strike, they’d have to admit that at least he was prepared for it.

As soon as the container was out of the way, Batman could see the metal door behind it. There were fist-sized dents poking towards them, and now that they’d made that much noise, the thudding just became louder. Captain Marvel took a deep breath and looked at him.
“I guess I’ll take one of them out and leave the other in?” he asked.
“That would be the best”, Batman replied. Marvel went to the door and opened it – as soon as he did it, a brown-haired man dashed forward and tried to claw at the man. Captain Marvel dodged the move and smashed the door shut before the other zombie could move forward. He clicked the door shut and watched for a moment as the door shook but didn’t open again.

Batman was quick to move forward, taking the brown-haired zombie by surprise. He kicked at the man’s legs, making him fall over, and quickly moved on top of him to cuff his hands together. The man groaned and tried to kick at him, but Batman was able to get the cuffs on him and step away.

“Could you keep him in place so I can get a better look at him?” he asked. Captain Marvel nodded immediately, grabbed the man’s shoulders, and pinned him against the floor. When the zombie tried to kick again, Marvel simply pressed one of his legs against the man’s feet to keep them from moving too much.

Batman crouched to really look at the man. Captain Marvel had been right about one thing: the eyes were incredibly white and blank. Despite the struggling, kicking, and fighting, the man’s face was remarkably emotionless like he wasn’t really there. Batman had seen his fair share of dead bodies, even some that were moving after their deaths: this didn’t seem like one of those. A thoughtful scowl crossed his face as he lifted the man’s jaw.

“And neither of them speak?” he asked. Captain Marvel was quiet for a rare moment.
“Well, not much. As much as zombies would”, he said. Batman turned his eyes from the brown-haired man to Captain Marvel.
“But they have spoken?” he kept prodding.
“I mean… yeah. A little bit.”

Batman really, really didn’t like the vague answers. Still, he turned his gaze back to the man on the floor and spoke to him instead.
“Who are you?” he asked. There was no answer.
“What are you?” he asked. No answer.
“What are you trying to do?”

“Bring me Billy Batson.”

The words came out clear and easy and sounded nothing like the grunts the zombie had made before. Batman saw Captain Marvel twitch the tiniest bit, but decided to concentrate on the brown-haired man first.
“Can you repeat what you just said?” he asked.
“Bring me Billy Batson”, the man repeated. Batman furrowed his brows. That wasn’t just repeating the same words – those were the same words. There wasn’t even the slightest change in the tone or anything about it. Someone was speaking through this man, and that someone had to be behind these zombie-like behaviors.

“Who’s Billy Batson?” he asked, but there was no reply. Apparently, the only thing the zombie could say was that one line, and one line only. Captain Marvel let out a breath.
“The other one said the exact same thing. And I mean, exact same”, he said when Batman looked up.
“So, there’s someone using other people as puppets to find this Billy Batson…” he mumbled and looked Captain Marvel in the eyes, “who is Billy Batson?”
“Sorry?” Marvel asked, blinking. Batman let out a sigh.
“You twitched when the name was mentioned. You know him. Who is he and why is someone after him?”

Batman could feel himself getting almost excited. Had he, by pure chance, finally figured this out? If so, this annoying trip to this annoying city would have been totally worth it. He saw the uncomfortable look on Captain Marvel’s face and was almost certain of his victory.

“He’s this kid who lives around here, I’ve seen him a bunch of times. I think he’s about twelve”, Captain Marvel explained, and the victory bubble burst. Okay, so they were talking about a kid. With his mood soured, Batman pushed forward, trying to hide any traces of the thoughts that had crossed his mind.
“And why would someone send these men after a kid that young?” he asked. Captain Marvel shrugged.
“Beats me. Fortunately, I managed to fight these guys off before anything could happen to Billy. He should be safe right now, but I’d really want to figure out what these guys are all about so nothing happens to him.”

Batman nodded, understanding the thought process. It was unlikely that these men would be the only ones sent after the kid if someone really wanted him.

Then another thought crossed his mind, and he turned back towards Captain Marvel.
“You said you found these men at some abandoned subway tunnels. Why in the world was a twelve-year-old in the subway tunnels?” he asked. Marvel’s sheepish smile was back.
“Well… I kind of keep an eye on many of the kids who live around here, and lots of them don’t really have any homes. Billy is one of them”, he said.
“What about the system?”
“I mean, sometimes the system doesn’t really work. I’ve seen it with these kids. Some of them just… don’t end up anywhere except the streets.”

Batman did know that the system was far from perfect. He had been fortunate enough to have Alfred and the whole Wayne fortune after his parents had died; he couldn’t even imagine what some of these kids had to go through on a daily basis. Still, he absolutely hated the idea of them having to live in abandoned tunnels and decrepit buildings. And someone was targeting one of these kids…

“I need to find Billy Batson”, he said.
“Bring me Billy Batson”, the man on the floor repeated once more. Captain Marvel nodded slowly.
“I can find him for you. I know where he usually goes when he isn’t… you know, where he usually sleeps.”

Batman nodded and started to examine the man once more. It didn’t take long for him to find a small, slightly purple bump on the back of his neck that didn’t seem natural in any way. He touched the bump with his finger - it was solid and hard to his touch. Without saying a word, he reached for a batarang on his utility belt and pressed the sharp tip of it against the bump.
“What are you—oh no, I’m not looking at that”, Captain Marvel mumbled and looked the other way as Batman pressed down. He cut the bump open just enough to prod whatever was inside. It lifted with more ease than he had anticipated. He put the batarang back to his belt, pressed one hand on the small cut and took the foreign object to his other hand.

“It seems like some kind of a metallic… bug?” he spoke more to himself than Captain Marvel, who finally turned to look at what he’d found. The brown-haired man stopped struggling shortly after, and Marvel lifted his legs slowly, watching if the kicking would start again. It didn’t: the man’s eyes had closed and he seemed to be unconscious, still breathing.

The bug, instead, was an interesting one. It seemed extremely intricate for its small size, and was shaped like an actual bug: it had a very sharp tip on one head, tiny metallic legs and a small blinking light on the side that wasn’t visible against the skin. Batman wiped some of the blood off. He didn’t recognize the craftsmanship, but this was very specific – not something just anyone could create. Apparently, it was also strong enough to make a grown man do its creator’s bidding remotely.

“The other person probably has a similar bug on him. Let’s get that one as well”, he said, dropping the first bug in a small vial he kept on his belt. He would need to analyze these things on the Batcomputer as soon as he’d have time for it.

Now that he’d found the first one, the second was easy to find. The blond man had a similar bug in the same place on his neck, and he went quiet after it was removed.

“So, these things were making them go after Billy?” Captain Marvel asked, looking at the vial.
“Most likely. We’ll see after they wake up”, Batman replied, putting the vial back on his belt and looking at the unconscious men. If he had to guess, they had been kidnapped somewhere and the bugs were forced in their necks. If they were willing helpers, there would have been no need for any mind-controlling devices. Captain Marvel had a small, relieved smile on his face, but it faltered when Batman threw a scowl in his direction.

“So, Billy Batson”, Batman said now that they had some time to spare, “where can he be found?”
“Ah, yes, that. Well, I’m not entirely sure where he’s at this very moment, but I bet he’ll show up at Betsy’s Diner in the morning. It’s just ten minutes from here and has really cheap food. It’s popular with these kids”, he explained, still throwing nervous looks at the men on the floor. Batman almost wanted to tell him to stop worrying – these men were obviously going to wake up sooner than later and there were more pressing issues to worry about. Most importantly, Billy Batson. Batman really needed to speak with the boy if he wanted to understand what had happened here.

“Can you find him? I think Batman showing up in the diner would just cause… unnecessary talk”, he said. He wasn’t sure what Batman’s exact reputation was in Fawcett City, but he didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to himself. Captain Marvel nodded.
“Probably. Where would you meet then?” the man asked.
“Somewhere close by: I don’t want to frighten the kid even more.”
“Well, there are some alleyways near the diner that are usually empty. I can ask if Billy is willing to talk to you there. I don’t think he’ll be too frightened of you.”

Batman almost smiled in amusement. Almost, but not quite. He knew his suit wasn’t exactly soothing; it was made to strike fear in the hearts of his enemies. Still, Billy had already seen these zombies and was living in the streets. Maybe Captain Marvel would be right about him not being too frightened.

“That’s probably for the best. You can be there as well, he most likely trusts his own city’s hero more than me”, he suggested. Captain Marvel shook his head lightly.
“I would love to, I really would, but I can’t. I have a… meeting I really need to go to, and I can’t just miss it. I’ll tell Billy where to meet you and he’ll most likely be there, he doesn’t need me with him. Speaking of which – I should probably get going. To make it to the meeting in time.”

Batman was incredibly close to prying more information about the meeting but managed to control himself.
“Fine. I’ll wait there for two hours – if you can’t find him, come tell me”, he said.
“Yeah, of course. But don’t worry, he’ll be there. Who wouldn’t want to meet Batman, right?” Captain Marvel asked with a smile, and with that, he was already gone. Batman hated the way most super-fast people liked doing that. Clark was probably the only incredibly fast person who didn’t just dash away without saying goodbyes or anything like that. Well, yes, Batman might have done the same to Jim Gordon pretty much every time they spoke on the rooftops, but that was different. That required more skill.

So… Billy Batson. A kid from the streets, now attacked by mind-controlled men. Living in the abandoned subway tunnels. No matter how Batman thought about it, it didn’t sit right with him. No kids should have to live that way.

Maybe…

No, first he was going to have to talk to Billy Batson. After that conversation, he could decide what else to do about the situation.

Chapter Text

Billy was pacing up and down the street near Betsy’s Diner. He was both happy and terrified of how everything had gone with Batman and the investigation. They had figured out the way the men were mind-controlled and kept them alive – well, Batman had done most of the heavy lifting on the research part, but Billy was still the one who had taken them to the warehouse. That was the good part. The absolutely terrifying part was how close Batman had come to realizing something way too real about Captain Marvel’s secret identity.

Billy sometimes considered telling someone in the Justice League about his true identity. It would have been kind of relaxing to have nice people who knew about him. Unfortunately, they probably would also want to kick him out of the League as soon as they’d learn he was twelve. The League didn't accept anyone underage into their ranks, so the minors usually formed their own teams - and even then, Billy was pretty sure the younger superheroes were all older than him. As soon as he’d mention his age or show anyone his real face, they would consider him a baby and ban him from any superhero duties. That was something Billy couldn’t risk. Despite the risks and the fights, being Captain Marvel was amazing and he wouldn’t have traded it for anything.

And now Batman was going to know about both his identities. Not that they were the same person - Billy had been happy with the way their conversations about Billy Batson had gone – but he’d know of their existence and that something was also going wrong with Billy. It was an unnerving thought, but Billy was happy that Batman even cared that much. He could have just shown up, found the bug, and left immediately. Instead, he wanted to speak with Billy, and even though it would be purely about the zombies and the attack, it was nice that he cared even that much.

After leaving Batman to the warehouse, Captain Marvel had headed straight to the subway tunnels and gathered everything important that hadn’t broken during the initial attack. He got his notebook, his tiger keyring, and an extra hoodie, which he swapped on immediately. No one – except maybe Batman – would search the tunnels anyways, so he could go back later on. Now there wasn’t any incriminating evidence of who he was, and that was good enough.

Billy took a deep breath and forced his feet to move towards the alleyway he had told Batman about. If he didn’t already know Batman and trust him well enough, he really wouldn’t have gone there to meet some strange, hooded guy with animal ears. He was twelve, but even without the Wisdom of Solomon, he wasn’t an idiot. Now he simply pulled his hood down and looked around, trying to find the black shadow he had spoken to just about an hour and a half ago. He could have gone there sooner, but also didn’t want Batman making any unnecessary connections between him and Captain Marvel – that had already almost happened, and Billy really didn’t want the same stress. Just hearing Batman mention his real name felt so wrong, it made him want to run away and hide behind a corner for another hour.

He didn’t have to wait long: after he stopped to look around, a dark figure descended from the fire escape stairs above. Of course he did. Billy couldn’t help but hold his breath as he saw Batman jump to the ground with a low thud, his cape billowing around him.

It looked really cool.

Billy wasn’t sure if he should speak first or not. Batman was very clearly assessing him from head to toe, and even though Billy didn’t really care how others saw him, he felt really aware of how shabby his clothing was. Thank goodness he had changed his hoodie when he still had the chance because the previous one would have looked even dirtier.

Sometimes he really wondered what was going on behind that mask Batman was wearing. He could only see the man’s mouth, and he really couldn’t even begin to wonder what he was thinking simply based on that. Fortunately, he didn’t have to worry about it for long because Batman finally spoke.

“So you’re Billy Batson?” he asked. Billy lifted his weight from one leg to another and nodded.
“Yeah”, he replied. His mind was buzzing with everything he needed to keep from Batman – right now he was just Billy, and all he had seen was the zombies attacking him at the subway station. Everything after that was something that only Captain Marvel should know. Batman took a couple of steps closer, but still left a safe distance between them.
“Are you hurt in any way?”

Billy blinked in surprise. He had been anticipating a straight-up interrogation immediately.
“Ah, no. I—I got out before anything bad really happened”, he said. He had never really noticed how tall Batman actually was. The only time he’d met other superheroes was as Captain Marvel, which meant that the height difference wasn’t as jarring; he was often even taller than others around him. Now he wouldn’t have been surprised if Batman was a whole two feet taller than him.
“You don’t have to tell me if it’s too scary to remember”, Batman said slowly, “but I was wondering if you could tell me what happened back at the tunnels. What exactly did you see?”

Was that… softness in his voice? Billy had never heard Batman speak that way. It wasn’t the same gruff, annoyed, and serious tone he was so used to hearing from the man. It was careful and almost friendly, and it jarred Billy more than anything. It took him a moment to gather his thoughts enough to even answer.
“I didn’t see a whole lot. I was about to go to sleep when I heard someone coming, and I managed to get out of my tent before something crashed into it… well, I guess someone. There was this man who tried to attack me, so I ran away. Then Cap showed up, so I didn’t really worry about them reaching me after that”, Billy explained. Batman listened to him without interruptions and nodded once he was done.
“You made the right decision. Staying there could have been really dangerous”, he said, “Captain Marvel and I are going to make sure nothing like that is going to happen to you again. Do you have any idea why anyone would be after you?”

Billy had plenty of ideas, but he couldn’t share any of those with Batman.
“No, not really. At least I don’t think so”, he said, keeping his eyes on the ground. Batman took a deep breath before he spoke again.
“I’m sorry, but I need to ask: do you really not have a safer place to stay at?”

Billy bit his lower lip.
“Not really… My parents died when I was very little, and I’ve been to some foster homes before, but none of them have been… any good”, he tried to put his thoughts into words. He had never had a good experience at a foster home. The people he’d been sent to were mostly after money and didn’t really care about the kid itself. Some had returned him to the system for being too difficult, or just left him after they got their own biological kid. Billy was no stranger to running away, and the last time he did so, it stuck – no one had been able to send him to another foster home.

Batman was quiet for a moment.

“Look, Billy”, he said and crouched on the ground, making the height difference much less jarring, “I don’t really feel comfortable leaving you on the streets like this. I know you’re probably used to living like this, but it isn’t something a kid your age should have to experience. If you’re willing to trust me, I could find you a foster home that would take care of you. That would also give you some more protection just in case anyone wants to attack you again. I have this one friend who would love to take you in, and you wouldn’t have to worry about being homeless. Does that sound okay to you? You could also meet him before you make your final decision, so you’ll have more time to think about it.”

It wasn’t the first time someone had suggested a foster family for him. Last time it happened things were almost okay for the first two months – then the couple learned they were actually expecting a baby. That baby was a miracle to them: they had been trying for one for years before they decided to foster Billy. Once the baby was there, it didn’t take even a week for them to return Billy back to the system. He wasn’t entirely over that one yet. When things had been good, they were very good, and that was probably the last time he had relaxed enough to hope for an actual family. Once he was back in the system, those hopes were crushed.

Still… this was Batman talking to him. Maybe Billy didn’t trust any random adults that tried to find him a place, but Batman was an entirely different story. Even though the doubts gnawed at him from the inside, he did know that he would be safer in a place with other people. He just wished that didn’t put anyone else in danger. Well, they were talking about someone who Batman called a friend, so it was probably someone who could take care of themselves.

“I guess I could meet him?” he replied after a long pause. Batman nodded, and Billy saw a faint smile on the man’s lips. A smile! On Batman’s face! He absolutely would have taken a picture to commemorate the moment if it didn’t seem like a total creep thing to do. Or maybe it wouldn’t be that strange? Lots of kids Billy’s age would have loved to take a picture with the Bat.
“That’s really good to hear, Billy. I’ll contact my friend as soon as I can and tell him to get here. I can vouch for him – he’s a good man and will take care of you. He does live in Gotham, but I’m sure you could come back to visit Fawcett City whenever you wanted”, Batman said and stood up once more.
“What’s his name?” Billy asked, trying to imagine what kind of friends Batman would have. He could only think of Justice League members, and even out of those, most of them couldn’t be categorized as “friends”. Now that he really thought about it, it was hard to imagine anyone being actual friends with Batman. Allies, yes. Associates, yes. Friends? Maybe it was because of the serious attitude and rough personality, but it was hard to imagine.

“You might have heard his name before if you know anything about Gotham. Bruce Wayne.”

***

“Father, is this some kind of a joke?”

Bruce wasn’t surprised by Damian’s reaction to the news. When he’d left for Fawcett City that night, he hadn’t expected to find himself a foster child – that was maybe one of the last things he could’ve thought of. But now that he’d met Billy and seen the danger the boy was in, he couldn’t help but believe that this was the best cause of action. Besides… Billy did remind him of his other kids. Thrust into a life that he shouldn’t have to deal with at that age, his parents were dead and he had no place to call home… Bruce might have gotten a little bit sentimental.

“No, Damian. The boy is getting targeted by someone who’s able to mind control other people to do their bidding – the safest place for him right now is at the Wayne Manor”, he said, adjusting the earpiece he was talking into. If he didn’t have to care about appearances, he would have met Billy immediately after he left the alleyway, but it would have been too suspicious for Bruce Wayne to just immediately appear in Fawcett City after that conversation. At least this meant he had the time to break the news to his kids and wait until the diner actually opened in the morning.
“That doesn’t mean the kid needs to be legally put into your care, for fuck’s sake”, Jason’s voice came, less annoyed than Damian but not even slightly more understanding, “you could have just taken him to the manor and kept him there until the whole mind control situation was sorted. It’s not like anyone would be looking for him, now you’re going to be stuck with him even after this mess is done with.”

“Jason”, Bruce scolded, “Billy’s been living on the streets. I don’t know for how long, but he’s barely twelve and needs help. Even if there wasn’t someone after him, he’d still need the help.”
“B, I get what you’re saying… But how are you planning to keep all of the Bat-business from him? He’s going to be living at the manor, after all”, Dick asked carefully.

Bruce had been thinking about that quite a bit, actually. He hadn’t done something like this before: whenever a new kid had entered the manor, they had either already known about Batman or were about to learn it. Now he just wanted to keep Billy safe, and a big part of that plan was keeping him away from any unnecessary risks that could come with knowing who Batman was and having to deal with that life as well. Billy was very young and didn’t seem like someone who’d even want anything to do with that life.

“It shouldn’t be too difficult as long as everyone’s on board”, he said and started walking towards the diner. Meeting Billy in a public, safe place was the best bet to make everything seem as safe as possible. Billy didn’t seem to scare too easily – the boy was way too calm for someone who had been attacked by two almost-zombies – but maybe he was just good at hiding those feelings.
“Meaning?” Tim asked.
“No speaking of working related things in the manor. If there’s something important, you can get down to the cave and have your discussions. Of course you can speak to him about superheroes, but nothing that alludes to anything more than normal interest. And don’t let him know about the secret entrance: even if he doesn’t know it leads to the Batcave, he will most likely get interested and try to get in by himself. There’s just going to be a clear distinction between the cave and the rest of the manor. We can make sure everyone knows the rules once we’re all at the Batcave, a phone call isn’t ideal for this kind of conversations.”

“So we’re supposed to cut down our communications by that much just because you don’t want to put him somewhere else?” Damian asked. Out of everyone, he seemed easily the most annoyed by this situation. Bruce let out a sigh – in an ideal world, Damian and Billy would have gotten along just fine… but this was Damian they were talking about. It wouldn’t be easy for him to get along with anyone.
“Yes”, he said firmly, “I know this is different than anything we’ve done before, but I’m asking all of you to just trust me with this, okay? It’ll work out.”

The line went quiet for a moment. Maybe Bruce was getting ahead of himself. Billy hadn’t even agreed to move in with him just yet, and after that they would have to go through legal paperwork to get everything rolling. Jason might have been right about them being able to just take Billy to Gotham without anyone really wondering about it, but he wanted to do this right. Billy would just have more problems in his hands if they were doing things the shady way, and that much stress on a little boy was definitely too much. Of course, he knew this was going to be a different experience for everyone in the house: mostly Damian, because he was the only one of the boys who still lived there full-time. Still, he also believed that things would work out if everyone put even a little bit of effort into making things work.

“Just let me know when you bring him home. I want to be there to make sure Damian doesn’t murder him in his sleep”, Tim finally broke the silence.
“I’m not going to murder a child, Drake!”
“That’s probably a good idea. I’ll come to Gotham as well, so he can meet most of us as soon as possible”, Dick said, and Bruce could almost hear him smiling through the phone.
“Well, I’m not coming just yet. I have actual things to do, but I’ll probably drop by at some point… if I’m not too busy”, Jason said.

“Thank you, everyone. Really. This means a lot”, Bruce said with a smile and stopped in front of the diner. Now he could take a better look at it: it had looked much older in the darkness. Now that morning had come and people started to move in and out of the doors, it did look like the kind of place a bunch of kids would love to spend their time at.
“Don’t worry about it, B. It’ll work out. I’ll let Cass and Steph know as well”, Dick said before the call ended. Maybe his sons had lots of differences, arguments, and problems, but one thing was certain – he wouldn’t have traded them for anything. Despite everything the world threw at them, they were still here and doing their best, and that was all Bruce could ever ask of them.

***

Billy had considered not showing up. He did mostly trust Batman, but the same couldn’t be said about Bruce Wayne. Billy didn’t know a lot about the man, but even he had heard the name before: apparently, Wayne was some kind of a billionaire in Gotham City. Why a billionaire would agree to foster a homeless kid, he had no idea. Maybe it could be used as a publicity stunt? A charity case? Then again, Batman had vouched for the guy…

He needed to stop overthinking before he developed a headache over this stuff.

Against all odds, he did show up at Betsy’s at the time he and Batman had decided on. By then it was already morning and Billy did feel better and safer in the coming sunlight than he did in the night. Wayne was going to meet him at the diner and they could talk about Billy’s future or something like that. It was hard to imagine that conversation going well, even if Billy tried his best and Bruce turned out to be an okay guy. Billy didn’t have good memories about the interviews he’d had to sit through to get assigned his previous foster homes, and right now this meeting was giving him a similar feeling of dread.

He was at the diner before Bruce Wayne. He ordered a juice and an omelet from Betsy, using the last of his coins on them, and sat down at one of the corner tables. He was one of the first people there; there were two older gentlemen sipping coffee at the front, and a small family had just sat down on one of the tables to eat breakfast. Billy didn’t feel especially hungry in his nervousness, and when the omelet came, he didn’t have the nerves to take even a single bite out of it. It was a waste of his extremely limited amount of money, but he found it hard to care.

Batman really wanted him to live with… a billionaire. Just the thought was unbelievable.

He was startled when a man in a neat, gray suit walked up to his table.
“You must be Billy, right?” the man asked with a smile, “I’m Bruce Wayne. Batman must have told you about me?”

Billy took a closer look at the man. His suit was way too expensive for a place like this: Betsy’s wasn’t even the cheapest place there was, but he had never seen anyone as obviously rich there. Just the watch on his wrist probably cost more money than Billy had ever seen in his life. His face seemed friendly enough, but Billy didn’t trust anyone that quickly, even if Batman vouched for them. Batman had told him a little bit about Wayne – he apparently already had like, five or six kids, but only one of them wasn’t adopted. Most of them were already adults, but the youngest was close to Billy’s age. Wayne was also an orphan but had inherited all of his parents’ money after their deaths. Billy couldn’t help but think about his own parents: they hadn’t had much to leave him after they passed. When he looked at Wayne, it was difficult to even think that they had something that big in common.

Still, he did know something about manners and hurried to stand by the table and stuck his hand out to the man.

“Y-yeah. That’s me. He did tell me a little bit, mister Wayne”, he said as Wayne shook his hand. It was a firm handshake, not the belittling one some adults gave children they thought would break under the slightest amount of pressure. Billy did his best to return the gesture, but his scrawny hands weren’t able to muster as much strength as he would have liked.
“You’ve got quite the grip there. And please, just call me Bruce – mister Wayne sounds a bit too old for my liking”, Wayne smiled as they sat back down. A waitress came by to take his order and Billy tried to guess how old he thought Wayne was. Thirty? Forty? He didn’t have any idea. He wasn’t even sure how old people thought he looked as Captain Marvel. After the waitress left, Wayne – well, Bruce, if he was really okay with getting called by his first name – turned to look at Billy.

“From what I understand”, Bruce said, “you might need a foster home. I heard you’ve been living by yourself for a while now.”
“Yes… I mean, I could still take care of myself, but…” Billy trailed off. If someone wasn’t after him, he could take care of himself just fine – the same couldn’t be said when someone might try to attack him whenever and wherever. Bruce nodded with an understanding look, even though he really, really couldn’t understand the situation.
“But sometimes it’s good to accept help. I don’t know what you’ve gone through, but I would like to help make your life just a little bit easier. It doesn’t even need to be anything permanent; if you decide that you don’t like living with me, I’m sure there are other options we can look into.”

And there it was – Bruce was already laying the groundwork for the moment he decided he didn’t want to have Billy around anymore. It was smart, really. He was framing it as nicely as anyone would, but Billy had heard similar things before. He didn’t say anything about it, but the words stuck to the back of his mind.
“And I would live in… Gotham City?” he asked. Bruce nodded.
“That is where my home is. I know it’s pretty far from here”, the man smiled apologetically and paused as the waitress brought him a steaming cup of coffee, “and I know its reputation, but I really think you’d like it there. One of my sons is your age as well, so it wouldn’t be just me and my butler keeping you company.”
“You have a butler”, Billy repeated. Of course he had a butler, dumbass. He’s rich, he probably had dozens of servants and everything like that. Bruce smiled a bit sheepishly as he sipped from his cup.
“Yes, his name is Alfred. He’s taken care of me ever since… I was younger than you”, he explained, and Billy could fill in the words left unsaid.

Billy picked up his glass of juice and took a sip while he thought about it. Leaving Fawcett City felt like a strange and unnerving thought. He had always considered this his city. He protected it and knew it like the back of his pockets. Leaving it behind and moving to Gotham felt like a huge jump, especially if he was going to move in with Bruce. Batman did say that Bruce probably wouldn’t be opposed to letting him visit Fawcett City as often as he wanted, and of course, he could still fly there whenever no one would miss him for a while… It just made things more complicated.

And yet Billy realized what his answer would be.

“I could still visit Fawcett, right?” he wanted to make sure. Bruce nodded.
“Yes, of course. It wouldn’t be a problem”, the man said.

Billy took a deep breath. If he wasn’t in this weird situation, he probably would have said no. If Batman hadn’t said anything, he definitely would have said no. Billy obviously didn’t know Bruce Wayne well enough to judge his character at all, but something about him just seemed… it was hard to describe, but something about him seemed trustworthy. Even if he was doing this out of pity and wasn’t even sure how long he was going to foster Billy, Billy was willing to take this chance.

“I mean… I guess we can try this out. If you’ll have me”, he said after a moment of hesitation. Bruce smiled widely and put his coffee cup down on the table.
“That’s fantastic, Billy. I’ll make sure everything is fine – legally, I mean – and we can leave for Gotham as soon as you’re ready. If there’s anything you need to do before that, that’s okay. You probably have things you want to bring with you.”
Billy almost said something about how he was already carrying most of his possessions but bit his tongue. He smiled nervously and felt his heart thumping in his chest. Wow, most of the time he didn’t get this nervous even when battling villains, but this was a different kind of nervousness.

He was actually feeling hopeful, and that scared him.

Chapter Text

The Wayne Manor was even bigger than Billy had imagined, and that was saying something. When Bruce first mentioned it, Billy had imagined something kind of big, but the actual thing was something else entirely. It felt more like a castle at first glance: not something a single man would own. It made him question how clean it would be since the entire place apparently only had one butler and no other servants. Maybe he had that many kids just to have enough hands to help him clean every day?

Arriving in Gotham had felt weird. Billy had flown many times before… just not in planes. Somehow being trapped inside a metal contraption felt more dangerous than just flying out there with no assistance. He and Bruce had spoken a bit more on the flight. Nothing too personal, and Billy got the feeling that Bruce was doing that on purpose. He probably didn’t want to jump into anything too fast, and Billy could appreciate that. Billy was a bit embarrassed to admit that he hadn’t been in school for a while now, but Bruce seemed to take that extremely well – he just smiled and said that they could enroll him to a school in Gotham after he was properly settled and the new school year started. It meant that he didn’t have to go to school for the next three months, so at least he had time to prepare for that experience.

Ever since school was mentioned, one thought had haunted Billy’s mind – he still had duties as Captain Marvel. Moving to another city already made things more difficult, and with school, he’d have even less free time. Obviously, he would make a portal somewhere in the manor and visit Fawcett City that way, but he’d have to be incredibly careful. If Billy went missing one day without a word, Bruce would probably at least be annoyed with him, at most he’d freak out and call for Batman to help.

That was probably something he’d have to worry about more once school actually started. There was also the possibility that he wouldn’t stay here long enough to worry about it.

Bruce’s butler, Alfred Pennyworth, was waiting at the gates as they arrived. Billy only had one backpack with him – he didn’t have anything else to take with him. Bruce hadn’t said anything about it, but Billy had noticed the look on the man’s face when he first noticed it. It had been a mixture of pity and understanding, and it made Billy’s skin crawl. No matter his circumstances, he absolutely hated it when people pitied him.

“Master Billy, I assume?” Alfred asked as they stopped by the gate. He was mostly bald, with some grey hair growing on the sides of his head. Even though he was clearly very old, he carried himself like a much younger man, and he had the poshest British accent Billy had ever heard.
“Just Billy is fine…” Billy mumbled, unsure if he should shake the man’s hand or not. Bruce smiled at Alfred and patted Billy gently on the shoulder. Billy was… unsure of what to make of the gesture, but let it go. Instead, he looked around the huge yard in front of the manor. There was a big fountain at the center, spouting water in the air. The grass was well-kept and tidy, as were the hedges and flowerbeds, absolutely nothing seemed out of place or uncared for.
“This place is huge”, he thought and was almost startled when he realized he’d said it out loud. Bruce and Alfred both turned to look at him.

“Just wait until you see the inside”, Bruce said with a smile, then looked back at Alfred, “so who’s home right now? We don’t need any big introductions right away, but I’d like for Billy to meet at least some of the kids.”
“Master Richard, Master Tim, and Master Damian are home”, Alfred said, glancing at back at the manor, “I’ve told them to wait inside.”
“That’s probably for the best”, Bruce sighed. Billy was listening to them silently. It was probably too late to back out now, and he didn’t even have a good reason for doing so. He was simply feeling nervous, and hopefully those feelings would pass as soon as he got used to this place. And if not, he would just fly back to Fawcett City. He had to remind himself of the fact that he wasn’t here against his will: he had chosen to come here, and he had a good reason for being here. Now he just needed to relax and just see how things went.

“Are you ready to go inside?” Bruce asked. Billy nodded and followed Bruce and Alfred to the huge front doors of the manor.

The Wayne Manor had seemed like a castle from the outside. Now that Billy was inside, he wasn’t sure that this wasn’t castle. Surely something this grand couldn’t have been anything less than an actual castle?

Golden chandeliers hung from the ceiling, lighting the entrance in a warm light. A couple of different corridors led to other parts of the manor, and Billy just knew he’d get lost the moment he tried to go anywhere by himself. There were some houseplants, all very well taken care of; so far everything had been so neat and tidy that Billy started to wonder if Alfred was actually even human, or if Bruce was lying about the number of servants he had.

Grand stairway led to the upper floors, and the walls were filled with old portraits of serious men and women. The biggest portrait was a family portrait: a couple was posing with their young son, and they were smiling, unlike most of the other pictures. The man in the picture looked a bit like Bruce, and Billy realized that it must have been his father. Suddenly the picture seemed much sadder despite the smiles… or maybe it was because of the smiles.

Three figures were standing near the stairway, talking to each other in hushed voices. When they heard the door open, all of their faces turned towards the newcomer.

“Hey, Billy, right? It’s good to meet you – my name is Dick”, the tallest of the bunch walked up to him with a wide, bright smile. He seemed genuinely happy to meet Billy. Maybe he was just very used to getting new siblings and really liked the process.
“And I’m Tim. I’ve actually been to Fawcett City a couple of times; it’s a pretty cool place”, another one said. Billy wasn’t sure if this guy was an adult or just an older teenager, but he was still clearly older than Billy or the last boy, who was still standing by the stairway.
“Really?” Billy asked, “I mean, yeah, it’s really cool. A bit different from Gotham, though.”

That earned a small chuckle from Dick.
“Yeah, Gotham is probably pretty different compared to lots of cities. Still, I think you’ll like it here. It might take a little bit of getting used to, but after that, it really feels like home”, he said.

The last boy still hadn’t moved from his spot. Both Dick and Tim looked at him, probably waiting for him to introduce himself. That moment lasted for a while, but finally the boy let out a sigh and walked closer to them. He made sure to keep a safe distance between himself and Billy as he finally opened his mouth.

“Damian Wayne”, he said. They were almost the same height: Damian was only a few inches taller than him. He was the only one who seemed entirely uninterested in this meeting, and Billy wasn’t sure what to make of him. Bruce seemed to notice the tension emanating from his youngest son because he quickly walked to them and put his hand on Damian’s shoulder.
“One of you guys can show Billy his new room, right? It’s the one that’s opposite to Tim’s and next to Damian’s”, he said, nudging Damian with his hand. Damian swiped the hand off his shoulder and turned around, already walking towards the stairway. Bruce sighed but didn’t try to stop him, and Billy noticed Tim rolling his eyes.
“No problem”, Dick said, turned towards Billy and pointed at the stairs, “most of the bedrooms are on the second floor, so they’re not very hard to find. We can get you a nametag on the door.”

Billy nodded slowly. He had only seen the entrance hall and the yard so far… but if everything was as grand as they were, he was excited to see more. It had been a long time since he even had his own, proper bed, let alone a bed in a house like this.

“Don’t worry about Master Damian”, Billy heard Alfred speaking to Bruce as he climbed the stairs to the second floor, “it’s how he is.”
“I’d say that was tame for Damian”, Bruce said with a low voice, and Billy couldn’t hear them anymore once he reached the second floor.

As he had expected, everything in the manor seemed grand. It could have been because he wasn’t used to things being this expensive and unnecessarily big, but he was sure other people would have agreed with him. Dick and Tim explained to him some things about the manor as they made their way to Billy’s room. Most of the left wing was unused, thanks to it being designed for housing servants. There was a big library on the second floor, and everyone was free to browse the books there. Billy wasn’t really into reading, but just seeing a glimpse of the library got him kind of excited.

There were rules with the bedrooms. No one was allowed to enter another person’s room without permission unless there was a life-or-death situation. Billy really appreciated that one: he didn’t have a whole lot to hide - well, nothing material, but he didn’t want anyone snooping around his belongings or barging in while he was sleeping or doing some Captain Marvel stuff. Bruce and Alfred did have master keys to all of the bedrooms, but those were apparently almost never used.

“So everyone has a room there, even if they’ve moved out?” Billy asked as they passed a room with Dick’s nametag on it. Dick shrugged.
“It would probably be pretty depressing if B didn’t find some kind of use for all these rooms. And besides, we visit pretty often – it would be wasteful to not have rooms for everyone.”
“Damian is the only one who lives here all the time”, Tim said, “and he’s kind of… territorial sometimes. Don’t let him scare you, though. If he tries anything sketchy, just tell Bruce and he’ll tell him off.”
Billy was kind of worried but still nodded. They stopped by one of the doors that didn’t have a nametag.

“And this is your room. It’s probably pretty boring right now – if there’s anything you want, just tell B. He’ll get it for you”, Dick said and pushed the door open.

It definitely wasn’t boring. Compared to a tent in the subway tunnels, this was a palace. There was a big double bed with clean sheets, a desk and a bookcase, a couple of cabinets, and a mirror so tall it almost reached the ceiling. Billy was dumbfounded as he walked inside and tried to take it all in.
“This is all for me?” he managed to choke out and noticed that his room had its own balcony. Its own balcony! He just needed to open the door and there was a little outdoor area he could sit at.
“Yeah, it is. And here’s the closet for your clothes”, Tim said and opened a door next to the desk.
“It’s a walk-in closet?”
“Yup. I don’t know how many clothes you have with you, but you can just stash them here.”

Billy felt his cheeks go a little red.
“I don’t really have any…” he mumbled, took his backpack, and placed it on the bed. It looked even more ragged than before now that it was surrounded by all this finery. It was strange: despite things being obviously expensive, they didn’t feel as cold and foreign as he would have expected, at least not in this room. He didn’t know what to think about the fact that he felt almost comfortable with something like this. Maybe it was just because he was seeing everything for the first time and everything seemed amazingly cool, but he swiped the thought away.
“Don’t worry about it”, Dick said with a wave of his hand, “we’ll get you new clothes at some point. You need to see Gotham anyways, so that’ll be a fun little project.”
“But that’s not today”, Tim inserted quickly, “today you can just try to get used to your room and at least some of the manor. I know from experience that that’s already a big thing.”

“Oh yeah, Bruce told me that most of his kids are adopted”, Billy said and sat down on his bed. Fortunately, it wasn’t too soft – after all those nights sleeping in a tent, he couldn’t have handled a bed that was way too soft. Tim and Dick nodded in unison.
“I was the first he adopted. I think it was…” Dick started to count something with his fingers, made a face, and shook his head, “okay, way too many years ago, I feel too old just thinking about it. But Damian’s the only biological kid, and even he’s been here just about four years.”
“Really? Where was he before?” Billy asked. Dick and Tim switched glances before Tim answered.
“He grew up with his mother before he came here. She… gave the custody to Bruce.”
“But it all worked out”, Dick smiled, leaning against the desk. Billy nodded. He didn’t want to prod too much; he knew things about family and anything related to it could become messy very quickly. He didn’t have much experience with this “family” thing, but at least he knew that much.

“Can I ask you something? Actually, two questions” he changed the subject.
“Of course!”
“What color was Alfred’s hair before it went grey?”
“Um… I think it was black. Why?”
“Is having black hair some kind of weird prerequisite for living here?”

***

Bruce didn’t have to look for Damian for long – he knew instantly where the boy had gone after his first meeting with Billy. He hadn’t expected them to become friends at first sight, but he had hoped for a little more effort on Damian’s part. He wasn’t going to be too harsh about it. He remembered all too clearly Damian’s first meeting with Tim especially and decided to be glad that Damian had already grown so much that something similar was extremely unlikely to happen. Besides, these circumstances were different. Billy wasn’t going to become the next Robin. Damian was Robin right now, and nothing was going to change that fact.

But Damian could be pretty damn insecure about that, and Bruce wanted to make everything clear. Dick and Tim were with Billy right now, so Bruce set the hands of the study’s grandfather clock to 10:48 and stepped into the elevator.

The boy was hunched over the Batcomputer, going through some files Bruce had assigned to him just a couple of days ago. He didn’t turn around when Bruce arrived, although he obviously knew his father was present.
“Any first impressions of Billy?” Bruce asked. Damian stopped scrolling but didn’t turn around.
“Kind of shifty. Scrawny. Wouldn’t do anyone any good in a fight. A goody-two-shoes. I’m going to need to monitor him more to really understand what’s going on with him”, the boy replied after a moment of thought.
“You’re not going to monitor him, Damian. He’s here because he’s in a bad situation in Fawcett and really needed someone to take care of him. Let’s not make him unnecessarily uncomfortable, okay?” Bruce sighed and leaned against the table. Damian finally gave up and turned to look at Bruce.

“I just still can’t understand why you need to be the one to take him in, father”, he said, clearly more frustrated than actually angry, “we already have enough people staying here, and now we can’t even discuss important information anywhere in the manor. It’s only going to hinder the work we do. You could have found him another place to stay at.”
“This is the safest place for him if anyone tries to get to him again. The last time he was saved by Captain Marvel, but something that lucky isn’t going to happen every time. Here we can help right away if someone tries to break in and get him.”
Damian wasn’t pleased, but this time he didn’t continue arguing. Bruce had no doubts that more complaints would flow in later, but at least the boy was trying. If he had tried to bring Billy to live with them even a year ago, everything would have been completely different… to the point that he probably wouldn’t have brought Billy there.

“What are you going to do if he accidentally finds the Batcave? Or if someone slips up and talks about anything work-related near him? When Todd gets here, that gets much more likely”, he noted. Bruce was trying his best to read Damian’s tone of voice. It didn’t sound like he was vehemently against having a new person living in the manor, but the irritation was clear to anyone who possessed ears or eyes.
“I trust Jason. And if Billy somehow finds out, we’ll deal with it then. He’s already met Batman once and trusted him enough to get introduced to Bruce Wayne. What’s this really about, Damian? I know this makes things different, but down here, things don’t really change.”

Damian leaned back on his chair.
“There are just so many risks to consider. I know you didn’t find him stealing your tires or anything like that, but we still don’t know much about him. Plus, what if whatever or whoever is after him tries to attack the manor and finds out something about our operations? In the worst-case scenario, this might compromise everything”, he said, keeping his eyes on Bruce. It wasn’t something that Bruce hadn’t considered before, and he should have guessed Damian was worried. No one liked the unknown, and Damian in particular had very limited patience for it.
“You’re right about many things, but we also need to believe in ourselves. The manor has been attacked multiple times before, yet no one has found out about us in the process. And true, we don’t know much about Billy yet. He’s told me some things, but we should make a background check on him: I don’t think there will be anything to be worried about, but it’s always good to be informed.”

This seemed to cheer Damian up a little bit. He straightened in his chair and swirled back towards the computer.
“I can take care of that, father. If it’s okay”, he added quickly. Bruce thought about it. He wasn’t sure what they could find just by searching the internet. Billy was still very young and probably didn’t have lots of information on him anywhere – maybe a list of foster homes he’d been in, something similar. He wasn’t sure if Billy would appreciate Damian of all people looking into him, but… even if he said no, Damian would probably still do it. At least this way Bruce would be able to monitor whatever Damian found out.
“As long as you share your findings with me, and no one else – we can still respect Billy’s privacy in some ways. And whatever you find, don’t use it as a weapon against him. He’s grown up on the streets and been in many foster homes, and I think that might be something he really doesn’t like talking about all that much”, Bruce conceded.
“Deal”, Damian said and his fingers slid to the keyboard. Bruce leaned over and pushed the boy away from the computer.

“But not today. Especially not right now. Go and join them, at least for a little while. If not for Billy, then for me”, he said and turned the chair Damian was sitting on. Damian made a face and jumped up from the chair.
“Fine. But don’t expect me to be instant best friends with him”, he said and started walking towards the elevator.
“Just well-behaved acquaintances would be fine for now”, Bruce called after him. He didn’t get a reply.

Chapter Text

It took Billy a long moment to remember where he was when he woke up the next morning. He had been pretty sure he’d be unable to fall asleep – everything was exciting and new and kind of scary, and those things should have kept him awake… Except the moment his head hit the pillows, he was already asleep. He had forgotten how long his day had actually been: he hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before, and it was catching up. It was the most comfortable bed he had ever slept in, so soft and warm that he never wanted to get up. So even after he woke up, he stayed in bed and just curled into the duvet. The blinds on the windows were closed, and it kept most of the sunlight out; only small strands of light escaped into the room.

Maybe he fell asleep again at some point because suddenly he startled when there was a knock on the door. He didn’t get up from the bed, but rolled around so he was facing the offending door.
“Are you awake, Master Billy? May I come in?” Alfred’s voice came from the other side. If Billy knew him better and wasn’t afraid of sounding unnecessarily rude, he might have declined. This time he yawned and turned to lay on his back.
“Yeah”, he said. The door opened slowly, and Billy covered his eyes, shielding himself from the lights. Alfred stepped inside and, without a warning, flicked the lights on. Billy was thankful to be already shielding his eyes because otherwise he felt like he might have gone blind.

“It’s so bright…” he mumbled and turned around once more, this time to lay on his stomach, his face against one of the pillows. There were actually four pillows on the bed: two two-pillow stacks, so that no matter how much Billy turned and rolled in his sleep, he would always have a pillow under his head.
“That tends to happen during the morning, yes”, Alfred said as he walked over to the windows and pulled the blinds open, “I do apologize if you’re not used to waking up at this time but Master Bruce would like for you to have breakfast with him and the others. Breakfast is not always eaten together, but this is a special occasion.”

Billy nodded slowly and finally uncovered his eyes. He hadn’t been dreaming; he really was in the Wayne Manor. He rose up sat on the edge of the bed, looking somewhat lost.
“Do I have to… like, put on proper clothes or something?” he asked. He had this image on his head, of him having to dress to his very best each morning just to have breakfast. He had seen the suit Bruce had been wearing the day before – was that something he really wore every day? Didn’t it get really stuffy in warm weather? Alfred shook his head.
“Nothing “proper”, if you do not wish so, Master Billy. Pajamas are an acceptable choice of clothing. I believe I haven’t seen Master Richard wear anything else to the breakfast for at least seven years”, Alfred said with a slight smile.
“Okay… I’ll just go in these, then”, he said and got up. He hadn’t owned pajamas, so Bruce had gifted him with a pair that probably had belonged to one of his kids before. They were yellow and smelled fresh even after a night of sleeping.

Billy ran a comb through his hair before heading out the door. They had shown him the dining room yesterday, but Billy couldn’t for the life of him remember which direction he should go to. Alfred probably sensed his hesitation since the butler was immediately by his side.
“I can show you to the dining room, if you’d like?” the offered.
“Yes, please”, Billy smiled nervously.

Maybe one day he’d learn how to navigate this entire manor; maybe he’d get kicked out before that. Billy didn’t want to think too far into the future, so he tried to push those thoughts out of his mind and simply followed Alfred downstairs.

He was the last one to arrive. Everyone was settled on their seats at the long dinner table with so many chairs that they definitely couldn’t fill all of them. Dick waved at Billy with a smile on his face. The plate in front of him was filled to the brim with food.
“Morning, Billy”, Tim said as Alfred showed Billy an empty seat he could take over. There was probably some unsaid sitting order he wasn’t aware of, but he wouldn’t have to worry about it if this was now his seat. It wasn’t right next to or opposite to anyone, but Damian was close enough to shoot him a glare from the other side of the table and make it feel like Billy should have sat further away. He almost stood up, but Bruce threw a warning glare in Damian’s direction and the boy looked away.

He’d only met the others briefly, but he kind of liked them – or at least he liked Dick and Tim. Both had been extremely welcoming and nice from the start, and Billy didn’t get the feeling that it was just because Bruce had told them to be nice. In Damian’s case… well, the jury was still out on that one. Yesterday he’d showed up at Billy’s room while Dick and Tim were still explaining things, and the only thing he’d done was stand there and simply glare at Billy. It was… kind of unnerving, to say the least.

“Did you sleep well? It’s probably weird sleeping in an entirely new place after a day like that”, Bruce said and took a bite of his scrambled eggs. Before Billy could even wonder if he should get his plate by himself or anything similar, Alfred appeared once again and put a food-filled plate before him. Two fried eggs, few slices of bacon, and a toasted muffin with butter on top.
“If you prefer a vegan or vegetarian breakfast or have any other preferences, feel free to tell me at any point”, the butler said, filling Billy’s glass with water. There were other drinks on the table; Dick had a cup of coffee next to his food, and Damian seemed to be drinking tea. Billy probably could have asked for either of those, but he was already getting kind of overwhelmed by his options, so the water was the safest choice right now.
“This is good. Really good. Thanks, Alfred”, he said and smiled at the older gentleman. Alfred bowed with a smile and disappeared towards the kitchen.

“And yeah”, Billy remembered Bruce’s question just a few moments later, “I slept really well. That bed is amazing – I don’t think I’ve ever slept on anything that nice!”
“That is a big compliment. Let’s hope it’s not just because it was the first night and everything”, Dick smiled, mouth half-stuffed with food. Billy took a bite of his muffin and almost melted away at the first taste. Betsy’s Diner served pretty good food, but this was entirely on a different level. The muffin was just so delightfully warm and fluffy, Billy could have eaten twelve of those right now. He wouldn’t, because, manners and all, but he could’ve, you know? It was so good that he didn’t even mind the cold glare from Damian’s general direction.

“Today you can just relax and get to know the place. I have some work to take care of later, but Alfred and the boys will be here to help you get somewhat familiar with everything”, Bruce said after a long sip of coffee. Billy managed a nod only after devouring the rest of the muffin in a manner of seconds. He had considered trying to follow some kind of table manners, but those thoughts had vaporized the moment the muffin had touched his tongue. The rest of the food didn’t disappoint; Alfred was probably some kind of a magician, there was no other explanation. There was no other way to make food this simple taste this good. His magic powers must have been at least equal to Billy’s!

“So, Billy”, Dick said, this time with no food in his mouth – Billy sneaked a glance at the man’s plate, and sure enough, it was already almost empty. Billy swallowed a piece of bacon before answering.
“Yeah?”
They had spoken yesterday, but most of the conversation had been Tim and Dick trying to explain the basics of the Wayne Manor to Billy without overwhelming him. Billy appreciated it, even though he knew he wouldn’t remember even half of the things they had discussed.
“Tell us something about yourself. What’s your favorite color?” he asked. It was a really mundane question, and Billy had anticipated something different. He tried to hide his confusion.
“Um… I guess red? It’s a cool color”, he said and stabbed the fried egg on his plate with a fork.
“Oh, like Captain Marvel? His suit is mostly red”, Dick pointed out and had Billy put the piece of egg in his mouth even a little bit sooner, he probably would have choked on it.

“Well, yeah, a little bit. He’s one of the coolest superheroes”, he said with a small smile.
“And you’re both from Fawcett City! Have you seen him often?” Dick asked.
“Sometimes. He’s pretty busy with everything, so it’s kind of hard to see him often”, Billy said, hoping to make Captain Marvel sound even cooler than he already was. Before the zombie situation, Fawcett City had been quieter than usual. It was good for the people living there and all, but it had also meant that Cap hadn’t had much crime-fighting to do… so no, lately he hadn’t been too busy.
“You like superheroes, Billy?” Tim asked this time, leaning forwards on the table. Billy could have sworn he saw Bruce’s expression turn just a bit sour, but maybe he just wasn’t into superhero things. Older adults were often boring like that.

“Yeah. I don’t really have much merch, but I got a Superman pin a little while ago. He’s one of my favorites”, he explained. Joining the Justice League may have changed Billy’s opinion on some heroes, but Superman wasn’t one of them. It was the opposite; Superman was one of the coolest and nicest people he had ever met, and teaming up with him always felt like the greatest honor anyone could have. Not many people got the chance to work with someone they admired that much.
“Hey, same: Superman is awesome. It’s really hard not to like the guy”, Dick said. For a moment Billy wondered if he was just saying that to be nice, but the guy’s voice sounded genuine. Well, as he had said, everyone liked Superman for a good reason.
“He is. Superboy as well”, Tim said with a slight smile.

Billy wasn’t as familiar with younger superheroes. He really enjoyed being in the Justice League, but sometimes he just really wanted to spend time with others who were closer to his age. There were just no good excuses for him to go with them. To everyone else, it seemed like Captain Marvel was much older than any Teen Titans member, and that meant that he should spend his time with the other adults. At least now he had Damian living under the same roof, even though it seemed like the boy still hadn’t talked to him even once without someone pressuring him to do so.

“I guess so? I mostly know about the main Justice League members”, Billy said, hoping that his words wouldn’t offend anyone. Tim didn’t seem to mind.
“Yeah, they are the big names. And they get all the merch too. Maybe once you get to go shopping for new clothes and stuff for your room, you can get some superhero stuff there”, he suggested. Billy felt his stomach twirl a little – the thought was exciting, but spending someone else’s money on something as frivolous as superhero merch felt wrong. Bruce clearly had the money for it and something like that wouldn’t bleed him dry, but saving every penny was something he’d done as long as he could remember.

They continued talking for at least half an hour. Damian disappeared from the table during the next ten minutes, but everyone else stayed. The subjects changed from superheroes to Fawcett City sights, to things Billy should experience in Gotham and so forth. Billy didn’t even realize how much time had passed until Bruce looked at the clock and stood up.
“Ah, look at the time. I need to go to work; remember what I said in case you need anything?” he asked from Billy.
“Alfred and the others can help me”, Billy repeated and nodded. Bruce gave him a smile and left the room. No one was eating anymore, and Alfred had collected the empty dishes from the table. Billy got up from his chair and the others followed suit.
“You remember where my door is if you need anything? Just knock and I’ll answer”, Dick said as he passed by and left for the stairway.

“I think I just want to lay down for a while”, Billy said, hesitated and turned towards Alfred, “mister P—I mean Alfred, is it okay if I have some kind of… sign or something on my door, just something that could tell others that I want to be alone for a while? I don’t mean it in a rude way, but I’m kind of used to being alone, and this is all really nice, but it’s also kind of overwhelming—”
“It’s fine, Master Billy. I’ll make something for you – although we do have the rule about knocking and waiting before entering”, Alfred spoke over him. Billy nodded.
“But I really do mean it. All of this is… nice. I didn’t really expect it”, he said, realized how rude it may have sounded and hurried to fix it, “none of you seemed mean or scary or anything, but I wouldn’t expect this from any foster family, I mean! It’s kind of different.”
“That’s good to hear, Master Billy”, Alfred replied, his voice softer than earlier. For a brief moment, he almost sounded his age.

***

Bruce was in a good mood as he entered the Batcave. It was so nice to see Billy getting along with the others; Bruce had been worried that the change of scenery might be too much in such short notice. Billy was handling it all extremely well, and if everything continued this way, they’d have nothing to worry about. Sure, this was just the first full day, but Bruce was feeling uncharacteristically optimistic.

Damian was once more sat in front of the Batcomputer.
“Thank you”, Bruce said as he passed the chair. Damian turned around and threw him a confused look.
“What are you thanking me for, father?” he asked.
“For keeping your promises about Billy. It means a lot”, Bruce explained. He stopped by the computer.
“I keep my promises”, Damian said slowly, “and I’m about to start my research on him. Then we’ll see if there’s anything he’s hiding.”

Bruce managed to hold in a big sigh and instead just shook his head.
“Well, I did give you permission for that. But I have something else I want to look into – do you mind?” he asked, nodding towards the chair. Damian scoffed but got up. Bruce sat down and started clicking through the screen.
“Let’s see if we can find who made those mind-controlling bugs. They aren’t exactly something you can buy at any corner store, but with luck, there’s something to identify the person who made them”, he said. Sometimes people were even arrogant enough to leave their signature in their creations.
“Do you think there’s a reason for them to be shaped like bugs?” Damian asked. His eyes were fixed on the screen as Bruce pulled up a virtual model of the bug.
“Personal preference?” Bruce suggested and flipped the model around, zooming in even more. Even without the help of computers, anyone could have seen how intricate and well-made the bugs were; seeing them on a large screen was a whole other story.

“A bug-themed supervillain?” Dick’s voice came from behind. Damian looked at the man and shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s possible. Who knows what kind of freaks live in Fawcett City?”
“Are you calling the culprit a ‘freak’ because he’s possibly animal-themed? That’s a bit hypocritical.”

Bruce tuned the others out for a moment and just concentrated on the bug. It worked with electricity but didn’t seem to transmit any kind of signals that could be followed. Bruce frowned: why was there a blinking light on the bug’s stomach, but no signal? He would have imagined that anyone who went so far as to create these kinds of mind-control devices would like to keep a better eye on them. Even if they knew that signals could be possibly tracked down to their source and so used against their creator, it seemed like a risky bet.

“Are the legs functional or just for show?” Damian asked, leaning closer to the screen.
“They are functional. I thought maybe they could be remotely controlled, but even then, there should be some kind of signal or connection between this bug and the person who’s controlling them. There’s just nothing like that”, Bruce sighed, “they just kept repeating their instructions when I spoke to them. Here, I’ll play it for you.”
Bruce clicked the screen a couple more times until a sound file came up.

“Bring me Billy Batson”, came the unknown voice from the speakers. Damian and Dick furrowed their brows in sync.
“That’s all either of them said?” Dick asked.
“Yes. And that is exactly what they said. Both had the same voice and always sounded the exact same when they spoke”, Bruce explained. At least after the bugs had been extracted and the men had woken up again, they didn’t seem to have any lasting damage from the whole ordeal. Both claimed to not remember what they’d been doing during the night, and Bruce didn’t have any reason not to believe them.
“So… whoever’s behind this only gave them the order and unleashed them in the city? Maybe then they wouldn’t require a signal, at least one that goes all the way back to the person behind this”, Dick suggested. Bruce thought about it for a while – that was a real possibility.

“It’s also possible that the bugs self-destruct to a certain extent when they’re removed from the neck”, Damian said, “as a precaution. I would do that if I didn’t want anyone finding any more information than absolutely necessary.”
“Also a valid point”, Bruce nodded, staring at the bug on his screen, “but we can speculate all we like, yet there is one huge question I just can’t wrap my mind around, even if we did figure something out because of this bug.”

Damian turned to look at him, and Bruce saw Dick straighten his posture a little bit.

“Why in the world would someone go through all this trouble just to kidnap a twelve-year-old orphan?”

None of them had a good answer for that. Damian was still going to dig up anything he could about the boy, but Bruce found it hard to imagine that they would have a good reason for any of that. Of course, there was the small chance that Billy was just picked by random and someone else was going to get targeted next time, but that seemed unlikely. The zombies knew Billy’s name: the instructions were very clear. It wasn’t just “bring me a child”, it was “bring me Billy Batson.”

“Well, I have another question”, Dick said after a moment of silence and gestured towards the computer screen, “has Captain Marvel been in contact yet? Has he found anything that could help us figure this bug-thing out?”
“He hasn’t said anything since we last saw each other in Fawcett City”, Bruce let out a huff. He would have at least expected the man to ask how Billy was settling in or anything like that. This was a kid from his city, a kid he even knew, and he still hadn’t contacted Batman even once? Sometimes Bruce just really wanted to know what was going on in that guy’s brain.
“Maybe he’s just waiting until he finds something useful and then contacts you?” Dick suggested with a slight smile. He had a small soft spot for the Captain that Bruce simply couldn’t understand.
“Let’s just hope that he finds even something. I’ll probably have to talk to him at the next Justice League meeting”, Bruce said and stood up from his chair. Damian immediately claimed it and started on his own research.

“Speaking of Billy”, Dick said, walking closer to Bruce, “he seems like a really nice kid. I’m glad he’s here.”
“He is… and he’s way too young to be experiencing all the things he’s already gone through”, Bruce sighed.
“At least here he has some company that understands what that feels like, right, B?”

Bruce smiled a little. Maybe it should have been a sad and depressing thought, but he couldn’t help himself.

What a family he had created around himself.

Chapter Text

After an internal debate that lasted almost half an hour, Billy finally decided that Bruce probably wouldn’t mind a couple of symbols drawn onto Billy’s walk-in closet’s door. They were drawn with a pencil and would be easy to remove, but defacing his room on his first day felt iffy.

Billy took a few steps back after he was done and tried to look at the door like an outsider would. The markings were barely visible and if you didn’t know they were there, you probably wouldn’t notice them.

He had put a lot of thought into this. He still had his duties as Captain Marvel and couldn’t just abandon them. Being in Gotham merely meant that he needed to be more careful about sneaking out and not getting caught by anyone. Fortunately, it seemed like no one was going to monitor him throughout the day, but he was expected to attend lunches, dinners, and other functions he hadn’t had to worry about before. Considering this, the only times he could go to Fawcett City without worrying about getting caught was while Bruce was working and between meals. Billy felt a twinge of guilt – this was the first time ever he couldn’t be readily available at all hours to protect Fawcett City.

Billy took a breath and put his hand against the door, feeling the magic within the symbols. He pushed a bit, not physically, but mentally, transmitting a little bit of his own magic into the door. Afterwards he stepped back and opened the door, taking a peek inside. The portal worked: what he saw inside wasn’t the closet in the Wayne Manor, but an empty room in somewhere far away. Billy glanced back at the door to the corridor, turned back to the magical door, and stepped into the portal. Immediately Gotham was left behind, and Billy was standing in a dust-filled room in Fawcett City.

Billy didn’t really like using portals for traveling. Maybe it was faster than flying, but everything about flying felt much nicer, and looked much cooler. If it were up to him, he would have flown here as well, but that would have definitely caused too many questions. Turning into Captain Marvel wasn’t exactly quiet and sneaky, and even though Billy hadn’t seen many security cameras, any place as big as the Wayne Manor must have hundreds of those. He didn’t want to think what the others would think if they suddenly just saw Billy climbing out of his room’s window, turning into Captain Marvel, and simply flying away. That would be the end of his secret identity.

He had marked the door in Fawcett City months ago. It was the most well-hidden door he managed to find, and still he felt paranoid that someone would accidentally find it and manage to use the teleport by accident. It was in a very old, abandoned house near the subway tunnels Billy used to camp in. All the windows were mostly boarded up, and when Billy wanted to leave, he had to move a particular board just enough to slip through and jump into the alleyway next to the building. The room itself was kind of hidden in the attic. Billy had considered camping there at some point but gave up when he almost fell through the floorboards at the other side of the room. The tunnels were the safer and easier option, but this place was good for a secret doorway.

Until now, Billy had mostly used this doorway to access the Rock of Eternity. Now it would serve as his base in Fawcett City for the foreseeable future. A boring and dusty base, for sure, but he didn’t have to spend any more time there than necessary. In and out, that should be all.

Billy walked up to the window and lifted one of the boards to look outside. The alleyway was as empty as ever. Sometimes Billy ran into drunks on his way back and had to wait elsewhere until the way was clear. He never came here as Captain Marvel – regular lightning strikes at one spot would inevitably attract unwanted attention, so he usually traveled further away before he changed. If there was one thing he would have changed about Marvel’s powers, it would have been the way he transformed. Of course, the lightning strike was epic, but it also meant that he could never change back in complete silence.

Billy put the board back. He wasn’t going to patrol today: right now he just needed to know that the portal worked and he could use it. He walked back to the magical door and stepped back into Gotham.

Someone was knocking at his actual door when he came back. Billy closed the portal in a hurry, smudged the nearest symbol off and hurried to answer. No one should have anything to do with his closet door but he wasn’t taking any chances. He would much rather draw the last symbol every time he wanted to travel than have someone accidentally teleport themselves to Fawcett City.

“Sorry, I was sleeping!” Billy said as he opened the door, and to sell his point he rubbed his eyes with one hand. At least the knocking rule seemed to be respected in this place: that was good to know. Sometimes people just pretended to honor the rule and barged in anyways with no warning.

When Billy looked up, he realized he didn’t know the person standing at the door. He was much taller than Billy, probably only slightly shorter than Bruce, and had a white streak in his otherwise black hair. Billy took an instinctive step back, but the stranger only looked at him with an unreadable expression in his eyes. Was this one of the zombies? Was Billy supposed to start running already? The questions still raced in his mind when the stranger tilted his head a little bit and let out a small sigh.

“I had to see the newest addition to this sorry collection of orphans”, the man said, still not taking his eyes off of Billy, “and yeah, at least look-wise, you fit the bill. Your name is Billy, right?”
Billy wasn’t sure what he was supposed to answer, but at least the stranger hadn’t tried to attack him yet, so maybe running would be unnecessary.
“Yeah…? Billy Batson”, he said, biting his inner lip. The stranger let out a short bark-like laugh. Billy raised his eyebrows, but didn’t receive an explanation for the sudden amusement. Instead, the stranger just nodded and already turned around to leave.

“You know, usually when you ask for someone’s name, you also introduce yourself”, Tim’s voice came from the corridor. Billy dared a step forward just so he could see the boy walking up to them. The stranger turned back around and rolled his eyes.
“Forgot”, he said and looked at Billy again, “Jason. Try not to get stabbed once you go out to the streets. This city’s a bitch.”

And with those words, he left the corridor. Billy and Tim watched in silence as he went, and only after they couldn’t see him, Tim let out a big, long sigh.
“You’re not going to get stabbed”, he said, paused, and furrowed his brows, “as long as you don’t go to bad parts of the city in the night.”
“… Shouldn’t be a problem”, Billy said slowly, leaning against his doorframe. He’d heard Jason’s name before: Bruce had mentioned it when he spoke about his children. He seemed to be… interesting.
“And don’t worry about him”, Tim said as if he had read Billy’s mind, “Jason acts tough, but I don’t think you’re going to have any problems with him. Besides, he doesn’t even spend that much time here. He’s probably going to leave in a couple of days anyways.”

Billy nodded. He was unsure if he should go back to his room or do something else now that Tim was there. They stood there for a moment in awkward silence, which Tim finally broke almost half a minute later.
“If you don’t have anything better to do, do you want to check out the gaming room?” he asked with a slight spark in his eyes.
“This place has a gaming room? A room just for games? What?” Billy stared back at the boy with his mouth wide open. Once again, this shouldn’t have come as a surprise, but come on! Bruce was an old man and really didn’t seem like the type of person to have an actual, honest to gods gaming room in his multimillion-dollar manor. Tim smiled and waved for him to follow, so Billy closed the door to his room and hurried after him.

“It used to just be a movie room”, Tim explained on the way, “back when I just moved here. Bruce never would have come up with the idea of an actual gaming room by himself, Dick just had one console in his room and Jason… wasn’t really around, so no one realized the full potential here.”
“And Bruce was just… fine with it?” Billy asked. Tim glanced back at him with a smile.
“Yeah. I mean, he doesn’t really get it, but I told him about my idea and he was fine with it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him use the room for games or even movies, but sometimes he stops by and watches as others play. And here we are.”

Tim stopped by a door and pushed it open. The lights switched on and Billy couldn’t help but stare at everything in the room.

It was clear that it had been a movie room at some point. One of the walls had one gigantic screen on it, and there were multiple sofas with tons of pillows on them. Another wall had a huge shelf on it, completely filled with different consoles and other stuff Billy didn’t even recognize. He also noticed a couple of old-fashioned pinball machines and a dancing game he’d only seen in an arcade before. Tim noticed him looking at the dancing game and smiled.
“I think that was a joke purchase”, he explained, “but one thing led to another and at this point everyone is just trying to beat Dick’s records. You need to see him on that thing one day, it’s nuts.”

Billy simply assumed this “everyone” didn’t include Bruce. For his own sake.

“So… What are we going to play?” he asked. The choices were overwhelming.
“Do you have a favorite console or anything? Or a game you really like?” Tim asked, eyeing through the consoles. Billy felt his cheeks go warmer.
“I… haven’t really played much. Some of the foster families had some consoles, but I didn’t really stay anywhere long enough to really get used to them”, he tried to explain. He really, really didn’t like talking about his former foster families. Tim seemed to catch on quickly, because he didn’t ask anything else and just grabbed one of the consoles from the shelf.
“Let’s try this one. It should be beginner-friendly”, he smiled.

Billy let out a small sigh of relief only after Tim had turned around and went to set up the console. To be honest, he had been expecting much more questions about his life and situation when he arrived at the manor. He had gone through the routine multiple times. He arrived, they maybe ate, and then everyone threw questions at him until their voices went hoarse. Billy kind of understood it – he couldn’t imagine anyone wanting a total stranger living under their roof.

Bruce had asked him a couple of questions, but nothing too invasive or personal. Billy was just waiting for the moment when they’d have the “deep” conversation and everyone would get the real picture of how sad his twelve years of life had been so far. Not that Billy considered himself particularly unlucky; he was Captain Marvel, and that probably wouldn’t have happened if his life had gone a different way.

Billy shook the thoughts away and sat down on the sofa. Tim finished setting up the console, grabbed two controllers and gave the other one to Billy.

“Let’s see how good you’re at car racing.”

***

Bruce needed to take a breather. He had been trying to figure out the bugs all day, and no matter how he approached the little, devilish machines, he couldn’t find a trace of the culprit. He was getting frustrated and that was never a good thing when trying to solve mysteries – if he continued on this path, it would just lead to headaches. Still, he took a step back from the table only when Alfred descended into the Batcave and told him in no uncertain terms to drink a cup of tea.

“Master Jason has also arrived at the manor”, the butler told him only after he agreed to sit down and take a sip of the hot tea.
“He didn’t send a message ahead of time”, Bruce mumbled, even though they were talking about Jason. Jason almost never sent a message ahead of time if it wasn’t important enough to warrant a warning. This begged a question: why was Jason here?
“Did you speak to him?” Bruce asked. From the corner of his eye he could see Damian diligently working on his research on Billy Batson. So far there had been no ground-breaking discoveries, and to be honest, Bruce didn’t believe they’d find any.
“Only in passing. He wanted to see Master Billy himself. I asked Master Tim to look after the pair… just in case”, Alfred said with a slight frown.

Bruce let out a sigh and nodded. Maybe it was just a good thing that Jason was interested enough to want to see Billy so soon… and maybe Bruce should have been there when it happened. Obviously, he couldn’t telepathically know when any of his kids were going to show up, but he would’ve felt much better with being there when Billy was introduced to all of the kids.

“Do you think he’s going to adjust well? Billy, I mean”, he asked. Alfred thought about the question for a moment.
“Master Billy seems like a remarkable young man”, he said, glancing up to where the manor was, “and remarkably strong for his young age. That being said… this is a huge change in his life. One can only hope that he’s going to take it well.”
As always… Alfred was right. It would have been nice to think that Billy was going to adjust immediately and without any problems, but it wouldn’t be a realistic wish.
“I really don’t want to overwhelm him with everything. I know this place is… a lot”, he said with a faint smile. This was his home and he’d grown up here all his life, but he had seen enough to realize how fortunate his position was. When he looked at Billy, he couldn’t help but see who he could have been without Alfred or his parents’ wealth.

It wasn’t a fair comparison. He probably wouldn’t have dealt with everything as well as Billy had so far.

“Maybe it will be easier to focus on getting adjusted once we figure out who’s behind these bugs. No one tried to attack the manor last night, but it might happen again as soon as the culprit figures out that Billy moved to Gotham”, he said, put the teacup down and rose from his chair. Alfred sighed but didn’t try to stop him. Instead, he just picked up the half-empty teacup and put it on a tray.
“So, there are no leads?” the butler asked. Bruce shook his head.
“It’s really fine work, but I just can’t find anything useful. No other DNA than the zombies themselves, no signals, no signatures, nothing. I haven’t been able to match the voice to anyone in the database, either”, he said, staring at the bugs on his table, “and it seems like the only way to figure out what they do when they’re controlling someone would be to find someone still under their influence. So it’s a waiting game.”

“If the culprit is going to send more zombies at Wayne Manor, they’re pretty bold”, Damian chimed in, “attacking a child in some abandoned subway tunnels in the middle of the night is very different from attacking a well-known billionaire’s home. I think it’s most likely that something might happen once Batson leaves the house. Maybe we should try that.”
“Damian, we are not using Billy as bait.”
“He’s going to visit the city anyways! I’m not suggesting that we send out a public announcement every time he goes out, I’m just saying that that’s the time when something is likely to happen.”

Bruce held in a long sigh. Damian was right. The Wayne Manor was easily the safest place for Billy right now, but he couldn’t keep the boy inside all the time. He wasn’t a prisoner and Bruce didn’t want the manor to feel like one, so he’d just have to prepare for the times when Billy wanted to go out. He’d eventually have to go to school as well…

Everything was just so different with the others. Everyone else was trained by him and other people, and could easily take care of multiple attackers if they had to. Billy, while certainly streetwise, wasn’t the same. If he got cornered and couldn’t run away, he most likely wouldn’t be able to fight his way out the same way someone like Damian could.
“At least we’ll be going with him the first few times he goes out. We’ll see if anyone is bold enough to attack him in bright daylight”, Bruce said, trying to clear his mind. Billy was a good kid with a good head on his shoulders, and he was probably overthinking everything.

Bruce glanced at the bugs one more time.
“If I may suggest, Master Bruce”, Alfred said, picking up the tray and heading for the elevator, “I know solving this mystery is important… but so is spending time with Master Billy, especially now that he’s still getting used to staying here. Please, do not spend too much time down here.”
“… You’re right, Alfred. You’re right”, Bruce sighed and followed Alfred to the elevator. These were Billy’s first days – normal foster parents would have probably taken days off from work just to spend time with the child. Of course, Bruce would probably never be classified as a “normal parent”, but at least he could pretend to be something even close to that. He checked the cameras to the study, saw no one there, and stepped into the elevator.

It took Bruce a moment to find Billy. He wasn’t in his room – or he wasn’t answering to the knocking. Fortunately, he didn’t have to check too many rooms before he found him. He heard voices coming from the gaming room: in Bruce’s mind, it was still “Tim’s gaming room”, even though everyone else used it as well. He stepped to the door and peeked in first, without making himself known.

“No, why did that shock me? I thought it was an item!” Billy exclaimed. He was leaning left and right with a controller in his hands and even though Bruce couldn’t see his face, he could tell the boy was concentrating incredibly hard.
“It’s a fake item. They look a bit different, they’re red”, Tim explained. He wasn’t quite as animated as he played, but Bruce could see the little sway in him as well as the cars raced on the screen. Tim’s eyes went to Bruce briefly before returning to the screen.
“They look too similar!” Billy complained, but kept his focus on the screen. Bruce opened the door quietly and let himself in, walking behind the sofa. Both boys were immersed in the video game – Tim was apparently winning, but Billy wasn’t too far behind. It took them just thirty more seconds to finish the round, after which Billy took a deep breath and leaned back against the sofa.

“Not bad. Actually pretty damn good. Better than Damian’s first times, and he broke like two controllers after he didn’t come first at his first try”, Tim said with a smile and turned on the sofa so he could see both Bruce and Billy. Billy noticed this and turned around to face Bruce as well. There was an excited smile on the boy’s face.
“This room is amazing!” he said with barely contained enthusiasm, “Tim promised to teach me any game I want to play.”
“Any game… that Billy’s old enough to play, right, Tim?” Bruce asked, giving the boy a pointed look.
“Of course. Wouldn’t have it any other way”, Tim said and whispered something to Billy. Whatever it was, it made Billy bite his lip to prevent him from laughing.

Okay, so this is how it was going to go. Maybe he would need to make surprise visits to the gaming room just to make sure they weren’t letting Billy play games that would give him nightmares for months.

“Do you want to play as well?” Billy asked. The question took Bruce by surprise and he took another look at the screen. He knew the game and had seen others playing it often enough; more often than not, those gaming sessions evolved into actual screaming matches and sometimes even physical fights, especially if Jason and Damian were involved. Now it was just Tim and Billy, though…
“I’m not sure. I haven’t really played any games”, he said, looking back at the boys.
“In translation”, Tim said with a wicked smile, “he’s too old and scared that he’s going to lose to a twelve-year-old who just started playing.”

Bruce immediately sat down and Tim connected another controller into the game.

“I’ll show you who’s old…” he mumbled, planting his feet firmly on the ground and straightening his back. Billy was quietly shaking with laughter and Tim looked extremely smug, which just made Bruce even more determined to win.

He lost. He would need to bribe both of them to keep that evening a secret from everyone else in the household.

Chapter Text

On Billy’s third day Bruce suggested they should go to the mall. It was mostly so they could buy Billy new clothes: Alfred looked like he was ready to burn the old clothes so Billy couldn’t insist on wearing them all the time. Billy was almost more uncomfortable with the thought of having someone spend too much money on him than the ever-present threat of the zombies making another attempt at attacking him.

“I discussed the situation with Batman”, Bruce had said as Billy climbed into one of his expensive cars, “he agreed that staying inside all the time isn’t a proper solution for your problem. Still, there is the possibility of another attack, so stay vigilant and make sure to shout and run away if someone tries to grab you.”

Billy’s thoughts wandered on the car ride. Would it be too weird for Captain Marvel to show up if Billy was about to get into some real danger? Maybe he could play it off as Cap wanting to make sure Billy was alright, but he couldn’t be there at all times. If Captain Marvel showed up every time anything dangerous happened, someone would start to question why he’d changed cities suddenly. No, he needed to follow Bruce’s advice. It was the daytime and the shops would be full of people. Even if one of the zombies tried to attack him, it wouldn’t get very far. Maybe Gotham was a dangerous city, but even then, Billy couldn’t imagine people just ignoring a child getting attacked.

Maybe his thoughts were showing on his face more than he wanted because Dick turned towards him. He had noticed them leaving the manor and wanted to come along. Billy didn’t mind: Dick was easily one of the more social people in the manor. Tim was also really nice and Billy really liked playing with him, but he barely even saw Damian or Jason outside dinner times, sometimes not even then. He didn’t mind that, it would be weird to expect everyone to get along perfectly, but they did manage to make things awkward more often than not.

“Everything okay there, Billy?” Dick asked.
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Probably just kind of nervous”, Billy replied.
“I wouldn’t worry too much about it. The first few times out in the city might be a bit nerve-racking, but you’ll get used to it”, Dick said with a smile. It was a contagious smile, and Billy found himself smiling back, though his smile was timid.
“Yeah. Probably. I just don’t want to get lost on my first visit”, he said. He knew Fawcett well enough to not get lost, but Gotham was a whole other story. If he was able to get lost in the Wayne Manor, he didn’t want to even imagine how lost he could be in this city.

“Just make sure that one of us is close at all times”, Bruce suggested from the front seat, “and stay in open areas.”
“Or I might get stabbed”, Billy mumbled, remembering Jason’s warning. Dick let out an exasperated sigh as Bruce turned around in his seat. Thank goodness Alfred was the one driving because Bruce would have probably crashed the car at that moment.
“Who said that you could get stabbed?” he asked with a serious look on his face. Billy bit his tongue, wondering if he shouldn’t have let that one slip. He didn’t want to be a snitch, but Bruce was expecting an answer.
“I mean, we only have two real options here”, Dick said, leaning against his seat in the car, “and I think Damian’s been playing nice, so it was probably Jason.”
“I think he just meant it as a nice warning!” Billy said quickly, “because I’m new in Gotham and all that. He just said that the city’s a b—a dangerous place.”

Bruce’s face went through multiple stages of grief before he went back to sitting properly. Billy wasn’t quite sure, but it looked like Dick was holding back a grin.
“I’m going to have a talk with Jason. He’s making things seem much worse than they actually are”, he mumbled. The rest of the ride progressed in silence and Billy just really, really hoped that this conversation wouldn’t pop up again.

It took them ten more minutes to get parked in a parking garage and get into the mall itself.

It wasn’t the busiest time at the shops, but even then, the mall was by no means empty. People were flowing in and out of the stores, sitting by the tables in nearby restaurants and just enjoying their days. It seemed almost too normal. Just a week ago Billy’s only association with Gotham City has been Batman, and he couldn’t imagine Batman in a busy mall or anything like that. Batman belonged to dark streets at night or the Justice League headquarters, any in-betweens were incredibly hard to imagine.

“So, where are we going first?” Dick asked, taking a better look around. No doubt he had been here countless times before, so asking that from Billy was a little bit redundant.
“We need to get Billy clothes, that’s the first priority”, Bruce said. When he said it, it kind of sounded like an order or a declaration. Billy took a deep breath and pointed at a nearby clothing store.
“We can try that one?” he suggested. Dick looked in the same direction and nodded.
“Yup, that’ll do. We have an entire day to find you everything you need, so it’s just the first shop we’ll go through”, he said and started walking towards the shop. Billy threw an uncertain look at Bruce, who smiled when their eyes met.
“If you don’t want Dick buying your entire wardrobe, you better get in there. And don’t worry about the prices – just get enough clothes so Alfred won’t lose his mind when we’re back”, he said.
“… Thank you”, Billy mumbled and dashed towards the store before he could embarrass himself by trying to put his gratitude into words.

Billy had known beforehand that this would be a new experience for him. When he actually had to make the choice to buy anything, he realized how out of touch he was with these things. He knew that most kids his age wouldn’t have any trouble with just picking some clothes that looked nice and having their parents buy those for them. Billy, on the other hand, couldn’t remember the last time he spent more than twenty dollars in one day.

“You like that one?” Dick asked when Billy was contemplating on getting a red hoodie with a white star on it. It looked really nice and was his size, but he had already picked another hoodie a little while ago.
“I’m not sure… it’s pretty similar to that one”, he said, pointing at the earlier hoodie. Dick took a quick glance at it and then turned back to Billy.
“If you like these types of clothes, it’s just better if you buy lots of them. Then you don’t have to worry about not being able to wear what you want whenever some clothes are getting washed.”
Billy bit his lip, took a deep breath, and put the hoodie in the shopping basket before he could change his mind.

“How old were you when you moved in with Bruce?” he asked. Dick blinked in surprise and Billy lifted another hoodie to examine, just so he had an excuse not to look directly at Dick as they spoke.
“I think I was about… eight? Why?” Dick asked.
“Were you… Did you… I mean, I’m sorry if this is a weird question, you don’t have to answer it if you don’t want to”, Billy stumbled in his words, keeping his eyes locked on the hoodie, “but were you… used to this kind of life when you moved in? The expensive stuff and everything?”

Billy dared a single glance in Dick’s direction. The man’s face had softened and for a brief moment, it looked like his eyes were somewhere completely else.
“No, not really. My parents were circus performers”, he explained, picking the hoodie from Billy’s hands and stuffing it in the shopping basket, “we traveled a lot, thanks to that. When I moved in with Bruce, it took a pretty long while to get used to staying in one place for a longer time.”

Billy didn’t have to ask why Dick suddenly moved in with Bruce. He recognized the way the man skipped a crucial part of the story – Billy did the same thing whenever he mentioned his parents to anyone. They were archeologists, skip, Billy was living by himself in Fawcett City. It’s not like he didn’t want to admit that they were dead: he just preferred to not say it out loud if he could avoid it.
“It just feels like everything’s so different. I don’t know”, Billy said. Dick leaned against a nearby table that was stacked with all kinds of different t-shirts.
“And it’s probably going to feel like that for a while. Just take your time”, he said and glanced at his phone. A frown made its way on the man’s face.

“I need to make a call. Don’t go anywhere, alright? I’ll be nearby”, Dick said as he already pressed the phone against his ear. Billy nodded and watched as Dick made his way to a less populated part of the store. As long as a sudden swarm of people wasn’t about to fill the store, they could see each other just fine.

Billy forced himself away from the hoodie section and tried to find something else to buy. His shopping basket was already so full that one of the hoodies almost fell out – they would have to visit multiple stores if they were really going to fill an entire wardrobe. Billy was still battling the annoying feeling of guilt inside him. This was Bruce’s money and Bruce wanted him to spend it on clothes, why in the world was this so difficult? Billy moved slowly from section to section, trying to find anything that seemed nice. It took him a while, but then he spotted the perfect section. With a brief glance to where Dick was still deep in the phone call, Billy walked into the superhero aisle.

He had often dreamed of getting himself a Superman shirt. Sometimes he even played with the idea of getting a Captain Marvel shirt, though that felt almost a bit too self-indulgent. Just by looking at the selection, it was clear to see that they were in Gotham. There was an entire shelf fully dedicated to different Batman-inspired clothing – hoodies, t-shirts, pants, caps, anything anyone could need. Most of those clothes were either black or some dark colors that Billy didn’t really like in his own clothes. The Superman clothes on the other hand were brighter, and Billy grabbed one t-shirt from the shelf.

“You like Superman as well?” a voice called nearby and Billy almost dropped the shirt in surprise. He turned around to a face he hadn’t seen before: a blond boy, probably around his age, with a crutch under one of his arms. It took Billy a moment to compose his thoughts.
“Yeah. One of my favorites”, he said and took another look at the shirt. It was pretty cool.
“Mine too! I also really like the rest of the Justice League too, like Aquaman, and Wonder Woman, and… well, pretty much all of them! I got a Green Arrow shirt for Christmas and it’s super cool” the boy gushed, the words falling out in obvious excitement. Whenever anyone mentioned superheroes in a positive way, Billy imagined how it would feel to reveal that he was actually one of them. Not that anyone would believe him without any proof, but it was nice to imagine.

“Ah, sorry. I’m babbling”, the boy said and ran a hand through his hair.
“I don’t mind! Which shirt do you think I should get? In addition to this one?” Billy asked and put the shirt in his basket.
“Well, who do you like?” the boy asked, now taking a step closer and peering in Billy’s shopping basket, “if you like red clothes, maybe something like the Flash or Captain Marvel?”
“I haven’t seen anything with Captain Marvel’s logo in here”, Billy said, turning around to take a better look at the shelves. He would have to work on his fame if he wanted to have more of his own merch in the stores. The boy stepped past him and pointed at one of the upper shelves.
“I think there’s some t-shirts over there. I actually got one a while back”, he said with a smile. Billy felt a surge of pride but tried his best to hide the emotion from his face. He couldn’t completely suppress a grin when he looked back at the boy.
“I really want to get one too”, he said and tried to reach for the shirt. Despite the clothes apparently being in children’s size, he couldn’t quite reach the upper shelf, not even on his tiptoes. Just when he was about to give up and look for a chair or something similar, the boy spoke again.

“I can get it for you if you let me lean on you for a moment”, he suggested. Billy furrowed his brows but did as he was asked. The boy leaned heavily against him and used his crutch to snag one of the shirts, dropping it from the shelf. Billy made sure he got his balance back before he let go and fetched the shirt.
“Wow, thanks!” he said with an even wider smile, admiring the shirt.
“No problem. I’m Freddy, by the way. Do you go to school here?” the boy asked, his smile matching Billy’s.
“I’m Billy. And no, not yet. I just moved here a couple of days ago, actually”, he explained, lifted his basket, and put the shirt inside. Now that he took a closer look at Freddy, it became obvious that the guy was a massive superhero fan. Not only was he wearing a shirt with Aquaman’s logo on it, but his bag also had tons of pins with different hero logos on them. There was even a Captain Marvel pin! Billy didn’t even know that Captain Marvel had any pins!

“Oh, a newbie!” Freddy said in delight, “I go to Gotham Heights Middle School, maybe you’ll go to the same place? It’s not very far from here.”
“I don’t know yet, but I’ll ask”, Billy replied. Freddy seemed a little overly enthusiastic, but nice in every other way – and it really would be nice to have a friend once he actually started school. He didn’t want to mention the fact that he probably wouldn’t be put in with his own age group. He’d missed years of studying, and even if he tried his best to catch up and do his best, there was no way he would be able to study the same things.

A hand landed on Billy’s shoulder. Billy was fully prepared to face Bruce or Dick when he turned around, so seeing an unfamiliar face standing before him made him jump a little.
“Uh, sorry”, he mumbled and tried to step back. The woman in front of him, a brunette in a glittery cardigan and thick glasses, tightened her grip.
“Is that your mom?” Freddy asked, probably confused by Billy’s reaction. Before Billy could confirm that no, this definitely wasn’t his mom in any shape or form, the woman spoke.

“Bring me Billy Batson.”

Billy’s blood ran cold. It was the same voice as before, even more disturbing coming from this middle-aged woman’s mouth. There was no way Billy could transform right here and right now, he would wreck the shop and give away his secret identity in the span of a simple lightning strike. Instead, he swatted the hand on his shoulder and tried to move back again.
“Let go of me!” Billy exclaimed loudly. The store wasn’t exactly full, but at least there were people around. Dick shouldn’t be far either, so at least someone would be able to help him if he couldn’t get rid of the zombie by himself. Freddy caught on quickly and grabbed onto the woman’s hand, trying to pry it away. Without even a single twitch of emotion on her face, the woman used her free hand to elbow Freddy in the stomach. He stumbled and gasped for breath, but with the help of his crutch, managed to stay upright.

Billy saw red. He tugged against the hand yet again, and when that didn’t work, he gathered all his strength and kicked the woman in the stomach. The hand finally let go and Billy took quick steps backwards, only for his back to hit another person. When another set of hands took him by the arms and tried to drag him backwards, he shouted again.
“Let me go!”

The grip around his arms tightened, but he didn’t have to wait more than a few moments. Dick dashed towards his voice from a couple of aisles over, noticed what was happening, and didn’t hesitate: he kept running towards them, dodged the woman attempting to stop him, and aimed a kick at the person behind Billy. Billy heard a small gasp coming from behind him and moved forward, almost running straight into some clothing racks in front of him. He managed to turn around just to see Dick block a punch that a tall, heavily built man was throwing towards him.
“Billy, run! Find Bruce! Get somewhere where there’s lots of people!” Dick commanded. The tall man tried to punch him again, but Dick dodged that one as well.
“Shouldn’t you come as well?” Billy asked, moving behind another rack when the cardigan lady tried to grab at him again.
“I’ll be right there, don’t worry! I can make sure these guys won’t go after you right now, so you need to go. You too, this isn’t safe!” Dick aimed his other words at Freddy, whose blue eyes had gone wide as he watched what was happening.

“Freddy, come with me. Let’s go”, Billy said, motioning for the boy to move. Freddy snapped out of whatever trance he was in and started to slink towards him as fast as he could. Billy pushed one of the clothing racks in the hopes of slowing the cardigan lady down, but unfortunately, it didn’t have the desired effect. The lady dodged the falling clothes and dashed towards him – at least she didn’t seem to be interested in attacking Freddy again. Billy ducked and sprinted around. By now the noise had alerted some other people: someone was calling the police and many others had left the shop.

Freddy got out of the shop first, and Billy followed him soon after. He wasn’t expecting the cardigan lady to slow down outside the shop, so when she did so, he wasn’t sure what to make of it. Billy tried to create more distance between himself and the lady.

“Billy, are you alright?” Bruce’s voice came from another direction. Billy’s heart was pounding. He really, really wanted to take care of this as Captain Marvel – just leaving Dick behind felt incredibly wrong.
“I’m fine, but Dick’s still in there. There was a guy—and that lady. They tried to grab me”, he said, pointing at the woman. She wasn’t moving: right now she was simply staring at him near the shop. It was unsettling, to say the least. Bruce looked at the cardigan lady, then back at Billy. He put his hand on Billy’s shoulder, his touch light, and took a deep breath.
“There should be some help coming along. What’s important right now is that you made it out okay. Dick can take care of himself and—”

Bruce’s words were cut short by a blast of smoke that suddenly filled the air, followed by panicked screams and the sound of hundreds of footsteps trying to get away. The smoke was so thick that Billy couldn’t see anything for a brief moment – and that was enough time for someone to grab him by the hood and throw him in another direction. Billy may have been small for his age, easy for adults to pick up and carry, but getting thrown like that was something entirely different. He hit the floor with a low thud, and he could immediately tell that he’d have a bruise on his arm the next day.

“Billy!” he heard Bruce’s voice further away. The air was still filled with smoke and Billy couldn’t see him. What he did see were the hands reaching for him again, so despite the pain in his arm, he rolled to the side and got up as quickly as he could. The magic words were just on the tip of his tongue – it would be so easy to transform and take care of these guys! Billy tried to retreat from the smoke to look for an exit, but even though he was on the first floor of the building, he was still inside. He had changed into Captain Marvel indoors before, mostly in emergency situations, and this almost warranted the emergency status. When the smoke settled a little, he could see the person in front of him. This guy was even taller than Bruce, probably much heavier, and staring directly at him. Something was different, though: his face wasn’t as blank as the others.

“What do you want?” Billy asked, retreating as far as he could without turning his back towards the guy. He knew he was probably going to get the same ‘Bring me Billy Batson’ reply, but that didn’t matter. He tried to look for Bruce, but his vision was blocked by the remaining smoke and the man in front of him.

“I want your magic, Billy Batson.”

Obviously, that shouldn’t have stunned him as much as he did, but he really, really hadn’t expected an actual reply. In his confusion he didn’t move fast enough as the man rushed at him again, grabbing his arm and lifting him in the air. This voice didn’t sound the same as before, not exactly, but it was disturbing, nonetheless. Billy tried to kick at the man with no success.
“I don’t have any magic! I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he hissed, trying to keep his voice low so no one else would hear him. Maybe whispering about magic wasn’t the best way to convince anyone that he didn’t have magic, but right now he couldn’t think about that. He went for another useless kick.
“I don’t think either of us believes that”, the man said, his hold tight, and started walking to another direction. Billy didn’t have any options left – he wasn’t about to let this man take him anywhere.

Just as he was about to say the magical word, something smashed against the tall man. It wasn’t enough to make him fall or let go of Billy, but it was enough to make him look in the other direction. Billy, still hanging in the air by his arm, followed the man’s eyes to a new figure. He recognized this person immediately; Red Robin flipped the staff he was holding in his hands and swung it at the tall man. The staff crashed against the man’s temple with enough force to make him stumble. Billy tried to wrench his own arm free, really not wanting to get caught in the crossfire. Maybe it was a mistake – the tall man’s eyes flicked in his direction, and in the next moment, he’d thrown Billy against a nearby wall. Billy gasped in pain as his head hit the wall. He couldn’t tell if he was bleeding, but the back of his head was throbbing, and he couldn’t stand up right away.

When his vision cleared from the initial burst of pain, he could see Red Robin fighting the man. The superhero was still clearly shorter than the man he was fighting, but that didn’t seem like a disadvantage as the fight went on. Clearly, Red Robin was used to fighting opponents who were bigger and physically stronger than him. He was more acrobatic and faster on his feet, making it hard for the tall man to throw any punches that would actually land.

Billy heard steps approaching and tried to get back up. He felt dizzy just from the effort.
“Billy! Are you hurt? Please, tell me you’re not hurt”, Dick’s voice came through the haze. Billy let out a breath leaned against the wall, just to hiss out in pain when his head hurt again.
“I hit my head… but otherwise I’m pretty good”, he said, touching the back of his head lightly. Normally he would go out and transform to get rid of any injuries, but now that was off the table: he would have to wait for a while. It didn’t seem like Dick had suffered any injuries with the earlier zombies, so hopefully Billy would be the only one with bruises after this day.

“There’s law enforcement here. The people who attacked you are already detained, and this guy is probably the last one. Can you walk?” Dick asked, glancing at Red Robin’s opponent. The tall man had stopped fighting – there was a trickle of blood on his right temple and he was out of breath. The man’s eyes went to the people approaching them, then to Billy. They looked at each other for a small moment, and if Billy wasn’t already leaning against a wall, he would have crawled even further away.

Then the man’s face went completely blank for a moment, and he fell back without a warning. Red Robin jumped back in surprise, but the man didn’t get back up. Billy noted the slow rise and fall of the man’s chest and let out a quiet sigh of relief. No matter the situation, he didn’t want anyone to die.

Dick seemed to hesitate for a moment between going to see what happened and staying with Billy.
“Here, I’ll help you up. I think Bruce is going crazy with worry”, he said and offered his hand. Billy grabbed it and pulled himself up, wobbling just a little. He looked again at Red Robin; the man was crouched over the unconscious man. Did he know about the bugs as well? Billy wasn’t sure how much information Batman would share with others, but hopefully enough to let them know that these were mostly just normal people getting into dangerous situations.
“Is Freddy okay? There was this boy at the same shop as we were when these—these people attacked”, he asked, trying to look around. The mall wasn’t exactly evacuated and some people were already sneaking back in, despite the police.
“The one with the crutch? Don’t worry, he got out just fine. I don’t think anyone got hurt”, Dick said, motioning for Billy to follow him.

“Bruce! We’re here!” Dick called out. Bruce, who had been talking with one of the police officers, immediately turned around. A visible wave of relief washed through his face when he saw them. He said something to the officer and quickly walked up to them.
“Thank God”, the man muttered and crouched to have a better look at Billy.
“I’m fine. I just hit my head a little bit”, Billy said before Bruce could ask.
“Can I see?” Bruce asked. Billy almost made a face but turned around anyway.
“There’s a small cut…” Bruce said, touching the back of Billy’s head very lightly, “Alfred can patch that up. We should also make sure you didn’t get a concussion.”
“I’m fine!” Billy repeated, despite the pain in his head and his arm. Bruce got back up.
“We just need to make sure. Concussions are not a joke”, he said. Billy turned around. He didn’t like doctors, and fortunately, almost never needed to see them anyways now that he had his powers.

Bruce gave him a small handkerchief.
“Hold that against the cut. We can take care of the shopping some other day – let’s just get you home.”

If every trip outside the manor would be like this, Billy was definitely not looking forward to those. He would need to do some investigating of his own, maybe contact Batman again. He now knew that someone was after him because of his magic, and unsettling as that was, Billy hoped that it would help him find the culprit. This wasn’t just putting him in danger, but others around him, and that was a thought he couldn’t stand.

I want your magic, Billy Batson, the words echoed in his mind as they left the mall.

Chapter Text

“Well, at least he followed my suggestion and didn’t get stabbed.”
“Jason, this really isn’t the time for jokes.”

It had been at least four hours since the whole incident at the mall and Bruce still didn’t feel calm. He hadn’t anticipated the feeling of utter rage within him when Billy was attacked again. The first time they’d attacked, he hadn’t been there – but Billy had gotten away without any visible scratches. Now he couldn’t get rid of the image of Billy getting flung through the air to the other side of the mall, his small body so damn fragile that it was a wonder he hadn’t broken any bones. His head wound didn’t require any stitches, thank goodness, but Alfred did dress the wound.

Of course, this wasn’t the first time someone in the house got hurt. They were all vigilantes, it was weirder if someone didn’t get hurt at least once a week. Nothing major most of the time, but at least then Bruce knew they could handle it with proper care. He hated each and every time he saw one of his children get even slightly hurt, but he’d come to accept this as a necessary evil that came with the job. Billy was a whole different case – he didn’t have the training to know how to avoid getting badly hurt, his body wasn’t used to getting damaged.

Billy didn’t seem shaken enough for what just happened. Maybe Bruce had misjudged Fawcett City. He wanted to know what Billy had been through that had forced him to become so strong at such a young age, but at the same time he didn’t want to push or make Billy too uncomfortable. The boy hadn’t said much on the car ride back, just pressed the ice pack Alfred had given him against his head and stared out of the window. This definitely wasn’t how Bruce had wanted their first day out to happen.

He only went to the Batcave after making sure that Billy was fine. Alfred did promise to look after him for the rest of the day, and Bruce wanted to find the culprit now more than ever.

“Consider it a silver lining, Bruce. The kid barely got hurt. A couple of bruises and a tiny cut”, Jason said. He was mostly dressed in his Red Hood gear – the only thing he wasn’t wearing at the moment was his helmet, which rested on his motorcycle next to the Batmobile. Bruce huffed and looked at the man.
“He’s not a Robin, Jason. He’s not a vigilante, or a superhero, or whatever. A couple of bruises and a cut are a whole different thing for him”, he explained, trying to keep his voice calm. He had realized before how different his entire family was compared to other, “normal” families, but nothing made it clearer than this day. Jason lifted an eyebrow.
“Didn’t you tell me he’s been living by himself, on the streets, with barely any help from others? I think you should give him a bit more credit”, Jason said.

Maybe he was right. It didn’t calm Bruce at all. He checked his phone for any updates from Tim, but there were no new messages. At least they’d been prepared enough to have Red Robin waiting near the mall, just in case anything were to happen. Even though Bruce and Dick were excellent fighters and probably could have taken all the zombies down by themselves, it wasn’t something they could do in full daylight in civilian clothing. Red Robin was the solution, and thank goodness for that. Now he just had to make sure the police wouldn’t just arrest the brainwashed people without any care.

“Did you at least get anything new out of the zombies?” Jason asked.
“We’ll see once Tim returns with the bugs. I couldn’t exactly stay there and cut them off myself”, Bruce replied with a sigh.
“Imagine those headlines”, Dick’s voice came from the elevator. With him, a tired-looking Tim was carrying something small in his hands.
“I honestly can’t even imagine what those headlines would say”, the boy yawned and stretched his arms, careful not to drop anything.
“Bruce Wayne spotted at the scene of a mall fight, cutting people’s necks open’? That would definitely get the clicks”, Dick suggested with a smile. Bruce glared at them but decided to focus on Tim’s gift.

“I got all the bugs. And I’m pretty sure the police aren’t going to keep them locked up for more than a day or so. I didn’t think telling them about the whole brain-washing thing was the smartest move, so they probably think they were drunk. At least they shouldn’t have any drugs in their systems”, he said, giving Bruce the purple-tinted bugs, “how’s Billy, by the way? I came here immediately after I changed clothes, though maybe I should have checked in on him.”
“He’s… managing. I think. He hasn’t really talked about what happened. No lasting injuries, though.” Bruce leaned against a wall, pressing his head against the cool surface.
“Alfred’s keeping an eye on him, in case he needs anything”, Dick added. Tim nodded quietly.
“I know he was already attacked once, but honestly? I didn’t think it would be like that. One of them actually threw him right against a wall. It looked bad”, he said, sitting down on the small stairs leading up to the computers.

Bruce quietly stared at the bugs in his hands. They looked the same as the ones before, but maybe putting them under a microscope would reveal something new. He just really needed a situation where one of the zombies tried to attack the Wayne Manor. It was incredibly unlikely, but at least then he’d have the chance to examine them closer, with the bug still in their necks. Maybe he could do that elsewhere as Batman, but after what just transpired, he wasn’t going to let Billy go out at night. They could try a regular trip to the city later once Billy’s bruises had healed, but that would have to wait for a while.

Damian was affixed to the computer, deep in his research. Bruce was starting to wonder if letting him dig into Billy’s past was a mistake. He sighed and went to place the bugs on the research table.
“Did the big guy say anything to you, Tim?” Dick asked, sitting next to the boy, “all I heard from the two others was ‘Bring me Billy Batson’. Gave me some horror movie vibes.”
“I don’t think that one said anything. He just fought me a little bit and once the police were almost there, he just kind of… fainted?” Tim said, gesturing with his hands. Bruce turned around.
“He fainted before you took the bug out?” he asked. The ones he’d seen stopped fighting only once the devices were out.
“Yeah. Just fell on his back, then and there. I took the bug out after that”, he said. Bruce looked at the bugs again. All of them looked pretty much identical with the naked eye, but maybe there was something to be found. If the culprit had changed something, made any modifications, those could lead to an unexpected clue.

“So, is anyone going to train him in any way or are you just letting him get tossed around if there’s another attack? Just saying, maybe if he was capable of throwing a punch, he could take care of himself a little better”, Jason said after a brief silence.
“Are you volunteering?” Tim asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Hell no”, came the immediate response.
“Jason has a point”, Dick said quietly. Bruce felt three stares on the back of his head. He finished setting up the computer and turned around.
“Maybe some kind of self-defense training, but not right now. We can bring it up after he’s healed from his injuries”, he agreed. It would have been nice to say that without the situation with the zombies Billy would have been completely safe in Gotham, but no, Gotham was dangerous enough on its own… especially with the Wayne Manor’s residents. Even though he wasn’t about to tell Billy the truth about Batman, the boy should learn how to defend himself more effectively when running wasn’t an option.
“I could teach him some of that”, Dick suggested, “he already saw me in action at the mall. He would probably be kind of confused if you just suddenly turned out to be a self-defense master.”

That was true as well. Bruce Wayne was known for many things, but being a well-trained fighter wasn’t one of those.

Damian let out a small, indecipherable noise, gaining everyone’s attention. The boy turned around in his chair and looked straight at Bruce.

“I found something.”

Bruce furrowed his brows. He hadn’t expected anything to come up with this investigation, but the look on Damian’s eyes was so serious that he immediately walked up to him.
“What did you find?” he asked, looking at the screen. Damian turned back around and clicked on the screen. He’d been going through some older articles, published maybe a decade or so ago.
“I was looking into Batson’s parents, trying to see if there was any information about them”, he explained, gesturing towards the screen, “and I think I found something.”
“I heard his parents are dead”, Bruce said quietly. Damian nodded.
“Yes, that’s what the articles say as well. They were archeologists, C.C. and Marilyn Batson. Murdered while they were working in Egypt. No one caught the killer”, he told them, scrolling down on the screen. There was only one article that spoke of the murders, and even that one was extremely short and to the point.

“What does this have to do with anything? This sounds like something Billy definitely wouldn’t mention to anyone he doesn’t trust, but it isn’t some evil secret he’s been hiding”, Tim said, stood up, and also walked to the computer.
“I know. That’s not the point”, Damian said before anyone else could interrupt, “this is the point.”

He opened another webpage. This one had a single photograph of a couple. A man and a woman were posing for the photo in front of a zoo exhibit, with a tiger roaming in the background. At first glance, Bruce couldn’t find a problem with it. The couple seemed very normal – they were smiling with their arms wrapped around each other.

Bruce’s heart almost skipped a beat when he realized what Damian meant.

“Damian, can you—”
“Of course”, Damian interrupted and zoomed in on the man. C.C. Batson was a tall man with short, dark hair, wide shoulders, and he had a slight sparkle in his eyes. The more Bruce looked at him, the more he realized the resemblance – and he wasn’t thinking about the resemblance to Billy.

“Is that…?” Tim said, barely keeping his mouth from hanging open. Both Dick and Jason had made their way to the screen and were also staring at the photograph with the same realization.

“Is that Captain fucking Marvel?” Jason was the first one to put everyone’s thoughts into words, in his own eloquent way.

Bruce couldn’t keep his eyes off of the picture. This couldn’t be a coincidence. Sometimes people resembled each other, even closely, but for Billy’s father to look like Captain Marvel was too far-fetched. Both Billy and Captain Marvel were from Fawcett City, and Captain Marvel had even saved Billy at least once – he even knew Billy by name.
“Did C.C. Batson have a brother?” Bruce asked.
“Not that I know of. I found his birth records and he seems to be an only child”, Damian replied.
“How does that make sense then?” Dick asked, crossing his arms, and staring at the screen.

Bruce almost didn’t want to voice the idea that was forming in his head. Maybe he didn’t consider Captain Marvel a friend, but he was at least an ally and fellow member of the Justice League. Maybe Captain Marvel was naïve and annoying at times, but at least he did his job well enough. If what Bruce was thinking was true, his opinion of the man would turn extremely sour.

“Is it possible…” he began slowly, taking a step back, still keeping his eyes on the picture, “that C.C. Batson is Captain Marvel?”

There was a small silence in the room as everyone took in Bruce’s suggestion.
“You think Captain Marvel could be… Billy’s father?” Dick asked.
“Or someone wearing his face… But it makes sense”, Bruce said, “why someone would be after Billy, why Captain Marvel immediately knew Billy when his name was mentioned and seemed reluctant to admit it… So many things.”
“But why was Billy living in the streets if his father was actually alive? Especially if his father is actually Captain Marvel.”

That was the most infuriating thing. If Bruce was right – and the more he thought about it, the more certain he became – then that meant that Captain Marvel had let his son get thrown around in the system and live in the streets the boy’s whole life. Billy wouldn’t recognize him, he’d been a baby when his parents died… well, allegedly died, and without any photos left of them, he wouldn’t be able to make the connection. Captain Marvel, on the other hand…

“I need to speak with Captain Marvel. As soon as possible. There’s still the chance that it isn’t true and that there’s some other explanation for this… But I need to speak with him”, Bruce said, stomping away from the others. Everyone else was very quiet.
“Should we… tell Billy, if it’s true?” Tim asked. His voice was very quiet, even though Billy wasn’t anywhere close to them.
“And let him know that his father has been alive this whole time, but letting him be homeless all this time while being so close? What would that even feel like?” Dick shook his head as he spoke.
“What a mess”, Jason sighed as he turned around and started heading for the elevator, “wouldn’t want to be him.”
"Change your clothes if you're going upstairs!" Dick called after him. Jason's only reply was a theatrically loud sigh.

“If Billy really is Captain Marvel’s son”, Bruce said, eyebrows extremely furrowed, “then whoever’s after him is probably doing so because of Captain Marvel. Maybe they want Billy to blackmail Marvel or something similar.”
“Not a very good plan”, Damian mused, “it doesn’t seem like Captain Marvel cares that much about Batson. He hasn’t contacted Batman even once after we took the kid in, and he wasn’t at the mall when the latest attack happened.”
“Can we stop talking about this like we’ve already decided that Cap is Billy’s father?” Dick exclaimed with clear annoyance, “we don’t know that for sure!”

Dick had always had a soft spot for Captain Marvel. Bruce couldn’t imagine the reason for that, but he understood why Dick wasn’t too excited about this new possibility. He wouldn’t be the only one. If the rumor somehow started spreading through the rest of the League, Marvel’s reputation would most likely take a huge hit. Secret children weren’t anything new, but letting your twelve-year-old fend for himself and sleep in abandoned subway tunnels was a new low Bruce couldn’t have even imagined. Even thinking about it made him want to take even better care of Billy – the boy definitely deserved something good in his life.

“I’ll talk with Captain Marvel”, Bruce said again, “we’ll see what he answers. And we should look more into him and C.C. Batson, just in case. Let’s see what we’ll find out.”

Everyone was silent. Bruce returned to examine the new bugs on the table, and everyone started leaving one by one. When Bruce was finally alone, he let out a breath. He had known that taking Billy in would be complicated, but he couldn’t have predicted what kind of complications would arise later on. He didn’t regret his decision in any way – right now he was even more certain that Billy should stay with him. Even if Captain Marvel turned out to be the boy’s biological father, it wouldn’t change anything. Bruce picked up his Justice League communicator and started typing out his message to Marvel.

He’d have his answers soon enough.

***

Billy almost jumped when his Justice League communicator quietly buzzed in his backpack. He had almost forgotten about the thing and immediately felt bad he hadn’t tried to hide it somewhere. Of course, everyone kept saying that no one was going into his room without permission and Billy mostly believed that, but still, just keeping it out in the open like this was way too risky. He glanced at the door, wished for the best, and fetched the device from his backpack. He did turn his back towards the door before he read the message.

“We need to talk. As soon as possible. In person. When are you available?”

Batman’s message was kind of cryptic, and Billy didn’t like that. Not that the messages from Batman were usually cheerful or any longer than that – he liked to get straight to the point. Billy could appreciate that. He could read, though not as well as others his age. He could handle simple text messages without any problems, but whenever the sentences became more complicated or he didn’t have time to read everything at his own pace, he struggled.

Billy bit his lip as he thought. The safest time to meet with Batman would probably be at night when Bruce and everyone else in the house were already asleep. He could try to sneak out during the day, but it sounded like Batman had something important to say – it could take a while, and at some point someone would start to wonder if Billy was coming out of his room. He took a deep breath and started typing.

“sure, of course! where do you want to meet?? im free probably tomorrow nite”

It took only seconds for Batman to reply. Billy wondered if the man had some kind of automatic answering machine because answering that quickly shouldn’t be possible.

“Tomorrow, 11p.m., Gotham Clock Tower.”

“see you then!”

Billy stared at the communicator for a moment, put it on silent mode, then buried it under the mattress. Maybe Batman had some good news. Maybe he’d figured out who was after Billy and just wanted to inform Captain Marvel about it. Hopefully, that was the case: Billy was nowhere close to figuring that one out by himself. All he knew was that the person – or people, who knows? – wanted his magic. Was that something that could be taken away from him? Black Adam had once wanted his powers, but surely he hadn’t changed his mind so soon after their truce?

Someone knocked on the door and Billy had to put his worries aside for the moment.
“Yeah?” he called out. Tim poked his head in the room. The boy looked tired but there was a smile on his face.
“Is your head still hurting? Because if not, Dick and I thought we could have a little gaming session before it gets too late. Do you want to join us?” Tim asked, opening the door a bit further. Billy had almost forgotten the small, aching pain on his head – almost, because it kept nagging at him, no matter how many ice packs he had pressed against it.
“Yeah, I’m fine! Let’s go”, he said with a smile and tried to not look at the spot where he’d just buried the Justice League communicator.

He could worry about Batman tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Something was wrong. Billy didn’t know what it was or if it had something to do with him, but he could sense it in the air. There was something about the way Bruce looked at him when he thought Billy wouldn’t notice. Damian kept staring at him even more often than before, and Billy could have sworn everyone else kept looking at him weirdly during the day. Maybe everyone just felt bad that he got hurt during the attack at the mall. Was he supposed to be able to defend himself better, even without changing into Captain Marvel? Were they disappointed that he couldn’t hold his own in a situation like that? Or was he just overthinking everything?

To avoid the weird looks and long glances, Billy hid in the library. It would be many hours until he was supposed to meet with Batman, so he would just have to find something else to do in the meanwhile. The library was a fascinating place: of course, it didn’t hold as many books as regular libraries, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t enough books to last for a really long time. The rows of books seemed to reach the ceiling, with every book being meticulously sorted and placed on the shelves. Only a couple of books were laying on the tables, but even those were carefully placed and had bookmarks between their pages.

As Billy went through the titles, he noticed that most of them were boring non-fiction books. Almost none of them had anything interesting on their covers and, unfortunately, it seemed like none of them were designed for a younger audience. Even if one of these books held any information that could’ve helped Billy right now, he probably couldn’t even find it by himself… or if he did, he couldn’t read the book. It had been a while since Billy had been so frustrated with his own reading skills.

It took him more than half an hour to find a book that interested him. The cover didn’t have any pictures, but the spine let him know the title: To Mount Olympus and Back – Tales of Greek Mythology. A small smile found its way on his face as he took the book and sat on one of the plush armchairs. This particular chair was placed next to a gigantic window and sunlight warmed Billy as he opened the first pages. He wasn’t really looking for anything important, but knowing more about the gods whose powers he possessed couldn’t be a bad thing. Billy started to slowly go through the first pages, hoping for something to catch his interest.

He looked up when someone walked into the library. He hadn’t progressed far, maybe three pages, and so far he’d come across nothing interesting. He was already kind of used to Alfred checking up on him that he jumped on his seat when he saw Jason staring at him from across the room.

Billy tried to bury himself into his book. He didn’t have anything bad to say about Jason, the man seemed okay enough, but he was also kind of scary. Not in a “going to attack you at any moment” way, fortunately, more like a “will haunt you for months if you cross him” way. Usually, when Jason and him ran into each other, Jason simply acknowledged his presence with a small nod or a passing glance before continuing his journey. This time, however, seemed different. Billy’s head was still hidden behind the book when Jason walked up to him. He loomed over the boy for a moment before either of them spoke.

“Greek mythology?” the man asked. Billy lowered the book enough to look at Jason. He was the only one in the entire house who didn’t have completely black hair: he had that strange tuft of white hair on the front. Maybe it was a style choice or maybe he just wanted to stand out in a family of entirely black-haired people.
“Yeah”, Billy muttered, turning the book so Jason could see the title, “I found it on the shelves. It’s okay to read them, right?”

For a brief moment Billy almost panicked. What if he was told to definitely not read any of the books here? They were mostly aimed at older people, after all, and Billy wouldn’t have been surprised if Bruce was worried about him finding something inappropriate or scary amongst all the books.
“Obviously”, Jason said, looking around him. Billy wasn’t sure if he was supposed to continue the conversation or just pretend like this never happened, so he just returned to the book. He didn’t see Jason move but heard the man move closer to the bookshelves.

Unfortunately, this was one of the books that definitely had far more complicated sentences than Billy could handle. He had to approach every line slowly and even then he struggled with making sense of everything. He had a fleeting thought of asking Bruce for easier books, but maybe that was too much to ask. He’d been there for less than a week, after all. In his frustration, Billy put the book down on his thighs and let out a long sigh. Maybe he should try again once he was in school again. It would take a while, but his powers weren’t going anywhere; it would be good to learn about their origins, no matter when that learning would happen.

“What’s the problem?”

Billy had been so deep in his own thoughts, he hadn’t noticed Jason walking behind his chair and peeking at the book. Billy closed the book and shrugged.
“It’s just… difficult to read”, he said and felt his cheeks warm up. This conversation topic was really far from his comfort zone. Most of the adults just assumed that a kid his age would be able to read just fine and leave it at that – admitting that he couldn’t do that felt very uncomfortable. Fortunately, Jason didn’t laugh at his admission. Instead, the man picked up the book from Billy’s lap and opened it.
“When’s the last time you were in school?” he asked. This was already much more talking than Billy had ever anticipated from Jason, and he couldn’t help but feel like there was a trap somewhere in this topic. He wasn’t sure what kind of trap it would be, but it had to be somewhere.

“Probably… three years ago? Maybe more, I’m not sure” he admitted, refusing to look in Jason’s direction. He barely remembered his last day in school. He hadn’t been chosen by the Wizard yet, and he was still with one of his previous foster families. He didn’t remember the classes or the teachers, but he remembered the other kids who’d made fun of him for not having parents and being in a foster home. The more he thought about it, the less he wanted to go back. He knew that not everyone would be as awful as those bullies, but those memories would be hard to shake off.
“Three years… Jesus Christ”, Jason muttered, going through the pages. Mercifully, he wasn’t looking straight at Billy either, because maybe then the armchair actually would have grown a mouth and swallowed Billy whole. Actually, maybe that would have been more merciful.

“I can do basic stuff. I can read and do some math”, Billy felt the urge to defend himself. Jason glanced at him.
“Yeah? Read me that sentence, as quickly as you can”, he said and shoved the book back onto Billy’s lap, pointing at a sentence. Billy’s heart was thumping as he took a closer look at the chosen words.
“Zeus was… ap-palled… by human sac—sacri…” he tried to work through the sentence as fast as possible, only to stumble in his own words. He pushed the book away from him, face hotter than ever. Jason still didn’t laugh – instead, he walked around the armchair and sat on a nearby bench, first looking at Billy, then staring in the direction of the bookshelves.

“You’re twelve. You should be able to read better”, he said. Billy stood up.
“It’s not my fault that--!”
“I’m not blaming you, dumbass. I’m blaming the stupid fucking system. There should have been no reason for you to drop out of the school system just because no one could find you a decent foster family. That’s just idiotic. It fucking pisses me off.”

Billy sat back down, speechless. He hadn’t had much of a first impression of Jason – the guy had appeared at his door, told him not to get stabbed, and left. This was… definitely something different.
“… Just so you know, I still can read. Just not that fast. And I’m good at lots of other things”, he said after a moment. Jason raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah? Like?” he prompted, this time aiming his full attention at Billy.
“Like… at practical stuff”, Billy said, gesturing with his hands. He knew he was good at many things, but suddenly just couldn’t find words for any of them. He couldn’t exactly claim that he was good at shooting lightning bolts from his fingers, so a downgrade was necessary.
“I’m good at running. And I’m good with languages. Reading is just a small thing, and I’m going to be fine with it.” Billy wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince himself or Jason.

Jason was quiet for a moment and Billy wondered if he shouldn’t have tried so hard.
“Reading isn’t just a small thing. And you’re definitely not going to wait until school starts to learn how to read properly – I haven’t been in school for a while, but I’m pretty sure the other kids are going to annihilate you if you stumble in your words like that”, he said. There was a different light in his eyes and Billy wasn’t sure if he liked it.
“I don’t think Bruce has time to teach me…” he said. He’d seen Bruce at breakfast that morning, but after that, he’d been busy with work. Billy didn’t know what this work detailed, but he imagined the man sitting in some boring meetings with people in grey suits. Exactly the kind of work Billy most certainly wouldn’t be doing in the future.

“I’m not talking about Bruce. I’m not just going to sit here and watch you struggle with some ink on the paper. Get that book and I’ll teach you how to goddamn read.”

At first, Billy wasn’t sure if Jason was playing a prank on him – then he looked at the man and saw the dead serious look on his face. He absolutely meant it with all his heart and Billy had complicated feelings about that.
“Um… okay?” he said and slowly reached for the book.

***

Billy’s head was still spinning when he entered his room in the evening. Jason had been serious about teaching him, and although he obviously hadn’t learned how to read in a span of two hours, they’d begun their journey. Jason didn’t give off the same energy as the other teachers Billy had had in the past, but that seemed to be a good thing. Billy felt more motivated than ever before to learn how to deal with those pesky letters on the pages. And, even more surprisingly, Jason turned out to be a pretty okay teacher, at least during this first lesson. Who knows how he would react on the next ‘lesson’ if Billy hadn’t memorized anything they’d talked about?

Even though Billy was already tired and would have easily fallen asleep, his day wasn’t over yet. He piled some pillows under his blanket in an effort to make it look like someone was sleeping underneath. It wouldn’t help if anyone took a closer look or wondered why he wasn’t breathing, but it would probably be enough to fool people who just peeked in and left immediately. After he was happy with his creation, Billy wrote the last symbol on his door once more and pushed the magic into it. The symbols glowed for a moment, after which Billy walked in.
His mind was still focused on Jason as he transformed into Captain Marvel and began his flight towards Gotham City. So focused in fact, the entire trip went by much faster than he’d anticipated. He didn’t know exactly where the Gotham Clock Tower was supposed to be, but hopefully that mystery would be solved just by flying around and trying to find a huge clock.

It felt good to fly again. The transformation healed the last of his headache, and once he was flying over Gotham, he could take a better look around. It was kind of surreal to think that he was actually living in this city now, not in Fawcett. The two cities had different feels to them, even when looked at from high above. For a moment he simply floated above the city, idly staring down – then he remembered he actually had something important to do and left to find the clock tower.

Fortunately, a large, lit clock wasn’t difficult to find. When he landed on top of the building, Batman wasn’t there yet, so Captain Marvel sat on the edge of the roof and leaned forwards, staring down at the people who looked like ants from this height. Even someone from the Wayne household could be walking somewhere down there, none the wiser that their new foster child was sitting on top of a huge, tall tower instead of sleeping in his bed. Even if they saw Captain Marvel sitting there right now, they wouldn’t know. Sometimes that level of anonymity still felt weird but he really, truly liked it. He knew what would happen if he told anyone the truth: he’d get kicked out of Justice League for being so young and no one would give him any responsibilities for a long time. He’d lose the respect and trust of anyone in the League, and whenever he got out to save people after that, it just wouldn’t be the same.

There was a whooshing sound behind him. Captain Marvel stood up and turned around. Batman’s face always looked grim, especially in this dark and murky lighting, so trying to figure out what was going on just from the facial expressions was just impossible. Captain Marvel smiled in greeting.
“Hey! I got your message, so… what’s up?” he asked, offering his hand to Batman. He didn’t get a handshake back. That wasn’t a good omen. Or maybe it didn’t mean anything. He couldn’t remember a time when Captain Marvel had gotten a handshake back from the Bat.
“I heard that Billy got attacked again”, Batman said. Marvel bit back the groan that almost made its way out of his mouth. Of course, Bruce had told him about the mall thing. Red Robin could have also told him about it, but Marvel seriously doubted that Red Robin even knew who Billy Batson was. That was more of a coincidence – Bruce telling Batman about these things wasn’t.

“Uh… that’s… too bad. Poor kid”, Captain Marvel struggled to say anything remotely okay. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be surprised or overly worried. In his mind, Captain Marvel was simply a superhero that Billy Batson was kind of familiar with and that was that. Being worried about another kid would have been much easier if he wasn’t talking about himself.
“But he’s… okay, right?” he added. He could only wish that his concern sounded even vaguely natural.
“Thanks to Red Robin’s quick actions, he’s mostly okay.”

Okay, Batman was being unnaturally quiet for… you know, Batman. Captain Marvel got a distant feeling of having done something wrong, but he couldn’t imagine what that would be. Should he be more worried about Billy? Less worried about Billy? Should he have somehow been at the mall?

“Okay, let’s go straight to the point. Recently I found something disturbing and wanted to hear your explanation for the situation”, he said, digging his Batphone out of his utility belt. Captain Marvel still couldn’t say if this was about the mall situation or something else, so he simply waited as Batman found something from his phone and then shoved the screen right before his eyes.
His heart skipped a beat. He knew the people in the photo. He hadn’t seen this exact image before, but he had seen a picture of his parents before. He didn’t have any memories about them and only knew what he’d been told, so it was hard to actually miss them. Sometimes he did wonder what his life would have been like if his parents hadn’t died and he’d grown up with them all his life, but those were useless thoughts. This was his life right now, and he wouldn’t be where he was right now if things had gone differently.

There was a weird look in Batman’s eyes and Captain Marvel wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“You recognize the photo”, he said. It wasn’t a question, just a statement. Marvel tore his eyes off the photo and concentrated on Batman.
“No. I’ve never seen the photo”, he said. It was true, even if he did recognize the people. Why would Batman be showing him the photo of his… well, Billy’s, parents? If he knew the connection between Billy and Captain Marvel, certainly he would have said something about it already, right? Or maybe he just wanted to make this moment particularly awkward, make Marvel really feel the weight of his lies.
“And you have nothing else to say about this?” he asked, taking a look at the phone himself.
“… No? Why are you showing me this?” Captain Marvel asked. This conversation was moving in a particularly uncomfortable direction and he felt the urge to just fly away and ignore the moment. There was only one fault in that plan – he would have to show up at Justice League meeting sooner or later and face Batman again. Hiding from Batman probably wasn’t even feasible.

“Are you really this naïve or do you think I’m an idiot?”

The harsh words from Batman felt like little knives, trying to stab Captain Marvel.
“No… No, what? I don’t think you’re an idiot. You’re… Batman”, he said. Batman was pretty much synonymous with “not an idiot”. Batman let out a rough sigh and zoomed the photo in on Billy’s father.
“Then why the hell aren’t you explaining why you’re in this photo!?”

It felt like Batman had pulled an invisible rug underneath Captain Marvel’s feet.
“I… What!? No, that’s… not…” he couldn’t even finish the sentence, taking another look at the photo. He had never realized how much Captain Marvel actually resembled the late C.C. Batson. He hadn’t had any reason to think about that, but now that Batman had brought it up, the similarities were striking. They didn’t look exactly the same, not in Marvel’s opinion, but he understood Batman’s perspective. He didn’t know how to feel about this and Batman’s presence didn’t make anything easier.
“I’m going to ask you a question, and you are going to answer me truthfully. I don’t care what godly powers you have, I will know if you lie about this”, Batman said, taking a step closer to Captain Marvel, who retreated a step.

“Are you Billy Batson’s father?”

Captain Marvel was just barely able to hold back a shocked burst of laughter. He didn’t know what he had expected, but this wasn’t it.
“I…” he started, unable to form any words. He didn’t know what to respond. A simple “no” was a complicated option: it sounded like Batman had already made up his mind and just wanted confirmation from Marvel. Even if he denied it, he’d still have the photo and whatever else he had managed to find out during these days. At least he didn’t suspect that Billy and Captain Marvel were the same person.
“If yes… and it really seems like it. You haven’t denied it”, Batman started quietly, keeping his eyes locked on Captain Marvel, “then why in the world haven’t you stepped up and been the father the boy’s so obviously needed for the past twelve years? What kind of man would just see his own son living on the streets and not do anything about it? Especially you! What is your excuse?”
Batman’s voice was calm but dark. Captain Marvel was completely speechless. A small part of him wanted to tell Batman the truth just to make him less angry, but a bigger part of him kept reminding him of everything he would lose if the truth got out. For the past three years, his entire life had focused around being Captain Marvel, and he wasn’t going to let anyone take that away from him. He knew Batman probably meant well, but right Billy simply wanted to fly away and forget that this entire conversation even happened.

“Why do you care about something like this? What’s it to you?” he asked. That was the wrong question, as Batman stepped up to him and grabbed him by the front of his cloak.
“Because he’s a child!” the man hissed, tightening his grip on the cloak. Captain Marvel probably could have broken free from the grasp, but he was too surprised by the sudden motion.
“He’s a child, and you are an adult, no matter how childish and naïve and selfish you sometimes act”, Batman continued, his voice sounding even lower than usual, “and you have let him grow up all by himself, feeling like he isn’t wanted by anyone! And now someone is trying to kidnap him, probably because of his connection to you, and you haven’t asked even once what’s going on with him or how he’s been adjusting. Do you really only care about yourself or is there some kind of explanation you’d like to offer to me?”

Captain Marvel’s stare was almost blank as he kept looking at Batman, who was getting more heated by the moment. He had never really thought that Batman cared that much about children – although that would explain his sidekick being pretty young, at least compared to other superheroes. There was also the fact that he had never seen Batman get this… emotional about anything. That was Batman’s entire thing: he was cool and collected and smart and that’s why he was such an efficient superhero. This was another side of him that Captain Marvel had never seen before, and considering the situation, he didn’t like it at all. He had always known that Batman wasn’t maybe his biggest fan, but hearing his flaws spat out like that felt like Batman had straight up stabbed him.

“I am trying to figure out who’s trying to get to him as much as you are”, Marvel said, moving Batman’s hand away from his cloak, “and that’s the truth. And that’s what’s important. He’s alive, is he not? And – well, mostly safe. I can’t be there all the time, and now he’s in a new foster home. Isn’t that good enough? He’s fine.”

He should have been able to see the hand before it made a connection with his face. He had superspeed, for crying out loud! But he had never expected Batman to actually slap him in the face, and so he could react only seconds after it had happened. Batman swore a little under his breath as he looked at his hand. Meanwhile, Captain Marvel touched his own cheek carefully – it didn’t hurt too badly, at least physically. Mentally, though… he retreated away from Batman, shocked by the sudden attack.

“… Grow the fuck up, Marvel. Just… grow up”, Batman muttered, turning his eyes from his hand to Captain Marvel, “maybe once you’ve done that, you’ll realize what’s really going on. I’ll contact you if I find out something new and important about the zombies. Until then… never mind. Just go.”

Before Captain Marvel could even formulate an answer, Batman was gone. He jumped down from the clock tower’s ledge and Marvel watched as the shadowy figure disappeared in the city, leaving only his words and the small pain on Captain Marvel’s cheek behind.

Chapter Text

Billy couldn’t sleep the following night. He couldn’t get Batman out of this head. The man’s words were ringing in his ears hours after he’d left Gotham City, more confused than ever and now apparently on Batman’s list of terrible people. All because he happened to look like his own father… and because despite the anger in Batman’s voice and the feeling of doing something morally wrong, he still wasn’t going to tell him the truth. He could let Batman think that C.C. Batson and Captain Marvel were the same person, and maybe at some point he would be forgiven and they could continue working in the Justice League as allies.

Or maybe that was just the childish and naïve part of him that was talking. Batman did make it very clear how he felt about Captain Marvel. He could hear Batman’s voice in his head, clear as day, telling him to grow up. The words felt much worse than the actual slap – though that haunted his mind as well. He’d been in countless battles, gotten thrown around and badly hurt, but even so, this one really stuck. Batman fought against evil people who did bad things, so what did this say about Billy?

Billy spent his entire night lying in bed, staring at his ceiling, and imagining worst-case scenarios. If he told Batman he was Captain Marvel, he would immediately get booted out of the Justice League. Batman would probably also tell Bruce about him, and then Billy would get kicked out of the Wayne Manor as well. No matter how well-prepared Bruce had been when he promised to take Billy in, he was pretty certain that didn’t include his new foster son being an actual superhero. He simply couldn’t see that conversation ending well. Even though Captain Marvel did good things and helped a lot of people, it was a huge lie to keep from anyone. Of course, he wanted to believe that Bruce would be different from all the other foster families he’d been in… but he hadn’t spent enough time in this house to know anything about that. The first impressions had been good, but anything could happen after the first few weeks.

Maybe he could have told Batman that no, he wasn’t C.C. Batson, and left it at that. But would Batman have even believed him? Would he just accept his words and move on despite the picture? If Billy had had more time to think about it, he might have been able to construct a much better argument than confused silence… or maybe, even despite the Wisdom of Solomon, he still wouldn’t have been able to come up with an explanation that didn’t make Captain Marvel look like a neglectful father or Billy a complete liar. Gods, what a mess.

When the light started to shine through the windows, Billy felt like he wanted to hole up in his room for the rest of the day. He especially didn’t want to come up with any excuses as to why he hadn’t slept even a little or why he wasn’t in a better mood. He probably could still use the headache as an excuse, even though his heart didn’t hurt at all after the transformation. Still, to keep up appearances, he dragged himself up from the bed in the morning and headed for breakfast.

He didn’t get as many weird looks as he had the day before, but something was still off in the atmosphere. He would have blamed that feeling on the conversation with Batman, but whatever this was, it had the same feel to it as the day before. An uncomfortable thought popped into his mind: had Batman told Bruce about his speculations? Was that the reason for the odd behavior? Maybe Bruce was just feeling even more pity for him, even though his reasons were completely off. Bruce waved his hand at Billy when he entered the dining room, and Billy replied with a slow wave of his own. He could pretend like everything was okay. He was pretty good at pretending.

“You look like you didn’t have a good night’s sleep, Master Billy”, Alfred noted as he brought Billy breakfast, “is everything alright?”
Okay, he wasn’t so good at pretending that Alfred couldn’t notice his tiredness. To be fair, from what Billy had seen so far, it seemed like it was almost impossible to hide those kinds of things from Alfred. He’d have to be extra careful with him around.
“It’s not a big deal”, he said, grabbing a piece of toast from his plate and biting into it, “my head just hurt a little and I wasn’t very tired. I did get some sleep, at least.”

The last bit was a lie, but Billy wasn’t going to admit that he’d been awake the entire night.
“That’s not very surprising. Even though you didn’t get a concussion, I’d be amazed if the pain would go away this quickly”, Bruce said, sipping on his coffee. Billy nodded. Yes, it would be weird if his head didn’t hurt from the mall fight, absolutely.

They ate in relative silence. Damian arrived a little later on, snatched a toasted muffin from the table, and disappeared back into the hallway. He and Billy still hadn’t had an entire conversation during Billy’s stay at the manor, and Billy got a distinct feeling that Damian liked it that way.

After Billy was finished with his breakfast, he got up from the table, planning to head straight back to his room and stare at the ceiling for the next few hours. However, before he could enact his plan, Bruce caught up with him at the dining room door.
“Hey, I have an idea, if you’re not heading to bed”, he said, walking beside Billy to the hallway, “I haven’t really spent enough time with you since you moved in, and that’s my bad. I could show you some places in the manor you maybe haven’t seen yet. I’m not sure what the boys have shown and told you, but there’s most likely still many things to see.”
“Sure?” Billy replied. He didn’t know if he’d be able to keep his mind from wandering back to last night, but at least he could try. At least Bruce was obviously trying, so he should do the same.
“I’ve only really seen the main areas on the second floor and the way to the dining room on the first”, he added, trying to concentrate. He shouldn’t even worry about Batman and Batman’s stupid, wrong conclusions. Batman was brooding somewhere else in the city and that was just fine with Billy.

“Yeah, this place is probably unnecessarily big”, Bruce said with a smile, glancing around the walls of the hallway, “but it’s the only place I’ve ever called home. It’s pretty nostalgic.”
“So you’ve always lived here?” Billy asked. He didn’t have the same kind of place Bruce was talking about. Maybe he could consider Fawcett City his home, but there were no actual buildings or places that he could really call his home. He had always moved around too much to get attached to anywhere specific, and if he and his parents had lived somewhere together at some point, he couldn’t remember.
“Yes. I don’t remember when exactly this place was built – I’m sure Alfred would know, he always knows these things – but it’s a really old building. Some Wayne decided one day that he wanted to build a manor here, and it’s been here ever since. I’m probably using it wrong since most of the rooms are unused and empty”, Bruce explained as they entered the main hall. His eyes wandered towards the big painting at the top of the stairs, and Billy followed the look.

“Did it used to be different?” Billy said. He almost framed the question less tactfully – ‘did your parents have more people living here when they were still alive’ didn’t sound quite as good. Billy was starting to realize that Jason’s quip about the “sorry collection of orphans” was even more accurate than he’d thought. He wasn’t about to start asking everyone in the house about their parents, but he really was starting to see the pattern. It was comforting in a weird way: at least he wasn’t the only one with dead biological parents.
“When I was little, we did have some servants. Not many, definitely not as many as there used to be, but some. After that, it’s been just Alfred and me. He’s been… a father figure to me for a long time”, Bruce said, taking his eyes off of the painting and looking at Billy.

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to… but do you remember anything about your birth parents?” he asked. Billy felt like a boulder had rolled on top of his heart and was squeezing it down. He still wasn’t sure if Batman had talked to Bruce about the whole Captain Marvel -situation, and he really didn’t want to continue the conversation with Bruce.
“Not really. I was a baby when they died. I’ve been told some things about them, like their names, that they were archeologists and traveled a lot, but that’s about it”, he said, really hoping that the topic had come up only because of the painting on the wall, “and I have an old keyring with a tiger on it that belonged to them. But that’s about it.”
Bruce nodded quietly, leading Billy to a hallway he hadn’t been in before. Billy was relieved to be away from the main hall, but the change of scenery didn’t take away the feeling that Bruce possibly knew – or at least thought he knew – more than he let on.

“Sorry. That’s a sad subject. I just want to know you better now that you live here. If there’s anything you ever want to know about me, feel free to ask as well”, Bruce sighed. Billy nodded, looked around, and spoke.
“Are these lights motion activated or did you press a switch when we walked in?” he asked, turning around and trying to spot a switch somewhere along the right side of the hallway. Bruce let out a small laugh. Maybe he noticed the very elaborate change of subject, maybe he didn’t, but at least he didn’t comment on it.
“These are motion activated. There’s also a switch, just in case there’s something going on with them, but otherwise they work by themselves”, he said, pointing at the corner next to the door they’d passed through, “and we’re about the enter the old servants’ quarters. Most of the rooms are just empty with beds and closets, but there are some other places I’d like to show you that you might like.”

Billy couldn’t even begin to imagine what kinds of secrets a place this big could hide. A tennis court? An entire cinema? A supervillain hideout? The possibilities were endless and he could only find out. Bruce led him to one of the doors and opened it with a slight, almost smug smile on his face. Billy peeked into the room.

“What?” he let out a surprised shout as he hurried inside the room. Lights weren’t on inside, but that didn’t matter – there were huge, clear windows on one wall, letting in enough light to lit up the entire place. In the middle of the room, there was a huge pool, shimmering in the sunlight. Billy dashed to the edge and felt the water with his fingers. He shouldn’t have been surprised by a pool, but there he was… getting surprised. Bruce followed him inside, his smile wider than before.
“The gym is over there”, he pointed at another door, “but I thought this would interest you more than gym equipment. We should probably get you swimwear as well so you can actually use the pool at some point. Can you swim?”
“Yeah, I can swim pretty well”, Billy said, turning around to look at Bruce, “well, it’s been a while since I went swimming, but I don’t think I’ve forgotten how to do that.”

It wasn’t like Billy was a master at swimming or anything, but that was something he’d learned pretty quickly when he still went to school and before that. As Captain Marvel he never really needed to swim, as flying as much faster, but he’d tested it out in that form as well. It was funny to notice how different, yet weirdly similar many things felt in different-sized bodies.

“Speaking of getting you swimwear”, Bruce said, glancing at the windows, “I had Dick get you at least some of the clothes you chose when we went to the mall. I know that trip didn’t end well, but we should probably try again at some point. We’ll just need to be… more careful.”
“Do you think we can go out without someone trying to attack me?” Billy asked, turning back to look at the water. Obviously, it was annoying to be targeted by someone he didn’t know, but it was even more annoying dragging more people into it. Thankfully, everyone could go out without him and be just fine, but whenever he wanted to go out, they’d have to be alert and ready for anything. Even though Billy didn’t really like Batman at the moment, he really hoped that the man would find the culprit sooner rather than later.
“Of course. And even if someone does try something, we’ll be ready for it. Gotham is pretty well stocked up with superheroes, so I think you’ll be just fine”, he said with a smile that said something like ‘but let’s not be too hasty, right?’

“Okay”, Billy replied. He wasn’t quite as certain about that, but even if he got attacked again, he still had the superpowers-card up his sleeve. He’d just have to hide from Bruce for a moment and then he could pretend like Captain Marvel flew over to make sure Billy was alright. Maybe that would even make Batman a little bit less angry at him.
“Thanks, by the way. For caring about these things”, he said quietly after a small moment of silence. He still wasn’t looking at Bruce, but he could see the man’s reflection turn to look at him with a slightly bewildered expression.
“Of course I care. You’re under this roof, you’re a part of this family. I hope you’ll see it too once you’ve spent a bit more time here”, he said, sitting next to Billy.

Billy hoped so too. Despite everything, he really wanted to find an actual place to call home, with people he cared about and who actually cared about him. The Rock of Eternity was maybe the closest place to a home he’d ever had, but even though the Wizard was pretty cool and the reason for his powers, he didn’t really have that kind of familial feelings towards the guy. The Wizard was more of an employer than anything… or maybe a very distant teacher. Billy wasn’t getting paid for being the Champion. Maybe he would have asked the Wizard for money if the old man didn’t look like he was still living with the ancient Greeks and possibly didn’t know what money was.

Billy couldn’t think of anything heartfelt to say, so he was incredibly relieved when he heard the door to the pool open. Bruce didn’t get up, just turned enough to see whoever was at the door.
“Sorry if I’m interrupting”, Billy heard Tim’s voice from the doorway, “Bruce, can I borrow you for a moment? It won’t take long.”
Bruce nodded, patted Billy on the shoulder, and got up from the floor. Billy watched as he disappeared behind the door, leaving Billy momentarily alone in the room. That turned out to be a mistake because now that his mind wasn’t distracted and he was alone with his thoughts, his mind immediately returned to the previous night.

Maybe him trying to adjust to living in the Wayne Manor was selfish. So many would have killed for the opportunity to be living in a place like this, with Bruce freaking Wayne, and here he was, feeling like he shouldn’t be there. Obviously, Batman didn’t know the extent of his accusations, but he wasn’t called the world’s greatest detective for nothing – he must have seen something in Captain Marvel to say those words out loud. Billy pressed his head against his hands and breathed deeply. He needed to snap out of this. He’d been called childish multiple times before, as well as naïve, rash, dumb, whatever. Most of the insults had come from Doctor Sivana, but Billy just tuned that stuff out. Black Adam had had some choice words for him, and even though they felt harsher than whatever nonsense Sivana liked to spout out, even that didn’t bother him as much. So why in the world couldn’t he get the stupid Bat out of his mind?

A door opened somewhere. At first Billy thought Bruce was coming back and straightened a little bit, trying to push the annoying thoughts to the back of his mind. When he looked around, he noticed he was wrong – the door to the hallway was still closed, but the door to the gym was open. Damian’s eyes immediately closed in on Billy as he shut the door behind him and walked further into the room. He had his swimming trunks on and a towel on his shoulders. Billy felt immediately overdressed for the room.

“Why are you just sitting there?” the boy asked, glancing at the pool, then back at Billy.
“I… don’t have any swimming gear?” Billy answered. It felt like he was being interrogated, and Damian had spoken only a couple of words. Physically, Damian did look like Bruce, only with darker skin, green eyes, and messier hair. Despite that, Damian behaved very differently compared to his father, and Billy didn’t have any problems believing that he hadn’t spent his entire life with Bruce. Maybe, just maybe, it was a good thing that the mother didn’t seem to be around.

Damian shrugged and instead of getting into the pool, he walked to the other side of the room and opened a door Billy hadn’t noticed before: it was a glass door right next to the windows, making it blend right in. Billy got up from the edge of the pool and quietly watched as Damian poked his head outside and looked around.
“Titus! If you’re not here in thirty seconds, you’re not getting in for another hour!” the boy shouted, still looking around as if looking for something. Billy hadn’t even heard of anyone called Titus – another son? He thought he’d already heard everyone’s names, but there was a slight possibility that he could have forgotten one of them.

For about fifteen seconds, nothing happened. Damian was still staring outside, but at the twenty second mark, he stepped away from the door as something big rushed inside. At first it was so fast that Billy couldn’t even make out its shape – that problem immediately evaporated when a huge Great Dane excitedly appeared before him and unceremoniously knocked him into the pool.

The water was pleasantly cool, not too cold, but that definitely wasn’t the point. Billy quickly made his way to the surface, his wet clothes trying their very best to drag him down, and clung onto the edge of the pool. The Great Dane – Titus, apparently – didn’t seem to have a shred of shame in it. The dog leaned towards him and licked his face before he could protest. Damian, clearly not in a great hurry, finally made his way to his dog, and gently pulled it away by its collar.
“Your reflexes aren’t very good”, he said, tapping Titus on the back. Billy rolled his eyes, still not bothering to get out from the pool; now that he was in there, he wasn’t in a hurry to get out. He also didn’t want to risk another dog attack immediately after the first one.

“Yeah, well, I’m not very used to dogs jumping at me at the pool”, he said, resisting the urge to make a face at the boy. Instead, he took another look at the Great Dane. He couldn’t be angry at the dog, it just wasn’t physically possible.
“How old is he?” he asked, nodding towards Titus. Damian looked at the dog as well, still petting it.
“Probably four”, the reply came short and simple. Would it really have taken that much effort to tell Billy a little bit more about the dog who just attacked him? As if reading Billy’s thoughts, Titus leaned forward once more and gave Billy’s face another lick.

“—tremely right. Thanks, Tim. It’s a big help”, Bruce’s voice came from the door. Billy hadn’t heard the door open and only just managed to lift his head in time to see Bruce’s face as he realized where Billy was.
“… Damian?” Bruce asked. It wasn’t exactly an accusation, but there was a certain ‘this better not be what I think it is’ in the air. Damian let out a sigh and pointed at Titus. He didn’t even have to speak the words, Bruce just nodded with a sigh as he walked to them.
“Sometimes I think he’s well-trained… and sometimes this happens. Why even is he at the pool area?” he asked, giving Titus a few pats, and offering his hand to Billy. Billy’s clothes were absolutely soaked and smelled of chlorine, and if he stayed like this for a while longer, he’d definitely start getting cold. Billy took the hand, and in just a moment, he was up and out of the water.
“He’s always at the pool area”, Damian answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“… We are definitely going to talk about this. Just not right now”, Bruce said, aiming his words at both Damian and Titus. Titus let out a small whine as Damian just shrugged his shoulders. Billy was trying to twist some water off of his clothes, but it felt like just his shirt had an entire ocean’s worth of water in it right now.

“Let’s get you a towel. Maybe two. Then we can try getting you into your room without the entire manor flooding”, Bruce suggested, taking a better look at Billy’s situation. Billy simply nodded, trying one last twist. Damian had already removed himself from the conversation, jumping straight into the pool. Titus tried to imitate the act but was stopped by Bruce before it could even try it.

“Absolutely not”, Bruce commanded. Titus let out another whine.

Billy couldn't help but smile.

Chapter Text

The next two weeks went by quickly. Billy was finally getting somewhat used to the Wayne Manor, even though he still hadn’t seen all of the house. He had thought about doing some investigating on his own, trying to find some secret rooms or other stuff, but even thinking about it felt a little bit wrong. Instead, he focused his energy on trying to keep his normal life and his Captain Marvel life at least somewhat balanced. Finding a rhythm for his Fawcett City visits took a while, but he did manage to find it: an hour or two during the day, when he didn’t have Jason’s reading lessons or anything else lined up, and sometimes a few more hours at night, when he was supposed to be asleep. Sometimes he was a bit jealous of other heroes who mostly operated during the night – it must be so easy for them to sneak out!

Billy had gone out of the house twice during those two weeks. The first time had been to a different mall, and Bruce had been behind him like a hawk the entire time, making sure no one would be able to sneak up on them. The second time had been to Wayne Tower. Bruce had shown him around a little bit, explained his job – Billy didn’t really get it, but he didn’t mind – and introduced him to some of his coworkers. It did cement the feeling that Billy never wanted to work in a place like this, but it was cool to see where Bruce actually worked. So far it had felt like Bruce simply disappeared for certain amounts of time during the day and reappeared out of nowhere.

Batman hadn’t contacted Captain Marvel after their previous meeting. Maybe that was for the best. At least the man probably hadn’t told anyone in the Justice League about this situation they were having, as no one else had contacted either. In the worst case that might have meant that he was just silently ghosted from the entire league, but Billy was pretty sure that the League wouldn’t do something like that. People like Superman and Wonder Woman were way too nice to simply cut anyone off without an explanation and a goodbye. So, at least he was still in the League.

Now Billy was out with Dick, who wanted to show Billy an arcade he frequented. Somehow it felt like going out to an arcade was a bit much, considering everything they had back at the manor, but Dick was certain that it would be worth it.

“It has a whole different feeling to it, Billy! A different atmosphere” he said, keeping his eyes on the road as he drove, but clearly enthusiastic about the subject, “there are lots of other people there, different games, prizes to be won, so much stuff! And we can’t just hole up at the manor at all times, yeah? You’re going to be staying here, so you need to learn more about Gotham. Visiting the Gotham Heights Arcade is a very, very good first step.”
“Technically it’s not the first step anymore…” Billy noted, watching as Dick slowed down to enter a parking garage.
“At this point, everything’s a first step. Let’s not get technical, that’s Tim and Damian’s thing”, Dick made a face as he looked for a free parking spot. Billy didn’t really agree, but maybe it wasn’t worth talking about.

It took them another five minutes to find a parking spot, but they did find one. Billy stepped out of the car as soon as they were parked and took a deep breath. Maybe he was just imagining it, but sometimes it felt like Gotham even had a different smell compared to Fawcett City. It wasn’t something he could put to words, but every time he went out, he noticed it.

“Perfect. It’s not too early, but not the busiest time either. Just remember to tell me when you get tired or hungry, we can get something to eat on the way back”, Dick said with a smile, leading Billy toward an exit with a big GOTHAM HEIGHTS ARCADE plastered on it. Billy could already hear the music inside, and the sound became louder and louder as they approached the door. Before they entered, Dick turned around and gave Billy a small purse of coins.
“If you need more, fetch me. I know you’re pretty good with video games, so let’s hope that that skill carries over”, he said, winked, and opened the door.

The music wasn’t as loud as Billy had feared. When he stepped inside, he didn’t have to cover his voice in the fear of getting his eardrums blasted off. Instead, he could take a good look around him and assess his surroundings.

The main room was very large – so large in fact, Billy couldn’t see all of it by just standing by the door. There were tons of different machines littered everywhere, and most of them were being used by enthusiastic, and, to be honest, less enthusiastic visitors. Most of the people seemed to be in small groups, but some had arrived by themselves and were completely sucked in by the games they were playing. There were people from all age groups, but teenagers were definitely the majority at the moment. Lights were flashing, people were shouting and laughing, and the different games were making their own noises: all of that combined to create the atmosphere Dick had mentioned earlier.

“Which game do you want to try first?” the man asked, clapping Billy on the shoulder. It took Billy a moment to get his thoughts back together in order to answer.
“Um… I’m not sure. Those look cool?” he suggested, pointing at a motorcycle game in one corner. Dick flashed a wide grin.
“Those are amazing. Let’s go”, he said. Billy felt an excited smile on his own lips as he hurried behind the man, absolutely ready to drive a motorcycle. He’d actually seen these games before, but never really had the chance to try one. Even now it felt like an unreal moment, even though he had the coins in his hand and Dick to explain the game to him and get him ready for it.

Fortunately, the line to the motorcycles was very short. They only needed to wait for one turn as the previous person got off the bike and hurried somewhere else, eager to spend their money on other games while the evening was still young. Billy had to jump a little to get on the motorcycle, but once he was on it, he didn’t have any problems staying up. Dick pointed out where the coin was supposed to go, and soon the game started. Two other players were joining on the same game, but Billy barely even noticed them as he concentrated on playing the game. He’d been moderately excited on the way here – now he was getting more and more pumped, driving around in the virtual roads in front of him, and crashing into the walls a couple of times.

He didn’t come first, but he definitely liked the game.
“This one’s amazing. Have you ever considered getting one at the manor?” he asked once the rounds were over. He jumped down from the bike, taking another look at the screen. He was definitely going to come back to this one later on, after he’d checked out some of the other games.
“Not really, no. We definitely could. Maybe it’s because most of us have our own motorcycles”, Dick said, absolutely beaming. He hadn’t even played the game and yet he seemed to be in a fantastic mood.

“Billy?” a voice came somewhere behind Dick. Billy almost thought he’d imagined the sound before a familiar face walked up to them, crutch in hand, and clad in a bright Green Arrow t-shirt.
“Freddy!” Billy felt a new smile on his face. He’d wondered what happened to Freddy after the scene at the mall, but they hadn’t exchanged phone numbers or anything else. To be perfectly honest, he hadn’t been sure if Freddy would even remember him – they just met once at the mall and had a short conversation about superheroes. Not exactly something that would stick to anyone’s mind. Dick took a quick look at Freddy, possibly remembered him, and took a step back, letting the younger boys chat to each other.

“I’ve been wondering what happened to you after the thing at the mall. You know, when Red Robin showed up?” Freddy said, placing the crutch in a more comfortable position, “I kind of lost you in the chaos, and then we had to leave. Nothing bad happened, right?”
“Nothing bad, no worries there. Just some bruises that went away quickly. I was actually wondering the same thing about you”, Billy said. He’d seen Freddy get away from the store they’d been in, but after that Billy himself had been tossed around, so the rest of that had been a blur.
“Still in one piece!” Freddy smiled, demonstrating with a slow spin, “although my granddad really freaked out. He didn’t want to let me go anywhere for a week, even though nothing happened to me. I’m just still pretty happy that I saw Red Robin, even though it was just a quick glance.”

Billy smiled to himself. So, he wasn’t the only one stuck inside for a while after the incident. Well, not entirely stuck – he had snuck out to Fawcett City – but those were just technicalities, something that Dick would probably scoff at. He looked at Dick, who grinned at him with a phone in hand.
“If you guys want to play some games together, it’s okay with me. Just remember to stay close by”, he said, his eyes adding the unspoken ‘in case some zombies show up again’.
“Yeah, I mean—if you want to?” Billy replied, quickly looking at Freddy, who nodded enthusiastically. Dick gave them a thumbs-up and moved to a nearby, older arcade machine.

“So, what’s the best game? So far I’ve only played that one”, Billy said, pointing at the motorcycle. There was a sparkle in Freddy’s eyes as he pointed in another direction.
“There’s this one game that no one usually plays that’s criminally underrated”, he explained as they started to walk, “I have no idea why, it’s one of the best games ever. Not just here, in general, I mean.”
“Sometimes people just don’t recognize greatness”, Billy smiled, his head almost swinging around as he tried to see all of the available machines. He wasn’t in a hurry – Dick hadn’t given him a time limit, but he assumed that they’d be there for at least a couple of hours. Freddy smirked as they reached the machine he’d been talking about.

Billy looked at the arcade machine with furrowed eyebrows. It did look older than many of the other machines, but not to the point of looking like an antique. It had spots for up to four different players, each having their own sticks and a couple of buttons to use while playing. Just by looking at it, Billy didn’t have any idea how the game was played, so hopefully Freddy would be a good teacher.
“This one! Have you played anything similar before?” he asked. Billy walked closer to the machine and took a closer look at the buttons. None of them had any text on them, they were simply different colors.
“I haven’t really been to an arcade before… All of these things are kind of new to me, I guess?” he said, turning around to look at Freddy. He almost expected confusion or some kind of pity – he’d been used to that. Oh, poor Billy, having missed so many normal experiences in life, that kind of stuff. There was also the other end of the spectrum with things like what, this idiot hasn’t done anything cool? What a loser.

Freddy, fortunately, didn’t react either of those two ways. Instead, he just nodded happily and slotted a coin into the machine.
“No worries! I can show you how this works – I’m kind of an expert with this one”, he grinned. His tone was smug, but not in an evil or a superior way; he knew he was good in this thing and was absolutely ready to part some of his wisdom onto Billy. Billy laughed and put another coin in to join the game.

One game turned into three, then five, then at least fifteen. At some point, Dick joined them for a few games, absolutely destroyed Billy in a dancing game while Freddy gawked from the sidelines, and then let them continue gaming by themselves for at least an hour. At that point, they were finally getting more tired and sat down by a ticket counting machine.

“Okay, how many tickets do you have?” Billy asked. Even though he definitely didn’t have as many tickets as Freddy, the pocket of his hoodie was completely filled with the yellow paper. Freddy smiled as he got his tickets out – they were almost overflowing from his bag.
“No idea. Let’s count”, Freddy said, stood up, and started to feed his tickets into the machine. Billy hadn’t even known that things worked like this… even though a singular receipt made much more sense than making the workers at the prize shop count all the individual tickets by themselves. Freddy kept feeding his tickets into the machine and Billy watched as the number on the screen kept going higher and higher.
“Have you been here often?” Billy asked. He pretty much already knew the answer, as Freddy had known almost all of the machines there and mastered at least a couple of them, but the question still left his lips.
“Tons of times. I actually live kind of close by with my granddad, so it’s easy to come here pretty often”, Freddy explained, “your brother seems really cool, by the way.”

It took Billy a moment to realize that Freddy was talking about Dick. He hadn’t really considered it before and the entire thought felt foreign.
“He isn’t really my brother”, he said, glancing around as if Dick was hiding behind a nearby pillar, “I mean, yes, he is cool, don’t get me wrong! We’re just not related. He’s… well, a part of my foster family.”
Billy wondered if that would make Dick his ‘foster brother’, but even that felt a bit weird right now. Maybe he wouldn’t have brought this topic up with anyone, but after spending this much time with Freddy in just one evening, he felt like the boy wouldn’t judge him for something like that. Some other kids might have, he would have even expected as much, but Freddy seemed much cooler than that. Freddy glanced at him while still feeding the tickets into the machine.
“Oh. I guess that makes sense. When we met at the mall, you said you just moved to Gotham right?” he asked, finally running out of tickets. The amount wouldn’t be enough to get a big prize at the shop, but at least he could get something kind of nice.

“Yeah. I’m just kind of getting used to… stuff. But every—pretty much everyone’s been super nice so far. Gotham’s pretty cool”, he said, getting up from the bench to feed his own tickets in. Freddy helped him by turning the tickets right way up, after which the process was much easier.
“It’s better than lots of people say. I mean, I’m not saying that bad stuff doesn’t happen every now and then, but you know”, Freddy said, keeping an eye on the number above Billy’s head, “I think it’s like that in every city. At least Gotham has Batman and the others to protect it.”
“Yeah… at least that”, Billy mumbled, concentrating on his tickets.

He had more tickets than he’d thought, but still, the selection at the prize shop wasn’t the greatest. They didn’t have enough tickets to buy anything really nice, and most of the low-tier prizes were stuff like erasers, pencils, and stickers. Fortunately, there were a couple of interesting prizes that first caught Freddy’s eye.
“Okay, we both have enough tickets to some of these”, he pointed at a selection of small superhero merch – pins, plushies, cups, stickers, and other small stuff. Freddy started to go through the pile of pins while Billy scanned the table for anything Captain Marvel -related. Obviously, most of the stuff was Batman-related, but for right now he didn’t feel like getting anything related to the bat. Instead, he picked up a small, plastic Nightwing figurine from the table and turned it around in his hands.

“Finally!” Freddy let out an excited shout, picking up something from the box of pins, “look! I’ve been looking for Red Tornado for, like, forever, and finally they have one of these!”
“A man of culture”, Billy jested, decided to buy the figurine and handed his hard-earned receipt to the salesperson. Red Tornado was actually really cool, and Captain Marvel had spoken to him multiple times. A bit weird sometimes, but Billy had expected as much when they started talking.

Freddy had enough tickets to buy more than just one pin, so he picked up some other pins and bought them, still absolutely elated about his find. Billy spun his new Nightwing figurine between his fingers. Nightwing was a cool guy as well, super nice and funny. Billy hadn’t gotten the chance to really work with him at any point, but at least they had chatted multiple times after the official parts of the Justice League meetings were over.

“My collection is getting better and better…” Freddy muttered, immediately attaching his prized new pin onto his bag, “the next one I really want to get is Martian Manhunter. You’d think that one would be easy to find, wouldn’t you? Apparently not in Gotham!”
Billy smirked and from the corner of his eye, noticed Dick walking towards them with a receipt of his own. Maybe he’d won a fortune on the dancing machine, that had to be worth something.

“Saw you guys getting your prizes. Anything good?” he asked. Freddy lifted his bag and pointed at the new, almost shiny Red Tornado pin.
“I’m trying to collect the entire Justice League”, he explained as Dick took a better look at the bag.
“That’s actually amazing. Have you bought any of them from the web?” he asked, turning his eyes from the bag to Freddy.
“Some of them. Sometimes they’re just a bit too expensive, so it’s going to take some time”, Freddy explained, lowering the bag back to its place. Dick nodded and Billy wondered if they could buy Freddy some of the pins he was struggling to find – he still wasn’t entirely comfortable with spending Bruce’s money, but if it was done to buy someone else something nice, he could deal with it.

“And I got this. I think its arms move, too”, Billy said, lifting the Nightwing figurine up for Dick to see. Dick smiled brightly upon seeing the little toy and probably noticed Billy’s slightly confused look.
“I just really like Nightwing. That suit? Amazing”, he said, lightly poking at the figurine, and taking a small step back.
“Yeah, better than the older ones! Those looked kind of stupid”, Freddy smirked. Dick let out a laugh.
“Yeah, I think everyone’s better off like this.”

Billy put the toy back in his pocket and turned to look at Freddy.
“Can I have your number? Just so the next time we hang out won’t be as random as this one”, he suggested with a smile. The entire Wayne household had been shaken after learning that Billy didn’t, in fact, have his own phone – the Justice League communicator didn’t count, and it was a secret anyway – so he’d gotten his own smartphone in just a couple of days. So far he hadn’t really used it for anything big. The only numbers he had on it were everyone else’s in the household, and the only texts had been about testing the phone out and informing Billy if something was happening in another part of the house. Dick had even created a group chat with everyone other than Bruce and Alfred in it, but that one was mostly used by Dick and Tim. Jason and Damian, as it was easy to guess, weren’t too interested in chatting.

“I was about to ask the same thing! Hold on a moment”, Freddy said and got his phone from his bag. They quickly exchanged numbers, and Billy felt an odd surge of pride for having someone else’s number. He liked it. Not that he didn’t like having all the Waynes on his phone, but this was a friend he’d made by himself, outside the house, and without the help of anyone inside. That actually felt pretty dang good. He had had some friends – well, maybe "friend" was a strong word – in Fawcett City, but no one he would actually hang out with regularly. Maybe Gotham really was a change for the better for him.

Freddy followed them to their car at the garage. He blinked a couple of times in surprise at the expensive car, but to his credit, didn’t say anything about it.
“If you ever want to visit our house, just text me. I’m sure granddad is fine with it”, he said. Billy looked at Dick for confirmation. He wouldn’t have hesitated as much, but there was a certain situation with mind-controlled zombies going on – he really didn’t want to risk Freddy’s life just because he wanted to visit his house. Dick seemed a bit uncertain but nodded.
“I’m sure that can happen at some point”, he said, diplomatically skirting around the issue.
“Yeah. I’ll text you”, Billy smiled and waved at Freddy, who exited through the main entrance. Dick turned to look at Billy with a wide smile on his face.

“I don’t think I made any friends in Gotham for at least a couple of months when I moved in with B”, he said, leaning against the car, “you’re kind of a natural in this.”
“Freddy’s the one who came to talk to me”, Billy fought back, but the smile on his face betrayed how happy he actually felt, “he said he goes to school around here. Do you think I’ll be going to the same school?”
“It’s possible. You can tell B about this, so he can take it into consideration”, Dick nodded his head. His phone let out a little sound and he glanced at the screen. Billy definitely didn’t take Dick for someone who didn’t immediately make tons of friends wherever he went, but maybe it was different when he was younger? That thought actually made Billy feel a bit better. He got in the car and shut the door, his smile refusing to leave his face.

Dick got in the driver’s seat just a moment later, and after one last glance towards the arcade, they started heading back to the Wayne Manor.

“Are you going to start a collection?” Dick asked, glancing to the back of the car once they were out of the busier parts of Gotham City and on a more open road. Billy had been inspecting his new figurine once again, turning it around in his hands. It definitely wasn’t high quality or anything, but that didn’t make it any less nice in his eyes.
“I don’t know. Maybe? It would be kind of cool”, Billy answered. In his mind, he could see a plastic army of superheroes lined up on the table in his room. Maybe Freddy could help him find some figurines he’d miss otherwise – Tim and Dick would be helpful with that as well.
“No kidding”, Dick grinned, his eyes focused on the road.

Billy was about to say something – maybe about the possible collection, maybe about how the day had been amazing, maybe about something else – but all of that was forgotten as Dick suddenly shouted and the car came to an immediate halt. The seat belt prevented Billy from flying all the way out of the car, but he winced as he felt it slam against his chest: there was definitely going to be some bruising. Before he could ask what had happened, one of the front windows broke, followed by a loud popping noise. Just before the car was filled with some kind of smoke or gas, Billy saw Dick rushing to remove his own seat belt and trying to get out of the car. It didn’t take Billy more than a couple of seconds to realize he should be doing the same, but that was already too long.

Sudden sleepiness took over, and Billy could only barely get the seat belt off before his vision dimmed.

Chapter Text

It took Batman approximately five minutes to get to the scene of the attack, counting from the moment he received a phone call from Dick. He should have known something like this could happen: they were being careless after a couple of good visits to the city. For a brief moment, he considered going over there as Bruce – he knew that at least one police officer had already shown up, and it was his foster son that had gone missing – but Batman could most likely get much more information out of anyone at the scene. He would have to come up with a reason for Bruce to miss the moment, but that was something he’d have to worry about later. Right now, Billy was his priority.

At least the scene didn’t seem like a massacre had taken place. Dick had moved the car to the side of the road and a police car had parked right behind him. Batman left his Batmobile on the other side and jumped out to take a closer look at the crime scene. One of the car windows was entirely smashed and there was a faint smell of something weird in the air. Dick was leaning against his car, looking pretty okay, considering the situation – there were some scratches on his face and he was pressing a hand against the back of his head, but otherwise, nothing too bad. He was deep in a conversation with someone as Batman walked over, his fists already clenched in anger. Not towards Dick, definitely not; he wasn’t responsible for this and couldn’t be blamed. But whoever had done this… that was a whole other story.

“You called Batman? Who called Batman?” said the person Dick had been talking to, and only at that point did Batman realize that it was Commissioner Gordon – he had been too deep in thought to even properly process the other people at the scene. Commissioner Gordon being there was probably for the best: other police might have just arrested Dick for DUI or something equally stupid without even making sure it was the case.
“Batman’s the one who found Billy and recommended that he should stay with us”, Dick explained. His face was pale and his words were faintly slurred. That probably explained the weird smell: Batman didn’t know exactly what kind of gas the attacker had used, but it had been the primary method of knocking both Dick and Billy out. It had probably taken more effort to actually get Dick unconscious, which would explain the scratches and the hand on the man’s head.

“You know the missing boy?” Gordon asked, turning to address Batman.
“Billy Batson, Bruce Wayne’s foster son. I met him in Fawcett City after the first time he’d been attacked: Captain Marvel needed help protecting him”, he said, his words turning momentarily icy as he mentioned the man. He hadn’t contacted Marvel and Marvel hadn’t contacted him since their last meeting. It wasn’t exactly surprising, but Batman didn’t regret that night at all. If Gordon noticed the slight change of tone, he didn’t mention it.
“And, of course, Wayne couldn’t show up…” Gordon muttered more to himself than anyone else. Dick let out a huff.
“Bruce is not in Gotham at the moment. He’s on a business trip”, he said, throwing an annoyed look in the commissioner’s direction, “he would be here if he could.”

Batman didn’t say anything. He respected Gordon, he really did. The man was good at his job, his morals weren’t compromised even in the toughest situations, and he was dedicated to the city of Gotham. Even more, he helped Batman more often than not. If that came at the cost of him disliking Bruce Wayne, it was a price that Batman was willing to pay.

That, of course, didn’t mean that he didn’t appreciate Dick standing up for Bruce.

Gordon looked like he was fighting back the urge to roll his eyes and spoke again.
“So, this isn’t the first time someone’s tried attacking the kid? Mind elaborating?” he asked, picking up a small notepad from the pockets of his coat. Dick rolled his eyes visibly and walked to his car, leaning against it.
“As I said, Captain Marvel contacted me from Fawcett City. Batson had been attacked by some people and he felt like there was something weird about it, so he called me over. We quickly established that the people were somehow being mind-controlled by someone to attack the boy and decided that it wouldn’t be safe for him to remain in Fawcett City by himself. I recommended Wayne to be his foster parent, and I’ve been trying to figure out who’s behind the attacks ever since”, he went through the timeline. Gordon had written something down on his notepad but didn’t seem content with the answers.

“What about the kid’s parents?” he asked.
“They’re… dead. He’s been in multiple foster homes before, but when I met him, he’d been homeless for a couple of years”, Batman said. This wasn’t the time to bring up the fact that Captain Marvel was pretty obviously the boy’s father – that would be a conversation for a different day with different people. Commissioner Gordon’s shoulders slumped a little as he let out a sigh.
“Poor boy”, he mumbled.
“Indeed”, Batman said. Right now he was more angry than sad, but if they could get the police looking for Billy as well, there was a much greater chance of finding him as soon as possible.

“Grayson already told me everything he knows from this attack. They were driving back to the Wayne Manor when someone appeared on the street in front of them, and once he had stopped the car, they were assaulted with some kind of sleeping gas. When he woke up, the boy was gone. Has your research given you any clues as to who could be after him? I’ll send people searching for him as soon as possible, and knowing Wayne, he can offer a pretty damn good prize for anyone who finds out anything useful. That should make people extra vigilant.”
“Nothing yet, no. The people who have attacked Batson before have been random, regular citizens, who were mind-controlled to do someone’s bidding. I appreciate any help you can offer, commissioner.”

Commissioner Gordon nodded, stashed his notepad back into his pocket, and picked up his phone. Batman walked over to Dick while Gordon started talking with someone on the other end of the line.
“You’re not hurt, are you?” Batman asked quietly, making sure Gordon wouldn’t hear them. Dick ran a hand through his hair.
“Aside from a headache, I’m fine. I’m just really worried about Billy. I couldn’t even see who attacked us - one moment I was driving the car, and suddenly there was a figure on the street. It was an instant knock-out once I got out of the car. I’m so sorry, I know I was supposed to protect him while we were out”, he said, hanging his head.
“You’re not responsible, Dick. You were knocked out. I should have known that something like this could happen and been more prepared.”
A dry smile appeared on Dick’s face.
“Well, if I’m not allowed to blame myself, then you’re not allowed to do that either”, he said, eyebrows lifted. They’d had this conversation countless
times and at this point, it was almost a weird, stupid tradition. Sometimes it seemed like things really hadn’t changed all that much during all their years together.

“Let’s just concentrate on finding him. I’ll check out the car and the surrounding area”, Batman said.
“I’ll call Babs. Maybe she can hack into some security cameras and see if she can find Billy that way”, Dick suggested, already digging his phone from his pocket. Batman nodded in approval and moved over to the car.

It wasn’t in a bad shape, considering what had happened. The front window on the left side was entirely smashed, the pieces of glass scattered all across the inside of the car, and the smell of the weird gas was stronger. It wasn’t enough to knock anyone out anymore, but it was just enough to make Batman back out and take a deep breath outside. No wonder Dick hadn’t been able to defend himself – a strong whiff of that at its strongest would have knocked anyone out. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be much blood inside or outside the car. A couple of drops where Dick had gotten out of the car and fought the sudden attacker, but nothing anywhere else. The attacker must have had only one, clear goal in mind, and unfortunately, they had been able to reach that goal. Only Billy’s new phone was laying on the seat, almost taunting Batman – “ha, you thought you could use me to track Billy? No chance!” it was saying.

Batman picked up the phone and clicked it on. The phone required a pattern password to open, and without a shred of shame, he slid his finger across the screen in the correct pattern. Of course, he would never tell Billy he knew the password, and in a normal situation, he would never go through his phone. This, however, was an emergency, and he needed all the clues he could get. He wasn’t expecting the phone to reveal much to begin with: pretty much all of the contacts on it belonged to the Wayne household, and all the messages except one were from one of the family members. However, he didn’t recognize the sender of the newest message, which simply said “hi! this workign? lets hope so!”

“D—Grayson”, he called out. Dick turned around, phone still in hand, and walked over.
“Did you find something, Batman?” he asked something. Gordon was still on phone, but every now and then he snuck a glance in Batman’s direction.
“Do you know who this is?” Batman asked, handing the phone over to Dick. Dick shot him a disapproving stare, but took the phone anyway and looked at the name.
“Ah, that’s Freddy. He and Billy just exchanged phone numbers at the arcade. I also spent some time with them, seemed like a nice kid. He doesn’t have anything to do with this”, Dick explained, giving the phone back.
“He already has a friend?” Batman asked so quietly that only Dick could possibly hear him, his voice filled with warm pride that definitely wouldn’t match his dark knight image. Dick grinned.
“Yup. Not bad, right? A real fan of superheroes, too. And you know what, Billy actually got a figurine of Nightwing with his arcade winnings. I almost let the secret slip right there and then”, he told Batman. His voice went from excited to sad and worried very quickly.

The warmness was replaced by an uncomfortable, tight feeling in Batman’s chest. They really, really needed to find Billy as soon as possible. It wasn’t like this was the first time any of his children had gone missing – hell, all of his children had gone through more than most people during their entire lifetimes – but they had also been trained to take care of themselves and fight back. It didn’t mean that Batman didn’t worry each and every time something happened to any of his kids, but it did mean that he could worry even slightly less. But this time they were talking about a kid who hadn’t had any proper self-defense training or anything similar: Billy was good at running away from danger, but unless the culprit was sloppy and bad at kidnappings, there was no running away. He didn’t even notice when Dick pressed a hand against his shoulder with a slight smile.

“Of course we’re going to find him, B”, he said, his voice quiet as a whisper. Batman wanted to share that sense of optimism that had always come so naturally to Dick. That was one of the reasons they had been such a good team ever since the beginning of their dynamic duo.
“Of course”, Batman repeated, breathing deeply.

“Batman, have you found anything?” Gordon called, finally putting his phone away. Dick took a respectful step backward and resumed his “I’m talking to a superhero who I have met but who I absolutely, definitely do not know personally in any way, shape, or form” stance.
“Unfortunately, not much”, Batman replied, looking at the car again, “whoever it was, they were clearly after Batson and only Batson. Grayson got knocked out because he might have gotten in the way, and once everyone was unconscious, the culprit grabbed Batson and left. Are there any surveillance cameras in the area that we could access?”
“Not in the immediate vicinity, but we can check out all the nearest cameras. I’ve just made sure the station knows that there’s a missing kid, most likely in immediate danger. I’d like to say we sent a bunch of men to actively patrol and search for him, but… well, you know”, Gordon said with a slightly defeated tone. It wasn’t new for kids to simply go missing in Gotham, and while the reward money Bruce Wayne could offer would probably make things move smoother than they otherwise would, it wasn’t a guarantee for efficiency.

“I appreciate your help, Commissioner Gordon”, Batman said, nodding his head.
“Thank you, to both of you. Let’s hope that we can find Billy as soon as possible”, Dick added.
“Let’s sure hope so. And Grayson – get Wayne to call the station. As soon as possible”, Gordon said, shooting Dick a serious look. Dick nodded.

Batman spoke again only after Commissioner Gordon had entered the police car and left the scene.
“Do you need a ride or does the car still work?” he asked, walking back to the vehicle.
“It works just fine. We can get the window changed later”, Dick said, “as long as I don’t stab myself with these shards, I should be just fine.”
“Good. Get back home and get everyone in the Batcave. I’ll make sure we haven’t missed anything and follow you.” Batman stepped away from the car. Billy’s phone was tucked away in his utility belt and he was getting more worried by the minute.
“Remember to call Gordon”, Dick reminded, brushing most of the glass shards from the driver’s seat, and sitting down carefully.
“Of course”, he sighed, “but he can wait until I’m back at the cave. Bruce Wayne is in an important meeting right now and hasn’t received any possible phone calls.”
“Bruce Wayne could also try playing a little bit nicer with Commissioner Gordon. I’m getting really tired of him being good friends with Batman and then trying his hardest to get Bruce Wayne arrested for anything.”

Batman simply shrugged his shoulders. Dick shot him a warning look, closed the door, and soon joined the road, leaving Batman by himself on the side of the road. Every now and then a car passed by the area, but the traffic wasn’t nearly as busy as it was in Central Gotham – it was both a curse and a blessing. Curse, because there probably weren’t any security cameras or eyewitnesses who could have seen the moment Billy was taken. Blessing, because so many people could have gotten hurt if the attack had taken place even ten minutes earlier.

“Where are you, Billy?” he mumbled, taking slow steps around the area. He didn’t want to miss anything, not even the smallest clue. Dick hadn’t been knocked out for more than maybe ten minutes, probably less. Whoever the culprit was had been prepared to bolt the moment they got Billy – so they must have known Dick and Billy’s whereabouts for a while, and taken position on the road some time earlier. Most likely they had an escape car ready for a quick escape: getting the unconscious Billy into the car wouldn’t be very difficult, as the boy was very light and small.

After a moment of thought, Batman picked up his Justice League communicator and dialed Captain Marvel. Sure, they hadn’t had the best meeting last time and Batman was still incredibly angry at him, but that shouldn’t prevent them from working together. Batman had worked together with worse people, and as shitty as Captain Marvel could be, he still at least seemed to want to keep Billy alive and well. He could use someone with those superpowers so search the area and see if he could find out anything that Batman might miss.

Except he didn’t get an answer. The communicator kept trying to reach the man, but there was no reply. Batman furrowed his brows and tried again, feeling his anger rising once more. Sure, there were many explanations as to why Captain Marvel wasn’t answering his communicator – the one thing they were supposed to keep with them in case they needed to be reached – but somehow this just felt really typical. He couldn’t be sulking because of their conversation at the Clock Tower, surely? Captain Marvel was a grown-ass man, even if he was keeping his distance because of the meeting, he should be able to just answer his communicator to see if anything important was going on.

After two more unanswered calls, Batman simply gave up and let out a long sigh. He would need to have another conversation with Captain Marvel, this time about answering his damn phone. Sometimes it felt like he was dealing with an actual child when he was talking to that man. Batman thrust the communicator back into the utility belt and decided to continue his lonesome investigation. Fine, he didn’t need Captain Marvel’s help. In fact, he didn’t even want it! The GCPD was already on the case and Dick was getting the rest of the family ready, so it was just a matter of time until they found Billy.

Batman leaned over to take a couple of blood samples from the ground. They were most likely from Dick, but he didn’t want to completely ignore the fact that some of it could have come from the attacker. While hunched over, he noticed something else on the asphalt – a small figurine of Nightwing. It had been partially hidden in the shadows of the car and a couple of rocks, but now that those were gone, Batman could see it clearly. He picked the figurine from the ground, turning it over. It wasn’t broken, just a bit dirty, with a leaf stuck on one of its arms. Even though Dick did love himself a healthy amount, this probably wasn’t something he normally had in his car… and now that Batman thought about it, the man had mentioned the figurine earlier. Billy had gotten it as a prize from the arcade.

The leaf piqued his interest. Gotham City wasn’t exactly known for its exotic plants or trees, so he knew most of the regular greenery – this wasn’t one of them. He couldn’t immediately name the type of plant to grow this particular leaf, but it hadn’t come from any of the nearby trees or bushes. Despite that, it seemed fresh, like it had just fallen out and hadn’t had time to wither and dry. Several alarm bells were ringing in Batman’s head as he carefully removed the leaf from the figurine and placed it in a small box he carried on his utility belt. He had his suspicions, but he didn’t want to jump to any definite conclusions before he could run any tests. Still, he needed to hurry. Billy was being held somewhere, and every single minute was a minute too long for him to be missing.

After another sweep of the scene that yielded nothing new, Batman hopped back into the Batmobile and started heading back home. He tried not to even imagine what Billy could be going through at any moment, and the longer they took in their search, the more time they gave to the culprit to do whatever he wanted.

“You’re going after the wrong kid, you bastard”, Batman muttered and sped up the car.

Chapter Text

Billy woke up slowly to a woozy feeling in his head. He wasn’t really hurting anywhere, but that didn’t really help him feel any better. It didn’t take long for him to remember what had happened in the car… well, the little bit that he had witnessed. He had no idea what had actually happened, and the last, blurry thing he’d seen was the car door opening. After that, nothing.

He was sitting on something hard, and he couldn’t move his hands or legs. Something was covering his mouth, and when Billy tried to make a sound, nothing came out. He breathed deeply through his nose and opened his eyes.

The room he was in was mercifully dimly lit, with just one, badly lit lamp on the ceiling. It didn’t have much furniture in it: a couple of shelves filled with miscellaneous things, a table, a couple of chairs, and surprising Billy, several bags of mulch. It didn’t look like a serial killer’s torture chamber despite the chair he’d been taped into. Both his wrists and ankles were tightly against the wooden chair, and despite his wriggling, he couldn’t break free just yet. That wouldn’t have been a problem if he could speak. Either the kidnapper knew about his powers – which was unnerving, but possible – or they just wanted to keep him quiet for other reasons. Maybe they had neighbors who would be disturbed by the screams of a kidnapped child, who knew?

Billy tried to get the tape off of his face, but without the use of his limbs, it turned out to be a waste of time. He didn’t know what kind of tape it was, but it didn’t move even the slightest bit despite his efforts. Usually, he didn’t really mind his magic being reliant on him being able to speak, even though that problem had come up a couple of times before – right now it was a bigger problem than ever. Billy could almost hear his own heartbeat in the silence of the room. He needed to find a way out… well, first he needed to find a way off of that chair. Every attempt of wriggling seemed to be for nothing, and the thudding sound in Billy’s chest became louder and louder as he tried to break free.

Then the door opened. Billy froze up in the middle of another attempt of freeing his hand and glanced up.

He didn’t recognize the woman at the door, but she was certainly memorable. Her hair was bright red and flowing all the way to her lower back, and her green eyes seemed to almost glow in the dim light. Her clothes seemed to be entirely made from plants – not just a fabric that resembled leaves or other shrubbery, but actual plants that were shaped into a top and a pair of pants. Her eyes were immediately fixated on Billy, who tried to make sense of the woman in front of him; this was his first time seeing her, and already he got the feeling that this was an even worse situation than he could have thought.

And then she spoke. Well, at least someone spoke with her mouth.

“Billy Batson”, she said, closing the door behind her and walking further into the room. If Billy could have retreated, he definitely would have. He immediately recognized the voice coming from the woman’s mouth, and he didn’t have to have met her before to know that it definitely wasn’t her voice. It was the same man’s voice he’d heard multiple times before coming from the people who’d tried to attack him.

How about you take this tape off my mouth so we can have a proper talk, Billy thought, frustration building within him. Even if he had to be kidnapped and tied to a chair, he really wanted to talk to this… whatever or whoever it was behind the bugs and the mind control. The woman smiled and crouched in front of Billy, seemingly taking a closer look at the boy’s face. Billy leaned back as much as he could on the chair.

“You are a hard man to capture, mister Batson”, she said slowly, the words definitely not fitting in her mouth in a way that seemed even somewhat right, “but I am glad we are finally able to have a little talk.”
Billy simply glared back. It wasn’t really a conversation, was it? It was going to be a boring monologue. Most of the previous attackers hadn’t been able to say anything else than the instruction given to them, so what was different now? Billy also remembered the man who’d told him he was after his magic, but even then, he hadn’t said much else. The woman smiled a weird, unnatural smile.
“Don’t worry – you don’t have to say anything. I’ve been watching you, and I know better than to let you utter even a single word”, she continued, keeping a close eye on Billy. Billy stared back into her eyes, determined to see even a glimpse of the true culprit behind the brainwashing. It was obvious enough that the woman wasn’t the actual mastermind behind this scheme, but the real culprit was cowardly enough to hide behind other people’s faces.

Billy tried to bend his hand just enough to get his nails against the tape. His feet couldn’t be moved in any useful ways and he couldn’t get the tape off his face just by using his mouth, so concentrating on his hands seemed like the safe bet. The woman didn’t seem to pay any attention to his slow and quiet escape attempt, and hopefully, it would stay that way.
“Such a little boy to be chosen as the Champion”, she mused, staring into Billy’s eyes, “I have never understood that old fool. So much potential, yet he wastes it on a mere child, basically an infant. Ridiculous, even though this makes it easier for you to… gift your magic to me.”
Billy’s heart had started thumping again like it was trying to break free from his chest. How did this person know anything about the Wizard? Who were they? He pulled harder against his restraints, trying to bury his nails against the thick tape. The woman smiled once more.

“You will be doing me a huge favor, Billy Batson. Not just me, but my entire species: with your magic, I can finally resurrect my fallen brethren. All you have to do is forfeit your powers to me. You can even keep your insignificant life after the deed is done.”

Billy blinked in confusion. To be honest, he didn’t fully understand most of what this person was saying, but he definitely wasn’t going to give his magic to anyone. He didn’t know what species they were talking about, but if bringing them back included attacks, kidnappings, and mind control, he wasn’t sure it was entirely worth it. In addition, he didn’t even know if he actually could give his powers to anyone. Once upon a time, Black Adam had coveted his powers, but that had never actually happened. He wasn’t even sure if he was relieved that she didn’t really want him dead: even the thought of losing his powers felt like a much more significant threat.

“Yes", she nodded as if Billy had answered anything to her monologue, “and once we’re done…”

It seemed like the woman was going to continue talking, but she was suddenly interrupted. Billy could hear the sound of a door opening somewhere else in the house, followed by loud, clanking footsteps.
“Red! Are you here, Red? Honestly, you should’ve told me you were going somewhere! I’ve been lookin’ for you the whole day!” a female voice called out, bright and loud. The red-headed woman grimaced and glanced at Billy, probably decided that he wouldn’t be able to do anything stupid, and quickly left the room. Immediately Billy tried to trash away from his bindings, as if they’d become any less secure during the short talk. When that didn’t work, he slumped in his chair as much as he could and concentrated on listening to any possible conversations. He wasn’t really expecting to hear anything too useful, like their exact location or a way to sneak out, but he didn’t have too many options.

“There you are!” the female voice announced with obvious cheer, “you haven’t answered to any of my texts! You can tell me if you’re having a bad day, but I got VERY worried since you just disappeared all of a sudden!”
“I had something else to do”, replied another voice, but this wasn’t the deep voice of a man that had been speaking to Billy just a few moments earlier – this was another woman’s voice, slightly deeper than the other one. Even Billy could hear that there was something slightly wrong with the voice he was hearing, but maybe that was because he knew of the mind control situation.
“Somethin’ to do?” the other woman asked. There were footsteps just outside the door, and Billy tried his hardest to wish the door into opening itself. He didn’t even know who had entered the apartment, but he knew that anyone with even the slightest sense of sense wouldn’t be okay with having a kidnapped child tied to a chair. All he had to do was make some noise.

“I just need some time for myself”, the controlled woman – the other person had called her Red, so maybe that was her name? – said. Billy could hear a fair bit of annoyance in her voice. Their voices were faint and he had to concentrate to make sense of the words. Usually, he was pretty proud of his superpowers and wasn’t too jealous of anyone else, but every now and then he really wished he had some of Superman’s super-senses. Even better would be if he could actually use his powers whilst not in Captain Marvel -mode. He could use a bit of magic as Billy Batson, but that required much more concentration and was pretty much a hit-or-miss situation.
“And that’s fine! I get you. I was just wondering if there was a reason for that?”
“Stop asking! Just go, you shouldn’t be here right now!”
“Red—”

There was a sound of something crashing against the wall, and one of the women gasped. Billy went still in his chair – he still hoped for the door to open, but if that meant that someone would crash into him at full force, he wasn’t too happy about the idea. Another crash sounded in the other room, followed by the sound of breaking glass.
“Stop it, right now! What’s going on with you?” the new woman shouted. Red didn’t reply to her question, at least not loud enough for Billy to hear, and there was another crash.

The fighting continued for a small while, and then there was silence. Billy felt his heart beating as he waited for someone to open the door. His wrists were starting to hurt and he just knew that they would be very red once he finally got free. If—actually, no. He wasn’t going to think about this like that. Of course he was going to get free, there wasn’t even a chance for any other outcome. The only question was when.

A door opened and closed somewhere, and everything went very quiet for a moment. Billy tried to make noise: he couldn’t get any words out because of the tape, but it didn’t completely block all of the sounds he could make. Maybe he couldn’t mumble very loudly, but anything would help at that point. It took maybe five minutes until the door finally opened and a new person stepped into the room.

“… Really, Red?” the woman at the door let out a big sigh, “a kid? What the hell’s going on here?”
Billy tried to mumble some more, get the clear message through: help me, I’ve been kidnapped! Maybe it wasn’t even necessary – the situation was pretty obvious for anyone – but he really, really needed to get out.

The woman walked closer with a puzzled look on her incredibly pale face: maybe it was makeup, Billy couldn’t tell. Her clothes would have stood out anywhere – they were a mess of bright colors, mostly yellow, pink, and blue, and they looked extremely homemade: she could have walked out of a cartoon and Billy would have had no trouble believing so. Her otherwise blonde hair was dyed pink and blue at the bottom, and she absolutely didn’t look concerned enough about the kidnapping situation right in front of her eyes. Billy tried to move again, only for the tape to keep him in place.
“Oh, darn it”, the woman muttered, looking back at the room on the other side of the room. It looked like a regular apartment, and Billy could see some windows on the far end of the next room. It was dark outside, probably still the same evening or night as the one where he’d been at the arcade. Surely he would have noticed if it had been more than a day?

The woman turned around a couple more times, biting her lower lip, clearly considering the situation. Her right arm had a small cut on it and her hair was messy – either the fight had sounded much worse than it actually was, or she was really good at hiding any other injuries.
“Why does Red have a random kid in here…” she wondered out loud, then turned to Billy, “okay, kid, time for some answers. If you play it nice, I might even consider letting you go! Nice, right?”

Billy nodded, even though he wasn’t happy with the way this was going. In a better situation, the woman would have already removed the tapes and probably called the police. Instead, she leaned over, gripped the other side of the tape, and yanked it off without any warning. Billy let out a hiss of pain, then took a big breath. Okay, this was going to be just fine. If the woman wouldn’t let him out herself, he was now prepared to transform and leave by himself. He wasn’t too excited about the lightning hitting the building they were in, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

“Can you please unbind me?” he asked, his voice hoarser than he had expected.
“Answers, like I said, buddy”, the woman reminded him with a smile. There wasn’t anything inherently wrong with the smile, but regardless, Billy felt a chill go up his spine.
“Okay. You can—you can ask”, he said. It was a relief to be able to speak again, but it would be even better if they could have this talk literally anywhere else.
“Why are you here?” she asked, sitting down on the floor in front of him, “and don’t say ‘because the mean lady kidnapped me’, because that feels kind of obvious, ya know?”
Billy had to think about his response for a moment. He had been about to tell her about the kidnapping, but going into details about this whole ordeal wouldn’t be a good idea, either. He wasn’t in the business of telling his secret to anyone, especially random people who didn’t seem the least bit worried about talking to a kidnapped child. There had to be some kind of middle ground he could use to his advantage…

This woman seemed to care about Red on some level, maybe they were friends? Maybe this lady wouldn’t be too happy about her friend being mind-controlled.
“I don’t think she’s the one who kidnapped me”, he said and hurried to explain before any other questions could be thrown at him, “I’m pretty sure she’s being mind-controlled. When she spoke to me earlier, her voice was entirely different. It’s not the first time I’ve been attacked by a mind-controlled person.”
The words came out of his mouth faster than he’d anticipated, and once he stopped, he could only wish that the woman would believe his kind of insane-sounding story. The woman tilted her head, staring at Billy with furrowed brows, and obvious confusion in her bright eyes.
“Aaaand?” she asked, stretching the vowel and leaning her head against her hands, “why is someone who’s capable of doing somethin’ like that after someone like you? You know. Little.”

Billy fought back the urge to defend himself – he wasn’t a baby anymore! – and answered.
“I don’t know”, he said, hoping the lie wasn’t too obvious from the tone of his voice.
“You don’t know”, the woman repeated.
“I couldn’t really ask her earlier, could I?” the words jumped from Billy’s mouth before he could stop himself. The woman’s smile widened into a genuine, bright smile.
“I guess not”, she smirked, “so… mind control. Well, ain’t that somethin’ – actually explains a lot. What’s your name, kiddo?”
Billy considered giving her a fake name, but what would that accomplish? She was the closest thing to an ally he had at the moment, and he really didn’t want to burn that bridge. He was already relieved that the woman seemed to believe his words.
“Billy”, he replied. The woman offered her hand for a shake, and it took her at least five seconds to realize why that wouldn’t work out. Instead, she grabbed Billy’s hand and shook it as much as it could be shaken against the chair.

“Harley. So, you have any ideas how to… uh, un-mind control her?” she asked, getting up from the floor, and stretching her arms. Billy yanked at his bindings, staring into Harley’s eyes with a clear message. When she didn’t immediately take the tape off, he sighed.
“She should have a thing in her neck that controls her. You should be able to just cut it out and it stops working”, Billy said, “now can you please take the tape off before anything happens?”
Harley grimaced.
“Somethin’ in her neck? That’s gross”, she made a face while talking, “but I can handle that. And yeah, I guess you did answer my questions. I just need you to promise me you don’t get her into any trouble because of this. You shouldn’t probably even mention her to anyone. She’d get in a lot of trouble, you know?”

Harley glanced at the door behind her, where Red presumably still lay after the fight.
“Of course not. She’s being mind-controlled, that’s not her fault”, Billy said, adding a mental ‘most likely’ to the sentence. He couldn’t come up with a good reason for anyone to willingly get mind-controlled, but he wanted to be prepared for any situation. Harley seemed happy with his answer and leaned over to get the tape off of Billy’s irritated wrists.

She was halfway done with the second wrist when something green crashed into the room and hit Harley in the back. She collided with Billy with a small screech, but got up quickly and turned around.
“Ah, you woke up faster than I thought!” Harley said, taking a few steps forward. Billy tried to not get distracted and concentrated on getting the tape off by himself now that he had a free hand. He did catch a glimpse of Red’s face, and her face was more serious than before.
“Do not try to stop me!” she commanded, and now she was back to the deep male voice she’d been talking in earlier.
“Hey, whatever you are – get the heck out of my girlfriend’s brains!” Harley announced, grabbed an empty flowerpot from the shelf, and hurled it towards Red. Billy just managed to get his other hand free as something unexpected happened: an actual vine spread out from Red’s skin, creating a small shield in front of her and breaking the pot into multiple small shards.

Oh, it was a supervillain thing. Like an actual villain with superpowers. Gotcha.

Billy sped up to remove the tape from his feet as Harley and Red started their second round of fighting. The urge to transform into Captain Marvel was huge, but if he could just slip out and run away, he wouldn’t have to worry about destroying buildings or letting someone else know his secret identity. Another flowerpot flew right past his face and smashed into the wall behind him – Billy grabbed one of the shards and used it to cut himself free from the rest of the tape. Once he had all his limbs free, he could finally get up and assess the situation.

There were actual plants growing from Red, and Billy had to wonder if she had some kind of supervillain name. He didn’t recognize her, but he liked to think that if she were a superhero, he would. Roots and vines were sprouting from her hands and whipping towards Harley, who dodged them like a professional gymnast. Unfortunately, now that Billy was free to move around as he pleased, he was also more likely to attract attention to himself. In the middle of the fight, Red’s eyes snapped toward him.
“Don’t you dare, Billy Batson!” she warned, stretching one of her arms in his direction. A bunch of dark green vines dashed towards Billy and snatched him up by his waist, lifting him into the air.

“We need to knock her out!” Billy shouted at Harley just moments before the vine tossed him out of the room. He landed harshly against the wooden floor, softened only a little by a furry mat.
“If you have any great ideas, kid, I’m all ears!” Harley replied, sliding out of the room Billy had been kept in, “Red ain’t the easiest opponent by a long shot!”
“You did it earlier!”
“She wasn’t usin’ her powers earlier!”
Billy tried to figure out something they could use in the fight, something to give them even the slightest advantage. Although Harley seemed to be pretty good at fighting, she didn’t seem to have any superpowers – there was also the possibility that she was hiding her powers, but Billy couldn’t blame anyone for that. Right now they needed to concentrate on the threat right in front of them… and around them, it seemed.

The vines had started to spread around the apartment. Most of them weren’t attached to Red herself, but it was obvious who was influencing their movements and growth. Billy dodged another spiky vine and ducked under a table, desperate to find a working solution. Harley grabbed one of the chairs in the room and hurled it toward Red, who fell slightly backward and then got up again as if nothing had happened. Realistically, Billy had only two options – he could try to run away amidst the fighting and hope Red wouldn’t notice him leaving, or he could transform and take care of her that way. He didn’t really want to do either of those. Leaving meant that he would leave Harley to her own devices with the mind-controlled Red, and transforming meant that someone might notice him.

Still, one of those felt worse than the other, so Billy slid away from the table and dashed to the door, grabbing a book that had fallen on the floor. He pulled the door open and threw the book at Red as hard as he could. It hit her on the back with much less force than he’d hoped for, but at least it did its job: Red turned around with an angry snarl, and her eyes locked on Billy’s for a moment. Billy ran into the hallway and started sprinting toward the stairs as fast as he could as Red realized he was leaving and immediately rushed after him.

He didn’t have a plan, not exactly. He wasn’t sure if it could be considered a plan or simply a whim. All Billy knew was that he needed to get Red outside as soon as possible and simply hope that Harley wouldn’t get there in time to notice the transformation. At least he had some luck on his side – the apartment seemed to be at the very top of the building, and he only needed to run up one flight of stairs to reach the door that took him to the rooftop. Billy threw the door open and jumped on the roof, feeling the cool night air breezing against his skin. If he wasn’t in a hurry, he probably would have stopped to take in the Gotham view. Now he simply tried and failed to dodge a vine that dashed towards him and wrapped against his ankle, pulling him to the floor with rough force. Billy felt the back of his head smack against the cold surface and for a moment, his vision was filled with blurry spots.

“Shaz--!” he began to call out, but Red’s hand covered his mouth before he could get through the word.
“Shut up, you--!” she muttered and pressed down hard as Billy tried to kick her off.

Something smashed against Red’s head and made her almost fall forward. Her head snapped toward the source of the attack, where Harley stood with a baseball bat in her hands.
“Sorry, Red, but we need to get you back to your senses!” she said with a smile that wasn’t quite as apologetic as her words. Red let out a sigh, stretched her neck, and shoved her free hand toward Harley. A couple of vines flew out and grabbed Harley by her neck before she could dodge or otherwise react. A surprised gasp left her mouth as the vines pulled her up from the floor. She tried to claw at the vines the best she could, but they seemed to be tougher than normal plants – her nails weren’t doing too much damage. If this was going to continue much longer, she would definitely suffocate.

Billy gathered all his strength and aimed his next kick toward Red’s arm. Her grasp on Billy wavered just enough for Billy to slide just slightly further away from her and finally speak.

“Shazam!”

The lightning struck him just moments later. Billy could see Red trying to back away as fast as she could, and he could see Harley dropping to the floor, now free from the vines. But this fight wasn’t going to continue any longer than necessary. As soon as Captain Marvel could feel the magical lightning flowing within him, he struck – the lightning hit Red with such force that she flew across the roof and landed against a wall, finally unconscious.

Captain Marvel let out a sigh of relief and then remembered the other person on the rooftop. He turned around and saw Harley looking at him with a mixture of confusion and absolute delight in her eyes. Maybe, just maybe, she didn’t notice that Billy was the one who had transformed? Maybe she just thought that Captain Marvel had shown up at a very convenient time?

“Well, that explains a lot, doesn’t it?” Harley asked with a wide smile, prancing to Captain Marvel without even attempting to hide the joy in her voice.

Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.

Chapter Text

Captain Marvel’s mind had gone completely blank for a moment. For three years, he’d been able to keep his identity completely secret from almost everyone – even Batman, who still had the wrong idea despite being too close for comfort. He could count the people who knew the truth about his powers with one hand, and one of those people was the man who gave him those same powers. And now here he was, standing in front of a woman he’d just met, having transformed pretty much in front of her. He didn’t exactly regret his decision: if he hadn’t acted, she might have died. That didn’t mean he didn’t feel extremely uncomfortable, though.

“Whatever you think you saw—” he began speaking, but Harley cut him off.
“Come on, Billy. I’ve got two working eyes and a doctorate, I ain’t dumb”, she said, grinning from ear to ear, circling around Captain Marvel like she was studying a subject, “I mean I’ve seen pictures of Marvel before, but damn, you really are buff. Instant upgrade from being a lil’ twerp, right?”

Captain Marvel took a step back so Harley couldn’t keep circling him anymore.
“That’s not what—What exactly did you see?” he asked. His chances of turning this conversation to his favor were really slim to begin with, but he had to try. Harley stopped walking around and rolled her eyes.
“I saw the little boy turn into a very big boy. That’s why the asshole who controlled Red kidnapped you to begin with, right? Speakin’ of which”, she said, turned around and dashed to Red, who lay on the other side of the roof. Captain Marvel followed her, hoping the lightning hadn’t done any irreversible damage. Years of practice had made him good with regulating his own powers, but still, seeing people unconscious because of it made him always kind of nervous. He let out a quiet sigh of relief when he saw Red’s chest rising and falling evenly.

“You said that there’s somethin’ in her neck. Let’s get that out, right?” Harley asked, glancing at Captain Marvel as she turned Red around and moved her hair out of the way. When Captain Marvel could get a better look, his eyebrows furrowed. He couldn’t see the same bump in her neck as the other attackers. Sure, he hadn’t seen the ones at the mall either, but he had assumed that they were controlled the same way as the first ones. Harley must have seen the confusion on his face because her glare turned slightly icy for a moment.
“You do know what you’re doing, kiddo?” she asked, feeling Red’s neck with her hands. Her movements confirmed what Captain Marvel was worried about – this mind control didn’t work the same way as the others.
“The others had tiny little bug things in their necks that controlled them… And she must have been mind-controlled because that was definitely the same voice as before”, he said, leaning towards the unconscious woman. What was different? Yes, she definitely wasn’t just repeating the same phrase over and over, but Marvel had assumed that that was because the devices had been upgraded or something similar.

The vines around the roof had stopped moving and collapsed on the floor. A couple of bugs had already found their new food and started crawling around the leaves and stalks – a small army of ants were already gathered near some of the greenery, a particularly big green caterpillar was crawling on one of the bigger vines, and a butterfly just landed on one of the leaves. The next person to visit the roof would be in for quite a surprise. Captain Marvel turned his attention back on Red and touched her neck as well: no bumps. He didn’t know what to think about that.

“Something’s different. I don’t know what”, he admitted, taking a step back. Red was clearly still alive, but he didn’t want to risk her waking up and unleashing her mind-controlled fury once again. Harley let out a sigh, lay Red into a more comfortable position and stood up, turning to face Captain Marvel again. She seemed so short now – she had been quite a bit taller than Billy, which wasn’t hard. Despite her lack of height, she definitely wasn’t unintimidating right now.
“Listen, about—this…” Captain Marvel started, trying his very best to put his thoughts into words, “you can’t tell anyone about this. Me.”

Harley smiled.
“Well… if you give me a good reason, I might?” she said, leaning against the nearby wall.
“What’s a good reason? I don’t know if there’s anything I could give you”, Marvel replied, growing more worried by the minute. Harley tilted her head, taking her time with the answer.
“I dunno. Which one’s the real you?” she asked, poking Marvel lightly on the chest, “the kid or the hero?”

Captain Marvel wasn’t a fan of that question. He had asked himself the same question many times, with slight alterations. Was he still the same person when he transformed? Was he still the same person as the Billy who had existed before he got his superpowers? It wasn’t like he was born with these powers and only learned about them afterward – someone had to give him the powers, and they could be taken away. He gave Harley the answer he’d come to accept during his years as Captain Marvel.
“Both are the real me”, he answered, “but Billy existed first.”
“So, the big, powerful superhero from Fawcett City is, like… what, eight years old? That would be quite a scoop”, Harley murmured.
“Twelve”, Captain Marvel corrected immediately, “but really, I—”
“Could you transform back? To the lil’ you?” Harley interrupted his pleas. For a moment Captain Marvel considered simply refusing, but even though Harley still hadn’t given him a promise to keep his secret, he didn’t get the feeling that she meant any harm to him. Obviously, she didn’t seem completely trustworthy, but she could have left him tied to the chair downstairs or ran away once the fighting started.

“Shazam”, Marvel called out quietly, and one lightning strike later, he once again had to look up to look Harley in the eyes. A small laugh escaped Harley’s mouth as she followed the transformation.
“Honestly? I’ve seen a TON of cool superpowers in action, but that’s low-key awesome. I would love to be able to transform into a buff dude just by saying a word”, she said. Billy wasn’t sure if he was supposed to laugh along or not – he was feeling even more nervous than before now that he wasn’t Cap.
“Almost no one knows about it”, he said, scratching his hand, “and I really need to keep it a secret. If anyone knew—”
“You’d probably get in a shit ton of trouble, right? Are your parents out of the loop?” she asked. Her tone was more playful than threatening or malicious. Billy sighed.
“They’re dead. I don’t want to risk getting kicked out by my foster family because of this”, he admitted. Something in Harley’s face softened, even if Billy couldn’t pinpoint where the change had happened.

“You really think they would toss you out for being a superhero? I mean, a villain I get, but I don’t think anyone’s really heard anything bad about Captain Marvel”, she said, scratching her head. Well, you clearly haven’t met Batman, Billy thought, fighting back the grim memories.
“I don’t know. They seem nice and all, but… it’s still a really big secret. I’m lying to them”, he said.
“Well, unless you’ve clearly said to them that you aren’t Captain Marvel, it’s more like withholding, right? But yeah, I get you. Are you sure you’re not just projectin’ your own fears on them, though?”

Suddenly, Billy got a really big urge to change the subject.

“You’re talking like a therapist”, he said.
“Psychiatrist”, Harley corrected with a wink, “it’s a habit. But hey, speakin’ of your foster family: we should probably get you back to them. Can’t imagine they’re too happy about you getting snatched.”

For some reason, Billy hadn’t thought about that… and then he immediately felt bad. Even if he wasn’t sure how anyone in the Wayne household would react to him being Captain Marvel, he knew they wouldn’t be happy about him being kidnapped. He didn’t even know what had happened to Dick after the attack on the car. Billy went through his pockets, trying to find his phone, and failing. Either Red had taken it from her or it was in the car, having fallen from his pockets.
“Uh… yeah. I don’t think I have my phone with me”, he said, biting his lower lip.
“Don’t worry about that. We can just—”

Harley stopped speaking mid-sentence and turned around just as Red opened her eyes again. Billy took a couple of careful steps backward, ready to transform at any given moment. Red seemed disoriented and let out a quiet grunt, feeling the back of her head with her hand and trying to sit up. Harley crouched next to her with worry written all over her face.
“Are you back to yourself, Red?” she asked. Billy wouldn’t have stood quite so close to her after all the fighting, but Harley could probably handle herself just fine. Red first looked at Harley, then Billy, and then back at Harley.
“What happened?” she asked, her voice back to her own, feminine tone.
“You went nuts, kidnapped a kid, and attacked both of us. But we already know it was mind control”, Harley said, her tone so nonchalant she could have been talking about the weather, “any idea who got inside that beautiful head of yours?”

Red looked at Billy again, intently. Billy almost took a step back, but there was something different in those eyes. He didn’t get the feeling of pure maliciousness anymore. Instead, she looked mostly confused and tense, and no wonder. Billy would have been both of those things in her situation.
“I was… what was I even doing?” Red held her head in her hands. Harley had leaned forward and had a hand on her shoulder, their foreheads almost touching. Billy wasn’t sure if he was supposed to look elsewhere or otherwise disappear during the intimate moment.
“You think you’re properly back with us now?” Harley asked, trailing her hand on Red’s neck. Red was quiet for a long moment, and then there was a moment of clarity in her eyes.

“There was a voice in my head”, she said, staring into Harley’s eyes, “it—it took over my mind. I can’t remember what I did afterward, but it did tell me to go after… Batson? Someone like that.”
“That’s the kid”, Harley said, nodding her head toward Billy. Red looked at Billy again, but there was no recognition in her eyes. Maybe it was better that way – Billy really hoped she wouldn’t remember anything about the transformation, at least.
“The voice wanted Batson. It sounded like a man – it was also a real prick”, she said, making Harley shake with laughter, “I can’t remember much, but I think he said his name is something like… Mister Mind?”
“He introduced himself to you when he did the mind-controlling?” Harley asked with an amused smile.
“Not exactly. More like talked about himself in third person.”
“Ah, he really is a pretentious prick.”

Billy was listening intently. If Red remembered everything correctly and wasn’t lying, this could be a huge clue – learning the culprit’s name could lead them to the mastermind. He hadn’t heard of anyone called “Mister Mind”, but if he gave the clue to Batman, surely he could find the correct person faster than anyone else? Sure, it wasn’t an actual person’s name, but if the guy had done anything evil beforehand, there had to be a record of him somewhere. Harley and Red kept talking in quiet voices, and Billy thought he heard his name a couple of times, but neither of them addressed him directly. Especially Red kept glancing at him with a worried look in her eyes, but Harley seemed as relaxed as ever, so Billy kept his thoughts on this mysterious Mister Mind. It almost brought a smile to his face – he had a name! There had to be some kind of saying about things being easier to find and defeat by just having their names revealed to others.

“Let’s get Red downstairs restin’, and after that, I can make sure your foster family finds you. What’s their name?” Harley asked, keeping her hand on Red’s waist to keep her standing. Billy snapped back to the present from his thoughts and nodded.
“Bruce Wayne”, he replied.

Billy knew that everyone in Gotham knew Bruce Wayne and that the man had quite a reputation, but he still didn’t expect the complete surprise on the women’s faces when they heard the name. The quiet surprise was soon broken by loud laughter from Harley, who almost let go of Red in her burst of joy. Billy blinked in surprise.
“You know him?” he asked.
“Of course I know Brucie”, she said with a wide smile, “we’ve met several times. Didn’t know he’d gotten another kid, though. That’s fun.”

Billy didn’t know what to make of her response. Harley didn’t seem like the type of person Bruce would really associate with, but maybe that was Billy stereotyping people – didn’t Harley already mention that she was a psychiatrist? Red let out a grunt as they started to make their way down the stairs and back to the apartment. The hallways seemed to be in a really good condition, considering the fight that had taken place: most of the damage was kept to the apartment itself, which had plenty of broken furniture and scratched walls.
“Don’t worry. This isn’t our main place”, Harley grinned at Billy’s worried expression, “Red’s just gonna rest here and we’ll contact Brucie. You gonna be okay by yourself, Red?”

Red fell on the sofa, pressing a pillow against her face.
“If I ever meet that guy face to face, I’m going to smother him to death”, she mumbled against the pillow and let it fall on her chest.
“Yup, she’s gonna be fine. Let’s go, boy-o”, Harley said and tapped Billy’s back, leading him outside.

They were silent during the walk downstairs and outside. Billy looked back once they were outside – the apartment building looked very unassuming and boring, and he had no idea where in Gotham they were… if they even were in Gotham. The possibility of being in another city hadn’t even crossed his mind.
“Where are we?” he asked as he took a better look around. If they were still in Gotham, this area wasn’t quite as wealthy as the ones where he’d been before. He wasn’t surprised that Bruce and the others hadn’t taken him to the less-wealthy places, but it also meant that he wasn’t really prepared to go anywhere else.
“Never been to Downtown Gotham? Don’t worry, no one’s gonna stab you as long as I’m here. I mean, they might try, but good luck at getting through me”, she said with a grin, and Billy didn’t feel too good about being reminded about the ever-possible threat of getting stabbed once again.
“You can contact Bruce, right?” he asked. He’d been warned about Gotham City at nighttime, and if Harley wasn’t here with him, there was no chance he wouldn’t have changed into Captain Marvel already.

“Ya. Let’s just get out of the streets and somewhere nicer, okay? There should be a diner nearby that’s open all night long”, Harley said, motioning for Billy to follow her.

They did get to the diner without a single stabbing, and once inside, Billy felt immediately better. Maybe the diner wasn’t the kind of place he would have chosen for himself, but it wasn’t a far cry from Betsy’s, which he had frequented back in Fawcett City. Some of the neon-colored letters on the sign outside were broken and the door made a loud noise when opened, but otherwise, it didn’t even seem too fishy. The air was filled with the smell of fried foods and the music was playing quietly from an old-looking jukebox in one corner. The waitress took one tired look at Harley and let out a long sigh.
“You gonna cause trouble?” she asked.
“Of course not! You know me, I would never”, Harley smiled in response, “just get me and the kid two sodas. Whatever you have, just remember that it’s for a kid.”

The waitress took a long, suspicious look at Billy, then disappeared behind the counter. Harley and Billy sat down at one of the tables near the windows, far away from a couple of other customers present. They waited until the waitress had brought them their drinks before they started talking again.
“Okay, so, Brucie has gotten another kid… I mean, I don’t really get why you’re so worried about him kicking you out for you-know-what”, she gestured with her hands, and although Billy knew what she meant, he didn’t have any idea what the gesture was supposed to represent, “is he, like, really fishy at home? He seems too sincere and definitely too nice to do something that mean.”
Billy took a long gulp of his soda.
“I don’t know. He’s nice. He hasn’t done anything bad. I just… I can’t imagine anyone taking that too well”, he whispered, worried about any extra ears. Harley leaned back in her seat, taking a better look at Billy.

“Well, it’s your choice. If I were you, I would be braggin’ to everyone about my superpowers, but I kind of get you. Being eight isn’t exactly the ideal age for somethin’ like that”, she said, downing most of her soda in one big swig.
“Twelve.”
“Still, yeah. I figured out what you can get me in exchange for keepin’ your buff secret”, she said. Billy felt his heart almost skip a beat. This was the perfect chance to blackmail him for many things. He could easily take Harley down as Captain Marvel, but obviously, he wasn’t going to kill her or anything similar: right now she had the power over him. Harley leaned on the counter, getting so close to Billy that no one would be able to overhear their discussion.
“Don’t tell Brucie or anyone else that it was Red who snatched you”, she whispered, “don’t even describe her to anyone. Me and Red… well, we have a colorful past, and if you let it slip that she was the one behind the kidnappin’, it ain’t gonna go well for her, even if she’s not responsible. You get me?”

Billy stared back into Harley’s eyes. He hadn’t expected that. Harley had already mentioned once that Red might get into trouble if anyone learned that she had been mind-controlled, but to use her one extremely good bargaining chip for her safety? He didn’t know what this “colorful past” included, but it didn’t concern him right now. Billy didn’t even notice that he was smiling until he spoke.
“Yeah, I can keep it a secret”, he said. Harley smiled, sat back down on her seat, and offered her hand. Billy shook it, and so they made their deal official.
“Great. Now that that’s out of the way…” she said, grabbing her phone from her pocket, “let’s see if I still have Brucie’s phone number saved. If he’s blocked me, we need to find another way to contact him, but let’s hope for the best.”

It took Harley only a moment to find the correct number. Billy watched as she went through the contacts and was frankly amazed that a phone that cracked and bent could still work that well. Before she pressed the call button, she look back at Billy.
“Okay, here’s another thing”, she said, offering the phone to Billy, “can you, like, make sure he knows that I wasn’t the one who kidnapped you? I don’t want him sendin’ Batman or any of his other freaky friends after me because I actually helped you. You can tell him that you’re with Harleen Quinzell and that she helped you escape.”
“Of course”, Billy nodded, taking the phone. Bruce’s phone number was marked on Harley’s phone with multiple heart emojis, and he had to wonder if there was some kind of weird connection he didn’t know about. Disregarding that, he tapped the call button and pressed the phone against his ear. Harley took another big swig from her soda and let out a small burp as they waited for Bruce to answer.

“Bruce Wayne”, the reply came short and stiff. Billy took in a deep breath before he spoke.
“Bruce, it’s Billy”, he said. There was a loud crash on the other side of the line, followed by another.
“Billy, where are you? Are you safe?” Bruce asked, his voice more frantic than Billy had ever heard before. Billy could hear some other voices in the background, but not clearly enough to know who else was there.
“I’m okay. I’m at—”, he stopped and looked at Harley, completely forgetting the name he had seen on the broken neon sign.
“Smokey Dip Top Diner”, she reminded him, turning around so she could lay down on the two-person seat.
“I’m at Smokey Dip Top Diner. It’s in Downtown Gotham, I think. I’m here with Harleen Quinzell, she—”
“You’re with Harley Quinn?” Bruce stopped him before he could finish his sentence, “I'll send someone there right away, don’t worry. She hasn’t hurt you, right? I swear, if she’s—”
“No, no, you got it all wrong, she helped me escape!” Billy hurried to explain, “she helped me out a lot, she didn’t do anything wrong! Someone—someone, I’m not sure, kidnapped me and Harley helped me escape.”

He was interested in why Bruce had called her Harley Quinn, but that was a conversation for another time. Harley was following Billy’s side of the conversation with a slight, amused smile on her lips. Bruce was quiet for a short moment, and Billy could hear him breathing heavily on the other side of the phone.
“I’m fine”, he repeated again, “I can explain everything later, but right now I’m just at the diner with Harley. She even gave me her phone to call you. She’s been very nice this whole time.”
“I’m always nice…” Harley muttered to herself, turning her empty glass around in her hands.

“That’s… that’s good. Billy, I’m so sorry that this even happened. I should have known something like this might happen if you didn’t have more protection with you outside of the manor”, Bruce said, his voice quieter than before. Billy gripped the phone in his hands.
“Don’t worry about it. You didn’t know and Dick didn’t know”, he said. He couldn’t think of a way this attack could have been prevented, apart from staying inside all day and never leaving the manor. That really wasn’t the kind of life he wanted to live despite this “Mister Mind” being after him, and even after being kidnapped, he didn’t regret going to the arcade. He just needed to be more aware and cautious next time. He didn’t even want to know what kind of mental gymnastics Bruce had to go through in order to blame himself for this whole thing: Billy would have understood Dick feeling that kind of way, even though he wasn’t responsible for it either.

Bruce stayed on the line with him until the diner’s door opened and a masked figure walked inside. It took Billy a moment to recognize the person: he’d never seen Red Hood in person, only in a couple of photos on the internet. He didn’t know much about the guy, but apparently, he was either acquainted with Bruce or Batman because he walked straight to their table.
“Batman sent me to fetch you”, Red Hood said, his voice slightly electric behind the helmet-like mask. Billy couldn’t see his eyes, but he could see the man staring at Harley for a moment. Harley smiled and waved her hand at him, then sat up and hurriedly scribbled something on a napkin she picked from the table. Once she was done, she slid the napkin to Billy.

“In case there’s anything you need”, she said and winked, “auntie Harley’s here to help.”
“Thanks”, Billy smiled, put the napkin in his pocket, and got up from the table, “for this and earlier. You really helped me out.”
“That’s what we heroes do. Right, Hoodie?” Harley grinned at Red Hood, who didn’t answer. Billy waved at her and left the diner, taking in a deep breath of relief. Sometimes things really did work out.

Chapter Text

Bruce was waiting by the manor’s gates when Billy and Red Hood arrived. Billy had never been on a motorcycle before and wasn’t sure if he liked the experience – he’d been clutching onto Hood the entire ride, which had gone quietly. Red Hood didn’t speak much, not even when they reached the manor: he simply helped Billy off the motorcycle, nodded to Bruce, and sped off right away. Billy had been expecting to meet with Batman as soon as he arrived, but he wasn’t here yet. He probably wanted to give Billy some time to relax after this whole ordeal, or maybe he was busy with some other important cases. As soon as Billy was off the motorcycle, Bruce hurried to him and crouched in front of him, blue eyes filled with concern.

“I know what you said on the phone”, he said, searching for any signs of injuries or other distress in the boy, “but it’s okay if you’re not fine. Hell, it’s normal if you’re not fine. Please, tell me you’re not hurt too badly.”
“I’m not injured”, Billy said, glancing down at himself as if to prove a point. His wrists and other injuries had healed once he had transformed, so there were no lasting damages. The only times when the transformation didn’t immediately heal him was if he’d suffered something much more major: slightly bloodied wrists were really easy to heal. Bruce didn’t seem convinced.
“I’m not!” he repeated, “she—he—no one hurt me. I don’t know if they were going to, but Harley rescued me before anything could happen.”

Bruce’s face went even more serious than before.
“Billy, I know you just went through a lot… but could you tell me what happened, from your point of view? I already spoke with Dick, and he just knows you were gone once he woke up after the ambush at the car. He’s fine, by the way – he didn’t get hurt”, he added before Billy could ask and put a hand on Billy’s shoulder. Billy had hoped he’d have more time to construct a good story to tell everyone. It would have been easier to tell him everything he knew, but that would break his promise to Harley. He wasn’t just concerned about Harley possibly revealing his secret to others: he just knew that promises shouldn’t be broken, no matter what. Bruce seemed to mistake his silence for something else because he stood up.
“Yes, of course. This is really not the place for any sort of discussion. Let’s go inside, Alfred should have some hot cocoa for you”, he said, keeping his hand firmly on Billy’s shoulder. Just the words “hot cocoa” made Billy feel immediately better.

It was funny how the Wayne Manor already felt like a safe place, at least compared to the outside. As they stepped in, Billy was filled with a warm and comfortable feeling. They headed straight to the living room, and Billy realized just how tired he was only once he sat down on one of the incredibly comfortable, soft couches. He hadn’t even registered his exhaustion until this moment – suddenly he really felt the events of the evening with his whole body. Bruce didn’t seem to take his eyes off of him even once.
“I don’t really know a whole lot”, Billy muttered, leaning against the sofa, and then realized that wasn’t true. He had learned something very important, and even if Bruce couldn’t do much about it, he could at least pass the information to Batman.
“Actually”, he said, turning to look Bruce in the eyes, “I did learn something. The kidnapper—the one who keeps controlling people’s minds – his name is apparently Mister Mind. He spoke to me a little, through the person he was controlling.”

Billy cut himself off before he could say anything about magic. Technically, he could tell Bruce about the whole “I want your magic” thing and just pretend like he didn’t know what Mister Mind meant. Maybe he could even tell Batman as much and let him think it was because “Captain Marvel was his father”. It wouldn’t be lying, not exactly, but it still felt like he’d be doing something bad.
“Did he say anything important?” Bruce asked. Before Billy could answer, Alfred arrived and gave him a steaming mug of hot cocoa, a couple of marshmallows floating on top. Billy couldn’t help but smile as he thanked Alfred with all his heart.
“If there’s anything else you need, Master Billy, just let me know", Alfred said with a slight bow.
“No, thank you. This is already amazing”, Billy smiled, took a sip of the cocoa, and felt the tip of his tongue getting slightly burned. Okay, that needed to cool down a little bit before he could start drinking.
“Does Commissioner Gordon already know that Billy has been found? The GCPD needs to be informed, and he’ll probably want to make sure that everything’s fine”, Bruce asked the butler.
“I believe Master Richard has taken care of that. I can ask him about it”, Alfred suggested. Bruce nodded, and Billy watched as Alfred disappeared back into the hallway.

“You called the police about this?” Billy asked. It shouldn’t have surprised him. He’d run away from a couple of foster homes before, and usually, the authorities had been contacted. This wasn’t the exact same situation, but a missing child was probably a police-worthy emergency.
“Of course. We needed all the help we could get… although you were able to save yourself with minimal help”, Bruce said, a smile tugging at his lips. Billy smiled and took another sip of the cocoa. It was still too hot.
“Harley helped me out a bunch. I couldn’t have gotten away without her help”, he explained, placing the mug on the table to cool down, “I don’t know how she realized that something was wrong, but she got into the apartment, knocked out the mind-controlled person, and helped me escape.”

It was the extremely abridged version of events that Billy decided to go by. The kidnapper was a regular stranger and Harley just happened to pass by and help him: it should be believable enough for anyone.
“Do you remember anything about the kidnapper?” Bruce asked. Billy shifted on the sofa.
“Not really. They were being mind-controlled”, he said, “I was still kind of… out of it when I woke up, and Harley showed up pretty soon after that.”

Lying to Bruce didn’t feel good but ratting out Red and Harley would have felt even worse. Bruce took in a deep breath and leaned against the sofa, finally relaxing a little bit. He had been incredibly tense during their entire conversation, and even now, most of the tenseness was still present.
“We need to find a way to prevent something like this from ever happening again. Obviously, we need to find this Mister Mind and make sure he can’t hurt anyone ever again, but…” Bruce scratched his head as he talked, staring at the wall on the other side of the room, “well, that’s what Batman is trying to figure out. I think your cocoa has cooled down enough, by the way.”
Billy was quiet as he lifted the mug again and took his third, careful sip. It was still hot but didn’t burn his mouth like the previous two tries.
“I’m just worried that…” he mumbled into his mug, his words trailing off. Bruce looked at him.
“What are you worried about?” he asked softly. There were about a thousand things to be worried about right now, but one of them in particular was bothering Billy.

“I really don’t want anyone to get into trouble because someone’s after me”, he admitted, keeping his eyes strictly on the cocoa and nowhere near Bruce’s face, “Dick could have gotten really hurt, and it’s because I was in the car. And the people at the mall, so many of them could have gotten hurt as well. And what if Mister Mind decides to attack the manor at some point? I’ve only been here for a few weeks, but maybe it would be safer for everyone if I went back to Fawcett City.”

And maybe everyone would be safer if I didn’t have my magic, he thought grimly. He wasn’t going to let Mister Mind have his magic, that was completely out of question, but the disruptive thoughts were hard to get rid of. There was always the possibility of simply going to the Rock of Eternity and staying there until the threat was gone, but it wasn’t a really good plan. Sure, Billy and probably everyone else would be safer, but he didn’t have any idea of knowing when Mister Mind would give up. Maybe he’d just wait until Billy returned and continue his attacks straight away. Billy wasn’t going to wait for decades at the Rock – despite everything, he still had a life to live. He just didn’t want everyone else to get hurt in the process.

“Don’t think of it that way”, Bruce said. His voice was almost commanding, and it made Billy look up.
“If we weren’t prepared to deal with the consequences, we wouldn’t be in this situation. You are here because we wanted you here, not because it’s some huge sacrifice we all had to make. Everyone here knows about the threat and is prepared to deal with it – so you really shouldn’t think that you’re forcing any kind of danger on anyone.”

Billy didn’t answer right away, instead, taking another long drink of cocoa. There was a part of him that believed what Bruce was saying – they could have thrown him out a long time ago, and they hadn’t. Despite that, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that if their secrets were revealed, everything would change really quickly. Bruce let out a quiet sigh and slightly tousled Billy’s hair. They were quiet for a long moment as Billy finished his hot cocoa. It wasn’t a bad silence: it was actually really comfortable, and Billy didn’t feel the urge to hide away. He only felt the need to return to his room once the drink was finished and he started to feel even sleepier than before, the comfortable couch definitely not helping him stay awake. He let out a yawn and Bruce smiled.

“Sorry, I’m keeping you awake, am I not? You should probably take a quick shower and go to bed”, he said and stood up.
“I thought you wanted to know more about what happened?” Billy asked, forcing himself up from the sofa. Bruce shook his head.
“We can take care of that later. You’re here now, safe and sound, so further details can wait”, he said. Billy looked at the clock on the wall on blinked in surprise. He hadn’t realized how late it was. He’d known it was late, that much had been obvious, but 3:30 a.m. was still much later than he’d expected.
“Thanks”, he said, unsure of where to place the empty mug. Bruce smiled, picked up the mug from his hands, and placed it on the sofa table. Billy answered with a tired smile of his own as they left for the upstairs.

---

Bruce didn’t want to let Billy out of his sight but relented once they arrived at the boy’s door and said their goodnights. He knew that the manor was safe, and he would know if they were attacked… yet he couldn’t shake off the feeling that Billy might disappear again once he disappeared from Bruce’s line of sight. It had been a while since he’d felt that way, and he definitely hadn’t missed that soul-crushing feeling. He simply stood outside Billy’s door for a moment afterward, and then he had to force himself back downstairs. Billy was safe, he told himself repeatedly, he was safe and back at the manor and he wasn’t hurt. At least visibly. Who knew what kind of trauma that kid could be hiding inside?

Alfred was waiting for him by the stairs when he finally landed.
“How is he?” the butler asked, glancing up toward the bedrooms. Bruce breathed deeply.
“Most likely hiding all the negative feelings he has at the moment. I hoped that we’d be able to talk through some of that, but…” his words trailed off.
“But you know that feeling all too well”, Alfred finished the sentence for him with a knowing smile. Bruce conceded with a small nod.
“Sometimes I’m just terrified to even think what he’s been through. He’s such a sweet and kind boy, but whenever something bad happens, he doesn’t really want to talk about it. Hell, he probably hasn’t had anyone to talk to about any serious things in… well, most likely his whole life. He doesn’t know how to open up”, Bruce said as they started walking toward the study. It was a miracle that Billy was the way he was – Bruce had seen plenty of others who went in a completely different direction with their lives.
“As I said: you see yourself in him”, Alfred repeated, his tone slightly mournful.
“I’ve had it better. I always had you to talk to. You’ve always been here for me”, Bruce said, clapping Alfred gently on the shoulder, “even if I sometimes was a real shithead about it and didn’t appreciate it.”
“I’m not going to agree or disagree with that, Master Bruce”, Alfred said, but Bruce could see the smile forming on the old man’s face that agreed with him full-heartedly.

God, sometimes Bruce just really felt like he didn’t deserve someone as wonderful as Alfred in his life.

“Well, at least there’s one slightly good thing about this whole ordeal: Billy got the name of his abductor. Obviously, Mister Mind isn’t an actual name, but if there are any criminals who have used it before or anything like that, we’ll find out”, Bruce said as he moved the hands of the grandfather clock to the correct position. Alfred nodded.
“And even though that is excellent news, and the culprit should be apprehended as soon as possible…” he said, watching as Bruce stepped into the elevator, “might I remind you that you also require sleep to function?”
Bruce swatted his hand through the air, as though he was getting rid of an invisible fly.
“I’ve worked on less sleep. And don’t worry Alfred – I’m not going to work until I pass out. We just need to start the search as soon as possible, and then I can rest while the machines are doing the work for me”, he said as the elevator doors started to close. Alfred gave him a long side-eye but didn’t argue. He’d tried that often enough to know that there was no winning in these sorts of arguments against Bruce.

The Batcave was quiet. Before Billy had contacted Bruce, everyone had been in full force, trying to find out where he could have been taken. Dick especially had been in full force and almost demanded to be there once Billy was back – Bruce had only barely been able to convince him to wait until the next day. He knew this meant a lot to Dick since he’d been there when the car had been attacked, but he really didn’t want to overwhelm Billy as soon as he was back at the manor. After a shower and a good sleep, he’d be more prepared to deal with the overly apologetic Dick.

Only Jason was still at the cave. He’d already been driving around Gotham when Bruce got the call, so he’d been the natural choice to fetch Billy from the diner. Jason looked up from his phone when Bruce walked to the computer table, and they exchanged tired glances.
“He seemed okay when I got him. Did he tell you anything important?” he asked. Bruce was still kind of surprised how quickly Jason had been prepared to look for Billy after the kidnapping news, but that was purely a positive thing – Jason definitely didn’t get along with many people, so him getting along with Billy was like winning a lottery.

Well, Billy was very easy to get along with, so maybe that had something to do with it.

“He found out the name of his kidnapper. Mister Mind”, he said and started typing on the computer. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jason raise an eyebrow.
“Mister Mind? I thought we already knew all the supervillain freaks around the city”, he said.
“This one probably followed Billy from Fawcett City. We don’t even know if the guy originates from there, but that’s our closest clue. I don’t think he’d be in Gotham if Billy hadn’t moved here”, he explained, typing in the name, and putting the computer to work. If the search brought up nothing, he’d have to ask around. He definitely needed to talk to Captain Marvel again, even if the guy still hadn’t replied to his messages and seemed to be avoiding him, despite this being the absolute worst time to not be in contact with anyone.
“Marvel needs to have a pretty fucking good explanation for ignoring all of my calls and messages…” he muttered more to himself than Jason as he watched the computer starting to search for anything related to this possible Mister Mind.
“Oh, wow. He really hasn’t answered?” Jason asked, walking closer to the computer, and staring at the screen as well, “I mean, I don’t know the guy and I don’t know what he’s like, but that seems kind of weird. Isn’t Billy supposed to be his kid?”

“Somehow, I get the feeling that he’s just angry about the last time we saw each other and doesn’t want to talk to me”, Bruce groaned and sat down on the computer chair, “but if that’s really the reason, then he really needs to grow up and fast. I don’t think he knows the danger Billy was in, so maybe it doesn’t have much to do with that, but he should still be able to swallow his pride and reply to me. If he’s going to continue this way, I might need to discuss things further with the rest of the Justice League.”
“You gonna get him kicked out?” Jason asked with a smirk. Bruce leaned his head against the headrest and stared at the rocky ceiling.
“No idea. The League is all about communication and helping each other, and if Marvel’s going to sulk that easily, then the ‘communication’ part of that doesn’t really work. But I’m not the one who’s going to decide if he stays or not.”
“But your word does have more weight than almost anyone else’s. Except maybe Superman”, Jason said, looking away from the screen and at Bruce. It was true, and Bruce knew that all too well. If he expressed his concerns to Clark and Diana, they would take him seriously. Maybe they wouldn’t kick Captain Marvel out without sufficient proof, but they also wouldn’t just dismiss him straight away.

Jason’s words gave him an idea.

“Maybe I should talk to Clark about this”, he said, standing up straight, “I can think about this as much as I want, but that won’t really bring me any new perspective. Maybe he could even talk to Captain Marvel. He’s more… approachable than Batman is.”
“That’s putting it pretty fucking lightly”, Jason laughed and turned around, “well, I’m heading upstairs. Let me know if you find the Mister Mind -guy, I’d love to punch him in the face.”
“Sure thing”, Bruce said. His eyes followed as Jason made his way to the elevator and disappeared upstairs.

For a moment, Bruce simply enjoyed the hollow quiet of the Batcave. He needed to figure out an effective way to make Captain Marvel understand that actions had consequences, especially when they were dealing with children. Usually, these were the kinds of lessons he’d had to teach his own children, not this man who had powers way beyond his own abilities and whose age he didn’t even know. Maybe an alien really was the right person to talk to Captain Marvel about something like this – if Batman couldn’t get through to him, then surely Superman could.

The computer kept working in the background, and although Bruce had been planning to get back upstairs and sleep in his own bed, he didn’t even notice the moment he’d fallen asleep on the chair.

Chapter Text

Billy slept until midday. No one came to wake him up: they probably wanted him to sleep for as long as he needed. Billy stayed in the bed even after he’d woken up, curling up underneath the blanket, and wondering if he could get away with spending the entire day in bed. However, those plans came to a stop once his stomach started protesting – he hadn’t eaten anything since before the arcade, and that was quite a while ago. So, despite the warmth and comfort of the bed, Billy managed to sit up and stretch his limbs. If he hadn’t transformed last night, he would have been incredibly sore.

Before going to sleep last night, he’d checked the Justice League communicator. He wasn’t sure if he should be happy or worried that Batman had been tried to get a hold of Captain Marvel multiple times. Happy, because he most likely wanted help with finding Billy, worried, because right now he was probably even angrier than before because he hadn’t gotten a response. One of the most difficult things about living at the manor was the amount of time he could dedicate to being Captain Marvel. When he lived on the streets, he could spend entire days as Cap, and transform whenever he wanted to do so. Now he had to be so careful with everything, and that cut deeply into his superhero-time.

He would have to come up with an excuse. Maybe Captain Marvel had been summoned by the Wizard to the Rock of Eternity and couldn’t answer his communicator. He wasn’t even sure if the Rock had any reception.

This was one of the first days he’d missed breakfast entirely, so it felt weird once he arrived at the dining hall and found the table empty. Bruce was probably at work by now, and he didn’t really know what the others did during the day. He almost turned around and went back to his room, but the noises coming from the kitchen made him stop in his tracks. At least someone was still here. Billy walked slowly to the kitchen door and peeked in, unsure if he was even allowed in. Even though he made almost no sounds and didn’t say anything, Alfred notices him immediately.

“Did you sleep well, Master Billy?” he asked with a gentle smile, putting something down on the counter and making his way to Billy. Billy, still only halfway into the kitchen, nodded.
“Yeah. I think I missed breakfast”, he said. Almost as if on cue, his traitorous stomach revealed his true intentions with a louder growl than ever before. Alfred nodded and waved for Billy to enter the kitchen.
“Unfortunately, the breakfast might be cold by this point”, he said, leading Billy to the other side of the room, “but if there’s anything you want, I’m sure I can make you something to eat.”
“It doesn’t have to be anything special”, Billy said quickly, dreading the thought of Alfred dropping his other chores just to make Billy something really specific to eat, “I can handle a sandwich or something like that. I can even make it.”

Alfred lifted his eyebrows.
“I don’t doubt that, Master Billy… But you did have a rather adventurous day yesterday. I wouldn’t blame you if you simply wanted to sit down and wait for something to be brought to you – it’s the least I could do”, he said, “it is, after all, my job.”
Billy looked at Alfred, uncertainty painted all over his face. It was obvious that Alfred really wouldn’t blame him for just waiting to be served, but that didn’t sit right with Billy. He was mostly okay with it once everything was on schedule and getting food wasn’t something that made Alfred work even more than he already did, but now he was simply creating extra chores for him.
“Could I…” Billy stumbled with his words, trying to find a good way to word his request, “could you show me how to cook? I could help you in the kitchen sometimes.”

There was a sparkle in Alfred’s eyes as he thought about the request.
“Well… If you really want to try, I’m sure there’s something to do in here”, he smiled. Billy had noted it before, but whenever Alfred smiled, he looked at least twenty years younger than he actually was. Not that Billy knew the man’s age, but watching that de-aging happen was like witnessing magic.
“I really want to try something. Anything!” Billy said, gaining some of his confidence and energy back. Alfred took a quick look around the kitchen, assessing his surroundings and deciding on what to do.

“So, I’ll just write down some measurements for you, and you can get the dry ingredients for our bread rolls ready”, he said, already reaching for the flour from the upper shelves, “I’ll get you something to eat in the meanwhile, and we can surprise Master Bruce and the others with your self-made bread at dinner. The yeast is already being activated, but the rest can be up to you.”

Billy felt a whirl of excitement as he watched Alfred write down the recipe and fetch the necessary measuring cups and spoons ready. Billy didn’t know much about any cooking measures or anything similar, so there was a rush of relief when he got the recipe and saw that Alfred had written down everything very clearly. Even he couldn’t get the instructions wrong… or so he hoped, because the thought of creating decent food for the others was simply amazing. He probably would hide in his room for the rest of the week if he managed to mess this one up.

Alfred was an excellent teacher. Even though he was clearly an old master with anything related to cooking – and possibly anything else, Billy couldn’t imagine him being bad at anything – he took everything slowly and made sure Billy understood what was happening and why following every step was necessary. Of course, Billy wouldn’t remember all of it even later that same day – he still wasn’t entirely sure why the dough had to rise for a certain amount of time, but at least it meant he could use that break for eating the French toast Alfred apparently created out of thin air. Maybe this man also had some magical secrets he didn’t tell the others: Billy was pretty certain that no one was capable of creating something that delicious that quickly.

When the dough had risen enough and it really did smell like amazing, fresh bread dough, Billy had to fight back an excited laugh threatening to escape his mouth.

“They really do look like bread rolls!” he exclaimed, putting yet another roll down on the baking tray. His rolls weren’t as perfectly circular as the one Alfred had made as an example, but that probably wouldn’t affect their taste, so Billy tried his hardest not to compare the end results. Alfred, who had been working on a soup that filled the entire kitchen with a wonderful smell, stepped away from the stove for a moment to see the rolls himself.
“These are looking very good, Master Billy. It makes me really happy that at least someone here is interested in more ‘boring’ things like cooking”, he said, watching as Billy started to roll another piece of dough.
“No one else likes cooking?” Billy asked. He hadn’t tried cooking before, but this experience had been nothing but really nice – he definitely wanted to do this more often with Alfred. Alfred shrugged slightly and smiled.
“Master Bruce is usually too busy to cook, and sometimes he forgets to eat if he’s not reminded”, he told Billy in a conspiratorial tone, “and the others… well, Master Richard has tried cooking a couple of times, but he’s a bit of a fire hazard. I believe Master Jason is the only one I’d really trust in a kitchen, but he doesn’t really enjoy spending time in one.”

Billy placed another bread roll on the tray as he listened. He really hadn’t expected Jason to be the one with the most culinary skills, but there was always the saying about judging a book by its cover.
“How long have you done this stuff? Being a butler, I mean?” he asked out of curiosity. Alfred glanced at the soup, making sure it wasn’t boiling over and turned back to Billy.
“Much longer than I care to remember”, he said with a dry laugh, “I’ve been working for the Waynes longer than Master Bruce has even existed. Of course, I did have other jobs when I was younger, but this is my calling. I couldn’t even imagine doing anything else at this age.”

Billy nodded slowly and placed the last roll on the tray. He’d never really thought what he would be doing when he was Alfred’s age. Maybe he’d still be saving the world as Captain Marvel – he wasn’t exactly sure how the transformation would work so far in the future, but he figured that Cap would always stay the same age. Hopefully, he would feel as content as Alfred did.
“I have no idea what I’m going to do in the future. As a job, I mean”, he said and took a step back to admire his creations. Even though the rolls hadn’t even seen the oven yet, they looked great: maybe a little misshapen, but hopefully, no one would care about that. Alfred let out a good-natured laugh and covered the tray with a linen.
“Well, then it’s a good thing you’re still twelve. You have plenty of time to decide”, he said and clapped his hands together. Billy stared at the tray.
“Why are they covered again? I thought they were going into the oven”, he pointed out, taking a quick look at the oven. It was preheating to the correct temperature, but Alfred clearly had another idea.
“Just so they can proof some more. Waiting is the key – it makes the end product even better”, the butler explained, walking back to the soup, and giving it a stir.
“Hopefully not too long…” Billy muttered, taking an impatient look at the covered tray.
“Not too long”, Alfred smiled, “if you want to help me with other things in the meanwhile, you can slice up that cucumber.”

---

Bruce had wanted to stay at the manor until Billy woke up, just to make sure he was still okay, but when the boy kept sleeping, he’d relented and left the manor. Of course, he could have taken a day off – God only knew he needed some of those at some point – but he needed to keep intrusive thoughts at bay. He didn’t want to put on the Batman suit just yet, so he’d phoned Clark Kent earlier that morning and asked to meet with him during the day. He wasn’t sure how Clark hadn’t gotten fired by the Daily Planet yet, because despite it being a regular Thursday in the middle of the day, he did have time to meet up with Bruce at the Wayne Tower.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” he asked as the man walked in.
“Well, I could make this into a work-thing. I’m sure Perry would love a piece about me interviewing Bruce Wayne”, Clark laughed as he took off his coat and fixed the position of his glasses. When Bruce had just learned about Superman’s identity, he’d been almost angry at the simplicity of Clark’s disguise: how was it possible that no one connected the dots? As the years had gone by and he’d worked with him much more often, he’d come to realize the genius of those simple glasses. No one expected Superman to have a secret identity, so he didn’t exactly have to cloak himself with masks and elaborate suits. All he needed to do was put on the glasses and drop a couple of books, and people just thought he was the clumsy guy at the office who kind of looked like Superman.

“Let’s not do that”, Bruce sighed, getting up from behind his table and offering his hand to Clark, “thank you for coming. I gave you a really short notice.”
“And you didn’t explain your reasoning. I wasn’t sure if there was going to be some kind of secret emergency waiting for me back here”, Clark raised his eyebrows as he spoke and answered the handshake with an unnecessarily strong grip. Bruce pretended like his hand wasn’t going to ache slightly for the next few hours.
“Yes, well… There are a couple of things I would like to talk about, and neither of them is suited for this office. Shall we?” he motioned toward the empty piece of wall next to a small chess table. He moved the queen and the rook slightly and watched as the door opened, revealing one of the multiple secret entrances built into the tower. Clark followed his movements with genuine interest and entered the secret room with him.

“I could have come to the manor as well. Is there a reason for this location?” he asked as the lights turned on in the hallway and the door behind them closed. Bruce bit his lip.
“It’s not a huge deal – I just didn’t want to have to sneak you in”, he explained. They reached the end of the hallway quickly, and as they turned right, they entered one of the secret laboratories in the Wayne Tower. It wasn’t a big space: just enough for Lucius to tinker with his inventions and Bruce to do some of his Batman-related work. Any bigger, and it would have been much more difficult to hide from prying eyes. It took Clark a moment to realize the reason for this secrecy.
“Ah, yeah! The kid you still haven’t introduced to me even though he’s been living with you for like, what? Two or three weeks? I’d still love to introduce him to Jon at some point”, he said, clapping his hands together in excitement. Bruce didn’t share this enthusiasm, though he did think that Billy might get along with Jon Kent.

“Yes, Billy. Right now, he’s at the manor, resting, because yesterday he was kidnapped by a mind-controlling villain”, he said, but hurried to continue before Clark could ask anything, “he’s mostly fine, you don’t have to worry about that. At least he didn’t have any injuries. He was rescued by, and I still don’t really understand how this happened, Harley Quinn.”
Clark listened to him with raised eyebrows. Bruce sat down on a chair and let out a sigh.
“Have you had any progress with finding the culprit?” he asked, taking his glasses off and placing them on a nearby table. Bruce suppressed another sigh and looked at Clark.
“No. I’ve been trying to find any kind of signals with the bugs he’s been using to mind control people, but so far, I haven’t found anything useful. Right now, it seems like Billy’s doing the heavy lifting here: once he got back home yesterday, he was able to tell me that the culprit’s name is apparently Mister Mind. Does that ring any bells with you?”

Clark shook his head slowly.
“Not really, no. And Captain Marvel hasn’t found out anything either? I think I remember you mentioning that you’re working together on this case”, he said. Bruce had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from saying anything that might have made him seem like the bitterest person on the whole planet.
“Yes, we are supposed to be working together on this case”, he said, choosing his words carefully, “but lately, he’s been a difficult man to get a hold of. Last night, for example. He didn’t answer any of my calls or texts.”
“Well, Captain Marvel is a busy man. I don’t know a lot about his duties as the Champion, but I can’t imagine he has a whole lot of free time”, Clark pondered, crossing his arms, and furrowing his eyebrows.

Bruce didn’t have the same leniency.
“I know that people are sometimes busy. God, I’m always too busy. But Captain Marvel has really been getting on my nerves lately. Did I tell you at any point about the news that Damian found out about him?” he asked, standing up just to roam around the room, too annoyed to stand still. Clark followed his movements with concern. Bruce knew his words must have come across like an old woman looking to gossip about a new neighbor, but this concerned Billy. If anyone could make Captain Marvel understand the importance of his actions – or inactions, specifically – it would be Superman.
“No, I don’t think you did. Bruce, I know you’re stressed, but— “, Clark started, but was cut off by Bruce.
“He’s Billy’s biological father.”

Clark stared at him with shock-filled eyes.
“He’s what?” he asked.
“He’s Billy’s biological father”, Bruce repeated, “I am pretty certain about it, and when I confronted him about it, he definitely didn’t deny it. That man has let his own twelve-year-old child be homeless for years now, and let the child believe that he was dead. I just… I can’t wrap my head around it. Why in the world would he do that?”

Clark was now completely serious as he walked over to Bruce.
“How did you find out?” he asked. Bruce picked up his phone and scrolled to find the old photo of Marilyn and C.C. Batson. He zoomed the photo on C.C.’s face and let Clark have the phone.
“Damian insisted on doing some digging on Billy’s background, and he came across this photo of his parents. It’s taken less than a few weeks until they were apparently murdered in Egypt over ten years ago. I don’t know what exactly happened, but I don’t have any other explanations for this photo. These definitely are Billy’s biological parents, but just look at C.C.”

There was a small moment of silence as Clark stared at the photo. He was still quiet when he looked at Bruce.
“Bruce…” he began in a voice that Bruce definitely didn’t like, “yes, this does look very much like Captain Marvel… But is it not possible that it’s just a very weird coincidence? You said it yourself, C.C. Batson was murdered in Egypt. Why would he come back to the USA as a superhero without any explanations after all these years?”
“I don’t know, Clark. But I’ve been thinking about it since Damian found this photo, and I haven’t been able to come up with any other conclusions. Why wouldn’t Captain Marvel simply tell me that no, he isn’t related to Billy in any sort of way, and just move on when I brought it up? He was shaken when I confronted him about it, but he didn’t tell me anything that could count as a reasonable explanation.”

Clark took another look at the photo, then gave the phone back to Bruce.
“Have you told Billy anything about this?” he asked. Bruce shook his head.
“No. He believes his biological father is dead, and he’s a fan of Captain Marvel. I don’t want to break his heart by telling him something like this. His life is already hard enough without something like that. But I do believe that Captain Marvel needs to either own up to this or give me an explanation that actually makes sense, because Billy deserves better. Could you speak to Marvel and ask him about this? Maybe even make him realize that if he wants to be taken seriously, he needs to act the part. I think he’s been sulking ever since our last chat because he hasn’t contacted me or replied to my messages. I know I’ve never been his biggest fan, but right now he’s making me really angry.”

Bruce already knew that Clark and Captain Marvel got along well. Well, it was hard to think of a person that Clark didn’t get along with, but that was beside the point. Either Clark would learn something new and convince Bruce that his entire theory was false, or Captain Marvel would confirm those suspicions and reveal this shitty side of his personality to Clark as well. Whatever would happen needed to happen for everyone’s sake. Clark breathed in deeply and ran a hand through his hair.
“I mean, if you think it’s going to help, then sure”, he said, “but if he’s not who you think he is…”
“Then I’m relieved. I don’t want any member of the Justice League to be a deadbeat dad who knows his son is living on the streets and doesn’t lift a finger to do anything about it”, Bruce finished the sentence. It would take a lot to convince him that he’d been wrong about Captain Marvel, but despite what it might have appeared like, he didn’t want to dislike him. Everything would have been much easier if everyone just behaved well, didn’t have any skeletons in their closets, and did their job well. Unfortunately, they did live in the real world, so meeting people like that was extremely difficult. Not everyone was like Superman, and sometimes even Superman had his flaws. Bruce would know, he’d had to dig deep to find them.

Bruce glanced at his watch.
“I need to head back home somewhere within the hour. I promised Alfred I’d be back as soon as possible, and I want to make sure Billy’s okay”, he said, finally standing still. Clark smiled.
“So, when can I meet him as well? You can introduce me as a family friend, and I can even bring Jon with me if the two of them would like to meet”, he asked, clearly fighting back the excitement in his voice.
“At the latest, once Mister Mind has been dealt with. I don’t want to overwhelm Billy, and I think everyone can relax once that guy’s out of the picture. I’ll probably contact other League members and ask them about Mister Mind as well. Maybe someone has heard of him”, Bruce replied. He didn’t really believe in those chances, but he definitely wanted to be thorough. He would be blaming himself until the end of time if anything bad happened just because he decided to not investigate every possible angle.

“Hey, there’s still one question I’ve been meaning to ask you about Billy”, Clark said after a brief moment of silence. Bruce raised his eyebrows.
“What is it?” he asked. Clark leaned against the wall and shot Bruce a questioning look.
“Is his last name really Batson? That’s not, like, an alias or anything?” he asked with an infuriating smirk on his face. Bruce rolled his eyes and ignored the question.

Chapter Text

Billy was just sneaking back to his room after a few hours of flying around Fawcett City when he heard his Justice League communicator ding. A feeling of immediate dread filled him: he was definitely expecting it to be Batman, probably wanting to talk more about his absences or fatherhood issues, most likely both. He closed the closet door behind him, smudged the last symbol, and sat down on his bed to read the message. He’d been workshopping ideas for when their next, inevitable conversation would take place. He could play the ignorance card and say he doesn’t know why he looks like C.C. Batson. It wouldn’t be true, but maybe Batman would believe it. He did think Captain Marvel was naïve and stupid, so believing that wouldn’t be such a stretch. He could pretend to be C.C.’s long-lost brother, or perhaps one that was adopted at birth. Maybe he could even say that yes, he was Billy’s father, but due to being the Champion, he wasn’t allowed to stay in contact.

Every single excuse sounded really stupid in his head, but the reality was even crazier, and felt more like a betrayal with every passing day. Sometimes he wished he’d told Bruce about Captain Marvel the very first day, just to get it out of the way and deal with the consequences later. Now that he’d been at the manor for weeks and learned to know everyone, it felt like too little, too late. It would make the kidnapping case from two days ago much clearer for everyone else, but everything else would turn into a mess Billy really didn’t want to deal with right now.

Swallowing his nervousness, Billy dug up the communicator and sat on the bed to read the message. Relief rushed through him when Superman’s name appeared on the screen. There still could have been a terrible reason for Superman to contact him and everything could go terribly from this point on, but at least he didn’t have to face Batman for another day. He clicked the message open and hoped for the best.

“Hey, Marvel! Could we meet up at some point? The sooner the better, but it’s not an emergency. I just want to chat and ask you a couple of things. Is today too early? Let me know. I’d wait until the next JLA meeting, but this might get a bit personal – not in a bad way, hopefully! – so, it’s probably better if it’s just the two of us. Let me know when and where you’re available! 😊 Best wishes, Superman.”

The message wouldn’t have felt eerie if Billy hadn’t had his most recent complications with Batman. Despite the friendly tone, the unnecessary but kind sign-off, and the smiley, he couldn’t help but feel like this wasn’t going to end well. He wasn’t anticipating the same kind of confrontation as he’d had with Batman – at least, he really hoped nothing like that would ever happen again – but if they were going to talk about personal things… Well, Billy wasn’t good at talking about personal things. Those usually lead to uncomfortable silences and situations that he didn’t want to handle.

Still, this was Superman they were talking about. Who could say no to Superman? Billy tossed the communicator nervously around in his hands as he tried to formulate the best response. He couldn’t come up with any excuses to avoid this whole meeting, so with a sigh, he took a better grip of the communicator and started typing.

“oh, hey dude! yeah, we can meet. sort of busy today, but i should be free somehwere after like, nine or ten in the evening, if today’s cool. i can come to metropolis. what’s this about btw”

It took Superman a couple of moments to answer. Like a normal person, Billy thought to himself, remembering the lightning-fast replies he’d received from Batman.

“Sounds good! Have you been to Metropolis before? There’s this big, golden globe on top of one of the buildings, Daily Planet. I think that’s a pretty good landmark, so we can meet there at about 9 p.m.? And like I said, it might get a little personal, so I don’t really feel comfortable talking about it over the text, if that’s okay. It’s just that a couple of things have been brought to my attention and I thought I should clear some things up with you. I’m sure it’s nothing. See you in the evening!”

Billy felt his heart stop for a beat, after which it started pumping like crazy. Batman had spoken to Superman, there was no other explanation for this. Batman had ratted him out and told Superman about his theories. Billy only barely managed a simple “cool, see you then!” and shoved the communicator back under the bed like it would vanish from existence. It had been too optimistic to think that Batman wouldn’t start spreading rumors. Billy tried his best to see the situation from his perspective, but struggled with finding a good reason for these actions: why in the world was Batman suddenly so invested in Captain Marvel’s possible personal life? It couldn’t be about Billy Batson, he’d met Batman only once and for a very brief moment, so what gives? Had Batman always felt this way about Captain Marvel, and now that he found a way to sabotage his position in the Justice League, he leaped at the opportunity? Did he really think that there was a big controversy behind a simple picture? Was he just annoyed that he didn’t know Captain Marvel’s secret identity?

Billy stood up from his bed, unable to stay still. Okay, this time he knew what they were going to talk about. He wouldn’t be as unprepared as he had been with Batman, and hopefully, he could turn that to his advantage. He needed to decide his cover story as quickly as possible. He could have told Superman to wait for a few days, but that would have felt like some kind of admission of guilt, like he needed to hide something… which he did, but that was beside the point. He wouldn’t have to give a detailed explanation of his background: he just needed to convince Superman that he wasn’t connected to C.C. Batson.

A long sigh escaped Billy’s mouth. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d thought about his father this much. He had often imagined what his life would be like if his parents were alive, or what would happen if they one day simply turned up by his doorstep, suddenly alive again. They were nice “what if?” scenarios, but besides those, Billy hadn’t really been able to miss them. He couldn’t remember a single thing about them, and everything he knew now was something that had been taught to him, not something he’d experienced himself. Sometimes he even forgot that he could have had a family if things hadn’t gone wrong in Egypt. Obviously, he didn’t know the details of the incident – just that they were murdered, and the culprit was never caught. There wasn’t really anything he could do about it, so he just moved on and tried to make do with the cards he was dealt.

Still, this talk about parentage and being a good father was something he really hadn’t been prepared to talk about, least of all with Batman or Superman. Billy suppressed a loud groan and lay down on the bed, his face against the mattress, and mind working harder than ever to come up with a decent excuse. He hadn’t had to lie before. There were many others in the Justice League who simply didn’t want to tell anything more than absolutely necessary to others, and that was usually accepted with only slight reluctance from some members. Billy didn’t know anyone’s real identities – if they had “real” identities to begin with – and he’d never had a problem with that. If everyone else thought the same way, this problem would have been dealt with a long time ago.

It took Billy at least half an hour to calm down enough to leave his room. As much as he would have loved to stay there and just rehearse his upcoming conversation with Superman, that might have made his head explode from all the stress. He needed to find something to distract him even momentarily, and hopefully, that something could be found elsewhere in the manor.

No one had even suggested going anywhere further than the yard since the kidnapping, and Billy wasn’t really surprised. It would take time for everyone to calm down after the scare, and it wasn’t like he was completely stuck inside with nothing else to do. If he wasn’t able to leave his room and fly around Fawcett City whenever he wanted to do so, it might have been a different story. Billy really liked going outside and visiting different places, so being almost permanently stuck inside the manor would have been a nightmare, no matter how nice everyone inside was.

He wasn’t sure where to go from the hallway, so Billy started heading towards the game room. He didn’t know enough about the consoles to set one up by himself, but there were a couple of old arcade machines that didn’t need any setting up, and maybe someone would hear him and come to play with him. This time of the day was usually pretty quiet – Bruce was at work, others were probably at work or school or whatever they did during the day, and Alfred was busy either cleaning or cooking. At some point in the future, Billy would also be at school during the day, but right now he wasn’t sure how to spend his free time. Maybe he should have spent a little more time in Fawcett City, at least then he would have tons of options.

Billy’s phone let out a quiet alarm and Billy, still stressed from Superman’s messages, stumbled in surprise. He breathed a sigh of relief when he remembered putting the communicator back in its hiding place, and picked up his phone from his pocket. He and Freddy had been texting a little bit since the arcade. Billy still wasn’t used to getting frequent messages from anyone at all, as Justice League members didn’t really tend to text just for fun but talking with Freddy was always super nice.

At least when the subject of his messages didn’t feel like the sorest spot he could find.

“look what I found when I was searching for new pins!” said the message and attached to it was a picture of a huge, detailed action figure of Superman. Sometimes it really felt like the universe just looked at Billy and decided that regardless of what was already going on, he deserved to get pummeled down a little bit more. He had to stop to type his answer to Freddy. He knew most people were capable of texting and walking at the same time, but to him, just typing while standing still was already a slow process. He leaned against the railing by the stairs.

“wow. thats huge. you did get it?”
“are you kidding? it’s like two hundred dollars. too expensive ☹ might ask it for christmas tho”
“are there any other figures? other than superman i mean”

Freddy sent him a link. Billy wasn’t even sure if he wanted any figures for himself – he was pretty happy about the Nightwing figurine that had been saved from the site of the car accident. It had survived pretty well: once it had been washed, you couldn’t even tell that anything had happened to it. The same couldn’t be said for Billy’s phone, which had a couple of new scratches on its back. Bruce had already offered to buy him an entirely new phone, but Billy felt like that would have been a real waste. The phone still worked perfectly, and since they bought a cover for it, the scratches couldn’t even be noticed.

Nevertheless, Billy opened the link and started scrolling through the action figures. He was so deep in his thoughts, he didn’t even notice that someone had approached him until they were close.

“What are you up to?” Dick asked with a smile, waving his hand at Billy from the stairs. Billy got a bit startled but managed to hold onto his phone.
“Oh, uh—Freddy sent me a picture of this action figure he saw. This one”, he said, scrolled back up to the Superman figure and showed the screen to Dick. Dick had to climb a couple of steps to take a closer look at the photo, but when he saw it, his smile widened.
“Freddy really has good taste. You should probably invite him over at some point. I’m sure he’d like the game room”, he suggested.
“Would Bruce be okay with that?” Billy asked, putting the phone momentarily back into his pocket.
“Why not?” Dick shrugged his shoulders, “he doesn’t really seem like the type who’d wreck the whole manor and set the place on fire. I’m sure Bruce wouldn’t mind that.”

Billy thought about it. He hadn’t yet told Freddy that he was Bruce Wayne’s foster son. It hadn’t come up in an organic way – Freddy most likely wanted to be tactful, and so he didn’t mention the subject any more than necessary – and Billy hadn’t been able to come up with a natural way to tell him about it. Just inviting Freddy over and mentioning nonchalantly, “yeah, by the way, my foster father is one of the most famous people in all of Gotham and he lives in a huge, expensive manor”, seemed like a weird way of bragging.
“Probably at some point, yeah”, he nodded, remembering that he was still in a conversation with Dick.

Dick had already been really nice to him to begin with, but after the kidnapping incident, that niceness had been turned all the way up. The first time they saw each other afterward Dick had apologized to him a thousand times and promised that nothing similar would happen ever again. Billy didn’t blame him in the least, but just as it had been with Bruce, he couldn’t get the message completely through. Even now there was that slight hint of remorse in those blue eyes that made Billy almost annoyed. Why was everyone but the culprit blaming themselves?

Dick’s phone rang quietly, and he took a quick look at the screen. Whatever he saw must have been something really good, because he smirked and then looked at Billy with new energy on his face.
“Oh, this is actually perfect. You’re not busy, are you? You haven’t met the girls yet, and they just got back to Gotham from their… trip. I can introduce you”, he said, waving for Billy to come downstairs. Maybe this was the distraction Billy had been yearning for. Maybe he wasn’t in the top shape to be meeting new people, but there was no reason for him to decline, so he hurried down the stairs as Dick went to the door.

The girls. It took Billy a moment to realize what Dick had meant with “the girls”, but then he remembered. He was pretty sure that they weren’t adopted by Bruce, but he’d heard the names Cassandra and Stephanie – well, mostly shortened to Cass and Steph – being thrown around in conversations. If Billy had understood correctly, then even though Bruce did not legally adopt them, they were a part of the family.

Billy stood at the bottom of the stairway, unsure how he should greet these new people and what he should do. Dick noticed his uncertainty and grinned, walking over, and putting his hand on Billy’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry. You’re getting along with Jason and Damian, so you’re definitely getting along with these guys as well”, he said, pulling Billy with him to the door.

The first person Billy saw was a blonde girl, and that finally broke the rule of only black-haired people living at the manor. She was happily speaking to someone behind her, but as soon as she saw Billy, she quit that conversation and rushed over to him and Dick.

“You must be Billy!” she grinned, almost went for a hug, restrained herself, and mercifully decided to go for a handshake instead, “I’m Stephanie. I would have come here as soon as I heard you were moving in, but it really wasn’t the best timing for us, since we were abroad and all. But I’m so happy to meet you now! Jason’s been behaving, right? He hasn’t been a complete douchebag?”

Despite aiming the question at Billy, Stephanie took a questioning look at Dick as well.
“Oh, no, he’s been really nice. Everyone has been really nice. And nice to meet you too”, he said, trying to keep the uncertainty away from his voice. As they spoke, another figure emerged from the doorway. She fit the stereotypical Wayne Manor -stereotype much better with her black, roughly cut hair and darker clothing.
“Cassandra”, the girl introduced herself, speaking even less than Billy. In her case it didn’t seem to be because of nerves or shyness about meeting new people – maybe she was just one of those people who didn’t speak a whole lot. Billy found it usually much easier to talk to people as Captain Marvel, even to the point where he should already shut up for his own good. Billy waved his hand at her. Fortunately, Dick didn’t let the silence get awkward and entered the conversation.
“I don’t think Bruce is going to be back for a couple of hours, but Damian should be back pretty soon. We should probably tell Alfred you’re back”, he said and headed toward the kitchen. Oh, okay, so he wasn’t going to save Billy from the awkward silence: he was going to let Billy deal with it by himself. Great.

“So, how long have you been here? I think we got the news a couple of weeks ago, but I’m not really sure about the exact days”, Stephanie smiled, leaning against a nearby pillar. Billy tried his best to summon whatever he could of the courage of Achilles just to get through the conversation. Come on, he’d been fine with everyone else, this shouldn’t be hard either!
“That sounds about right. I’m not sure about the days, but I’ve been here for a few weeks. I really like it here”, he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. He didn’t know how much the girls knew about the situation with the zombies, but surely someone must have told them at least an abridged version of it? It would be weird to let them come over without any warning about the possible danger. Cassandra looked around, decided to stay there with them, and just quietly followed their conversation.

“That’s good! When I heard that someone new was moving in, I was kind of nervous – I know that the boys can be a bit… much, sometimes. You must know what I mean”, Stephanie said with a wink.
“I know, but it’s true that everyone’s been really nice. Jason’s been teaching me how to read better and Tim showed me the gaming room”, Billy told her almost defensively. Of course, he understood what Stephanie meant by “a bit much”. He hadn’t forgotten about the way Jason had introduced himself or the way Damian looked at him like he still didn’t trust Billy to not turn out to be some kind of villain hiding in their home. Despite these things, he did like everyone in the manor well enough: even Damian, with who he still hadn’t had a full conversation with. The closest they’d come to that was at the pool, and that moment had been mostly dominated by Titus.

Stephanie looked surprised.
“Tim’s always been pretty good with people, but Jason? I need to make sure he hasn’t been swapped with some kind of doppelgänger”, she said, aiming the last bit of her sentence to Cassandra, who smiled at the quip.
“He did tell me to not get stabbed when we met the first time”, Billy recalled.
“That sounds like Jason. Maybe we don’t need to check for doppelgängers after all.”

When Billy took a closer look at the girls, he noticed that they looked a little bit banged up. Cassandra had one plaster on her cheek and one on her neck, and it looked like her lower lip had smashed against something because one part of it was much redder than the rest. Stephanie’s right hand was wrapped in a bandage and Billy saw a couple of bruises on her upper arms. Neither of them acted like they were hurt, and Dick hadn’t mentioned it, but Billy wasn’t sure if he should ask about the injuries or not. Cassandra seemed to notice where his eyes were drifting because she swatted the air dismissively and pointed at one of her plasters.
“Boxing”, she explained, drawing Stephanie’s attention, “sometimes it gets serious.”
Stephanie looked at her own hand like she only just remembered that it existed and smiled sheepishly.
“Ah, yeah. I forgot what it might look like. Don’t worry, tis but a scratch”, she smirked and flexed her arm in demonstration, “it takes a lot more to take me down.”

Billy didn’t even realize that he was smiling until a few moments later. Dick came to fetch them to the dining hall a few moments later, and they – well, mostly just Billy and Stephanie, with Cassandra just sometimes voicing her own thoughts in brief sentences – continued chatting whilst walking. Stephanie hurried over to give Alfred a huge hug that almost made the old man fall over as the others sat down.
“So, how much of Gotham have you seen already? If it’s only the Wayne Tower, you need to tell these guys to get off their asses and give you a tour”, Stephanie said once she sat down and leaned her elbows against the table. Dick furrowed his brows and already opened his mouth, but Billy hurried to speak before he could.
“I’ve seen a couple of places. Dick took me to an arcade earlier, and I’ve been at the Wayne Tower, the clock tower, and a couple of malls”, he told her. He didn’t want to sour the mood by having to talk about the kidnapping. He’d already told his heavily modified story to the police commissioner who had stopped by the day after the incident and that felt like plenty. Someone could tell them the story later, but he really didn’t want to be a part of it.

Dick didn’t push the issue, but now he looked confused.
“Did someone take you to the clock tower?” he asked. It took Billy that long to realize his slip up and he had to fight to keep his face as neutral as possible – as opposed to slamming his hands against his mouth and diving under the table to escape that confused look.
“Oh, sorry. Did I say the clock tower? No, I haven’t been there. I guess we’ve just driven by it and it kind of stuck in my mind”, he explained, trying to make sure the smile on his face was as honest as possible, “it’s a really cool clock tower. I don’t think Fawcett City has anything similar.”

“You’re from Fawcett City?” Stephanie asked, rescuing Billy from the situation in one fell swoop. Dick seemed to accept the explanation, but Billy’s heart was still pounding.
“Yeah”, he replied, his hands curled up into nervous tight fists under the table, “I was born there.”

Billy couldn’t help but feel like Cassandra was staring at him with more concentration than before. Maybe he was projecting his own nervous feelings into everyone around him.

He really hoped it was just projection.

Chapter Text

Despite the time Billy had had to think about his cover story, he hadn’t come up with anything he was happy with by the time he needed to leave for Metropolis. Even though he’d had a good time with Dick and the girls – and later on others as they came home – he could feel that good mood slipping away as he drew the final symbol on the door once more and pushed his magic into it. He didn’t know what he could have done to prevent something like this. Batman had somehow found the picture from the internet, and that was one thing Billy really couldn’t have prevented. Maybe if he hadn’t contacted Batman about the zombies to begin with… but he couldn’t really bring himself to regret that decision either.

Billy pushed a couple of pillows under his bedsheets to make it look like someone was sleeping over there, snagged his Justice League communicator, and left the room quietly. Even the familiar air of Fawcett City didn’t help him feel calm as he arrived in the attic and climbed out of the window. Just to give himself more time to think, Billy decided to walk a little bit further than usual before his transformation. He wasn’t sure what the people living nearby thought about the lightning strikes, but at least most citizens of Fawcett City knew to connect those to Captain Marvel, even if they didn’t know why that was. There had been some theories that Captain Marvel actually lived on another planet or another realm entirely and traveled to Earth by lightning strikes. Billy liked that story, even though it definitely wasn’t true.

After fifteen minutes of walking, Billy couldn’t bring himself to stretch the time any longer and transformed. Captain Marvel took a deep breath as he stretched his arms, gave a longing look to his surroundings, and flew into the darkening sky.

He needed to have his story, and he needed to have it quick. Nothing felt comfortable, but the easiest lie would be to say he didn’t know why he and C.C. Batson looked so similar. His initial reaction to the picture could be explained as simple surprise to seeing a person who looked like him, and Billy Batson could be just some kid he’d met in Fawcett City and didn’t have any real connection to. He knew lots of people in Fawcett City and running into the same homeless kid a couple of times wasn’t all that weird when you were a superhero who really wanted to help people. Maybe he could convince Superman that Batman simply saw a weird coincidence and ran with it for some reason, maybe because he just didn’t like Captain Marvel.

At this point, he wasn’t even sure if he wanted Batman to like him. He wasn’t sure if it was even possible to salvage whatever was left of their professional relationship. Getting Superman to understand that this was just a really big misunderstanding would go a long way, but Batman really didn’t strike him as a person who’d give up this easily.

With these thoughts plaguing his mind, the trip to Metropolis felt almost too short. It felt stupid that he was this nervous about the whole meeting. Everyone wanted to meet Superman, and here he was, having a personal conversation with the guy. He should be celebrating his luck or at least be happy about it, but all he could think about were the ways this could go wrong. At least he was still Captain Marvel: Billy Batson would have been so nervous he probably wouldn’t have been able to form a coherent sentence without stuttering or otherwise making a fool of himself.

The golden planet seemed more threatening than anything when he arrived. Superman was already waiting for him, standing at the rooftop, and staring off into the distance. When Captain Marvel was close enough, he waved his hand with a friendly smile. Okay, at least the conversation wouldn’t start with punching or name-calling. He replied with a wave of his own and landed on the roof with a low thud.

“It’s been a while, Marvel!” Superman greeted him with a bright smile and offered his hand for a shake. Captain Marvel, still suspicious but at least relieved at the casualness of the moment, accepted the offer and shook it.
“It has. It’s been a while since the last Justice League meeting, too”, he said and almost surprised himself with how relaxed he managed to sound, “I was pretty surprised you wanted to meet with me. Is something going on?”

Superman’s smile didn’t disappear, but it wasn’t quite as bright anymore. He probably knew that Captain Marvel definitely had an idea what this was going to be about.

“Well, to be perfectly honest, I spoke with Batman earlier”, he said, confirming Marvel’s worries, “he seems to be pretty worked up about you. You know what I’m talking about, right?”
Captain Marvel tried not to sigh out loud and crossed his arms.
“Yeah, I know. He thinks I’m a dead guy from like, twelve years ago, and he thinks that I have kid that I abandoned who lives on the streets”, he said, finally leaning towards the ‘I have no idea what’s going on’ route. Superman tilted his head lightly as he listened.
“So, none of it is true?” he asked, “I was shown a photo of the dead man, and he did look extremely similar to you. I know it doesn’t immediately mean that you’re the same person, but it’s a strange coincidence, don’t you think?”

“I was… surprised when I saw the photo myself”, Captain Marvel agreed, happy with how the conversation had started, “I’ve never seen the photo before, so seeing something like that was pretty unsettling, you know? But that’s not me.”
He thought about adding an ‘I don’t even know that guy!’ to make his point even clearer but lying to Superman felt weirdly sacrilegious. He’d definitely feel better if he could stay in the gray area of “technically not lying” during their entire conversation, and so far, so good. Superman was listening to him intently and knowing about his superhuman hearing made it even more clear that he wasn’t going to let anything slip past him.
“You don’t even know this C.C. Batson? I know people sometimes just really look like each other and it’s not completely out of the picture, but I’m not surprised that Batman reacted like that. He most likely overreacted at your previous meeting, but sometimes he does jump to conclusions pretty fast.”

“Never met him”, Captain Marvel dodged the question like a pro, “never seen him, and definitely not him.”

They were silent for a moment.
“You know why Batman got so fired up about this, right?” Superman asked, his tone quiet and serious.
“Actually, I’m not sure. Our last meeting was… hectic and really not fun. Do you know?” Captain Marvel asked. Going in, he’d known he’d have to answer a ton of questions and make his case, but maybe he'd walk away with some answers of his own. Superman nodded.
“It’s not because of your possible secret identity. I mean, obviously, he would love to know that, because he wants to keep track of every single Justice League member like that. But this time it was because he really thinks that there’s a child that you’ve abandoned on the streets without any care”, he said, crossing his own arms in a mirroring motion. Captain Marvel blinked a couple of times.
“All of this is because of that?” he asked, surprise written all over his face and voice, “I mean, it was pretty clear that he wants to protect kids when he came to help me when I called, but I didn’t think he would become so angry with me because of that kind of misconception. He just met Billy once and immediately became that angry with me because he thought I might be his father?”

Superman smiled again, a slightly amused yet kind of sad smile.
“He’s like that. He can tolerate flaws to a certain point, but there are things he simply can’t stand. Even if Batman only met Billy once, he wouldn’t be able to look you in the face for a long time if he thinks you, as his biological father, let him grow up all alone without his parents or anyone to look after him. He might seem like a stonewall but he does react to certain things more with emotions than logic. I think his views are easy to understand on this matter: Justice League needs good people in its ranks, and a good person doesn’t do something like letting one’s child be homeless and abandoned.”

Captain Marvel didn’t know what to answer. He’d been angry at Batman for a while now, and now he didn’t know where to place that anger. There was a weird sort of irony going on – Batman was angry at Captain Marvel for possibly neglecting Billy Batson, even though the two were the same person. Could he continue to be angry at Batman just because Batman wanted to protect… well, him?

“I didn’t know about that”, he said, letting his hands fall to his sides, then lifted his chin to look Superman straight in the eyes, “I didn’t even realize it could be taken that way… but I can promise you, I’m not C.C. Batson, and I’m definitely no-one’s father. I’m not sure if there’s any way I could prove this to you or Batman, but that’s the honest truth.”

This time Superman’s smile was much more comforting and contagious.
“That’s good enough for me. You still are one of the biggest mysteries we have in the Justice League, but in my personal opinion, you don’t seem like the type of man to abandon your own kids. Maybe Batman needs to find some kind of proof about it, but I’ll tell him my opinion”, he said, clapping Captain Marvel’s shoulder with his hand. Marvel let out a breath he’d been holding and smiled brightly at the man.
“Thanks. That means a lot”, he replied. He could have flown around the globe a couple of times thanks to how freeing it felt to have Superman on his side, but somehow, he managed to keep himself standing on the roof. Well, he might have to take a scenic route back to Fawcett City after the meeting was over, just to get rid of the extra energy this moment had just brought him.

“Batman’s told me about the case with Billy Batson, by the way”, Superman changed the subject slightly, “he asked me if I knew anything about the villain who’s been attacking the boy.”
“Mister Mind? Yes, I saw that Batman had been attempting to contact me a couple of nights ago. Unfortunately, I had something important to take care of at the Rock of Eternity and didn’t get the messages until Billy was already safe again”, Captain Marvel explained. He did have to lie about this one, but at least most of what he’d said had been true so far. Staying at the Rock of Eternity for a longer while didn’t seem like a viable option now that he was living with Bruce: his absence would be noticed pretty quickly, and then he’d have to explain how he managed to disappear from his room without anyone noticing him… or even worse, he’d have to explain why he did so. Any explanation that didn’t include the “it’s my duty as the Champion” part felt like biting the hand that was feeding him very generously.

“I’ve never heard of the guy before, but from what I’ve gathered, he’s someone capable enough of creating the bugs that are mind-controlling people and building them in such a way that even Batman can’t track him down using those. You’d think that someone like that would have come up in one way or another, but I don’t know”, Superman shrugged his shoulders.
“It really feels like he’s just appeared out of thin air to attack Billy Batson in particular…” Captain Marvel muttered. He could clearly remember the unsettling voice coming out of Red’s mouth and the bit about wanting his magic – those would probably stick with him for a while even after they defeated the villain.
“No luck with you either?” Superman asked, and Captain Marvel shook his head.
“No, nothing. I’ve never heard the name before, and I haven’t run into anyone who could control minds. He must be very good at blending in and laying low if he’s been using these powers before. My villains are usually a bit more… I don’t know, direct”, he said and couldn’t help but smile a little, “like, crocodiles in business suits. I don’t have any experience with these kinds of villains.”

Superman didn’t ask about the crocodiles in business suits, and Captain Marvel was kind of disappointed.

“I’ve seen mind control before. Of course, just because the guy called himself Mister Mind doesn’t mean that he hasn’t been active before – he might have just chosen this name later on to keep his cover. Still, it’s a tricky situation, and it’s even worse since the one who’s constantly in danger is a child”, Superman lamented.
“With so many people working on this case, I’m sure we’ll find Mister Mind sooner rather than later… but yeah, I’ll be relieved when this is all over. It’s really annoying to fight against an enemy no one’s seen yet”, Captain Marvel replied, stretching his arms. There was one big downside to finding Mister Mind as a group, opposed to Marvel finding him all by himself. Mister Mind knew about the connection between Captain Marvel and Billy Batson – it wouldn’t be surprising if he tried to use that knowledge to his benefit if someone else caught him. Him telling Batman about Billy was one of the worst-case scenarios… but even worse would be Mister Mind staying free and making sure that Billy was looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life. At least he didn’t seem to be brave enough to try and attack Captain Marvel, as there weren’t many people who’d be strong enough to take him on.

“I can do some research on this as well if it helps. Batman is already scouring the internet and all the other sources he can find, but I have my own sources which could help. If Mister Mind is a new alias, it might not help, but it doesn’t hurt to try”, Superman suggested.
“That would be a huge help. Thanks, really. I think everyone involved is just waiting for this case to be solved as soon as possible”, Captain Marvel said. They were silent for a moment and Captain Marvel was already prepared to start flying back to Fawcett City when Superman spoke again.

“You don’t have to answer me if this is too personal”, he started carefully, making Captain Marvel nervous all over again.
“Yeah?” he asked. He should have flown away once he had the chance, but he really didn’t want to offend the guy who’d been so gracious to him through the entire conversation so far.

“This whole thing with the picture and the child and everything… it kind of made me realize that I don’t really know a lot about you. I don’t think anyone knows a lot about you. You’ve been with the League for more than a year, and I don’t think I’ve really learned anything new about you since the day you joined. I know that most Justice League members keep their identities a secret for a good reason, and I don’t even know if you really have a secret identity, but you really are one of the most unknown people in the whole group. Is that because you don’t trust the team?”

There was no accusation or malice in Superman’s tone, but it still felt like he’d grabbed Captain Marvel’s heart and squeezed. Sometimes he did worry that his secrets would be taken as a sign of distrust, or even worse, hostility. Well, to a certain level it was about trust – he didn’t trust that he wouldn’t get kicked out of the League, even if he was pretty sure that no one would be seriously angry at him. He ran his hand through his hair while trying to come up with the most truthful, least revealing answer.
“I mean… what’s there to talk about?” he let out a nervous laugh, “I do trust the League and I’m so happy to be a part of it, but I guess I’ve never really had a reason to really bring up anything personal. I’m just not really used to talking about anything like that. Being the Champion is kind of a lonely job.”
“It doesn’t have to be”, Superman said without missing a beat, “you are an important part of the Justice League. You don’t have to spill all your secrets, but it wouldn’t hurt to be a little more open, you know? Lots of people already like you.”
Captain Marvel couldn’t help but smile despite his nerves.
“Maybe I can try at some point”, he said, “I’ll consider it.”
He wasn’t sure how much he believed in his own words, but just hearing Superman say something positive about him felt really good. People liked him? He was never quite sure if people just found him annoying or stupid, and Batman certainly had made his opinion on this matter really clear. But if Superman thought that people liked him…

He was still deep in thought when Superman clapped a hand on his shoulder once more.
“And maybe have a chat with Batman at some point about all this. Tell him the same things you told me, and he won’t have as many reasons to doubt you”, he suggested. It wasn’t exactly a promise that Batman would be cool with him afterward and a meeting with the guy still didn’t sound good, but maybe he could consider that, too. He nodded to Superman.
“Thanks for listening to my side of the story. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how this conversation was going to go when I got your first message”, Captain Marvel said, “this was definitely a good thing.”
“I’m glad you think so. But I’ll look into that Mister Mind guy and let both you and Batman know if I find anything useful. If not, then I guess we’ll see each other at the next Justice League meeting?” Superman concluded.
“Yeah, absolutely. See you later!” Captain Marvel waved his hand and dashed into the sky, his heart lighter than it had been all day.

Chapter Text

Bruce was trying his best not to be too disappointed. He’d known searching for something as vague as “Mister Mind” would be a long shot even with his computers and reach, but it still stung when nothing useful came back up. Maybe it would have been too easy to just find the guy on the first try, he thought to himself as he scrolled through the computer screen. Of course, he wasn’t going to give up, but he would have really appreciated some kind of lead in the case. So far Billy seemed to be the only one making progress, getting the name and all, but that felt wrong. Bruce was the adult here; he was supposed to make sure Billy wouldn’t get hurt by this guy ever again.

“I don’t get why anyone would be after Billy. He seems cool”, Stephanie said, stretching her arms up above her head. Most of the family had gathered at the Batcave after Billy went to sleep so they could get Stephanie and Cassandra on the loop. Sometimes it almost felt mean - they were having secret gatherings where everyone except for Billy was invited – but it wasn’t for fun, so it was acceptable.
“That is a problem. We still don’t have a motive for this guy. We don’t know who he is, where he is, and why he is after Billy”, Bruce sighed, turning around in his chair. Right now, he would have loved to deal with a villain who wanted to make himself known. So many of the villains he’d faced were absolutely itching to get their names out there and couldn’t help but confront Batman face to face. Mister Mind seemed to really like his privacy, which made everything that much harder.

“I still don’t think Batson told us everything he knows after the kidnapping”, Damian inserted himself in the conversation, “he should have been able to describe the person who took him. It was someone capable of knocking out Grayson and escaping the scene of the crime really quickly, that’s not something just any normal citizen can do.”
“What would he be hiding?” Dick shrugged his shoulders, “I think he wants this whole thing over with much more than even any of us. He’s the one in constant danger every time he leaves the manor, that can’t be something he’s just okay with.”
“That’s the problem! He’s been here for a few weeks already, and I don’t know about you guys, but we don’t know anything more about him than we did in the first couple of days”, Damian argued and hurried to continue before anyone could speak, “I’m not saying he’s hiding some terrible, dark secret, but he’s definitely not telling us everything he knows.”

“Maybe he just doesn’t trust us enough to tell us everything. It’s not that strange. We’re still practically strangers to him… and we’re also keeping pretty big secrets from him”, Tim pointed out. Damian looked like he wanted to argue, but bit back his words and turned to look at Bruce, who was listening to their conversation whilst staring at the other end of the cave.
“You should talk to him again about the kidnapping. Ask him if there’s something he hasn’t told you yet”, he said.
“That’s a big thing to accuse him of, even if I put it nicely”, Bruce sighed, turning his eyes to Damian. Damian wasn’t completely wrong, even if Bruce wanted to believe that Billy wouldn’t hide anything from them. Like Tim said, despite their weeks together, they weren’t exactly family. It would take a much longer time to reach the point where they could be entirely open with each other, but until that day, they all had their secrets.

“He did lie”, Cassandra said. She was sitting on the floor next to Stephanie, and so far, she had been intently listening to everything the others were saying without speaking up herself. Her voice was quiet, but everyone turned to look at her.
“Lied about what?” Jason was the first one to ask the question on everyone’s lips. Cassandra lifted her head to look at him with a contemplative look in her eyes.
“Earlier, when we spoke to him”, she explained, pointing at Dick and Stephanie, “about the clock tower.”

Bruce looked at Dick and Stephanie, waiting for a more in-depth answer. Cassandra had already come a long way with her speaking abilities, but longer, more intricate sentences were still out of her comfort zone. Dick furrowed his brows but went on to explain.
“Steph asked Billy earlier if he’d visited any places in Gotham yet, and among the other things, he mentioned the clock tower… but when I asked him about it, he said he just got mixed up with his words. I didn’t think there was really anything to worry about with that”, he said. Cassandra shook her head.
“He was still lying. Don’t know why, but…” she shrugged her shoulders, letting the sentence trail off, unfinished. Bruce leaned forward in his chair. If this was pretty much anyone else, he wouldn’t have believed them as easily… but Cassandra was a different case altogether. She knew these things. She had been trained to know these things, and Bruce couldn’t remember a time she’d been wrong about someone’s body language or the words they’d used.

“That’s… a weird thing to lie about”, he said slowly, glancing up at the ceiling. Somewhere over there, Billy was sleeping without the faintest knowledge of the fact that they were down here talking about him.
“Well, did anyone here take him to the clock tower at some point and not tell anyone about it?” Jason asked the group, though the answer was fairly obvious, “or does this have something to do with Damian’s kidnapping controversy theory shit?”
“It’s not a controversy theory!” Damian snapped back, but other than that, no one had a good answer. Obviously, no one had taken Billy to the clock tower – that would have been a really weird thing to hide from the others – so they were left with yet another question. It felt like they weren’t getting any answers, but questions just kept piling on.

Like a saving angel, a text message helped Bruce put those questions aside for a brief moment. He picked up his phone and let out a relieved breath.
“Finally, some good news. Clark just had a meeting with Captain Marvel”, he explained, “we can discuss Billy’s possible secrets later, let’s get this out of the way first. Everyone’s fine with him flying over here, right?”
He didn’t even wait for the replies before he started typing out his own message. He desperately needed some good news. Everyone in this house needed some good news, and maybe Clark would be able to deliver those to them… even if he had just spoken to the one guy Bruce was still kind of furious with. Right now, the anger had boiled down to a lower temperature, but any kind of spark would be able to ignite it back to full flame.
“I don’t think Billy and Captain Marvel look that similar”, Stephanie said, leaning down to lie on the floor and staring at the ceiling far above them, “if they were related, wouldn’t they have a bigger resemblance?”

“I can kind of see it. I think they look more alike than Bruce and Damian”, Tim pointed out. Damian glared daggers in his direction but didn’t say anything, and Bruce wasn’t sure if he should take that kind of behavior as a compliment or not. He decided to ignore them and took another glance at the computer screen behind him. It was still entirely possible that Mister Mind was hidden somewhere in those files, using a different name, and living an otherwise quiet life. It was annoying that he couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of person would be hiding behind that alias – they couldn’t even be completely certain that they were talking about a man, despite the name and Billy’s description of the guy’s voice. Those things could be easily faked to distract anyone trying to look for him, and if his person could create mind-controlling bugs, he was definitely capable of using a voice changer.

As always, it didn’t take long for Clark to arrive. If it had been daytime, Bruce might have invited him for dinner and introduced him to Billy, as Clark so clearly wanted to meet the boy. Now that it was already dark outside and Billy was asleep, Clark took the secret outside entrance to the cave and landed near the Batmobile, still fully in his Superman suit. It was almost funny to think how excited everyone would have been about meeting Superman just a few years ago. Now everyone was still happy to see him, really happy even, but it was hard to be as excited about seeing a guy whose identity they very clearly knew and whose wedding most of them had attended.

“Wow, everyone’s here. Is there any news about this Mister Mind situation?” Clark asked with a smile and bumped fists with Dick as he walked up to Bruce.
“Not really, no. I don’t want Billy to accidentally overhear anything Batman-related, so we’ve limited all the discussion about work down to the cave”, Bruce explained. Adjusting to the new rules had been more difficult to the boys than it had been to Bruce. Every now and then they still admitted to almost slipping up and discussing something work-related with each other upstairs, only to remember that they weren’t supposed to talk about it up there. Of course, it might have been more comfortable to still hold meetings in the study or the dining room, but Bruce kind of liked separating these two separate parts of his life a little better.

“Gotcha. Well, I just finished my meeting with Captain Marvel and thought you’d like to hear about it”, Clark said, crossing his arms in a leisurely way glancing at the computer screen, “but I’m also going to check out the Fortress of Solitude, just in case I can find something about Mister Mind. It might be a long shot, but it’s worth a try.”
“It is”, Bruce said, perking up on the chair, “but how did the meeting go with Captain Marvel? You don’t seem too bothered.”

Clark smiled sheepishly, running a hand through his hair.
“Well… it was probably much better than the meeting you two had before. I asked him about the picture and C.C. Batson, and he did very clearly say that they aren’t the same person”, he said. That was already more than Bruce had been able to get out of the man earlier, and he wasn’t sure what to think of it.
“Do you think he was telling the truth?” he asked. He had told the truth to Clark when he’d said he’d be relieved if Captain Marvel truly wasn’t Billy’s father, but that did leave him with a bunch of new questions on top of the old ones.
“I don’t think he’s C.C. Batson”, Clark said slowly, “but I also think there’s something about the picture that he’s deliberately hiding. I don’t think he’s being malicious or anything, but I don’t believe that he didn’t know the man beforehand. Maybe a weird family situation?”
“We checked, and C.C. Batson didn’t have any brothers or other relatives at the same age range”, Bruce explained. His breathing was a little easier. Clark was usually a good judge of character and lying to him was very difficult – somehow Bruce couldn’t see Captain Marvel being some criminal master manipulator, pulling the strings of whichever kind of scheme he could be behind.

If they had been talking about pretty much anyone else, Bruce might have entertained the idea that Captain Marvel could have killed C.C. Batson and somehow claimed his face as his own. However, this theory crumbled at a very basic level. Sure, Captain Marvel was naïve, reckless, secretive, childish, and lots of other less than favorable adjectives, but he wasn’t a murderer. Taking a life was something that left a permanent mark on a person, and no matter what Bruce thought of Captain Marvel, he didn’t have that kind of stain on him. It didn’t mean he was a perfect or even a good person, not necessarily, but it just meant that he could take that option off the list.

“Well… despite that, he was very cooperative. It seemed like he didn’t even realize what had gotten you so worked up, but I think I explained everything to him. After that, we spoke about the Mister Mind threat and I told him as well that I’d look into it”, Clark said, moving on with the subject.
“You told him about Mister Mind? Had he heard about the guy before?” Bruce asked, leaning back against his chair. Clark raised an eyebrow.
“Hadn’t you already told him about the guy? I thought you’d sent him a message or something because he knew the name before I could even mention it”, he said, confusion written all over his face.

Bruce’s mind went blank for a second. Then he remembered once again why he didn’t trust Marvel.
“I never mentioned the name in my messages. I don’t give him updates; I’ve just asked for him to meet with me. How the fuck does he know Mister Mind by name when I just learned about it?” he huffed and stood up from the chair, starting to pace around. No one else had such a strong reaction to the news, but there was whispering among the others. Even Clark couldn’t deny that this was something that couldn’t be explained away as a mere coincidence.
“Maybe… he’s just been doing his own investigations?” he suggested, but Bruce didn’t have to have super-hearing to hear the doubt in the man’s voice. There was definitely something going on with Captain Marvel, and even if he wasn’t C.C. Batson, Bruce was getting tired of all the mysteries. He was somewhat okay with secret identities and dark pasts, but when they were starting to crash with his own investigations and possibly Billy’s life, he couldn’t tolerate it any longer.

“If he has, he hasn’t informed me. Billy just learned Mister Mind’s name a little while ago, so how would Captain Marvel suddenly know about it?” he asked without expecting an answer to his ranting. Tim, who had been very quiet for a while now, spoke up.
“What if it has something to do with Billy’s secrets?” he suggested. Bruce stopped pacing and looked at him.
“In what way?” he asked. Tim didn’t look confident with his idea but continued talking anyway.
“Well, Cassandra did mention that Billy was lying about a very weird thing earlier, and there’s something strange going on with Captain Marvel as well”, he explained, moving his hand in the air like there was an invisible graph, “so what if they’re connected? Captain Marvel knew Billy even before Billy moved in with us. What if they’ve been meeting up without telling you about it?”

Bruce furrowed his brows.
“How would that work? And why wouldn’t he just tell me if he wanted to speak with Billy?” he asked.
“Look, I don’t know. But it would explain why Captain Marvel suddenly knows something that Billy found out very recently, and it could explain why Billy had been at the clock tower earlier. Maybe he somehow met up with Captain Marvel. The guy’s capable of doing all kinds of things with magic, I don’t think that would be something unfathomable”, Tim shrugged his shoulders, “and I’m not sure why they wouldn’t just tell you about it, maybe it has something to do with Captain Marvel looking a lot like Billy’s dad. Maybe he’s a secret relative who just isn’t in the system, he’s the Champion, after all.”

Tim’s suggestion made a weird amount of sense. It didn’t sit right with Bruce that he wouldn’t have been informed about these meetings – Billy was twelve, for God’s sake, he wasn’t supposed to keep secrets like that from his legal guardian. Obviously, it wasn’t Billy’s fault. If Captain Marvel was telling the boy to keep secrets, then it was a hundred percent Marvel’s own fault, once again.

Bruce took a deep breath. He needed to remember that this wasn’t a fact. He’d gotten worked up about the possibility of Captain Marvel actually being C.C. Batson, and that was probably false. Maybe he should ask for a blood test to be absolutely certain. He wasn’t sure how to explain to Billy why he’d need some of his blood for the testing, but that way he could find out if the two were related.
“Thank you, Clark. I’ll need to… look into this more. Is there anything else you found out?” Bruce asked before he could get too heated by just thinking about all the possibilities surrounding Captain Marvel. Clark shook his head slightly.
“I don’t think so. I’ll contact you if I find anything new about Mister Mind”, he said, “will you keep me updated on this Captain Marvel situation? I really don’t think he’s trying to be difficult or malicious.”
“If not, then he really is as naïve as I thought. He should understand that all these weird secrets and mysteries around him make it seem like he’s hiding something important”, Bruce said, offering his hand to Clark. Clark shook it with a slight smile on his face.
“Don’t be too harsh on him, okay?” he asked, still holding onto Bruce’s arm. Bruce was definitely not in the mood to give him that kind of promise, so he just sighed.
“That depends entirely on him.”

Clark let out a quiet laugh.
“That’s probably the most I could ask of you”, he smiled, said his goodbyes to everyone else in the cave, and in a second, he was already gone. The cave went eerily quiet for a moment after his departure.
“So, now we’re dealing with Mister Mind AND Captain Marvel?” Jason asked. He was already halfway to the elevator but stopped to wait for a reply.
“You guys don’t have to worry about Captain Marvel. I’ll speak with him, I’ll fly to Fawcett City if it takes that much for him to speak with me, but I’ll make sense of everything. You guys just sit tight, see if anything new comes up about Mister Mind, and wait for Clark’s intel. Let’s hope that the villain is an alien or something similar, then the Fortress might even come up with something”, Bruce said, sitting back down. The Fortress of Solitude was a great source of information, but even then, he felt like they needed something more than a very generic alias to find anything useful about the guy.

“Wouldn’t an alien have a more… you know, alien name?” Dick asked, watching as Jason pressed the button on the elevator. Stephanie, who was lying on the floor half-asleep, laughed.
“To be honest, Mister Mind sounds like something an alien would come up with when trying to act all human”, she said.
“Are we honestly talking about this? We just spoke to an alien named Clark. I don’t think we can figure out if this villain is an alien or not just by analyzing his name”, Tim pointed out, “and none of the other aliens we know have weird names.”
“Well, we can have many opinions on the Martian Manhunter…” Dick said with a slight smile. Bruce tried his best to concentrate on their light-hearted conversation, just to get rid of his own, angry thoughts for a moment. He knew he should take a page from Clark’s book and look at optimistic possibilities, but Bruce hadn’t gotten to where he was simply by being optimistic.

Sometimes that wasn’t good enough.

---

It was almost midnight when Billy snuck back into bed. He had planned to go straight back home after the meeting, but once he got back to Fawcett City, he’d realized he still had way too much energy to go to sleep. That short flight had turned into something longer, but at least it had served its purpose. When Billy finally stepped back into his room at the Wayne Manor, he was already so sleepy that he could just barely change into his pajamas without falling asleep. He pushed the closet door shut and climbed into bed, falling asleep instantly.

Chapter Text

When Billy noticed a new message from Batman the next morning, he knew he didn’t have the energy to meet with him the same day. Even though the meeting with Superman had gone really well and he was still pretty pleased about that, in many ways it had drained him, and he couldn’t meet Batman when he felt like that. So, even though it would probably anger Batman even further and make the next meeting even more uncomfortable, he had to have a break. Even a couple of days to get mentally ready would be fine, so he made up some excuse about having to stay at the Rock of Eternity for the next few days.

It would have been great to know if Superman had already spoken to Batman and how that conversation had gone. It was already almost impossible to know what Batman was thinking when they were meeting face-to-face and even more so just through text messages. Billy hid the communicator into his bed before Batman could reply to him, stood up, and decided to ignore the device for the day. Usually, he didn’t have much use for it – now he missed those days dearly. Getting lots of messages from Batman wasn’t as fun as he would have thought a mere month ago. Now each message just filled him with more stress that he really didn’t want on top of all his worries about Mister Mind.

Billy didn’t have any specific plans for the day, so he’d resorted to walking around the manor by himself. Bruce and the others had already introduced him to most of the place, but there were still a bunch of areas to cover. He had been warned that most of the unused rooms would be boring and simple, mostly with furniture that was covered with white sheets and boxes that hadn’t been touched in over a decade. At first, he didn’t believe that – maybe there would be some kind of secrets to find if he just looked hard enough! – but after the ninth similar room at the same wing, he felt like giving up on that idea. At least he was finally starting to get a better picture of the manor. It definitely wasn’t perfect, but at least he’d branched out from the second floor and the dining room.

He had been wandering around the manor for a couple of hours when something caught his interest. Billy had already been to the study a couple of times, and even though it was a really nice room, nothing had really caught his interest. Right now he wasn’t intending to go there again, but from where he stood on one side of the hallway, he could see Damian stepping just out of sight. Billy raised his eyebrows. He was pretty sure that Damian was supposed to be at school right now, but that could have just been his mistake – he wasn’t sure how vacation days worked.

For a moment, Billy felt like he couldn’t move his legs. Damian wasn’t much older or taller than him, but he was still more intimidating than most people Billy had come across. If this were Dick or Tim, for example, Billy wouldn’t have had any problems with just walking up to them and asking them about why they weren’t at school or work right now. When it was Damian, Billy felt like he’d either get ignored or maybe stabbed for asking a question.

Billy shook his head. No, he needed to get out of that mindset. Just asking him about that wouldn’t hurt. He had spoken to Damian before, the boy had never been aggressive or even mean to him, so he shouldn’t expect anything like that. They were living under the same roof and probably would be in that situation for a while longer, at least, so they should be able to get along… at least hopefully.

Forcing his legs to move, Billy made his way to the study, only to find it empty. He blinked a couple of times, wondering if maybe his mind was just playing tricks on him. He was pretty certain that he’d seen Damian in the room just a moment ago, and now it seemed like no one had been there for a while. All the windows were closed and there were no other doors, so either Damian had hidden somewhere in the study or Billy was starting to hallucinate; at least Billy wasn’t able to come up with any other explanations. He twirled around, trying to figure out what had just happened. There was nothing too remarkable about the study, at least by Wayne Manor standards. A couple of plush sofas, multiple bookcases, a large grandfather clock, a bunch of paintings on the walls, and a fireplace on the other side of the room.

Billy tried his best to remember where he’d seen Damian stand just before he had stepped out of sight and walked to the same spot. It was right in front of the grandfather clock, which was tucked between two of the bookcases. At first glance, nothing seemed out of place – then Billy noticed that the clock didn’t seem to be working. The hands weren’t moving at all, with both of them pointing upwards. Maybe it was a sentimental piece of furniture. It was hard to imagine anything in the manor being in a less than perfect condition, but maybe this was something that had been a part of the house for centuries and too valuable to throw away.

Something about it seemed off, though. Billy glanced to the hallway nearby, really not wanting anyone to walk by right now, and pressed his hand against the wooden surface, magic vibrating in his fingertips. He decided to attempt a spell he hadn’t used more than a couple of times before. He still wasn’t sure how exactly it worked, but it helped him detect recent changes in things. It was hard to find a good use for it, but it had helped him get inside a couple of apartment buildings by finding out which door codes people had used to open the system. It was like he was peeking at the right codes, only after the people had already entered the building and Billy didn’t have to actually do the peeking. Using the same spell on a clock felt a little weird, but Billy felt a rush of excitement when it worked: with enough magical concentration, new numbers appeared in his mind.

Billy reached for the clock’s hands and started pushing them to a new position. A little part of him was worried that the clock might break, but another, louder part was more interested in what this even meant. He was pretty sure that his magic wouldn’t be wrong about something like this, and he would be pretty disappointed if the clock didn’t turn out to be hiding some kind of secret.

Billy moved the longer hand to the correct position, and once the time showed 10:48, something happened. Billy took a surprised step backward when he heard a distant sound of something mechanical moving. The clock hadn’t suddenly started working, but after a moment of waiting, it moved slightly toward Billy, then to the left – revealing a hidden, tiny room behind it.

Billy. Was. Pumped.

He took another glance at the hallway, wondering if this was something he really wasn’t supposed to do. No one had specifically told him not to touch the clock or enter any secret rooms he might find, and he definitely couldn’t stay away from this one. He entered the small room which turned out to be more of an elevator. Billy took a deep breath before he pushed a button on the side of the wall and watched as the grandfather clock slid back into its place while the elevator started moving down. They were already on the ground floor, so this was probably leading Billy down to a basement. He wasn’t sure why the basement would be hidden behind an elaborate secret entrance – maybe the previous Waynes used to use it for something else? Maybe it was a room that only Damian used? Billy was going to have to give Damian some kind of explanation for following him down to the basement… A simple “sorry, I saw the entrance and couldn’t resist” would probably be sufficient, right?

All kinds of ideas were forming in Billy’s mind as the elevator continued to move down. What kind of secrets would he find down there? Some kind of hidden treasure? An underground battling arena? Another manor just as large as the one above ground, only built underneath the ground? In the back of his mind, there was the worry about everyone else getting angry about his decision to enter the sketchy elevator by himself and without anyone’s permission, but it stayed in the background as he tried to come up with new ideas.

However, nothing could have prepared him for the truth.

The elevator slowed down and finally came to a halt. Billy took a deep, excited breath as the doors opened and he stepped out, unsure of what to expect.

The first thing he saw was a gigantic dinosaur. And by gigantic, he really meant gigantic – the Tyrannosaurus Rex towered over everything else in the apparent cave he had stepped into. Billy's feet moved on instinct as he tried to move back into the elevator, but his back hit the doors that had just closed behind him. Maybe that was for the best because otherwise, he wouldn’t have had enough time to notice that the dinosaur was fake. In hindsight that felt pretty obvious, but it was a really good-looking fake: Billy had seen another fake dinosaur once on a free-to-enter science fair a couple of years ago, and even that had looked much more fake than this one… not to mention how much smaller that had been. Billy didn’t even notice how his heart was pounding until he stepped back away from the elevator and took another look around.

For a moment he couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing. At first glance, it looked like someone had built a modern tech lab in a cave. There were computers and big screens, a bunch of shelves and stands, with tables that were filled with all sorts of gadgets he couldn’t recognize from this far away. When he started walking forward, he started to notice all the weird objects as well: the dinosaur being the most obvious one, but there was also a giant penny and a huge playing card. All of these felt meaningless when he noticed something else – first a very familiar, black car parked on one side of the cave, then just a little further away, an even more familiar dark suit in some kind of suit vault.

“Batson!” he heard Damian’s alarmed voice very faintly in the background, even though the boy had already almost reached him. Billy’s legs kept taking him toward the Batsuit nearby. Right now, no one was wearing it, but it was obvious that this was the same suit Billy had seen the last time he’d spoken to Batman. It couldn’t be just a replica: it was just too similar to the real thing that Billy had seen multiple times before. He only stopped walking when Damian grabbed him by the arm and turned him around.
“What the hell are you doing here!?” Damian’s voice was quiet and low, but as demanding as ever. Billy had to blink a couple of times to ground himself enough to even give an answer to the question. Suddenly, answering that question didn’t feel as simple as it had before. Billy opened his mouth and closed it, almost miming the words that didn’t come to his mind. He took another look at the Batsuit and the cave around him.

“I—I saw you enter, and I wanted to know where you went”, he finally managed to get the words out of his mouth. To Damian’s credit, the boy waited patiently for his reply. There was still alarm in those green eyes, but he seemed more determined and annoyed than outright angry, which was… something? Billy’s heart was pounding so loud, it was a miracle if Damian didn’t hear it as well. Whenever Billy took another look at the cave, he noticed something new. There were glass cases with Robin’s costumes, older-looking Batsuits that probably weren’t used anymore, weapons and gadgets that perfectly fit the kind of equipment Batman used.
“And you didn’t think to ask anyone before you entered? Alfred would have told you that this area is off-limits”, Damian said. The boy was gnashing his teeth together so hard, it was a wonder that the words even came out. Billy shook his head. It felt like the empty Batsuit was staring at him.

“Fuck…” Damian cursed and let go of his arm, turning away from Billy. Even with this new-gained freedom, Billy didn’t have the strength to move anywhere right now. There were only a couple of things this revelation could mean. Either Batman, for some reason, used the caves beneath the Wayne Manor as his base, but didn’t otherwise live nearby… or he was someone who lived in the manor and used the entrance regularly to access the cave. And when Billy thought about the second option for even a few moments, the answer became incredibly clear, even though he really didn’t like it. Even thinking about the words felt like a punch to the gut, or in this case, a slap to the face.

“Bruce is… Batman?” he whispered. The other options weren’t great either, but this was at the same time one of the worst-case scenarios and the most logical conclusion. By now Billy had met both Batman and Bruce Wayne multiple times, had conversations with both of them, and now that he had this thought in his head, he felt almost stupid about not realizing it earlier. Damian didn’t turn to look at him, but he didn’t deny it either, which to Billy was as good a reply as any. Denying it would have been useless, anyway. Unless there was a really good other explanation, this was the only thing that made sense to Billy. He sunk to the floor, worried that he might crash and fall if he didn’t sit down for a moment. He didn’t know if this was a normal reaction for someone who’d seemingly met Batman only once and had a pretty good conversation with the guy, but right now he couldn’t make himself care. Bruce was Batman. Bruce was the guy he’d met at the top of the clock tower, who’d shouted at him for being childish and naïve. It was Bruce who replied to his message after the first zombie attack and recommended that he should move to the Wayne Manor. Bruce was, despite everything, the guy who had taken him in and worried about him all this time.

And he was Batman.

Billy buried his face in his hands. He didn’t know if he would have been happier without knowing about this. The less you know, the happier you are, that kind of stuff. Now keeping his identity a secret from Bruce – and Batman – the same person, whatever – felt even worse than before. Sure, technically it was one less person to keep the secret from… but somehow that didn’t make Billy feel any better about it.

Even if he couldn’t deny that it was pretty cool that Bruce was Batman.

Damian seemed to have managed to gather his thoughts because he turned back to Billy.
“How did you even manage to open the secret entrance? It has a code”, he sighed. Billy shrugged.
“The code hadn’t reset yet. I don’t know. I just put it back to the time you’d put it to”, he mumbled against the palms of his hands. Then another thing clicked in his mind, and he stood up so quickly he almost fell back over.
“Does this mean you’re--?” he started, then looked at the Robin suit in one of the glass cases. The suit in that particular case didn’t look like the one Robin was using these days – most notably the suit in the case didn’t have any pants attached to it – but it got the message through. Damian’s face twitched with annoyance.
“I have to tell father about this”, he said, reaching for the phone in his pocket. Instinctively, Billy reached out and pushed the hand away. Damian gave him a look that was both confused and annoyed at the same time.

“Wait. Please, don’t tell him yet”, he pleaded, looking Damian in the eyes.
“Why?” Damian asked, pulling away with his phone, but didn’t message or call Bruce just yet.
“Is he going to kick me out because of this?” he asked. Damian just stared at him for a moment.
“Why would he?”

Billy hadn’t expected a reply like that. To him, it seemed obvious. Billy had clearly found out something he wasn’t meant to find out, probably broken a lot of unwritten and unsaid rules, and obviously, Bruce wouldn’t be happy about that. If he were okay with Billy just accidentally finding something this big, he would have just told him earlier, right? He kept it a secret for a reason, and that probably had something to do with the fact that Billy was there only momentarily.
“Because I wasn’t supposed to find out?” he explained, crossed his arms, and took another look around. Wow, the cave was huge. No, obviously it wasn’t bigger than the Rock of Eternity, but for a place under the manor, it was significant. Damian let out a long sigh and stuffed his phone into his pocket.
“Obviously, he is not going to kick you out because of this”, he said like Billy had asked a seriously stupid question, “but father wasn’t planning on telling you about any of this until Mister Mind has been dealt with.”

Billy blinked in surprise. He wasn’t even that surprised that Damian knew about Mister Mind: if he really was Robin, he would probably know everything about Billy’s situation.
“He was going to tell me afterward?” he asked. Damian shrugged.
“Most likely. It’s not like the secret could last forever with you living here all the time. Maybe it’s a good thing that you learned about this already – it’s annoying to keep all of the work talk in the cave”, the boy mused. He did look slightly less annoyed by the thought. He didn’t seem to realize what kind of effect his words were having on Billy, who just stared ahead, trying to process everything. Bruce – who was Batman! – wasn’t planning on kicking him out after the case had been solved? Of course, Billy had known that it was a real possibility, but hearing the words from Damian’s mouth made them feel much more real. Almost anyone else, except for maybe Jason, could have lied about this… but not Damian.

“Stop it”, Damian commanded suddenly. Billy snapped out of his thoughts.
“What?” he asked.
“Stop looking like that. You look like a deer caught in headlights. Are you really that worried about father kicking you out?” Damian furrowed his eyebrows.

That was merely one of the reasons Billy felt like the next time he was going to see Bruce was going to be incredibly tough for him, but it was also one of the only reasons he could tell Damian about.
“I guess. Sorry. This is just… overwhelming?” he tried to explain himself, “could you wait for, I don’t know, like a little while before you call Bruce? Because this is… well, wow.”

Billy had never considered himself a very linguistic person, and this was definitely proof of that. Damian rolled his eyes.
“At most, an hour. And absolutely do not touch anything!” he said once Billy’s eyes started to wander around the cave once more. Billy nodded, his eyes already back on the dinosaur.
“Can I ask—”
“No.”
“Okay.”

---

Bruce had tried concentrating on his work at the Wayne Enterprises, he really had. After last night’s discussion with Clark, he needed something else to do to distract him from wondering about Captain Marvel or anything to do with that guy. Once he had some distance, he could return to investigate everything with a clearer mind. Unfortunately, even though this practice was good in theory, he just couldn’t empty his mind enough to concentrate on anything at the Wayne Tower. Risking cold glances from his workers and an “again, mister Wayne?” from Lucius, he left his office before lunchtime and returned to the manor. Maybe he could spend more time with Billy. There had been some discussion and accusations last night toward Billy as well and asking the boy about these things would probably be the easiest way to get even some kind of answers. Bruce didn’t expect Billy to be perfectly honest about everything, but sometimes even the way people avoided some questions or answered around them were valuable and interesting clues. So, he made his way to the second-floor bedrooms and to Billy’s door.

As he knocked on the door, he noticed that it was already open. Billy hadn’t probably pushed it all the way shut before he left to do something else that day – as he didn’t seem to be in his room either. Bruce looked inside the room to make sure that was correct: the bed was unmade, and Billy’s pajamas were lying over the covers in a mess, so he clearly had changed out of his pajamas after breakfast. However, there was a weird draft in the room. Bruce opened the door further and entered the room, pushed the curtains further to the side, and made sure that the windows were properly closed.

Weird. It didn’t seem like the windows were the problem – they were indeed closed. Bruce opened and closed them again, just to make sure, but the draft was still there. It took Bruce a small moment to realize that it was seemingly coming from the closet… which made no sense. The closet shouldn’t be connected to anything that would cause a draft in the room. Curious to see what was going on, Bruce opened the closet door.

It took him a moment to realize what he was looking at. The inside of his closet definitely wasn’t… the inside of his closet. Instead, he was staring into a completely different, dusty, and bare room. From what he could see, the draft was coming from one of the windows that were hastily and sloppily boarded shut. The Wayne Manor definitely didn’t have windows on that part of the house.

Bruce closed the door and opened it again. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting: the other room probably wouldn’t disappear just like that. He was absolutely certain that the closet hadn’t been this way before Billy had moved in… which left him with a very real question. Where did this closet lead?

Bruce grabbed a rogue coin from his pocket and threw it into the closet. It landed on the dusty floor with a very quiet thud but seemed just fine. Next, he slowly, carefully pushed his hand to the other side. He could feel a slight, weird sensation through his body, but nothing seemed to affect him in a negative way. Bruce pulled his hand back, grabbed a chair, and propped it against the door so it would definitely stay open. Then, in a moment of boldness, he stepped into the closet. Aside from the weird sensation, everything seemed fine. When he looked back, he saw that he’d entered the dusty room from another door, this one slightly cracked and like everything else in this other room, filled with dust. Now that he was on the other side, he could see light, small footprints on the floor, leading to the window.

With a bad feeling in his stomach, Bruce peeked outside from the window. He didn’t recognize the city outside, but it definitely wasn’t Gotham. He grabbed his phone to check what the navigation had to say about his location... and just stared at the screen in slight disbelief as the words “Fawcett City” popped up.

Still holding the phone, Bruce stepped back into Billy’s room. It took his phone a moment to register the change in location, but soon it changed back to Gotham City. He repeated the test a couple of times, and even then, he couldn’t be perfectly certain… But it definitely seemed like there was a portal to Fawcett City in Billy’s bedroom. Just as Bruce was about to go and look for Billy, he received a message from Damian.

“Batson found the Batcave.”

Chapter Text

Immediately after receiving the text, Bruce’s mind went blank. Whatever he had expected, this wasn’t it. Any thoughts continued to evade him as he made his way to the study, as he entered the elevator, and as he stepped into the cave. It was only when he saw Billy that he could finally begin to process this new turn of events.

Billy met his eyes only briefly, turning to stare at the opposite wall immediately after. His face was pale, and he looked nervous; somehow, he looked even smaller than before. Bruce took a deep breath as he walked over to the boys. Damian walked over from the computer table and crossed his arms. None of them initiated the conversation for another full minute – they just stood there, surrounded by the hum of the machines around them and the occasional flap of wings somewhere further in the cave.

Billy was the first to break the silence.

“So… you’re Batman”, he said quietly, still not looking at Bruce. It wasn’t a question, just a statement. Well, it wasn’t like Bruce could deny the truth at this point. Billy had already met both him and Batman, and once the connection was made, it was much easier to connect the dots. Especially since they were surrounded by all of his bat-tech, suits, and trophies.
“Yes”, he replied. He didn’t know what Billy’s reaction to everything would be. So far, he didn’t seem angry: he didn’t seem overly excited either. Those were the two main reaction Bruce would have anticipated, and now he didn’t know what to be prepared for. He had hoped to be able to reveal everything to Billy once Mister Mind had been dealt with and Billy had gotten more comfortable living at the manor, so this definitely wasn’t the ideal situation. Still, he could make it work.

“How did you even find this place? I thought it was pretty well hidden”, Bruce said and crouched down, trying to get Billy to look at him. The boy took another glance and immediately looked away again, staring somewhere over Bruce’s shoulder instead of meeting his eyes. Damian let out a quiet huff.
“I followed Damian”, Billy explained, “I didn’t know what was going to be down here, I just wanted to explore.”
Bruce couldn’t help but smile.
“I still don’t know how he managed to use the clock. I definitely didn’t let him in”, Damian hurried to say.
“I didn’t think you did, Damian. Don’t worry. No one’s in trouble here”, Bruce said. Except maybe me, he thought to himself. If the entrance to the Batcave was easy to crack, he would have to make some adjustments in the future.

“I’m sorry!” Billy blurted out. Bruce blinked in surprise.
“What are you sorry for?” he asked, genuinely perplexed.
“I mean… This was a secret, right? You didn’t want me to know. And I didn’t ask for permission before I entered the elevator!” Billy continued, motioning with his hands as he spoke, “I should have asked someone. I don’t know. I should have asked Alfred. I didn’t know you would be… you know, Batman.”
“Most people wouldn’t”, Bruce said and reached to pat Billy’s shoulder. The boy visibly tensed at the anticipation of contact, and that made Bruce’s blood run cold. Was Billy afraid of him now that he knew the truth? Sure, Batman was scary, but he had tried his best to be friendly and approachable when speaking to Billy in the suit. He definitely wouldn’t do anything to hurt Billy, and just the thought of Billy even worrying about that almost made him feel ill. Bruce swallowed and tried to gather his thoughts.

“Billy”, he started slowly, “you know that this doesn’t change anything? I still really, really want to help you. I still want you to live with me here in the manor, and so does everyone else. I didn’t tell you about this because you already have way too much to worry about with Mister Mind. And… well, what I do is dangerous. I don’t want you to get mixed up in anything that could get you hurt.”

Billy nodded a couple of times.
“I know”, his voice was more of a whisper than anything else, then gained a little more strength, “I know. I guess I’m just surprised, that’s all. I mean, there’s even a giant dinosaur.”
Bruce let out a relieved, quiet laugh. Of course, that was the thing Billy would bring up first. Bruce was so used to the dinosaur trophy that he didn’t even notice it most of the time. He couldn’t even imagine what had gone through Billy’s mind the first time he saw that.
“Yeah, there is. Do you want to sit down? You should probably sit down. Then we can really talk about this”, he said, looking around to find the nearest chair. Billy simply nodded and followed Bruce to a nearby table with a couple of chairs right by it. Damian seemed to consider joining them for a moment, decided against it, and returned to the computer table. That was fine for now – knowing Damian, he would be listening in on their conversation the whole time anyway.

All of Bruce’s kids had learned about Batman in different ways. He had been able to tell most of them about his secret, and Damian had been naturally told by Talia al Ghul: and then there was, of course, Tim, who had somehow managed to figure it out even at a very young age. This was different from all those times. With the others, he hadn’t really been actively hiding it for a longer period of time. With them, they were almost immediately introduced to Bruce Wayne as Batman and thrust straight into the world of fighting crime.

Sometimes Bruce looked back to those times and regretted his own actions. These days he was able to separate kids from soldiers, and as much as that sounded like an obvious statement, it hadn’t been the case when he first took Dick in. Of course, he still wasn’t a perfect guardian, but at least he now knew the value of letting kids actually have a childhood if it was possible. He’d pretty much ensured that Dick couldn’t have one after the Graysons had died and he’d taken the boy in, but now that he was older and wiser, he could make sure that he wouldn’t have the same effect on Billy Batson. He could still make sure that Billy would grow up just fine, even if he knew about Batman.

“So, you’ve been… Batman… this whole time?” Billy asked carefully after they sat down. He grabbed a pen from the table and started playing around with it. Bruce couldn’t help but notice that the boy was still avoiding eye contact, but maybe that was something that could be fixed with an honest conversation.
“I have.”
“Ever since we met?”
“Even before you were born.”
“And no one knows?”

More people knew than Bruce was comfortable with, but that was something he just had to deal with.
“Everyone in this house knows. Like I said, I was going to tell you later… but it’s okay that we’re having this conversation now. At least there won’t be more lies between us.”

Billy looked even more uncomfortable, and Bruce was suddenly reminded of the portal he’d just found in the boy’s room. For a moment, he wondered if that was something he shouldn’t bring up straight away, but they definitely needed to get all the secrets out of the way.

“Speaking of which”, he continued and watched as Billy shuffled in his seat, “I have an idea. How about we both ask questions and answer them truthfully? One at a time.”
Billy didn’t reply and just kept fiddling with the pen. Bruce waited for a moment, then decided to continue anyway.
“I found a portal in your room. It led to Fawcett City”, he said. There was a visible reaction – Billy’s eyes flew to meet his, and though they were surprised, Bruce was almost certain that the portal’s existence wasn’t the reason for that look.
“I—How—I mean…” Billy stumbled in his words. He was sitting right on the edge of his seat, his short feet not quite reaching the floor.
“I was looking for you and noticed that there was something wrong with the closet. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure the portal wasn’t there before”, Bruce tried to lead Billy into a confession. He tried to keep his voice as non-accusatory as possible. He simply wanted to know how the portal had come to be there, and maybe even more importantly, why. It wasn’t something that just… well, happened.

“Yeah… it wasn’t there before”, Billy replied after a long moment of silence.
“So, do you have any idea how it got there?” Bruce pushed on. He didn’t have the answer to that, but right now it seemed more than likely that Billy did. Bruce could almost feel Damian listening in on their conversation but didn’t tell him to leave – this was something they were going to have to talk about later on anyway, and unless the conversation got very personal very fast, there were no good reasons for Damian to not hear everything they spoke.
“I… Am I in trouble?” Billy asked, fidgeting with his pen.
“Well, I just don’t understand how the portal even got there in the first place. But no, unless there’s something that I really don’t know about it, you’re not in trouble. You should tell me what this is all about. How did that portal even get there?” Bruce asked, leaning his elbows against the table.
“Weren’t we supposed to ask questions one by one?” Billy pointed out. Bruce sighed.
“You didn’t answer the first one. How did the portal get there?”

Billy stood up from the table but didn’t leave. Instead, he paced around a couple of steps, then stopped and looked at Bruce.
“I have magic”, he said.

***

There was a long moment of silence. For a moment, Billy was worried that Bruce was only going to laugh and think that he’s crazy. Yeah, he found the portal, but a kid like Billy saying something that outrageous with such a straight face? Billy wouldn’t even have been surprised if he wasn’t believed.

He definitely hadn’t thought that this was the way their conversation was going to go. Once he’d found the cave and figured out who Batman was, he had been completely fixated on that. He hadn’t even considered it a possibility that someone could find his portal – the portal he’d thought he’d been very good at hiding. Now that Bruce brought it up, Billy really didn’t remember scratching off the last symbol, and it made him feel like an idiot. Such a simple thing to remember, and there they were. The only way to speak about this without revealing Captain Marvel was to admit to the magic part and move on as swiftly as possible.

To Bruce’s – Batman’s, wow, that was still surreal to think about – credit, he didn’t laugh. Instead, he was quiet for a while, and when he spoke, his words were soft and slow.
“You have… magic?” he repeated. It didn’t feel like he said it to mock those words, but Billy felt really self-conscious either way.
“Yeah. I’m not very good at using it, at least not yet, but I definitely have magic. That’s… the reason Mister Mind is after me. He mentioned it when he took me away, but I… I’ve never told anyone about it, so I didn’t tell you. I’m sorry”, he hurried to apologize before Bruce could chastise him for being such a liar. A part of Billy acknowledged that blaming Billy for lying would be at least a little bit hypocritical, considering what Billy had just found out. Kind of like it was a bit hypocritical for Billy to be annoyed about Bruce going into his room without permission, which led to the portal being found. He tried his best not to bring that up and concentrated on what they were talking about.

“That is… understandable. You’ve been hiding it for a very long time”, Bruce nodded. It sounded like he wanted to say something else as well but swallowed those words. Billy kept wanting to stare at his face, to find Batman in there somewhere. Even here, in the cave where he apparently operated from and which was surrounded by Batman’s gadgets, Billy just didn’t get the same feeling from Bruce as he did from Batman. Sure, most of his meetings with Batman had been as Captain Marvel, but it was still a strange feeling.
“Now that it’s not a secret anymore, though – is that all Mister Mind said about it? He wants to hurt you because you have magic?” Bruce asked. Billy sat back down and started fidgeting with the pen again. It didn’t really help him concentrate or gather his thoughts, but at least it gave his hands something to do. He remembered that this conversation was supposed to go one question at a time, but this was important enough to ignore the rule.
“He said he wants my magic. I don’t know how he wants to do that, but it’s what he said.”

Billy felt conflicted. On one hand, it felt good to tell Bruce this much. He had never told anyone about the magic and the only person he could talk to about it was the Wizard – and if he was being honest to himself, most of the time Billy really didn’t want to talk to the Wizard. If it were up to that old man, Billy probably wouldn’t have anything that even resembled a normal life and just focused on honing his skills and being the Champion at all times. As much as Billy loved being the Champion, he wasn’t ready to be that dedicated to it: he still needed to have a life of his own.

On the other hand, he didn’t know how easy it would be for Bruce to put two and two together. Connecting Billy and Captain Marvel in the correct way wouldn’t be anyone’s first choice, but when magic was involved, it definitely felt like there was no limit to the possibilities. Bruce could figure out the truth at any moment and realize that Billy was still having even bigger secrets than before, and that would ruin everything.

Bruce leaned forward, studying Billy’s face.
“And you created the portal to Fawcett City?” he asked. Billy nodded.
“It’s… Sometimes I miss Fawcett City. I definitely want to live here, I really like living here and everything’s good, but… it’s just for that”, he said. Some of it was true, and that was enough for him.
“Billy… you know that that’s really dangerous, right? What if you were attacked once you were out that way? No one in the house could help you”, Bruce sighed, running a hand through his hair.
“I never went far.”

Billy and Bruce simply stared at each other for a moment. Billy had to use all of his mental power to not look away like a guilty child – even though he was both of those things. When Bruce didn’t say anything else, Billy took the opportunity to change the subject. He knew they were going to have to talk about that later on some more, but he really wasn’t prepared to do so right now.

“So… is everyone else here a superhero as well?” he asked, glancing at Damian, who was doing something on the computer. The boy turned to look at them with a blank expression. Bruce had to think about his answer for a moment.
“I don’t think anyone will mind if you tell him, father”, Damian said when Bruce couldn’t come up with an answer just yet. Bruce exchanged meaningful glances with Damian before he spoke again.
“I think so too, but I’ll let them tell you the details later on if they wish to do so. Let’s just say that most of us wear some kind of masks here”, he replied with a soft smile, “and even if Alfred doesn’t have a specific suit, he’s definitely a superhero to everyone here.”

Billy smiled even though he almost regretted his question. If everyone in the house had a secret identity and would reveal it to him, it left only one liar in the house, and it would feel even worse than before. This certainly didn’t feel as bad as Batman cursing out Captain Marvel and calling him names, but it wasn’t good either. It was like a whirlpool of guilt was storming inside him and even though he knew how to get rid of it, he didn’t want to risk everything by revealing the actual truth.

“And when you say you’ve been working, you’ve been… here?” he asked. Billy wouldn’t have ever imagined something like this underneath the manor. He’d been convinced that there were lots of secrets hidden around the premises, but Batman’s secret hideout was something he never would have expected.
“Not all the time. I still own the Wayne Enterprises, and I have work to do there. Most of my work… down here happens usually during the night and sometimes during the day, when I’m not needed at the Tower. Fortunately, I have a flexible schedule”, Bruce waved his hand through the air as he spoke.
“That’s… weird to think about”, Billy mused and accidentally flicked the pen to the floor by twisting it around in his hands so much. He immediately went to pick it up.

“I hope it’s not a dealbreaker for you”, Bruce said. Billy picked up the pen and turned to look at Bruce.
“Dealbreaker for me?” he repeated. He didn’t quite understand what Bruce meant by that.
“I hope you still want to live here, despite… well, this. And the fact that I didn’t tell you right away”, Bruce said. He was almost perfectly still by the table, looking at Billy with solemn and worried eyes. Billy still wasn’t sure if he understood everything correctly.
“I… Yes, of course, I still want to live here. I thought the bigger question is whether you still wanted me here after I snooped around and found out about this… and especially since I told you about the magic thing. It’s a big thing to hide and I don’t even know how familiar you are with magic or anything, and I know I should have mentioned it earlier. I just… it’s a scary thought”, he rambled on and placed the pen back on the table. He didn’t sit back down just yet. Bruce got up as well and walked in front of him.

“Billy”, he said and crouched down, “now that we’re honest with each other, can I tell you something?”
Billy felt a pang of guilt inside himself but nodded anyway. Bruce took a deep breath before he spoke.
“No one in this house has had a… conventional life. This manor would be completely empty if I kicked out everyone who kept some kind of secret or didn’t live a perfectly normal life. I’m not going to kick you out because you have magic or because you found out about this place on your own. We are going to talk about your magic, and we are going to talk about my other life, but that’s just a good thing. If there’s something you don’t have to worry about while you live here, it’s me abandoning you. That is not going to happen, and you have my word. Do you trust me?”

Billy stared back into the blue of Bruce’s eyes. The same blue couldn’t be seen in Batman’s eyes, probably because of the mask he wore – it made his eyes a weird, solid white. It was strange how that didn’t really affect how sincere Bruce sounded with his words. Billy had had his problems with Batman, and sooner or later he would have to face those problems, but he had still trusted the man, even after the fiasco at the clock tower. Billy was almost surprised by how little the fact that Bruce had hidden his identity as Batman affected that trust. Maybe it was just in the way he spoke, or just the way he was, but it didn’t feel like he was lying.

And then there was Billy, the biggest liar of them all. He felt a little choked up and had to take a couple of breaths before he could speak without the threat of bursting into tears mid-sentence. As much as he wanted to stare at his own feet as he replied, that wouldn’t have felt right. Billy forced himself to keep looking into Bruce’s eyes as he gathered his words.

“Yeah”, Billy said, his tone quiet but surprisingly steady, “I think I do.”

Bruce smiled. His face was filled with relief and he placed a hand on Billy's shoulder. Billy just stood there, unsure of what to do. He wasn't lying. He did trust Bruce more than he'd ever trusted anyone. The truth, the real truth about Captain Marvel, would have to come later… but right now he wasn’t ready for that kind of talk. So, instead he smiled awkwardly and asked about something else.

“Can you tell me why this place has a dinosaur?”

Chapter Text

Billy didn’t even realize how much time had passed until Bruce told him they should go upstairs for lunch. They’d been speaking the entire time: Billy was mostly the one asking questions, and to Bruce’s credit, the man answered almost everything. One thing he really didn’t want to talk about was other superheroes’ identities. “If they want to tell you, it’s their choice. It’s not my place to make that decision for them”, he said, and it made Billy feel kind of warm and fuzzy inside. If Bruce already had that attitude toward secret identities, then surely Billy could tell him about Captain Marvel?

Damian – who had only very briefly confirmed that he was indeed Robin – had left the cave a bit earlier, so it was just Bruce and Billy in the empty cave as they walked to the elevator. Billy remembered the weird entrance through the grandfather clock and turned to Bruce again.
“That moving clock is pretty cool”, he said, pointing up. Bruce smiled.
“It does its job pretty well. Although I’m still very impressed that you were able to get through it”, he said with a lifted eyebrow. Billy scratched his neck as they continued waiting for the elevator.
“Is the password just a random number?” he asked. He didn’t even remember what he’d put in, but at least to him, the time didn’t have any relevance. He almost immediately regretted his question because of the somber and kind of sad look on Bruce’s face.

“You don’t have to tell me”, Billy hurried to say. Bruce placed a hand on Billy’s shoulder and softly squeezed. The elevator finally arrived, and they stepped inside.
“Don’t worry about it”, Bruce smiled once the doors had shut and the elevator started moving up, “you already know where it leads, so it’s not a secret. It’s the exact time when my parents passed away, a long time ago.”
Billy regretted his question even more, but Bruce didn’t seem too bothered about it. Maybe it was because he was so old. Billy was terrible at guessing other people’s ages and couldn’t even begin to guess how old Bruce actually was, but at least he was old enough to have been Batman when Billy was born. That was already pretty old.

The rest of the elevator ride passed in complete silence, and once it stopped, Billy hurried out to see the clock slide back into its place. There was just something really cool about it all – like something you would see in an old movie with spies. Bruce waited until the clock was back in its normal place before he spoke.
“Before we see the others…” he started, took a quick look around, and then lowered his voice as he spoke to Billy, “is it okay to tell the others about your magic? I can promise that everyone here is trustworthy, but if you don’t want to tell them, it’s okay. I just want to know what I can or cannot mention.”

Billy hadn’t even thought about that. Telling Bruce about his magic was already a huge step and letting everyone else in the house know felt like an earth-shattering confession. Bruce was probably right: even if Billy didn’t know everyone perfectly, he didn’t really get the feeling like anyone would start spreading his secrets to any outsiders. Maybe he couldn’t read everyone perfectly – case in point, Batman – but this was something that Bruce vouched for.
“Not yet”, he said after a moment of thought, “I’ll probably tell them later, but right now is… I don’t know, too soon? I’ll tell them at some point.”
“Don’t worry about it. I think you’re allowed to have a couple of secrets after what you just found out”, Bruce smirked, ruffled Billy’s hair, and started heading toward the hallway. Billy tried not to feel like a complete liar and a fraud as he hurried after the man.

I’ll tell him once I’m ready, Billy thought to himself as they walked through the hallway and toward the kitchen. I’ll figure things out, I’ll tell him that I’m Captain Marvel, and then there won’t be any lies to worry about. I just need to figure out the way to tell him.

“Oh, I didn’t think you’d be back so soon, Master Bruce”, Alfred blinked in surprise as they walked into the dining hall. The butler was in the process of setting down clean plates and cutlery on the table. Bruce glanced at Billy and smiled at Alfred.
“Well, I think it’s a good thing that I did. Damian didn’t tell you?” he asked. Alfred furrowed his brows as he placed the last plate and walked up to the pair. Billy kind of wanted to hide behind Bruce like a shy toddler but managed to keep himself still. He could feel Alfred’s confused eyes on him.
“Tell me what?” Alfred asked with an almost worried tone.
“Billy figured out the grandfather clock in the study and took a little trip down to the cave”, Bruce explained, and it took all of Billy’s concentration not to hide behind the man as Alfred’s eyes widened in surprise. He didn’t seem angry, thank goodness, but the curiosity in his face was as clear as day.

“And how much have you spoken about… all of that?” he asked.
“A lot. He knows about Batman”, Bruce said. It was blunt and to the point, and it told Alfred pretty much everything he needed to know. Billy was about to apologize about finding the cave, but Alfred managed to speak before he could.
“That does make things much easier”, he said with a relaxed smile. Billy swallowed his apology.
“That’s true… although I really enjoyed limiting all the work talk to the cave. Maybe that’s something we could consider even if everyone’s in the loop. And speaking of everyone – it’s probably time for a family meeting”, Bruce said, looking around. No one else was in the dining room, not even Damian, who had disappeared from the cave.

It took Billy a moment to register what Bruce had just said. A family meeting? It didn’t feel like something he should take part in. Maybe at some point, if he really stayed at the manor for a longer period of time but joining something like that this early on seemed really presumptuous. Unfortunately, Bruce didn’t really say more about that – he just sat down, and Billy followed the example.

His mind was whirring with possibilities when he thought about the others. Bruce had more or less confirmed that the others were also some kind of superheroes, and Billy tried to figure out who could be who. He wasn’t as well-versed in Gotham City superheroes as he would have liked, and these people could be operating in other places as well. He definitely wouldn’t voice any of his suspicions to Bruce, but just thinking about them was exciting. He already knew Damian was Robin, and the others probably also worked with Batman in some capacity…

Dick walked into the dining room in the middle of lunch, still wearing his jacket from the outside, and Billy immediately locked eyes with the man. Could they have met in their secret personas?
“Sorry, I was trying to hurry. Lost the track of time, talking with Babs”, Dick explained as he turned his eyes away from Billy and spread his jacket on one of the chairs. Now that Billy was really, really listening to his voice and staring at the man, it was like finally fitting two pieces of a puzzle together.

“You’re Nightwing!” he blurted out before he could stop himself, almost falling over from his chair. He didn’t feel too bad about not realizing this earlier; he hadn’t spoken with Nightwing too many times, but now that he thought about it, the voices definitely matched. Dick froze in place, only quickly glanced at Billy, and then looked at Bruce, who was doing his very best impression of someone who wasn’t about to burst into laughter at any given moment. Billy’s face felt very warm as he sat back down and remembered the Nightwing figurine he had in his room. Despite the weird situation, he definitely wasn’t going to get rid of it – maybe this was an even better reason to have it.

“Maybe I should send a warning text to the group chat…” Bruce wondered aloud and waved his hand in a ‘don’t worry! Everything’s under control!’ kind of way, “Billy found the Batcave.”
Realization dawned on Dick’s face and his posture relaxed a little bit.
“He knows everything?” he asked, taking a better look at Billy. Thank the gods, he didn’t look angry. Billy smiled apologetically and took a big gulp of his water just to have a reason to look somewhere else.
“He figured Batman and Robin out by himself… and apparently that’s going to happen with others as well. I didn’t tell him about anyone else”, Bruce explained as Dick sat down on his chair, looking pretty dazed. Billy really, really hoped he wouldn’t be asked about the grandfather clock again. He had told Bruce that he’d used magic to open it, but any specifics would still be really difficult. Or maybe Dick would want to know how Billy even thought to check the clock – ratting out Damian didn’t feel too good either.

“… Okay, yes, I’m Nightwing”, Dick said slowly, watching Billy with furrowed brows, “but if Bruce didn’t tell you, then how did you figure that one out? I don’t think I ever saw you while in the suit.”

Billy went to take another gulp of water, but the glass was empty from the previous time. No, Billy Batson hadn’t met Nightwing in person, why didn’t he even think about that!? Billy Batson had only met a handful of heroes in person while Captain Marvel belonged to the Justice League. It felt like Dick’s blue eyes were drilling a hole to the side of Billy’s head.
“It was just a guess”, he muttered, really not wanting to talk about this, “the hair, the build, you know? And Nightwing’s known to work with Batman a lot, so there’s that.”
He wasn’t sure if Dick bought this explanation. There had to be tons of black-haired people with kind of the same body type, those weren’t exactly unique to Dick. Really, the voice had been the biggest identifier to Billy, and he hadn’t even stopped to consider the fact that he really shouldn’t know about something like Nightwing’s voice.

“I really like the suit”, he added meekly. Dick finally broke the intense stare and let out a laugh.
“Thanks. Maybe I should consider something to hide the hair as well”, he smiled, thought about it for a moment, and shook his head, “or maybe not. I’ve worn the cowl and that’s way too uncomfortable.”

The next person to come home was Tim. He had apparently received the warning message from Bruce because he was absolutely glowing with joy as he waltzed into the study, where they had gathered after lunch. His smile was so bright it could have lit up the entire room and he looked proud when he looked at Billy.
“I knew you were clever!” he announced as the first thing and plopped down on the sofa right next to Billy, “and I’ve told Bruce so many times that even though that clock is a pretty good entrance, it’s not perfect. But hey, now we can be the team “found out on our own”! None of these guys can join that club.”
Tim was more excited than Billy had ever seen, and it felt kind of weird. Still, the happy energy was extremely contagious, and Billy found himself smiling.
“You found out on your own?” he asked. That actually made him feel better.
“He stalked us for way too long. It was kind of creepy”, Dick rolled his eyes and dodged when Tim threw a pillow at his face.

“Are you also…” Billy tried to find a way to ask the question without sounding too nosy or excited, “are you also a superhero? Do you have a suit?”

Billy had been trying to think of other heroes who could fit the others, and even though he had a couple of ideas for Tim, he didn’t want to assume anything. Nightwing had been much easier to guess because he’d actually met the man multiple times. He really doubted that anyone other than Batman belonged to the Justice League, and even though he wanted to spend time with other heroes as well, that hadn’t happened yet. Tim glanced at Dick, who shrugged with a smile, and then looked back at Billy.

“I’m Red Robin”, he explained. Billy took a closer look at the man. Last time he’d seen Red Robin was at the mall, when the man had come to his rescue when the zombies attacked. Neither Billy nor Captain Marvel had really spoken to the superhero, even though Billy really wanted to spend more time with the younger heroes.
“That was you at the mall?” Billy asked. He could see the resemblance. He’d thought Tim was much more of a computer guy than a fighter, but right now that seemed to be the wrong impression.
“Yeah. I know Dick and Bruce were already there, but it’s always easier to fight any evil guys when you don’t have to worry about getting recognized”, he said. Billy knew that all too well. One of the reasons he really liked his transformation was the fact that it made him completely unrecognizable. He could fly around without a care in the world, and no one would recognize him as Billy Batson… well, maybe that wasn’t true anymore. Batman – well, Bruce – had come way too close to the truth already.

“This is so cool…” Billy sighed and leaned against the sofa.
“You’re taking all of this pretty well if you ask me”, Dick grinned at him, “it’s not every day you meet a bunch of superheroes and vigilantes. I would have had a bigger freakout.”

Not every day… but maybe once a month, Billy thought and almost smiled at his own thoughts.
“I have already met Batman and Captain Marvel, so it’s not the first time”, he said, really trying to just focus on the ones he hadn’t met as Cap, “and I also met that Red Hood guy who picked me up from the diner.”
“So, can I just skip the introduction?” Jason’s voice came from the doorway, followed by Cassandra. It took Billy a moment to realize what Jason meant.
“That makes sense”, he muttered. He didn’t feel too bad about not making this connection. Red Hood had said maybe one or two things to him and was wearing a helmet that covered his entire face: yeah, Billy wasn’t going to recognize him just by those things. Jason gave him a quick smirk before sitting down on one of the armchairs.

Cassandra told him a name he didn’t recognize; Billy had never heard of the Orphan before, and with a name like that, he didn’t feel like asking anything too specific about it.

“But wait”, he said, turning back to Tim, “why are there two superhero names with ‘Robin’ in it? Robin and Red Robin. I never really thought about it, but since you know each other, it can’t really be a coincidence, can it?”
“I mean… that’s a long story”, Tim smiled, looking just a bit uncomfortable for a moment, “but it’s a pretty good upgrade from just being the Robin, you know?”

Billy’s mind went blank for a moment.
“You have been the Robin?” he asked, now turning completely to look at Tim. Tim blinked his eyes in surprise. Billy could hear Dick let out a quiet laugh.
“Most people in this room have been Robin at some point”, Jason sighed from his chair.
“What!?” Billy turned to look at him just as Stephanie slouched into the room. It looked like she had just woken up and could fall asleep again at any given moment.
“Case in point”, Dick smiled and pointed at her. Stephanie shot him a tired look.
“I have no idea what you were talking about, but for your sake, I hope that that was something nice”, she said and almost fell on the only free sofa in the room. It took Billy a moment to really understand what they meant.
“I never realize there was more than one— “, he started and immediately regretted it. There were so, so many things that he didn’t understand, and no one expected him to understand. But to not realize that there had been multiple Robins during Batman’s lengthy career was something that made Billy want to sink under the sofa and get away from everyone. Maybe he would have realized that something was off if he’d been in the League a little bit longer, but right now he’d only met one Robin, and that was Damian… who obviously hadn’t been in the role for a very long time since he’d apparently moved to Gotham City just a couple of years ago. Wasn’t he the same age as Billy, maybe a bit older? Obviously, he couldn’t have been Robin for over fifteen years, he hadn’t even been born then!

To everyone’s credit, no one burst out laughing at Billy’s realization. Instead, he gained a couple of sympathetic – and unapologetically amused – smiles, and Damian muttered something about how “he and Drake didn’t even look similar”.
“Don’t worry about it. If you’ve only seen Robin in videos and pictures, then it’s no wonder you didn’t know about that”, Bruce said. Billy still really wished he hadn’t admitted how he apparently lacked a sense of time. Stephanie seemed to catch up on what they were talking about and turned enough on the sofa so she could look at Billy when she spoke.
“I do hold the title of being the Robin for the shortest amount of time”, she grinned, “but right now I’m Spoiler. We should get you a secret name as well, don’t you think? Now that you know about these things, it feels kind of unfair that you’re the only one with just one name.”

“Alfred doesn’t have a secret name”, Dick rescued Billy from another incredibly awkward moment before he could even think of a reply. Even though he didn’t say anything, he could feel Cassandra’s eyes drilling into him. Out of everyone in the manor, she was the one who seemed to know when someone spoke of something that hit too close to home. They hadn’t even spoken that many times, as she had just arrived, but it was clear that she was something to be worried about if he wanted to keep his secret a secret.
“Not that you know of”, Stephanie said with a raised eyebrow.
“He’s definitely had one at some point”, Tim pointed out.
“I think that’s everyone”, Bruce said, taking a better look around the room. Billy did the same: it was hard to believe that he was in a room filled with superheroes in casual outfits. He was used to being around colorful costumes and all kinds of superpowers, but this was an entirely different feeling. He kind of liked it.

“Hey, there’s actually something I’m really curious about”, Tim said, “how did you find the cave?”
“I, um… I saw Damian enter that way and followed him”, Billy answered, really hoping his reply didn’t come off as him trying to blame Damian or anything. The boy let out a slight huff.
“It’s not like I let you in”, he said.
“Doesn’t the password reset almost immediately?” Stephanie asked. Billy took in a deep breath and looked at Bruce, who gave him a slight, encouraging nod. Now it would have felt selfish to keep everything a secret to all these people who had revealed their secrets to him. Even if Captain Marvel were to remain a secret for a while longer, they deserved to know at least something.

“I’ve never really told this to anyone, but…” he spoke, trying to find the words that didn’t make him look too weird or like he was just making up things, “I kind of have magical powers?”

He could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed. If it weren’t for Bruce, smiling at him with pride in his eyes, Billy might have regretted his confession. When no one spoke, he went on to explain.
“Not, like, Zatanna-level magic or anything, but magic anyways”, he continued, “and that’s… the reason Mister Mind is after me. I only learned about that when he kidnapped me.”

Tim was the first one to recover from the news.
“How long have you known about your powers?” he asked.
“About… three years. I’m still learning more about them”, Billy replied. Technically, that wasn’t a lie. He had known about them the whole time he’d had them.
“That really does explain why that guy is after you”, Dick said quietly.
“What kind of magic do you have?” Stephanie asked, finally sitting up on the sofa, “can you show us a spell?”
“Billy isn’t a zoo exhibit”, Bruce pointed out. Billy was actually feeling pretty encouraged by this reaction: no one seemed angry at him for keeping his powers a secret, and no one seemed to be worried about his magical powers. Sure, they still didn’t know what kind of things he could do with his powers, but it was more than he could have asked for. Maybe that’s the reason he felt brave enough to add more to his story.

“There’s actually more to this. I made a portal to Fawcett City in my room, and Bruce found it”, he said, turning towards Bruce.
“Just casually mentions making a portal…” Damian muttered to himself, but Billy ignored him and continued.
“It’s there because Captain Marvel has been teaching me to use my powers. We’ve been keeping it a secret because it’s probably safer that way, but… well, I think right now it’s okay to tell all of you”, he said.

He had expected more surprised silence, but that didn’t follow. Both Tim and Dick let out a relieved, quiet laugh, Stephanie looked actually pretty impressed, and so did even Jason. Bruce was the only one who had gone completely quiet for a moment. It took him a while to compose himself enough to speak again.
“You didn’t mention that back at the cave”, he said. Billy bit his lower lip.
“Sorry. I wasn’t sure if I should mention it, but I think… I think Captain Marvel would be okay with it. Since I trust you”, he said. The last words came out with more ease than he could have predicted.
“You’re getting mentored by Captain Marvel… you definitely need a secret name”, Stephanie grinned.
“I need to see that portal. Is it okay if I go to your room?” Dick said, already getting up.
“I think it’s okay?” Billy replied. He wasn’t sure how his own portals worked with the others, but Bruce was already evidence that others would not get harmed by going through them. Dick started heading toward the hallway, and Damian followed him in silence.
“Not going to let Grayson jump into a weird portal by himself”, he said when others shot him questioning glances.

“So, I know you’re not a zoo exhibit or anything like that”, Stephanie turned to look at Billy once Dick and Damian had gone, “but I would really love to know what kind of magic you have. If you’re not okay with showing me, that’s completely fine, but I think it would be pretty cool.”
Billy thought about it for a moment. Then he closed his eyes and concentrated, turning the palm of his right hand toward the ceiling. It took him a few tries, muttering a quiet spell, but soon he felt comforting warmth on his hand, and when he opened his eyes, a small flame had appeared. Both Stephanie and Jason leaned in to see it closer, and it looked like even Jason was fighting the urge to get up from his seat and take a closer look. Bruce hopped up and walked closer to Billy.
“That is very impressive and nice, Billy, but please, not when we are surrounded by books and other flammable materials”, he asked.
“Sorry.”

Chapter Text

When Billy woke up the next day, it took him a moment to realize that the previous day had actually happened. Somehow it wouldn’t have surprised him if the entire thing about Bruce being Batman was just something he’d conjured up in his dreams; it felt outlandish when he actually thought about it. When he got to the breakfast table, he still wasn’t perfectly certain that it hadn’t been just a weird dream, but actually seeing Bruce walk in the room cemented the truth – this was all real, and he still felt bad about keeping Captain Marvel a secret from everyone.

Usually, Bruce would leave for work after breakfast. This time he stood up, glanced at the hallway, and then looked at Billy.
“Do you want to come down to the cave with me?” he asked as Billy was getting up from the table.
“Huh?” Billy didn’t immediately even register what he’d heard. Bruce let out a small laugh.
“Now that the secrets are out, I should probably show you more about how things work around here. Of course, it would be too dangerous for you to actually get in the action, but there are no dangers in the cave”, he explained, gesturing toward the study.

Billy had wondered about the Batcave before. Batman seemed always so cool and powerful, which was a huge feat when he was surrounded by a bunch of extremely powerful people with actual superpowers. Even though he didn’t have magic or other super-abilities, he was able to deal with pretty much any situation. Now that he knew that Bruce was Batman… it was still absolutely extraordinary, but at least it gave him an explanation on how in the world a single person could afford all those gadgets.

“Batman usually goes out at night, so during the day, I try to do things that don't require the suit”, Bruce told Billy as they made their way to the clock and he moved the hands to the correct position, “the others might go out more during the day, it all really depends on the situation. Of course, I also need to keep up with my job at Wayne Enterprises, but I don’t really have any specific hours… Though lately, I’ve been probably working less than I’m supposed to. The board isn’t going to be happy with me at the next company meeting, even if Lucius does his best to cover for me.”
“Lucius… Fox? Didn’t I meet him when we visited the tower?” Billy asked. Bruce nodded and stepped into the elevator, with Billy following him closely behind.
“Oh, you did, didn’t you? He’s my business manager, and also behind most of the inventions Batman uses. Without him, I definitely wouldn’t be able to do what I do”, Bruce smiled fondly as he thought of his friend. Billy wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or slightly disappointed that Bruce didn’t craft every gadget he used but didn’t say that out loud.

“How many people know you’re Batman?” Billy asked. He had assumed that only the people in this building knew of the secret identity, but if this Lucius Fox was also on the loop, some others might be as well. Bruce had to think about the question for a moment.
“Not many. Everyone in the manor and Lucius, for the most part”, he said and furrowed his brows, “sure, there are some others who have learned the truth, but definitely not many. That’s the thing about secret identities. No matter how hard you try, hiding the truth from everyone is almost impossible. You just kind of have to wish that everyone who learns about it isn’t going to use that knowledge against you.”
“… Yeah”, Billy swallowed as the elevator stopped and they stepped into the cave. Everything felt almost as surreal as yesterday, even the gigantic dinosaur. Bruce had given him a brief explanation as to why it even existed, and Billy definitely considered getting something similar to the Rock of Eternity if only he figured out a good way to do so.

They made their way down to the computers and Bruce sat down. Billy, unsure of what to do, simply stood nearby and watched as Bruce navigated through the files on the screen.
“This is where I keep everything related to your case”, he explained as he worked, “I’m trying to gather everything we know in one place, so it’s easier to work through. I should add something about your magic here – did Mister Mind say anything more about it when you… met?”

Billy couldn’t have forgotten about his meeting with the mind-controlled Red even if he tried.
“He said something about wanting my magic to… “resurrect his fallen brethren”? I think those are the words he used” Billy thought back. Bruce furrowed his brows.
“He wants to resurrect other people?” he asked, “can… your powers really do that?” he asked.
“I can’t do anything like that”, Billy said. He was pretty familiar with his own powers, even as Captain Marvel, and that just wasn’t one of those. Surely the Wizard would have mentioned something about being able to resurrect the dead if that really was something he could do?
“But he’s willing to try anyway…” Bruce mumbled and typed something on the computer, “'brethren' is a weird choice of words. Not something just anyone would use.”

Billy tried to remember if Mister Mind had said anything else that could be useful right now, but most of the things alluded too much to him being Captain Marvel. Now, more than ever, he kept thinking about telling this secret to Bruce. It would be fair, wouldn’t it? He knew Bruce was Batman, and Bruce didn’t even seem too bothered about that, so maybe telling him the truth wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

“By the way”, Bruce spun around on his chair, turning to look at Billy instead of the computer, “how often do you meet with Captain Marvel? You meet with him through the portal, but how did you arrange your meetings with him? I’ve been meaning to talk to him, but he hasn’t answered my message yet.”

Billy could have sworn his face turned a couple of shades redder than normal but tried to act like it wasn’t happening. He’d forgotten about the message. Yesterday had been so full of new information and everything, so when he’d returned to his room, he hadn’t even checked the communicator.
“Um… We usually just decide the next meeting when we’re still training”, Billy spoke, trying to prevent himself from mumbling the answer, “and sometimes it’s just kind of random. Not really anymore, now that I’m in Gotham, but back when I still lived in Fawcett City.”

Bruce was quiet for a moment, and Billy just stood there, feeling like a defendant before a judge. Of course, he knew Bruce wasn’t actually accusing him of anything… but still.
“I’m sorry if this is a weird question… but what is he like when you two meet?” Bruce asked suddenly.
“What do you mean?” Billy asked before he could really process the question. Bruce leaned against the back of his chair, looking nowhere in particular.
“I’ve been trying to figure him out for a while. I wouldn’t be surprised if he acts completely different around Batman or anyone in the Justice League compared to others… You might even know him better than I do”, he explained. If it would have been socially acceptable and not totally suspicious, Billy would have immediately left the cave to think about his answer for a good few hours. Instead, he didn’t have that option, so he needed to come up with something on the spot.

“He’s really nice?” he answered slowly, trying his best to imagine Captain Marvel as a completely different person, “he likes teaching me how to use my magic and is pretty cool altogether. I don’t really know much about what he does when he’s at the Rock or anything, but probably something important.”
“I guess it’s no wonder he gets along with someone your age… I really don’t understand that guy”, Bruce muttered more to himself than to Billy, who felt like someone was squeezing his heart into a little scrunched up paper ball. He could almost hear the dislike in Bruce’s voice, and though Bruce obviously didn’t mean to aim it at Billy… it still was, at least technically. Billy bit his lip as he tried to decide whether or not to speak up and risk Bruce figuring anything out.

“You don’t like Captain Marvel, right?” he finally asked. He wasn’t even sure if he really wanted to hear the answer, but he needed to ask the question. Bruce let out a sigh and looked at Billy.
“It’s not that simple. I… appreciate what he does, and I know he does a lot of good work”, he answered slowly, really thinking before he spoke, “but I also think that a person with that much power should be much more responsible and diligent.”

Billy was quiet for a moment. It was pretty much the same thing Batman had told Captain Marvel when they met at the clock tower, just coated with nicer words. Obviously, Bruce wouldn’t tell Billy his true, unfiltered feelings about Cap. In his eyes, Billy was an innocent kid who desperately needed to be protected… and who really liked Captain Marvel. Bruce seemed to realize the last bit a little late and hurried to explain himself.
“But it’s fully possible that I don’t know him as well as you do. He’s been helping you and that’s definitely something I can respect. Maybe I just need to learn more about him”, he smiled uncomfortably. Fortunately, the conversation didn’t continue as the sound of a motorcycle filled the cave and someone drove right in. Billy took the chance to remove himself from the situation and hurried to see who had entered.

Now that he actually knew that Nightwing was Dick Grayson, it felt obvious. The only thing covering his face was a simple mask, and even that only covered his eyes. Nightwing parked the motorcycle near the other vehicles and made his way to Billy with a sunny smile on his face. Billy still felt a little bit nervous about what he and Bruce had been speaking of, but this was doing a good job at distracting him.
“You guys are really not wasting any time with getting Billy acquainted with the cave, huh?” he smirked and removed the mask from his face. Billy tried smiling himself and was almost surprised at how easily it happened.
“It would probably take a really long time to actually get used to everything”, Billy said, pointedly looking around. Everything was so new and foreign. He had gotten used to the Rock of Eternity pretty quickly, but this was an entirely different thing. The Rock was his place, no matter the previous owners or occupants. Maybe it didn’t feel like home, but at least it was familiar. The Batcave felt colder, even though its residents didn’t give off the same feeling.

“That’s true. You should have seen this place when B was just starting off – it really didn’t have the same technology or equipment. This was a pretty good time for you to arrive”, Dick gestured around.
“You were Robin back then, right? How old were you when you started?” Billy asked. Out of everything he had learned since yesterday, that was one of the most interesting things to him. Now that he knew about the whole “multiple different Robins” situation, he really wanted to know more.
“You’re going to make me feel really old…” Dick muttered but answered anyway, “I think I was around… eight, maybe nine.”
“You were younger than me?”
“Yeah. Maybe it isn’t really the ideal age for crime-fighting, but… well, it led me to where I am today.”

Billy tried to imagine Dick as a young boy. It was difficult.
“And Bruce let you fight? Even though you were really young?” he asked. His voice was slightly quiet, but still loud enough for Bruce to hear. He’d been silently following their conversation from the sidelines so far, but now he intervened with a slight smile.
“Don’t get any ideas. I don’t exactly regret training Dick at that age, but it’s not something I would do these days. I really put him in some dangerous situations”, he said, getting up from his chair, and walking up to them.
“But isn’t Damian pretty much my age? He’s the current Robin”, Billy pointed out. Bruce ran a hand through his hair.
“Damian is… a different case. He can tell you more if he wants to, but the short story is this: he only came into my life a few years ago, and he was already extremely skilled and well-trained at that point. It was a different situation from anyone else”, he explained. Billy did remember hearing something about Damian living with his mother before he moved in with Bruce and the others; suddenly, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to know more about the mother’s side of the family.

“But… it probably wouldn’t be the worst idea for Billy to learn some self-defense skills, right?” Dick asked, turning to look at Bruce, “even if he wasn’t in the know, he’s still in danger of getting attacked by zombies and other things – this is a perfect place to practice.”
Billy perked up. He had never really considered learning those kinds of skills as Billy Batson: whenever he was in danger, he could just turn into Captain Marvel to win almost any fight easily. After the kidnapping, he had wondered if that should change; there were still situations where changing into Cap just wasn’t possible.
“Could I?” he asked and also turned to Bruce, who took a good look at him.
“… Yes, that’s probably a good idea”, he admitted after a moment of thought and continued as Dick and Billy exchanged excited glances, “but let’s start slow and move on from there. Nothing too rough, and Billy needs to remember to tap out if anything hurts, even a little. Do you have any background with sports or self-defense in general, Billy?”

“I can run really fast?” Billy suggested. So far his self-defense had consisted of zapping bad guys with lightning bolts and other similar things, but that wasn’t what Bruce meant with his question.
“Yeah, so we need to start with the basics. You should probably change your clothes.”

---

Bruce had thought about teaching Billy self-defense before, but the timing had never seemed quite right. He had quickly regretted that decision when Billy had been kidnapped – some fighting skills would have probably helped him out, even if he got out of the situation with minimal injuries. Now that the bat was out of the bag and Billy knew about everything, there were no good reasons to not teach Billy about these things. Though Bruce was definitely going to teach Billy as well, he let Dick take over most of the training this day. He stood near the training area, leaning against a railing, and keeping an eye on the very beginner’s level practice.

It also helped that the entire manor was filled with people who were eager to teach Billy their skills. It didn’t take long for others to join them at the cave. First came Jason, who took one look at the practice area, huffed something about how this was finally happening, and joined the practice. Second came Stephanie, who managed to arrive at the exact moment Jason decided to demonstrate a particularly unsafe self-defense move against Dick, which resulted in the latter being thrown against the padded wall on the other side of the practice area with remarkable force. It was good form, Bruce thought with amusement, but unless Billy was going to get attacked only by children in the future, it wouldn’t really help him. Stephanie took a look at Bruce, then at Billy – who looked intimidated yet excited at the same time – and then at Jason. Once she realized that this was at least supposed to be some kind of lesson for Billy, she dashed into the area herself.

“What in the world are you doing!?” she chastised mostly Jason, as Dick took a short moment to take a breath and get up from the floor. Jason smirked.
“The kid’s learning self-defense. I’m showing him one way to keep thugs off of him”, he shrugged.
“Do you have any brains? Have you seen Billy? He’s not going to be able to do that to anyone”, Stephanie argued.
“Yes, let’s get back to things that are ACTUALLY going to help him”, Dick said as he reached the others.
“That was pretty cool…” Billy was almost glowing with excitement. Bruce couldn’t help but smile. He was incredibly happy with how easily Billy got along with pretty much everyone in the house: it had made the Batman-reveal so much easier than it could have been. He watched as the four continued on with the teachings. Maybe Billy wouldn’t learn a whole lot on his first day, especially with so many different teachers, but Bruce was willing to let that one slide – Billy was having fun, and after everything that had happened, that was more important than immediate self-defense skills. They weren’t going anywhere, so the manor and the cave were easily the safest places to be right now.

“Are you really going to let Todd teach him anything?”

Bruce turned around to face Damian, who stared at the others with an unconvinced look.
“I don’t think Jason actually believes Billy should learn how to throw opponents around”, Bruce said and looked at the others as well. Stephanie was showing Billy how to position his thumb in case he ever needed to punch someone. Bruce didn’t like the thought of Billy actually having to use that knowledge, but even if it wasn’t nice to think about, it could become useful in the future.
“You could teach Billy as well. You’re actually in a better position than the rest of us because you’re almost the same size”, Bruce mentioned. He didn’t actually think Damian would be interested – he was getting along just fine with Billy, but anything extra was still too much.

To his surprise, Damian didn’t outright dismiss his suggestion.
“I don’t want to teach any baby-level fighters. Maybe once he knows at least the basics”, he said. Bruce had to fight the urge to visibly shift in surprise, but apparently didn’t do it well enough, because Damian noticed the slight movement. The boy let out a sigh.
“Obviously, he’s staying here. He knows our identities. At one point or another, he’s going to get dragged into something, that’s just inevitable. It would be stupid to leave him completely helpless against something like that”, he explained. Damian’s arms were crossed, and he wasn’t looking at Bruce, but he was speaking so quietly that no one else in the room would be able to hear his words. Bruce smiled.

“You’re completely right, Damian”, he said with a nod, “but to be honest, Billy isn’t completely helpless even now. He does have some magical powers, and that’s not something we should ignore.”
“Right. Like the portal”, Damian said and looked up. Somewhere up there, the portal to Fawcett City was most likely still open, unless Billy had done something to close it last night. Bruce had almost forgotten about it. He had way too much to think about at the moment, and the portal was something that had just slipped his mind. He hadn’t even seen it since his first discovery the day before.
“I should probably check the portal again”, he thought out loud and turned toward the practice area again. Jason and Stephanie were once again arguing about something, though Bruce hadn’t concentrated enough to hear the topic of their argument. Dick and Billy were talking about something, completely ignoring the other two, and Bruce got the distinct feeling that they were talking more about Dick’s Nightwing suit than actual self-defense.

“Billy? Is it okay if I go to your room? I want to check on the portal again”, he asked. Billy tensed visibly for a small moment, then turned around with a slightly uncertain look on his face.
“Sure”, he replied despite the uneasiness in his voice.
“You don’t have to be worried. It’s just a quick check”, Bruce smiled. He hoped that it would be an encouragement. It wasn’t a surprise that Billy felt a little apprehensive about letting anyone use the portal: so far, he had been the only one to even know about them, so this was a big change. As Bruce made his way to the elevator, he noticed Damian trailing him.

“Didn’t you already see the portal yesterday?” he asked as they fit into the elevator and the doors shut.
“It’s magic. Why would you enter a magic portal with no backup?” Damian asked.
“Fair play.”

They didn’t exchange more words until they were in front of the closet. This time the door was properly closed, so the draft that had alerted Bruce the day before couldn’t be felt… but when he opened the closet door, the portal was most definitely still there. The only change in the room in front of them was a couple of barely visible footprints that Dick and Damian had left there during their last visit. This time Bruce didn’t even hesitate when he stepped into the weird room and took a better look around. Billy had probably gone to great lengths to find a place that no one would accidentally stumble upon. The windows were boarded shut and it seemed like no one had lived in this place for at least a couple of years, maybe even longer.

“So, Batson used this to meet up with Captain Marvel?” Damian asked, standing at the halfway point between the room in Fawcett City and Billy’s room in Gotham.
“It’s what he said. They definitely didn’t meet up in Gotham, someone would have noticed that”, Bruce said, taking a better look at the windows. All he could see was an empty alleyway with a dumpster and graffitied walls. He could see a sleeping man leaning against the dumpster, surrounded by a bunch of cans and bottles. When Bruce tried to move the boards blocking most of the window, he noticed that some of them moved around with just a little force – enough for someone Billy’s size to slip out of the window. They weren’t at the ground level, so jumping down into the alley would take some skill.
“Never thought I’d have to make a rule about secret portals in our manor…” Bruce muttered and took a step back. He didn’t like the idea of someone accidentally – or even worse, purposefully – finding the portal and using it to access Wayne Manor with no warning to anyone. Hopefully, Billy knew how to close this thing and would agree to keep it closed most of the time.

“This door is unlocked”, Damian said from the other side of the room.
“It probably leads downstairs. Hopefully, it’s abandoned as well”, Bruce said, picking up his phone again. Last time he’d gotten distracted, but this time he had the time to check the actual location of this house.
“I’ll check what’s down there”, Damian said as he opened the door and peeked in. Bruce couldn’t really see inside from where he was standing.
“Don’t go outside. It’s might get weird if anyone sees us exit this place”, Bruce warned.
“I’m not stupid, father”, Damian rolled his eyes, left the door wide open, and disappeared into the next room. Bruce sighed but continued checking on the location of the house. To his surprise – and it probably shouldn’t have been a surprise – the house was pretty close to the abandoned subway tunnels Billy first got attacked in. No wonder he had been able to find this place: Billy had probably lived in the area for a long time and knew most of the empty buildings very easily.

Bruce stretched his neck, breathed in, almost coughed thanks to the dusty air, and took another look out the window.

The man next to the dumpster was staring right at him.

Bruce stepped immediately back, and without even a moment’s thought, went to find Damian.
“Damian? Is everything okay?” he called out, stepping through the door Damian had used just a moment ago. It led to a short stairway, as he had suspected. Before Bruce could follow the boy downstairs, Damian appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
“Nothing new. Dust, boarded windows, almost no furniture. Did something happen?” he asked and quickly climbed up the stairs. Bruce put his hand on Damian’s shoulder and let out a breath he’d been holding.
“I’m not sure if this place is completely safe. Billy should probably know that he shouldn’t keep this portal open”, he explained. The man in the alleyway hadn’t moved at all, and the eye contact could have been just a weird coincidence, but it really didn’t sit right with him. Damian furrowed his brows but followed him further into the room. Bruce kept his distance from the window, very aware that maybe he should have worn his suit, even if this was supposed to be just a quick check-up.

“Did you see something?” Damian asked, his tone immediately quieter and lower. Bruce took another look toward the window.
“This place might be watched”, he whispered in response. Damian nodded, reflexively staying away from the window. Bruce decided to come here later, in full Batsuit and better prepared for anything and started walking toward the portal, closely followed by Damian.
“Yes… Billy should probably know about that”, the boy said.

Bruce had enough time to register that something was definitely wrong and almost turn around when something smashed against his head with enough force to send him to the floor. Having been in more fights than he could ever count, he managed to soften the landing slightly with his arms, but his head was ringing. Through a blur, he saw Damian picking something from the floor, then leaping toward him with another kick, aimed right at his head… and this one was enough to knock him out. The last thing he managed to see before completely blacking out was Damian entering the portal and closing the door behind him.

Chapter Text

When the practice had started, Billy had been pretty confident in himself. Not only was he the Champion, but he was also very good at running and other physical activities. Sure, training as Billy Batson was well-needed; he was short and skinny for his age, and though he’d put on some weight since moving into the manor, that fact really hadn’t changed that much. Still, he didn’t really expect any kind of actual challenge, at least not during the first few hours of training.

Oh, how wrong he was. After Jason and Stephanie were mostly done, thanks to Dick’s intervention, they had finally started actually doing something. It started small and simple: they’d act out an attack and an appropriate defense, after which Billy would try it out himself. There was the slight problem of everyone being much taller than Billy, but they decided to use that to their advantage. It was much more likely for someone taller to actually attack Billy, as evidenced by every single earlier attempt by Mister Mind’s zombies. Sometimes running away wasn’t an option – maybe he’d have to fight his way out in order to escape, or maybe he’d be locked in somewhere. Whatever the situation, Billy really didn’t want to get surprised and completely incapacitated.

After just a couple of rounds, Billy was starting to feel exhausted. They repeated each defensive move multiple times, and though everyone was definitely holding back, it was still a lot to deal with. This time Stephanie dashed toward him, and Billy barely managed to slide down in order to dodge the collision. He noted with slight annoyance that no one else seemed to be even slightly out of breath. Yeah, they probably jumped around the city every night and were used to extremely exhausting physical activities, but at this very moment, it just felt unfair. He pretty much never got tired when flying around the city or fighting bad guys, so getting out of breath after a little training felt disheartening.

“Pretty good!” Dick congratulated him with a wide smile, “maybe it could be a little bit faster, but really good for a first try! And if the opponent is bigger and clumsier, it’s definitely enough to at least distract them for a precious second so that you can get away.”
“Not if I don’t get up faster”, Billy sighed, “and not if there’s more than one attacker.”
“Hey. That attitude doesn’t help at all when you’re training”, Stephanie noted, her eyebrows furrowed, “it’s not supposed to be realistic when you’re starting out. When you’re training, you’re learning to control your body and teaching your brain new moves and reactions. Obviously, it’s not going to be the same as being out in the streets and getting attacked, but this is just preparing you for the real thing.”

Yeah, it’s not going to be the same as being out on the streets, Billy thought to himself as he stretched his arms. If he were out on the streets, Cap would take care of any attackers in a couple of seconds.

“Even though we’re obviously hoping that you won’t have to use these skills in a real life-and-death situation”, Dick added. Everyone knew that was hopeful thinking, but sometimes it was okay to be just a little bit hopeful. Sure, they didn’t know who Mister Mind was and how he was capable of creating the mind-controlling bugs, but now that no one was – at least probably – hiding anything important from Billy, they could work even faster to figure it out.

“How long did you train before you… you know, went out as Robin?” Billy asked, aiming his question at all three former Robins. He didn’t know much about anyone’s past, and he hoped this wasn’t an uncomfortable topic for anyone. At least no one seemed to be visibly annoyed by his question.
“It took a while”, Dick was the first to answer after a moment of thought, “maybe like… six months, at least, probably more. And even then B was pretty strict about me being a spectator.”
“You were supposed to just watch as he fought the bad guys?” Billy asked. Dick shrugged.
“I was eight. He probably shouldn’t have let me out there for at least a couple more years”, he said with a slight smile, “but that didn’t prevent me from getting out there and getting into trouble.”
“I keep forgetting how young you were…” Stephanie mumbled, “that’s practically still a baby. I was fifteen when I had my Robin-phase and even that’s pretty young!”
“But Bruce was okay with you fighting when you were that young?” Billy tried to keep his voice as normal as possible despite the hopefulness brewing inside him. He was still wondering if he should tell Bruce about Captain Marvel, and if he was actually okay with people his age being out there, it would be an easier decision. No matter what was going to happen, Billy didn’t want to stop being a superhero just because of his age.

“Different times. I think even he would admit these days that it was too young”, Dick replied, and the hope within Billy withered just a little bit. Sure, he was older than eight, but if Stephanie considered fifteen to be too young already…

Maybe Billy’s thoughts projected too well onto his face because suddenly it felt like everyone was looking at him in a different way than before. The only thing piercing the silence between them was the cave’s elevator starting to descend somewhere above them.
“But just so you know”, Stephanie spoke first, “it’s really, really not something anyone should rush into. Even Damian’s a special case – if Bruce would have had the choice, he probably wouldn’t have become the Robin at his age.”
Billy smiled uncomfortably.
“I’m not planning on becoming a Robin, you know. You don’t have to worry about that”, he said. Stephanie’s shoulders relaxed a little bit, and Dick seemed eager to change the subject.

“So, are you ready to continue training? Let’s see those moves”, he said, walking to his position. Billy let out a small sigh but nodded and went to his spot as well.

His moves hadn’t magically improved over the last few minutes, even though he had hoped for magical intervention. Maybe he was a little bit better than the first few tries, but nothing significant. The logical part of his brain knew it was supposed to go like this – no one became a master at these things right at the beginning. Yet, a little voice kept nagging at him.

After half an hour Jason took one look at him and crossed his arms.
“Okay. Training’s over for the day”, he said. Billy, still gathering his breath from the latest move, perked up.
“I can still keep going!” he argued. His limbs were aching and his breathing was heavy, but come on, they had been training for how long? An hour, maybe? He knew everyone in this house spent their nights patrolling Gotham and other cities, and they didn’t get tired that quickly.
“Nope. If you keep going, you’re going to undo everything good we did here”, Dick agreed with Jason on his way to fetch a water bottle. Billy was going to complain, but Jason fixed him with such a commanding stare, he didn’t dare say anything out loud. Fine. He wasn’t sure how exactly they’d “undo” anything they’d just done, but somehow it felt like arguing wasn’t going to get him anywhere. At least no one had told him anything like “this is never going to work”.

“What time is it anyway?” Stephanie asked. She spun around, trying to find the nearest clock.
“About lunchtime”, Dick answered before she could see the clock. A bright smile appeared on Stephanie’s face as she heard the words and it was almost a miracle she wasn’t already in the elevator, leaving all the others behind. No one else was in a similar hurry, but it was clear that they should make their way upstairs.

“So we can continue training tomorrow?” Billy asked and took a gulp from the water bottle Dick had handed him.
“Let’s see how you’re feeling in the morning and go from there. It’s not the end of the world to not practice every day, especially when you’re just starting out”, he said.
“As if you’d know anything about that”, Jason smirked. Dick threw him an annoyed glance.
“I have days off”, he said defensively as they started to make their way toward the elevator, where Stephanie was already waiting for them.
“You must be having those days off when no one else is around”, Stephanie continued the teasing. She had already called the elevator down, so all they had to do was step in. It wasn’t exactly designed for four people to use at once, but they managed to fit in surprisingly well – at least no one complained audibly.

“Ask B. Or Babs. Seriously, you know I have plenty of days off”, Dick said, managing to turn around just enough to make eye contact with Stephanie. From there, the little argument continued through the entire way up – Billy was only half-listening to them. He already knew that if it were up to him, they’d continue practicing tomorrow, even if his limbs still ached a little bit. He still wasn’t sure how exactly he was going to continue his duties as Captain Marvel now that the portal had been discovered, but Fawcett City would still be there once he figured out a solution. The city could do without him for a little while, and even if something bigger did happen, he would find a way to help.

Damian was waiting by the elevator once they reached the top. He looked a bit surprised to see them there: perhaps he hadn’t expected them to come up so soon.
“B still investigating the portal?” Dick asked as he stepped out of the elevator, followed closely by the others. Billy stepped out last and immediately turned around, watching as the grandfather clock slid back to its original place.
“Yes, he is”, Damian replied curtly. Billy could feel the boy staring at him even when he turned around. At least he hadn’t been there to witness most of the practice session – maybe it was because of their similar ages, but Billy felt self-conscious about his normal, human skills around Damian. Even though Billy was proud of his powers as Captain Marvel and it had taken him lots of time to learn control over them, it really wasn’t the same as learning to fight and move without superpowers.

“So, it’s really not a trick or anything?” Stephanie asked, “I mean, it isn’t just an illusion that looks like Fawcett City or something? We could fly over there another way and we’d be able to come right back through it?”
“It’s not a trick, it’s a real portal”, Billy said, his voice more annoyed than he’d anticipated. He was pretty sure he couldn’t even create illusions – although to be honest, he hadn’t tried. Maybe he should look into something like that. Stephanie raised her hands in surrender.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just really not experienced in… portals. Other than the orange and blue sorts”, she explained. She made herself smile with that one; Billy didn’t get the reference.

“Why are we just standing here? I’m going”, Jason let out an exasperated sigh and left the room. Stephanie and Dick exchanged amused glances before starting to follow him, although Dick didn’t manage to take more than a couple of steps before Damian interrupted him.
“Could I speak with you before you go?” he asked Dick, then gave the others a meaningful look, “alone?”

There was something weird about his voice: maybe he was even more serious than usual? Had he and Bruce found something on the other side of the portal? Dick must have noticed it as well because he stopped immediately and gave the boy a nod.
“We’ll be right there with you”, he said to Billy and Stephanie, then walked to the other side of the room with Damian. Billy almost wanted to stay behind, hide behind a piece of furniture or something in order to eavesdrop, but that would’ve just been stupid – there was no way he could have found a good hiding spot like that. He took a deep breath and followed Stephanie out of the room. Every now and then he got really jealous about Superman’s super-hearing: it would have been super useful right about now. Sure, Superman was way too nice and good to actually eavesdrop, but he did have that capability.

Fortunately, they hadn’t made Alfred wait. He was still in the middle of setting the table, and Jason had already jumped in to help him. Delicious smells wafted in from the kitchen, and even if Billy still was worried about what Bruce and Damian had been able to find behind the portal, he could put those worries aside for a moment just for this. He didn’t even feel the faint ache in his legs when he went to grab the plates to set on the dining table.

“Has everything been fine down in the Batcave, Master Billy?” Alfred asked in a gentle tone as he lay the silverware in their precise positions next to every plate. Billy didn’t know why the forks and knives needed to be in the correct order, but Alfred was definitely someone who knew what they were doing and probably had a reason for doing so.
“Yeah, everything’s good”, he said, placing the last plate on the table, “Stephanie, Jason, and Dick helped me train today. I’m not sure if I learned a whole lot yet, but…”
Billy finished up his sentence with a shrug. Alfred stopped for a brief moment with a contemplating look on his face. Stephanie was the first one to pick up on it.
“It’s just basic self-defense stuff. Billy was pretty good at it, especially for a beginner”, she smiled. Alfred let out the smallest sigh and smiled.
“That is probably for the best, although I must admit I had hoped that any sort of training would begin a little bit later”, he said, continuing with the silverware.

“It’s better to start as fast as possible”, Jason butted in, leaning against one of the chairs, “it won’t do Billy any good to just wait for the right moment to start training. Anything could happen at an—”

His sentence got cut off when something flew across the room. Billy didn’t even notice anything before Alfred had already stepped in front of him and caught the thing that had been flying toward Billy’s head. Billy blinked in surprise and saw that Alfred was now holding a black and blue stick. It looked vaguely familiar, but it didn’t click in Billy’s mind until he saw Dick at the other end of the dining hall.

Billy hadn’t known Dick for a long time – he’d known Nightwing just a little bit longer, but they’d never been close – but right now he could take one look at the guy and know that something was wrong. Maybe he was just disturbingly familiar with the empty look in Dick’s eyes, having seen familiar looks on other people. Chills crept up Billy’s spine as he reflexively moved behind one of the chairs.

Surprisingly, Dick was the first one to speak.

“Bring me. Billy. Batson”, he repeated the words Billy had already heard so many times before – it sounded even worse coming him. There was no time to think as Dick already bolted forward: Jason quickly moved in front of him, trying to grab at the man’s wrists before he could do anything else.
“How the fuck--!?” Jason grunted. Billy thought he looked physically stronger than Dick, but right now he was clearly struggling. The question was good – how in the world had Dick suddenly gotten mind-controlled? They had been together in the cave just moments ago, and the only time they’d gotten separated was when—

Something small rolled into the room, and suddenly the whole dining hall was filled with smoke. Billy felt someone pull him in another direction by his arm and automatically struggled against it until he realized it was Alfred, trying to get him away from the smoke. He could hear Jason and Dick scuffling on the other side of the room – at least Dick wouldn’t be coming after him at that very second. Heart pounding, Billy followed Alfred out of the dining hall and into the hallway, continuing toward the entrance hall. Stephanie had also managed to find her way out of the smokey cloud and coughed as she threw uncertain looks behind her.

“He might need my help”, she muttered, “he’s fought Dick before but this time it’s mind control, we don’t exactly know the rules here.”
“I’m quite certain Master Jason can hold his own for a little moment. We need to call the others here: especially Master Bruce”, Alfred said, though he couldn’t completely mask the worry in his voice. He was still holding onto Billy’s arm.

They only barely made it to the entrance hall before they were stopped. Something small flew toward Billy so fast he could barely notice it until he felt a sharp pain in his arm and let out a pained gasp. He would have stumbled back, maybe even fallen, if it weren’t for Alfred’s hold. The butler turned around to look at him while Stephanie jumped in front of them, trying to find the source of the attack.
“Master Billy, are you alri—”, Alfred began to ask but went quiet in the middle of his sentence. Well, that doesn’t bode well, Billy thought and forced himself to look at his own arm.

Well. That explains why Alfred didn’t feel like asking the question was really necessary. At first, Billy had thought he had only been cut by something sharp, and they’d find the object somewhere behind them. They wouldn’t have to go through that trouble now, as the object was partly stuck in Billy’s left arm. The thing looked like a red batarang. Billy regretted looking at it because now it felt like the pain was intensifying very quickly – he bit his lip in an effort not to start crying right there and then. He lifted his healthy arm in an effort to remove the blade, but Alfred stopped him gently.
“It will get worse if you rip it off now”, he explained in a serious yet compassionate tone, “it will hurt less if you just let it be and we will remove it later.”
Billy didn’t trust himself not to burst into tears if he spoke, so he just nodded. It did sound like Alfred really knew what he was talking about: no doubt he’d had to go through this same conversation too many times before.

There was a loud crash near the stairway and Stephanie let out a surprised yell. Alfred took a deep breath.
“We need to get you out of immediate danger. Keep your other hand there, keep some pressure on the wound. There is no ideal way to take care of this situation, but as long as nothing worse happens…” he muttered and nodded for Billy to follow him. Billy nodded again and tried to breathe as well, even though it wasn’t easy. He followed Alfred into the entrance hall.

Stephanie and Damian were fighting by the stairway. At least they knew where the red batarang had come from – Damian was holding another, identical weapon in his hands, trying to slash at Stephanie, who was dodging the strikes with amazing agility. Billy remembered how Damian had stared at him once they’d come up from the cave, and suddenly it made more sense. It hadn’t been because Damian still didn’t like him very much or because he’d been silently judging Billy because of the training: it was because he’d already been taken over by Mister Mind at that point.

“You’re better than this, Damian!” Stephanie scolded the boy as she dodged another attack. As good as she was, she wouldn’t be able to keep up with it forever – sooner or later Damian would be able to land an attack. It would have been great if she were able to talk Damian out of the mind control or even slow him down, but the determined look on Damian’s face didn’t waver. Another crash came from the dining hall, followed by a loud “thud!” as Jason got tossed into the hallway. Billy couldn’t see the man’s face from this far off, but he didn’t need to see even that much to know that he was getting pissed off.

“Master Billy!” Alfred called, hurrying Billy toward the front door. Billy tried to focus on getting out of the house – he didn’t know what the plan was after that, but they’d come up with something, right?

Billy did his best to ignore the burning pain in his arm and stepped into the rain. Down in the cave it had been impossible to know what kind of weather was waiting just outside, but this was the cliché Gotham weather. Alfred didn’t seem to mind at all that his pristine suit was getting immediately soaked, just focused on getting Billy out of the manor. Billy glanced back at the entrance hall, and for a brief moment, his eyes met with Damian’s. Maybe it was because he knew the boy was controlled or maybe he was just imagining things, but it felt like it really was Mister Mind staring right back at him.

Alfred was already trying to call Bruce, muttering something so quietly underneath his breath that Billy couldn’t make sense of the words. Instead, he tried to do as he had been told and kept pressure on the wound. Well, near the wound, as the batarang was still in there and it was making him increasingly uncomfortable.

The front doors banged open. Dick looked much more disheveled than before but was still clearly well enough to make another attempt at grabbing Billy. He couldn’t get close, though, because both Stephanie and Jason lunged at him from behind, ending up in one heap in front of the doors. Billy backed up as they tried to hold the man down… which unfortunately meant that no one was keeping their eyes on Damian, who flung himself over the others and aimed a fierce kick against Stephanie’s head. A small noise escaped her mouth as she rolled away from the fight, still conscious but holding her head in obvious pain.

Dick, now that he had only one opponent, was able to kick Jason away from him and stumble back up.
“You know what I want, Billy Batson!” Damian declared through the rain. He stood back as Dick ran toward Billy, who almost completely froze up – and then realized they had been practicing for these kinds of situations just earlier today. He hadn’t mastered the move and the conditions were definitely different than before, but maybe, just maybe…

Once Dick was close enough, Billy did his best to dodge the same way he’d been taught. The thing he hadn’t taken into consideration, which, in the hindsight, was pretty stupid, was the batarang still stuck to his arm. He gasped in pain when he slid down to dodge the attack and succeeded only partly. His head made contact with Dick’s calf, making Dick stumble and Billy even more disoriented than before. Jason used the moment to jump at Damian, but out of nowhere, froze where he stood.

Confusion was clearly visible on his face. Damian smiled a deeply uncomfortable smile that didn’t fit the boy’s face at all.
“The magic. Give it to me”, Damian said. He was keeping his eyes on Jason but directed his words at Billy. Dick was only a couple of feet away from Alfred, who hadn’t moved from his self-appointed position. Billy’s heart was pounding. If Mister Mind was doing something to keep Jason from attacking and Stephanie was away from the fight for a little longer, there wasn’t much Billy Batson could do to defend himself or the others from this attack. He knew what he should do, he obviously knew the way to end this fight… even though every nerve in his body was telling him to not reveal his powers in front of others. If he did it now, there was no going back. They would know the truth, and then it would start snowballing, and then everyone else would know the truth as well.

Billy took one last look around him. Everyone here was trying to protect him. Jason, who at their first meeting had simply told him to “not get stabbed”; Stephanie, who he’d only met a little while ago; even Alfred, the elderly butler, was putting himself between Billy and danger. Right now, it would be pure selfishness to let any of them get hurt by not letting the truth out.

“You want the magic?” Billy asked Damian, taking a deep, surprisingly steady breath, “here’s the magic.”

Damian seemed to register what was about to happen just as it happened. His eyes turned immediately back at Billy, but at that point, it was too late to try to stop anything.

“Shazam!”

Chapter Text

No going back. Billy saw the lightning flash just briefly before it hit him, bringing the familiar, warm feeling it always did. And then there was Captain Marvel, standing in the rain, suddenly towering over Damian’s much smaller frame.

Alfred took a startled step away from him. The lightning hadn’t struck him – he would’ve had to stand much closer to get hurt – but obviously, that wasn’t something he’d expected. His eyes met with Captain Marvel for just the slightest moment before Marvel concentrated on the current threats. Dick, who in his mind-controlled stupor didn’t seem even slightly affected by the sudden change, and Damian, who looked extremely annoyed. Sparks of lightning were already flying in his fingertips; right now he needed to be careful because he didn’t want to actually hurt anyone here, but he really could have used a big monster to unleash some of his angry energy towards. The batarang, previously stuck to his arm, dropped to the ground as the wound healed itself on Captain Marvel. The cut had been deep enough to probably still exist once he turned back into Billy, but fortunately, it shouldn’t be as bad once that would happen.

Despite the obvious change in power dynamics, Dick dashed toward Captain Marvel. The zombies were apparently really keen on making terrible decisions… or at least some of them. Damian was still standing back, keeping an eye on the situation. Marvel easily caught Dick before he could do anything to hurt anyone and took a firm hold of his arms. He really didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of knocking him out, but he also couldn’t remove the mind-controlling bug from his neck without someone’s help.

Before he could make a decision, Jason – now free from his previous paralysis – made his way over to them and, without any warning, slammed his hand against the back of Dick’s head. The body went limp in Captain Marvel’s hands.
“He’ll wake up”, Jason shrugged when Captain Marvel shot him a worried, almost panicked look. Marvel couldn’t decide if Jason had actually understood what just happened in front of his very eyes, but that conversation would have to happen later: Damian was still here and still mind-controlled, and before they took care of that, they didn’t have time for anything else.

“You cannot even hurt me”, Damian said with a slight smile as Captain Marvel carefully lowered Dick to the ground and stepped away from him, “you cannot fight an unknown opponent. You do not even have any other choice than to give your magic to me – are you really going to want to live the rest of your miserable life watching over your shoulder, worrying about who is going to come after you next? Think carefully.”

Captain Marvel dashed forward, grabbing a hold of Damian’s shirt. He knew this wasn’t Damian talking and he’d have to be careful not to actually hurt the boy, but wow, he really wanted to punch something right now. Like, properly punch. Possibly making something kind of explode.
“Get your magic somewhere else! Leave these guys alone!” he said, holding tight. Damian’s face didn’t even waver, and he still had that smug, annoying little smile on his face.
“I could just stay here. It is a comfortable body. And you will not hurt it”, he taunted, raising his arms as in to say, ‘prove me wrong if you dare!’

Well, obviously, he was right. Captain Marvel wasn’t going to hurt Damian, even if Damian wasn’t in control of his own body – especially since he wasn’t in control. Marvel used his other hand to feel the back of Damian’s neck, only to find nothing. Not the bump most of the other zombies had, just like Red. She had also been able to speak more than the one sentence the other zombies kept repeating, and she hadn’t had the bug in her neck. So, if that wasn’t controlling her or Damian, then what was? Captain Marvel wasn’t even sure how Red had broken out of her mind control: she’d been knocked out and once she woke up, she had been back to herself again. Even though Jason had just knocked Dick out, Marvel still didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of doing the same to Damian.

“There’s a holding cell back at the cave”, Stephanie said. She had finally risen from the ground and was pressing a hand on the spot where she’d been kicked – otherwise, she seemed to be in an okay condition. Her eyes hadn’t left Captain Marvel since the transformation, and her word sounded a little unsure: not because she didn’t know what she was talking about, but because she wasn’t absolutely certain who she was talking to.
“Don’t we just have to take the bug out of his neck?” Jason asked, walking up to them and shoving Damian’s head forward so he could take a look at the boy’s neck.
“He doesn’t have one. I’m not sure how to get him back to normal”, Captain Marvel admitted. Jason sighed, and before Marvel could even fully react, also knocked Damian unconscious… and looked disturbingly happy while doing so.

“It’s easier like this”, he said, glaring back at Stephanie and Alfred, who were giving him disapproving looks, though they faded fast enough; their focus snapped back on Captain Marvel, who fought the urge to just fly away and hide somewhere for the next couple of weeks.
“I’ll take him to the cave first, and… I’ll… explain after that”, he said before anyone could ask anything, lifting Damian fully into his arms. He wasn’t looking forward to the talk they were going to have, but it was something that simply needed to happen.

Even with the courage of Achilles, he couldn’t shake the nervousness creeping all over him.

---

Usually, when Billy turned into Captain Marvel, everything around him seemed smaller. Somehow that wasn’t the case with the Batcave. It still felt huge and imposing, both in size and presence. Jason had shown him a way in from the outside: it went through a waterfall, leading into tunnels that were, fortunately, easy to follow. Damian remained unconscious the whole way through, but Marvel couldn’t even concentrate on that. All of his thoughts were stuck on one thing and one thing only – he needed to tell the truth. He had been avoiding it all this time, but now the others had seen him transform, so he couldn’t keep it hidden. He didn’t regret it, but that didn’t stop the doubts gnawing on his mind.

Even though he had told the others to wait upstairs, Alfred met him at the cave. Captain Marvel took a deep breath as he landed on the floor.
“The holding cell is this way”, Alfred instructed. His voice was quiet, but Marvel could see the worried look in the old man’s eyes as he looked at Damian. They weren’t related by blood and, to Captain Marvel’s knowledge, hadn’t even known each other for more than a few years, yet the fondness in that look was undoubtable. Obviously, Marvel hadn’t been planning on chucking the boy into the cell like a sack of potatoes, but under Alfred’s watchful eye, he was extra careful when laying him down on the bed in the cell. Alfred locked the door once everything was done, and for a moment, they just stood there in complete silence. Captain Marvel couldn’t even imagine what Alfred must have been thinking right that very moment, but the saint he was, he didn’t bring up any of those questions just yet.

“How are you feeling?” he asked instead. It took a moment for the question to register.
“Me? Yeah, I’m fine. I’m okay”, he said, unsure of the right answer. Alfred was quiet for another moment that felt like an eternity, just watching him with those annoyingly perceptive eyes, then nodded.
“Let’s go to the others, then”, he finally said and nodded toward the elevator. Captain Marvel nodded, fought back the urge to flee to the Rock of Eternity and stay there for a couple of months, and followed the butler to the elevator.

Jason and Stephanie were in the middle of a quiet conversation when they got back up. They went quiet the very second Captain Marvel and Alfred entered the study and turned to look at them. Dick was laying on a nearby sofa on his stomach, still unconscious, and a slightly bloody bug was set on the table next to them. At least that could be taken care of without a holding cell.

Marvel had no idea how to start the conversation, so thankfully Jason took over.

“Where’s Billy?” he asked. Captain Marvel was taken by surprise – he hadn’t expected this question, especially to start with.
“Huh?” was the only sound he got out of his mouth. Jason walked up to him, a weird, suspicious look in his eyes. Stephanie followed shortly after, not quite as suspicious, but very clearly confused.
“You did some weird magic thing with him. Where’s he? Did you swap places?” he continued, and Captain Marvel realized what was going on. For a moment, he was tempted to go along with this lie: he could just say he’d sent Billy somewhere safe and was able to switch places with him. But the more he thought about it, the worse he felt – no, he had decided that he was going to tell the truth and wouldn’t be swayed!
“He—we—there was no place-swapping”, he said, trying to find any words that could adequately explain everything.
“Because he was pretty badly hurt”, Jason continued, probably not even listening to his words, “and I don’t know where you were but it’s a pretty fucking shit idea to send him anywhere else right now, so get him back here. Right now.”

“Master Jason”, Alfred said while Captain Marvel was still struggling with words, “I do not think that’s quite what has happened here.”
“What else could it be?” Stephanie asked, “I thought he sent some kind of emergency signal to Captain Marvel and that’s how you knew how to get here.”
“Or you were keeping an eye on him”, Jason filled in the thought. Okay, here we go, Marvel thought to himself. No going back.

“I’m Captain Marvel”, he blurted out as fast as he could. It took him a moment to realize his mistake as everyone just stared at him with confused looks on their faces.
“I mean”, he hurried to continue, “I’m Billy. And Captain Marvel. They’re both me. Billy and Captain Marvel.”

Apparently, he hadn’t even known what silence meant before this very moment. It felt like even the house had gone quiet following his words. Mostly he could just hear his own breathing and the thumping of his own heart.

“… No, you’re not?” Stephanie’s voice was barely a whisper.
“Yeah”, Captain Marvel said, running his hand through his hair, “it’s a… magic thing.”

A magic thing? Why couldn’t he form words properly?

“I can change back. But we need to go outside, I don’t want to destroy the house”, he said, yearning to move around and get rid of some of the energy that was whirling inside him.
“What do you mean, ‘destroy the house’?” Jason asked but followed him nonetheless. Stephanie threw a bewildered look at Alfred, who placed his hand on her shoulder and followed them as well.

It was still raining. Captain Marvel welcomed the cooling sensation and stopped once he was far enough from the house and the others.

“Shazam!” he called out when everyone was outside. Transforming to prove himself had felt like a great idea just a few seconds ago. Now that Billy was back, he kind of wished he hadn’t done so. His hand flew to his arm, which was still bleeding from the batarang incident. It wasn’t as bad as it had been, but the pain was still wildly uncomfortable. On top of that, he could feel tears stinging the corners of his eyes. He wasn’t sure if those were because of the pain, the shock, or the situation in general, but they were definitely there.

Alfred was immediately by his side.
“We can finish this conversation inside”, he said, putting a stop to any questions before they could be spoken. Billy took in a shaky breath and hurried inside. However anxious he’d felt about everything as Captain Marvel felt so, so much worse as Billy Batson – it was like he was going to explode from the pressure of it all. A part of him knew he didn’t have to worry that much, that it would be okay, but another part was shouting at him to run away. He really felt like if Alfred hadn’t been gently holding onto his shoulder, he would have turned around and just disappeared from the manor. But the hand was there, and it led him back inside, back into the study. He sat onto a sofa on the opposite side of Dick, who hadn’t moved even an inch in his sleep.

“Is it true, Billy?” Stephanie asked once they were all settled. Billy had removed his hoodie so Alfred could take a better look at the injured arm and fix him up.
“… Yeah”, he said, “I’m Captain Marvel. It’s…”
“… a magic thing?” Alfred finished his sentence with a slight smile. Billy nodded and let out a little hiss of pain when Alfred started cleaning his wound.
“How does that even work?” Jason asked. Earlier, he’d seemed almost angry in his inquiries – now he was just confused. Maybe he still looked a little bit annoyed, but from what Billy had seen so far, that seemed to be a normal emotion for him.
“I say a magic word and transform. It’s still me, but I’m just also Cap”, he explained, staring everywhere except for the wound that was being cleaned, “the Wizard chose me as his Champion, and I’ve been Captain Marvel ever since.”

To him, it sounded simple. To the others, apparently not so much.
“That’s a whole lot of magic stuff”, Jason said after a moment. Billy shrugged.
“I just really like being Captain Marvel”, he said, still a little choked up, “and when the Justice League is going to find out, they’re going to kick me out and not let me back in because I’m too young. And I really, really don’t want that.”

Dick moved a little in his sleep but didn’t wake up. Stephanie and Jason exchanged looks, but it was Alfred who spoke first.
“But you do realize why the Justice League would feel… apprehensive about having a twelve-year-old in their ranks, don’t you, Master Billy?” he asked. He had finished cleaning the wound and was assessing the damage afterward. Billy didn’t look at him.
“Because they think I’m a kid who doesn’t know how to handle himself”, he said, staring stubbornly at the floor, “even though I’ve been doing this stuff for three years and fought a bunch of supervillains. And I have more superpowers than most of the League members!”

“It’s not all about the powers”, Stephanie pointed out. The shock of the moment lessened the defensiveness in her voice.
“I know. Sorry. But they do help a lot”, Billy said, only momentarily glancing up before returning his gaze to the floor. He knew that he could probably win a fight against both Stephanie and Jason but saying that aloud would have felt too smug.

“Let’s back the fuck up”, Jason interrupted, waving his hand in the air, “I’m still stuck on the part where Billy is Captain fucking Marvel. Captain Marvel is TWELVE YEARS OLD. And you guys are just accepting that this quickly?”

Stephanie shrugged.
“I don’t know. He transformed in front of us?” she said, glancing at Billy with uncertainty. Jason turned to Alfred, probably in order to demand an answer as well, but didn’t speak when he noticed that Alfred was once again trying to call someone. Well, not exactly “someone” – it was easy to guess who he was trying to reach.
“Bruce isn’t answering?” Billy asked. He hadn’t really thought about Bruce in the middle of the battle, and now he felt bad about that. Damian and Bruce had entered the portal together, and somehow Damian ended up possessed and Bruce was nowhere to be found: clearly, something had happened.
“No, he is not. It’s worrying”, Alfred replied. His face was filled with absolutely genuine concern and for a moment, Billy forgot they weren’t actually related to each other.

“We could go look for him?” Billy suggested, glancing at the ceiling. The portal should still be up, and since Bruce hadn’t joined them just yet, he probably wasn’t at the mansion. He would have to rethink even having the portal where it was – Billy didn’t know how Mister Mind had taken over Damian’s mind, but it had probably happened in person after he’d entered the portal. The location was now compromised.

Before they could come up with a plan, Alfred suddenly spoke up.
“Master Bruce?” he asked, making everyone tense up in anticipation. They couldn’t hear the answer on the other end, but Alfred’s relieved smile told them all they needed to know.
“There was an… incident here, at the manor. We can speak more about it once everyone has gathered. Where are you?... Excuse me? I will… I will ask about it.”

Alfred lowered the phone a little to look at Billy, who felt nervous all of the sudden.
“Master Bruce told me he is at Fawcett City and that the portal he used is gone”, he said. Billy blinked in surprise.
“Gone?” he repeated. Sure, it wasn’t too difficult to get rid of the portal – he’d been closing it all the time by messing with the symbols on the closet door – but he hadn’t realized that anyone else would realize how to do so. This definitely explained why Bruce wasn’t already back. Alfred nodded, listened to the phone a little more, and looked at Billy again.
“Are you able to create another portal?” he asked.
“If the symbols are still intact over there, yeah”, Billy nodded. He had no problems with creating another portal at the manor as he knew the symbols well enough, but if Mister Mind had somehow known to remove the symbols over there as well, it would be a harder situation.

Bruce said something on the phone.
“What kind of symbols are we looking for, Master Billy?” Alfred asked.
“Uh… there should be a bunch of small symbols near the door handle, written in pencil. The symbols are kind of hard to explain”, Billy said. He’d only really spoken about his magic with the Wizard, and the Wizard was already an expert with the symbols and everything related to these things. Just trying to explain anything like this felt like trying to learn a whole new language all of the sudden. Fortunately, it seemed like he didn’t need to explain any further.
“Oh. That does complicate things”, Alfred replied to something Bruce had said, then looked at Billy once more, “there are no symbols near the door handle, but it seems like someone has erased something.”
“… Oh”, Billy repeated, “then I can’t really open the portal the same way I did before…”

It wasn’t a huge problem: he could still use a portal to reach Bruce and help him get back to the manor. It wasn’t even a real problem for Bruce, who could just get a private plane and fly back to Gotham City in a manner of hours. But now his secret was out to Alfred, Jason, and Stephanie, and even though they might have been able to keep it a secret, at this point it didn’t seem like a fair thing to ask of them. No, ever since he’d learned about the others’ secret identities, it hadn’t felt fair to keep Captain Marvel a secret from anyone, least of all Bruce. He would have to come clean to everyone, and this was his chance to speak with him in person.

“Can you… can you tell him that Captain Marvel can make a portal for him? They… probably need to talk anyways”, Billy asked, his voice so quiet that Bruce couldn’t possibly hear him over the phone. Alfred nodded after a small moment, seeming to catch his drift.

Once again, Billy couldn’t hear Bruce’s answer, but judging by the look on Alfred’s face, that statement wasn’t received too well. Even if that was the case, it didn’t matter – Billy already knew Bruce’s thoughts on Captain Marvel, and hopefully now they could make things a little bit better. The memory of Batman scolding and slapping him was still fresh in his mind, but that was before Bruce had known the connection.

Still absolutely nervous, Billy got up from the sofa, ready to head outside once more. Alfred exchanged a couple more words with Bruce before ending the call, and Jason was back to making sure Dick was still breathing. He hadn’t woken up during their conversation, but he didn’t seem to be hurt too badly: right now, it just seemed like he was sleeping.

“I’ll explain everything once I’m back”, he said, “could you… call the others here as well?”
“Of course”, Stephanie said, already picking up her phone and starting to type a message to the group chat, “are you sure you don’t need any company when you’re speaking to Bruce?”

Worry must have shown on Billy’s face much more than he’d realized. He attempted a smile.
“It’s okay. We’re both Justice League members”, he said. Jason snorted.
“I’d love to see that reaction…” he said, his smile wistful, “that’s gonna be a fucking riot.”

Alfred threw Jason a warning look.
“It’s going to be fine, Master Billy”, he assured. Billy nodded, trying to believe the words as much as he could. It was going to be fine. Even if Bruce really didn’t like Captain Marvel, he liked Billy well enough, right? That should even the scales a little bit, right? The earlier slap he’d received from Batman still haunted his mind, but he needed to get rid of those thoughts. That was then, now was now.

When he started to walk to the front door, both Jason and Stephanie followed him.

“I really want to see the transformation again, just to make sure I really saw what I think I saw”, Stephanie smiled apologetically.
“Bruce is going to lose his fucking mind”, Jason smirked, entirely unapologetic.

Chapter Text

Bruce was chastising himself about twenty different things. He should’ve worn the suit before he entered the portal. He should have noticed something was wrong with Damian before it was too late – hell, he should have been able to defend himself, even if the attack came as a complete surprise. Better yet, he should have been able to predict that something like this would happen and had a better plan. Sure, this was never supposed to be a thorough investigation – more like a quick check – but still, he felt stupid. Because of his own actions, Mister Mind had managed to mind control Damian and get into the manor. Bruce had woken up with a headache and the realization that the door didn’t function as a portal any longer. To say that he had been annoyed, worried, and pissed off would be an understatement.

Thankfully, according to Alfred, nothing irreversible had happened… which led Bruce to his next grievance: apparently Captain Marvel, of all people, had shown up to help them. Captain Marvel, the same person he’d been trying to set up a meeting with and who’d been ignoring his messages. Yes, apparently Marvel and Billy had been working together for a while and it wasn’t completely unthinkable that the man would be keeping an eye on Billy, but Bruce still didn’t like the thought of anyone outside of the family monitoring his manor. Now, he wasn’t even in his suit as Captain Marvel was going to create a portal for him and they were going to come face to face: it was like adding insult to injury. Batman would have had a much better reason to berate the man than Bruce Wayne did, but he’d make do.

Just a couple of minutes after the phone call with Alfred had ended, the door Bruce had used earlier glowed and opened. He took a few quick steps back, even though he knew who was most likely to come through – well, maybe because he knew. Captain Marvel stepped through the door and smiled sheepishly once their eyes met. He seemed nervous: good. Maybe Bruce couldn’t lay into him about not answering Batman’s messages or meeting up with him as soon as possible, but there would be other subjects to approach.

“Are you okay?” Captain Marvel asked.
“Nothing I can’t handle”, he replied, not taking his eyes off the man in front of him. Something was strange about him. Not in a “mind-controlled, about to attack” kind of way, but in a more subtle, nervous way. It was almost worse than the first option. Captain Marvel opened the door a bit more, gesturing for Bruce to follow.

He better not disappear immediately after we’re back at the manor, Bruce thought before walking up to the door. However, he stopped before stepping through.

“That’s not my manor”, he said, even though it didn’t even need to be said. The earlier portal had shown Billy’s room even when he only looked in from the Fawcett City side. Right now, he could see no such thing: just a dark place filled with stone, almost humming with strange energy. Bruce took a step back.
“It’s the Rock of Eternity”, Captain Marvel explained, “it’s how I travel through the portals.”

Bruce hated the fact that he was kind of interested in seeing the Rock of Eternity for himself. He’d heard Marvel talk about the place every so often, even explaining a little bit about how it worked, but to Bruce’s knowledge, no one else had really entered it except for Marvel himself. Bruce wanted to be more skeptical about Marvel’s intentions – surely he could create a portal like Billy had – but no matter how many disagreements they had, he really didn’t think Captain Marvel was going to murder him or anything like that.

Bruce let out a breath and stepped in. He’d expected the Rock of Eternity to feel cold and was surprised by the lack of chills. Captain Marvel followed him in and shut a door behind them.

“Can we talk? Before we go back to the manor, I mean”, he said. Bruce turned around, crossing his arms.
“Why can’t we talk at the manor, where the others are?” he asked. God, he wished he could just materialize his suit whenever he wanted. While Captain Marvel was trying to come up with an answer, Bruce took the moment to really look around.

The Rock of Eternity was huge – so big that Bruce couldn’t simply look around and immediately know everything about it. Dark rocks and pillars surrounded them, but more curiously, there seemed to be dozens and dozens of doors around. They weren’t really attached to anything and seemed like they could have come straight from a factory. This was not what Bruce had expected when he’d tried to imagine what the Rock of Eternity would be like: it was just… so dark. Compared to the man clad in bright red and yellow, it didn’t fit.

“We could talk about it back at the manor, but I think it’s better if we have the conversation right here”, Captain Marvel said. He still hadn’t mentioned what he wanted to talk about, and Bruce didn’t like how he was dodging the subject.
“Well, I’m here. It’s not like I’m going anywhere by myself”, he said. He could take the same door they’d just used and probably end up back at Fawcett City, but it was just as likely he’d end up in the middle of the Sahara Desert – Bruce wasn’t willing to take that risk just now.
“Yeah. That’s true. So, here’s the thing”, Captain Marvel began, taking a couple of steps back so there was at least a ten feet distance between them, “you know how you had that theory that I was C.C. Batson?”

Bruce opened his mouth and closed it before any words could come out. Yes, he’d had that theory… but never discussed it with Captain Marvel as Bruce Wayne. Marvel seemed to realize the same thing as he hurried to continue before Bruce could gather his thoughts.
“So, no, that’s not the case. But it’s kind of close. Please, don’t be angry”, he said.
“What the hell are you trying to—”
“Shazam.”

Lightning struck Captain Marvel right where he stood. Bruce quickly moved back, momentarily shaken by the loud noise and bright light… and when his vision returned to normal, Billy was standing in front of him.

It didn’t make sense.

Then it did make sense.

And then EVERYTHING made sense.

Bruce prided himself on being a good detective. Maybe he himself wouldn’t go as far as calling himself the “greatest”, but he understood those people as well. He was perceptive and well-trained with tons of experience solving all kinds of crimes and situations. Still, magic was something he couldn’t really take into consideration – he didn’t know enough about magic and the weird ways it worked, and that was one of the reasons he really, really didn’t like magic in the first place. This was just proof that he was right in disliking magical things: he wasn’t sure if he ever could have come up with the correct answer to the mystery of Captain Marvel. Yes, the clues were there: he hadn’t seen the two in the same place at the same time, the similarities with C.C. Batson, the magic that Billy had already told them about, the way Captain Marvel just seemed so naïve and innocent compared to pretty much any other adult in the Justice League. All this time Bruce had just thought that Marvel was childish – never had he thought that he was talking to an actual child.

Billy Batson, nonetheless. The boy was silently watching the puzzle pieces connect and holding his breath. He seemed even smaller than usual, even younger. He’s twelve, for God’s sake, and how long had Captain Marvel been around by this point? At least three years? That was how long Bruce had known about his existence. Captain Marvel had simply appeared one day in Fawcett City, this man with powers that could challenge Superman… and he had been, at most, nine years old and an orphan, jumping from one foster home to another until he’d just begun living on the streets.

Bruce and Billy just stared at each other for a moment.

“You’re Captain Marvel”, Bruce finally said.
“… Yeah”, Billy admitted. His voice was barely louder than a whisper and he had a hard time standing still.
“You’ve been Captain Marvel… this whole time?”
“Ever since I got my powers three years ago.”

Bruce leaned against a shut door. Even more memories were flooding into his brain as if a dam had been broken. Just how happy Captain Marvel had been about becoming a member of the Justice League, and how nervous yet excited he’d been when he first met Batman. How surprised he’d been when Batman had accused him of being C.C. Batson… and what happened afterward at the Clock Tower that night. Bruce hadn’t felt bad about hitting Captain Marvel, not even once he’d learned that he probably wasn’t C.C. Batson. Maybe it was something he should have thought about a little more, but Captain Marvel had been keeping secrets from him, and when those secrets had anything to do with Billy, they weren’t acceptable.

But this wasn’t a super-powerful adult keeping secrets about a child. This was a super-powerful, lonely child keeping secrets about himself because he’d never had anyone he could actually trust with that burden. And then Batman, the person he’d been so happy to meet and to work with, had hit him, scolded him, and been nothing but mean to him. An adult could take that, especially one that had done something wrong and needed a wake-up call. But this was Billy, and even worse than all that, he’d learned that the person who’d done all that had been the same man who was supposed to take care of him.

“Fuck”, Bruce muttered and pressed his hands against his face.
“Don’t be angry”, Billy repeated. He hadn’t moved closer – probably keeping a distance just in case Bruce wouldn’t take the news well. Realizing that made Bruce’s heart feel like someone had gripped it and squeezed it tight.
“I’m not angry at you”, he managed to say after a moment, “I’m just… I didn’t expect that, and if there’s someone I’m angry at, it’s myself. Billy, I’m so… I’m so sorry. I’ve done horrible things to you.”
“You didn’t know it was—”
“Even if I didn’t know, I did them. I just—Christ. I wanted to make sure that you were safe and cared for and I ended up making things worse. I can’t imagine how hard things are already, and then I started to make them worse by suspecting Captain Marvel of everything.”

“… But I lied to you. And everyone else. Isn’t that bad?” Billy asked. Bruce smiled wearily.
“I would be the biggest hypocrite if I got angry at you over having a secret identity”, he said, straightening his back and taking a deep breath. Get yourself together. There will be time to think everything through and wallow over the mistakes he’d made, but he shouldn’t completely shut down in front of Billy.

“Does anyone else know?” he asked after he took a moment to collect himself, “and I mean anyone, not just anyone at the manor.”
“Alfred, Jason, and Stephanie found out less than an hour ago. I couldn’t help in a fight without transforming”, Billy admitted, counting the people with his fingers, “then there’s the Wizard… and Doctor Sivana and Black Adam. And Harley found out when she rescued me.”

Bruce did his best to suppress a groan. That was a manageable amount of people, but he really didn’t have to deal with Harley Quinn any more than necessary. He did begrudgingly admit that Harley had done a good thing when she helped Billy without – apparently – any ulterior motives. He was more worried about two other names on that list.
“Sivana and Black Adam know?” he repeated. He recognized both names, though he hadn’t faced either man himself. He’d known Thaddeus Sivana by reputation before the man had gone to prison: he’d been a well-known scientist and worked as the head of Sivana Industries. Although he had never been especially liked by his own community, his descent into supervillain-levels of infamy had been a big shock. He wasn’t quite as familiar with Black Adam, mostly just connecting the name to Captain Marvel.

“It shouldn’t be a huge problem”, Billy said, though it was easy to hear that he wasn’t perfectly certain, “Sivana is in prison, and I have a truce with Black Adam.”
“A truce?”
“We try to stay away from each other. It’s been working.”

Bruce made a mental note to ask Billy about Black Adam later. As much as he wanted to know as much as he could, he didn’t want to overload Billy with questions upon questions about his personal life. The boy had just taken a huge step in trusting Bruce with his secret, and Bruce respected that… Even though, if he was being perfectly honest, he wasn’t sure if he liked this development. It would have been so much easier to just be angry at Captain Marvel and leave things at that.

They were quiet for a moment.
“Does this mean I have to leave the Justice League?” Billy asked. It was clear the question had been lingering in his mind for a while now. Bruce hadn’t even thought that far yet, as he was still kind of stuck on the whole “holy shit Billy is actually Captain Marvel” thing. Just a little while ago he would have been pretty happy with kicking Captain Marvel out of the League – now he wasn’t sure what to say.
“The age limit is there for a reason; you know that, right?” he sighed. All the founding members of the Justice League had agreed that every member should be at least 18 years old. To be perfectly honest, back then, Bruce had been the one person to even think about suggesting otherwise. He didn’t exactly have the perfect track record of keeping children out of dangerous situations.

“Captain Marvel has an adult body. And the Wisdom of Solomon! That should count for something, right? And I’ve been fine so far”, Billy said after a moment of nervous fidgeting. Any other time, Bruce would have been able to think clearly – or at least more clearly, if not completely – about this whole thing… but right now he wasn’t ready to move right into those waters. It wasn’t something that needed to be dealt with immediately, so it could be put aside for now.
“I’m not the only one who decides about these things. You don’t need to tell everyone, especially not immediately, but it would be easier if Superman and Wonder Woman knew this about you”, he said. Billy’s entire body visibly relaxed.

“I don’t have to tell everyone?” he asked, a smile forming on his face.
“If you’re not ready, I’d say you don’t. But some people should know, and I trust both Superman and Wonder Woman. Do you think that would be okay?” Bruce said. It wasn’t like all League members knew each other’s secret identities – only Batman was familiar with pretty much all of them, with or without their knowledge. Yes, it might have been nice for others to know they had been working with a secret twelve-year-old, but at least this way Billy wouldn’t be completely alone with his secret.

Billy had to think about his answer for a while.
“Do you think they’ll be okay with it?” he asked. Bruce was quiet for a moment. Clark and Diana were both very good with kids, there would be nothing wrong on that front; he didn’t have to worry about them making a big scene right in front of Billy. That wasn’t what Billy wanted to know, though: he was clearly asking if they would be willing to have Captain Marvel in the Justice League despite this revelation. This, Bruce wasn’t as sure about. He knew what the immediate gut reaction would be, which would be absolutely not, he was too young. They had always disapproved of Bruce having such young sidekicks, even – or especially – when it was just Dick. At least this time it would be fairly obvious that Bruce hadn’t specifically trained Billy to be a superhero.

“They’re going to be concerned, that much I know”, Bruce said after a while, “but even if they don’t think it’s safe for you to be in the Justice League, they won’t tell anyone your secret without your permission.”

It didn’t seem to be the answer Billy had hoped for. It had, however, been something he’d expected.

“Everyone’s going to look at me differently”, he let out a sigh. Bruce took a step closer to the boy and gently put his hand down on his shoulder. Billy didn’t flinch away, which Bruce took as a good sign. Bruce knew that to be true. Few people knew Batman’s identity, but with those who’d found out, there was always a little strange period of time when everyone tried to get used to this new fact. Hell, he knew it would take him more than a few days or weeks to get used to Billy being Captain Marvel. It wasn’t something he should sugarcoat, because Billy wasn’t stupid. Maybe he was young, but he would be able to notice when people treated him differently or even looked at him in a different way. Lying about it would just make him feel even worse about it.

“Maybe. But it’s not a terrible thing. Didn’t you just find out about Batman a little while ago? It would be a miracle if that didn’t change the way we interacted, even if it wasn’t a huge change.”

Billy shrugged.
“I guess. But it’s still going to be really weird with everyone”, he said.
“Probably. Still, even if it’s going to take a while, we’re going to get used to it”, Bruce said with a smile. Billy looked up.
“I can still stay at the manor?” he asked. It felt like the question itself had punched Bruce in the gut, and it took him a small moment to recover.
“Of course. Without a doubt, Billy. You don’t have to worry about that. Yes, getting used to you being Captain Marvel is going to take a while, but you’re still you and I know you’re a good person. I wouldn’t kick you out just because of something like this.”

Billy took a deep breath in as he processed the words. Bruce kept a hand on the boy’s shoulder. Billy’s hesitation didn’t come as a surprise – he had seen it before, and no matter what he said, it would stay until proven wrong by actions, not words. When Billy didn’t say anything else, Bruce took it as a sign to move the conversation forward.

“We should go back to the manor. Can you… get us the correct portal?” he asked, taking an investigative look around. He would have loved to explore the place more, but this was not the correct time for that. If Billy was willing to help, Batman could return later to take another look.

Billy nodded and took a step back. Bruce almost moved with him, but Billy waved his hand away.
“You don’t want to get shocked”, he said with an uncertain smile, “Shazam.”

A lightning strike, some smoke, and Captain Marvel was once again standing in front of Bruce. Bruce stepped closer, now equipped with the knowledge of the man’s – well, the boy’s – true identity. By all means, he seemed like an adult man… yet now that he knew what to look for, he could see Billy in those eyes. It didn’t feel right, and it probably wouldn’t feel right for a long time, but it was what it was. He lifted his hand and experimentally touched Marvel’s – Billy’s – he would need to figure this out as well – shoulder, almost testing if it was actually there or just an elaborate illusion.

“Uh… Bruce?” Captain Marvel asked, looking at him with slight worry. Maybe it was because Bruce now knew him to be Billy, but despite the voice sounding nothing like Billy’s, he could almost hear the boy in the way Marvel spoke. At the same time, his previous encounters with Captain Marvel kept replaying in his head, homing in on everything terrible that had been said. Bruce couldn’t even remember everything he’d said, and right now he wished he’d just shut up and let Billy come up with some sort of explanation for all this weirdness. God, him bringing up C.C. Batson just like that must have awakened some terrible memories, and the accusations that had been thrown his way… it was a miracle that Billy wasn’t more disgusted or frightened of Batman.

This… would really take some time to get used to. Many secret identities in the Justice League had come to him as a surprise, but he couldn’t remember any one of them hitting in quite the same way.

“Sorry”, he apologized and took a step back, “like I said. it’s going to take a while.”

Captain Marvel smiled and opened a nearby door. Bruce could see the entrance hall on the other side.

“Thanks”, Marvel said. Bruce blinked in surprise.
“For what?” he asked.
“For being so cool with this. It’s… it’s nice.”

Bruce answered with a smile of his own.
“Thank you, too. For being cool about Batman”, he said. Marvel’s smile was brighter for a moment, and he gestured for Bruce to step into the portal first. Bruce did so, doing his best to suppress the storm of questions that was already raging in his head. One thing at a time, he reminded himself. He needed to keep himself together in front of Billy.

But truly.

Holy fuck.

Billy really was Captain Marvel.

Bruce really needed a drink.

Chapter Text

Bruce remained quiet as they arrived at the mansion and headed toward the Batcave. Captain Marvel didn’t want to make any assumptions, but still, that made him a little bit nervous. Yes, Bruce had taken the news way better than he had anticipated, but anything could happen after Bruce had actually had time to realize what he’d been told and really think about it. Kind of like it had taken Marvel a good moment to actually see Bruce as Batman and vice versa: it would take time this time as well. At least Captain Marvel’s heart wasn’t pounding like crazy anymore – when he'd been in the form of Billy Batson, it had felt like he was going to explode.

Everyone was at the study when they arrived. Dick was still unconscious, laying on one of the sofas, while Jason and Stephanie were discussing something in low voices. Rain was still falling outside, drumming on the windows. It would have felt almost cozy if it weren’t for the very un-cozy situation they were in. Alfred was the first one to notice their arrival, and a relieved smile appeared on the man’s face.
“Are you alright, Master Bruce?” he asked. Bruce let out a long sigh, quickly glanced at Captain Marvel, and shrugged his shoulders.
“A little scratched up. I got taken by surprise”, he said, then looked at Marvel once again, “well, in more ways than one. But yes, I’m alright. Damian’s downstairs, right?”

Alfred nodded. Bruce had already wandered over to Dick, who was – thankfully – breathing calmly while still definitely knocked out.
“Is Dick okay?” he asked, looking at the others.
“Just unconscious. I guess we’ll see once he wakes up”, Stephanie said, giving Jason a slight side-eye.
“Did Damian do this to him?” Bruce asked, feeling the back of Dick’s head with his hand. Only then did Captain Marvel realize he hadn’t really explained the fight to Bruce – he had been too tangled up in his own revelation, he hadn’t even thought to make sure Bruce knew what had been going on.
“Well… not really?” he said.
“Dick got controlled as well. At least with him, we got the bug out, so he should be fine”, Jason replied. It was still slightly off-putting how nonchalant he was about knocking his brothers unconscious, but maybe it was something that happened regularly in a superhero household.

“What do you mean, ‘at least with him’ you got the bug out? What about Damian?” Bruce asked, eyebrows furrowed as he turned to look at everyone else. Captain Marvel felt almost guilty in front of that look, even though he couldn’t have done anything to prevent the mind-controlling.
“He didn’t have a bug. At least I didn’t find one”, he explained, “but he was definitely controlled, and it was different from Dick and the others before Dick. He was actually speaking, like, coherent sentences and all. Kind of like Red.”

Captain Marvel didn’t even completely realize what he’d said before Bruce turned to completely face him.

“Kind of like Red?” he repeated and suddenly it felt like Marvel’s heart skipped a beat, “who is Red?”

Oh no.

“Can I explain later?” he asked, hoping to gain enough time to come up with a believable lie.
“No, since it sounds like something that can help us understand what’s going on with Damian. We need to know.”

Jason let out a whistle. Bruce gave him an ice-cold look, but Jason didn’t need to explain what the whistle had meant – ‘oh, someone’s in trouble!’

Captain Marvel took a deep breath. Maybe he could still save the situation. Maybe Bruce didn’t actually know Red. He had promised Harley he wouldn’t tell Bruce about Red being his involuntary kidnapper, and that was in exchange for Harley keeping his identity a secret! He wanted to believe that Harley wouldn’t tell anyone even if Bruce found out, but breaking a promise like this made him feel bad. But since it was for Damian’s sake…

“She’s the one who kidnapped me before”, he finally admitted. Bruce crossed his arms.
“You told me you didn’t remember anything about the kidnapper”, he said. Marvel didn’t need the reminder, he remembered just fine the crippling anxiety that lying about it had already caused him.
“Okay, well, yeah, I remember. But I—”

“Holy shit”, Jason exclaimed before Marvel could continue his sentence, “your kidnapper was called Red, and you got helped by Harley, which means—”
“Poison Ivy”, Bruce finished the sentence with a sigh.
“But it wasn’t her fault! She was being mind-controlled”, Captain Marvel hurried to say.
“Still, you could have told me about it. Should have”, Bruce said. He wasn’t scolding or accusing Marvel, but Marvel could hear the disappointment in his voice, and that felt almost worse.
“I promised I wouldn’t. Harley was worried for Red and didn’t want anyone to know what had happened. She said you wouldn’t like it”, Captain Marvel explained. He had gotten the picture that there was something weird going on – Harley had even mentioned their colorful past, but he hadn’t felt the need to dig any deeper, especially with the person who had just saved him from Mister Mind.

Bruce let out a long sigh before he spoke again.
“Well, she was right. Neither of them is really the kind of people you should associate with”, he said, “and we’ll talk about this more later, but this isn’t the time. How did Poison Ivy – Red, as you said – break free from her mind control?”

Captain Marvel did his best to, in his mind, return to the rooftop where he had fought Red with Harley. There wasn’t anything too specific they’d done, at least he didn’t think so.
“I don’t know. She got knocked unconscious – well, I hit her with my lightning – and when she woke up, she wasn’t controlled anymore. It could have been the lightning or just getting knocked out, or something else, but it worked”, he said after a moment. He didn’t like the implications of that thought, and seemingly neither did Bruce, because the man winced just the slightest bit.
“Getting hit by lightning should probably be one of the last things we try. First, we should see whether or not he’s awake and still controlled… and after that, I’ll figure out what to do. He’s being contained right now, and we know the threat exists, so it shouldn’t be too dangerous”, Bruce thought out loud, speaking much more to himself than anyone in particular. Captain Marvel nodded along, though the idea of Damian still being controlled made him feel nervous and almost guilty. Mister Mind was after him, yet everyone else around him seemed to keep getting hurt.

“Can either of you stay here to keep an eye on Dick, just in case?” Bruce directed his next question to Stephanie and Jason.
“Sure, I’ll stay here”, she said, then gave Captain Marvel an apologetic smile, “if he wakes up, is it okay if I try to explain your… situation, to him? He probably won’t believe me, but at least he’ll know.”
“It would be much funnier if we just didn’t tell him…” Jason muttered, but his idea was completely ignored by everyone.
“Yeah, it’s fine. It’s probably easier that way, actually. After this”, Marvel gestured down toward the cave, “is resolved, I’ll explain everything. Can you also call Tim and Cassandra to get here?”
“Of course. Thank you, Capt— um, Billy? This feels super-weird.”

Captain Marvel let out a small laugh.
“It’s probably simplest to call me Cap when I’m – well, Cap – and Billy when I’m not”, he said. Stephanie nodded, still slightly confused, and sat on the sofa next to Dick.

Bruce and Jason took the elevator down to the cave. Captain Marvel flew in from the other entrance, because though the Batcave elevator wasn’t the tiniest, he wouldn’t fit in it with them. Plus, this gave him at least a small but much-needed breather. He felt bad about breaking his promise to Harley. She had been so worried about her friend, and despite whatever they might have done in the past, Harley did save him from Mister Mind. She had attacked Red for him, and now he had gone and broken his promise. Captain Marvel would probably need to tell Harley about that at some point, just there was no misunderstanding between them.

He noticed that Damian was awake before he even landed in the cave. The boy was sitting on the cell bed, just staring into nothingness. When Captain Marvel landed, Damian immediately turned to look at him. From the cold, unnerving look in his eyes, it didn’t take much to figure out he was still being possessed.

“I told you I might stay here”, he said with a smile. Marvel wasn’t sure if he’d seen Damian smile before, but the sight was extremely unnatural, like one of those apps on your phone that edit a smile on your face. It’s there, but it doesn’t look right… and doesn’t reach your eyes.

“Are you Mister Mind?”

Captain Marvel had been so focused on Damian that he hadn’t noticed Batman stepping in. Bruce had taken a quick detour to put his suit on. He wasn’t sure how much good that would do him: Mister Mind had already seen many of the others without their suits, and they didn’t even really understand how the mind control worked. It was entirely possible that he already knew Batman to be Bruce Wayne… though to be honest, Marvel didn’t want to test that theory. He would be okay with any precautions.

Damian stared at Captain Marvel for a moment more, then reluctantly turned to look at Batman.
“The element of surprise is gone, I see”, he replied with the same, slightly creepy smile. It was honestly strange how differently someone could use the same facial muscles as Damian had. Batman didn’t seem phased, but maybe that’s why he wore the cowl: no one would be able to tell if he was having a hard time. He simply stepped closer to the cell, still quiet. Jason hadn't bothered putting his helmet on – he was standing there in his normal clothes, watching closely. Damian got up from the bed and stepped right next to the glass wall separating him from the others.

“Why are you here?” Batman asked. The question took Captain Marvel by surprise. He had expected something along the lines of ‘get out and never return’, or ‘you have five seconds to leave that body’. Damian shifted his gaze just enough to look at Marvel again.
“I have already told the Champion what I need. I do not feel the need to discuss the matter further with anyone else”, he said.
“I already told you my answer to that”, Captain Marvel spoke anyone else could, “and I’m not going to give you my powers. You didn’t even really explain why you wanted them in the first place.”

Sure, Captain Marvel did remember the mention of the ‘fallen brethren’, but he still wasn’t sure what that meant exactly.

Damian rolled his eyes.

“You know all you need to know, Billy Batson”, the words left his mouth almost as a hiss. Batman walked closer to Captain Marvel and placed himself between him and Damian, despite the glass wall still separating them.
“You either explain yourself or leave this body. You’re out of options”, Batman said.
“What is there to explain?” Damian replied, annoyance seeping through his words, “I need the Champion’s powers and I will have them. The old fool should have given them to me in the first place.”

It took Captain Marvel a moment to realize that he wasn’t being referred to as ‘the old fool’.
“… You know the Wizard?” he asked. Damian didn’t answer, but this time the disdain and annoyance that lit his face were clear as day. But, of course, it would have been too easy to just get answers right away – Damian kept quiet. He didn’t deny it, though, Captain Marvel noted. He hadn’t spoken to the Wizard about this situation yet. The old man was off somewhere doing his own thing, and quite frankly, Marvel wasn’t sure if he wanted to tell him that he was living in another family right now. The Wizard had never had much to say about Billy Batson being a homeless ten-year-old, and as morbid as it was, he probably thought that this homelessness was a good thing. When Billy didn’t live with anyone else, nothing would really interrupt his training as the Champion. In the best-case scenario, he wouldn’t mind these new arrangements – in the worst-case scenario, he would demand Captain Marvel to immediately cut ties with the Wayne family.

But, Captain Marvel begrudgingly thought, if there was a chance that the Wizard knew anything useful about Mister Mind, he would have to ask him. Even if that meant having an awkward conversation about everything that had happened since they last spoke.

Batman turned around to look at Jason and Captain Marvel.
“Even if he doesn’t speak, we can still try to figure out how he’s controlling Damian”, he said, “but for that, we need to move him from the cell to the examination table. We can start with an x-ray, just in case there’s some kind of bug that was missed the last time, and then we can monitor his brainwaves to find out how he’s being controlled. Marvel, can you make sure he doesn’t escape? You are currently the strongest person here.”

Captain Marvel nodded. Some part of him wanted to stay there, trying to get answers out of Mister Mind, but he realized it was futile. Right now, they needed to focus on getting Damian out of being mind-controlled.

As soon as Batman opened the door, Captain Marvel dashed in to get a grip of Damian’s arm. Not strong enough to hurt him, but firm enough to make sure he wouldn’t be able to run away too easily. To his surprise, the boy didn’t even attempt to run. Perhaps Mister Mind knew that it would be futile right now. What Marvel didn’t understand was why he would keep controlling Damian even now, when it didn’t really help him. Sure, Captain Marvel didn’t know how the whole mind control thingy even worked, but wouldn’t it have been easy to just… well, stop controlling him and do something else?

An eerie silence loomed over them as they lifted Damian onto the examination table and secured his wrists with metallic straps so he wouldn’t be able to run away. Batman’s face kept still as he worked, but it couldn’t have been easy for him, doing that to his own child. At least they were doing this in order to help Damian, not hurt him: hopefully, Batman saw it the same way.

Captain Marvel shifted his weight from one foot to another as he watched Batman and Jason gather the necessary equipment for the x-ray. He didn’t know how those kinds of machines worked, and unfortunately being the Champion didn’t help in the slightest. Having one god dedicated to technology would have been a nice upgrade to his powers, but unfortunately, he would have to learn about these things the old-fashioned way.

Damian kept staring at him from the table.

“You are merely prolonging the inevitable, Billy Batson”, he called out. Captain Marvel shook his head.
“No. You’re not getting my powers, no matter how hard you try. Might as well give up already”, he said, even though he knew it wouldn’t be this easy. He could only hope that they would find something insanely useful during one of these tests because otherwise, they weren’t any closer to finding Mister Mind himself. That was probably the end goal – if they just kept fighting mind-controlled goons, there would be no end to the madness. They needed to find the person behind all this and make sure he couldn’t keep doing this.
“Besides”, he added, “you still haven’t explained what you want, not in a way that makes sense. Am I just supposed to give you my powers without any questions?”
“That would make everything much easier for both of us”, Damian replied. He wasn’t smiling this time.

“Okay, let’s get this show on the road”, Jason said, rolling in presumably the last piece of necessary equipment. Batman moved one of the machines so it was directly above Damian’s head. Damian stretched his neck with a disinterested stare but didn’t do anything to mess with the process.

It took a shorter time than Captain Marvel had anticipated – less than ten minutes, though they did just scan the head, not Damian’s entire body.

“I’m not sure if an x-ray is actually gonna tell us anything useful”, Jason admitted once they were done and Batman had walked off to get the pictures, “I mean, it doesn’t show anything that’s happening in Damian’s brains. But hey, gotta be thorough, right?”
Captain Marvel really wasn’t going to admit that he had no idea what kind of scan would show what was going on in Damian’s brain, so he just nodded thoughtfully and hoped that it would make him seem more knowledgeable than he actually was on the subject. To avoid having to actually discuss the matter, he kept watching the bats that had gathered nearby. Usually, they hung out further in the cave where it was nice and dark – now at least fifteen of them had gathered on nearby light fixtures and other furniture. Marvel couldn’t quite decide if he found the little creatures cute or creepy. Maybe both.

“There’s something in his ear”, Batman declared without any warning, stomping to where Captain Marvel and Jason were standing.
“In his… ear?” Captain Marvel repeated. Sure, that was a place he hadn’t checked for a bug. All of the other bugs had been placed in people’s necks, not shoved in their ear canals.
“Yes, in his ear.”

Somehow, in that small amount of time, Batman had already found himself a small telescope, probably designed for looking into ears, and a pair of tweezers. No doubt the Batcave was perfectly organized, and Batman would be able to find anything in a manner of seconds. Damian’s eyes followed Batman’s movements as the man positioned himself next to the table. The eye contact was cut only once he had to push Damian’s face to one side so he could look into his ear with the telescope.

“What is it? Is it another bug?” Captain Marvel asked when Batman didn’t immediately declare what he’d found. He didn’t get an instant reply. Instead, Batman took another look and reached for the tweezers.
“In a manner of speaking…” he mumbled, reaching for the tweezers and preparing to reach into the ear, “but it’s not like the earlier versions. It looks like a live caterpillar.”

Batman inserted the tweezers into Damian’s ear while Jason and Captain Marvel were still processing the news. Not even a robotic caterpillar, but a live one? If Damian hadn’t just been so obviously mind-controlled, Captain Marvel might have thought that it was just a freak coincidence, and somehow a caterpillar had managed to crawl into Damian’s ear without the boy noticing. Had Mister Mind been able to create a new, even grosser version of his mind-controlling bugs? Maybe he’d grown tired of the earlier look and decided that a caterpillar would be a much better-looking replacement.

It took Batman just two tries to get a hold of the caterpillar and pull it out. When it emerged from Damian’s ear, Captain Marvel had to look twice in order to actually comprehend it. He had been imagining a small caterpillar, something that would be hard to detect by the naked eye… but no, this definitely wasn’t small. The caterpillar was big and green with red dots on its side, and its eyes – if those were indeed eyes – were large and yellow. It was unlike any caterpillar Captain Marvel had ever seen, though to be honest, he hadn’t seen that many caterpillars. Bruce placed it gently on a nearby tray.

Damian’s expression had gone blank. A few seconds later, he blinked a couple of times and then tried to raise his hand, only to be restrained by the metal strap.
“What is… what is going on?” Damian asked. He was so disoriented that he wasn’t even slightly angry about being shackled. Batman let out a sigh that had a hint of relief, even if he didn’t allow himself to be completely relieved just yet.
“You were being mind-controlled. We need to make sure you’re actually you”, he said, moving the tray with the caterpillar to another table.

It was hard for Captain Marvel to take his eyes off the caterpillar, and he couldn’t understand why. It was most likely just a new version of the previous bugs, and this one allowed Mister Mind to have much more control of his victims’ bodies. He took a step closer to have a better look at the caterpillar.

Simultaneously, at least ten bats swooped down toward him. Marvel stopped, too startled to understand what was going on, and Jason took a couple of surprised steps backward. More bats joined the ruckus, swooping up and down for no apparent reason.
“What’s happening?” Marvel asked, mostly directing his question at Batman, who turned around to protectively loom over Damian. The bats weren’t interested in attacking anyone, though, and as quickly as they’d arrived, they started leaving to fly away from them. It took them a few moments to realize what had actually happened.
“One of the bats took the caterpillar”, Captain Marvel pointed out, trying to see if any of the remaining bats held the bug.

“Shit. Did one of your bats just eat the clue we found?” Jason asked, turning to look at Batman. There was a moment of silence as they processed the fact. The rest of the bats were still flying around, some flying to the back of the cave, some flying toward the entrance. It would be a fool's errand to catch each of them one by one, just to check if they’d eaten the caterpillar.

“No, really. Tell me that didn’t just happen”, Jason continued when no one else spoke, “because that is the stupidest fucking thing that has ever happened in this cave, and that includes all of the bad costume choices that Dick and Tim ever made during their careers.”

“Right now, the most important thing is to make sure that Damian isn’t controlled anymore”, Batman said after a few more moments of silence. He promptly turned back toward the examination table, apparently keen on pretending that the bats HADN’T probably just eaten the one promising piece of evidence they’d found that could have led them to Mister Mind.

Captain Marvel and Jason exchanged tired glances. The day had already been far, far too long.

Chapter Text

Captain Marvel decided that nothing would happen for the rest of the day. Once they were mostly sure that Damian wasn’t being mind-controlled anymore, he flew outside and changed back to Billy. Dick had woken up while they were down in the cave, and Stephanie had explained pretty much everything to him, thankfully including the Captain Marvel -truth bomb. It was obvious by the look on his face that Dick definitely hadn’t really accepted the fact, but Stephanie had probably also made it clear that this really wasn’t the time to ask a million questions. Billy appreciated that – he just needed something to eat, and after that, he wanted to go into his room and stay there until the next day.

After dinner, Billy went to his room and just lay on the bed. Then he sent a couple of texts to Freddy, who was blissfully unaware of anything weird going down at the manor. That meant they could just chat about this new tv show Freddy had just started watching on Netflix. Billy hadn’t watched the show and didn’t know anything about it, but reading Freddy’s excited and very wordy texts about everything happening in it was enough to make him relax. His contributions to the conversation were mostly along the lines of “wow, really?” and “that sound super cool”, but maybe once he’d have enough time for himself, he could also watch the show and really talk about it. Until then, he was happy to just hear about it in rambling clumps of text.

Bruce checked up on Billy before it was time to sleep. He didn’t say much, but Billy knew there would be hundreds of questions later – right now, though, Bruce just wanted to make sure that Billy actually got some sleep. When Billy finally turned off the lights and put his phone away, he thought that sleeping would be impossible: so much had happened, surely his brain wasn’t ready for sleep just yet!

But as soon as his head hit the pillow, Billy was fast asleep and didn’t wake up until almost 10 a.m. the next day. It even took him a few moments to realize that he was actually awake: everything felt too cozy and quiet to be real, especially after the previous day. It took him ten whole minutes to actually get up, and even then, it was mostly because his stomach was growling for breakfast.

Everything was almost too normal, considering everything that had happened the day before. The entrance hall was quiet when Billy descended the stairs, and when he made it to the dining room, only Alfred was there. It made sense since the others usually ate much earlier. Despite that, Alfred didn’t miss a beat – as soon as Billy set one foot inside the room, the butler was already bringing him breakfast.

“Good morning, Master Billy”, Alfred greeted, placing a plate of scrambled eggs and toast on the table, “did you sleep well?”
“Good morning, Alfred. Yeah, I did. I think I slept much better than I thought I would”, Billy replied, sitting down once he was sure he wouldn’t be in Alfred’s way. Maybe his mind hadn’t processed yesterday entirely, but he felt calm and most of all, relieved. Now the secrets had been dealt with and he wouldn’t have to worry about them anymore, not with Bruce and the others. He had never had that kind of support behind him, and even though it still felt pretty foreign, he couldn’t help but feel stoked about it. Maybe his enthusiasm was somehow showing on his face because Alfred smiled when their eyes met.

“That is wonderful to hear, Master Billy. Yesterday was an… eventful day, for certain. I certainly would not have blamed you for having difficulties with your sleep”, he said and slightly patted Billy’s shoulder as he went to fetch the boy a glass.

Billy began eating his eggs but stopped quickly when he felt something brush against his right leg. He didn’t have much time to react before that same ‘something’ made its way from under the table and right next to Billy. It was eyeing the table with great eagerness, yet was apparently at least trained enough to not just jump up and steal the food for itself. Billy smiled and put his hand out for Titus to sniff. Titus looked at him, sniffed the hand once or twice, gave it a lick, and went back to staring at Billy’s plate of breakfast.

“I’m pretty sure you have your own food somewhere else”, Billy pointed out with raised eyebrows. When he took another forkful of eggs, he could feel Titus’ eyes staring unblinkingly at him, absolutely begging for a bite. Billy might have given in if it were his own dog or he knew Titus a bit better. Still, he knew you shouldn’t feed other people’s dogs, just in case something went wrong because of the food. One of his earlier foster families had had a golden retriever that had to be taken to the vet because, as it turned out, it was allergic to chicken. The dog was fine in the end, but ever since, Billy had been extremely careful with anything that could hurt the animals.

“Master Titus!” Alfred called out when he walked back in with a glass of juice for Billy, “we have spoken about this! Absolutely no begging is allowed in this room.”

Billy almost choked on his food and had to cough, partly to disguise his laughter, mostly to actually prevent himself from dying. Titus took one more long, yearning glance at Billy’s food, but did as asked, and stopped staring. Instead, it got up and made its way to the hallway, possibly to beg for food in some other room that didn’t have rules quite as strict.

“Alfred, have you seen Damian since yesterday?” Billy asked. Alfred turned to look at him.
“I have. Master Damian had his breakfast a couple of hours ago. He seemed well, as far as I could tell”, he said, then thought about it for a moment before adding, “and angry. Not at you, but at Mister Mind.”

Billy could imagine as much. He hadn’t spent much time with Damian, but it was immediately clear that Damian wasn’t someone who liked to lose control. Billy didn’t even want to imagine what being controlled like that must have felt like. Most of the victims didn’t seem to have any memories of being controlled, but just living with the knowledge that something so violating had happened… Yeah, it would have been strange if Damian wasn’t angry. Especially since they lost the one thing that maybe could have helped them locate Mister Mind, or at least give them a clue about his identity.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he was angry with me, too. I mean, it’s my fault that whole thing happened”, Billy mumbled as he took another bite of the scrambled eggs. He tried to keep these thoughts at bay most of the time, but it was getting harder and harder since more people were getting hurt. Alfred pulled out a chair next to Billy and sat down, facing the boy completely.
“What happened yesterday was not your fault”, he said. Billy didn’t look back at him. Instead, he just put his fork back on the plate and just concentrated on looking at his glass of water.
“I was the one who asked Batman for help when I was first attacked, and I didn’t even tell the truth. If I had decided to take care of it myself, no one here would have gotten hurt or controlled”, he continued quietly. He could feel Alfred’s intense stare on his temple.

“Unless you somehow forced Master Bruce to bring you back here, I still fail to see the problem. Asking for help is the best thing you could have done in your situation. Yes, making different choices would have led you to a different situation, but I think that would have been a loss for all of us.”

Not looking at Alfred was becoming more difficult by the moment.

“I hate being a burden”, Billy admitted, staring at the glass like he could force it to explode just by looking at it, “I don’t want to just come here and bring the danger with me. Especially since I can’t even offer anything in return.”

“Master Billy, would you kindly look at me?”

Reluctantly, Billy turned enough to look at Alfred. The butler was serious, but not in a ‘now you’re in trouble!’ kind of way. Once their eyes met, Alfred smiled a little.

“I do not mean to diminish everything you have accomplished in your life so far, far from it – you have already done more than some people achieve in their lives. But you are also twelve years old. You do not have to ‘earn’ a safe home, nor do you have to ‘earn’ the right to have people help you. You already deserve those things, with no strings attached.”

Billy didn’t know how to respond, so instead of saying anything, he got up from his chair and hugged Alfred. It took the old man by surprise, but he hugged back gently.
“Thanks”, Billy mumbled. Alfred responded with a gentle hug and when they pulled apart, his smile was brighter. Billy couldn’t think of anything else to say in the moment, so he just sat back on his chair with a shy smile of his own.

Only moments after, Tim walked into the room.
“I got a really cryptic message from Jason last night, telling me to get here as soon as possible”, he said, carefully looking over Billy and Alfred, “did something happen? I just got here.”

Billy took a deep breath. Let’s just get it over with, he thought and took one last bite of eggs.

---

Billy could only hope that no one in Gotham was wondering about the weird sounds of thunder coming from the Wayne Manor in broad daylight. Sure, they didn’t have any immediate neighbors and the city was loud already, but that wasn’t something that could be easily explained away. Still, he needed to change at least two times to really make sure everyone understood what was going on. Even Jason and Stephanie, both of whom had already been there yesterday and seen the transformation with their own eyes, didn’t mind seeing it all over again.

Everyone but Bruce, who had some actual adult-like business stuff to take care of at the Wayne Tower, had gathered at the inner courtyard. The weather was better than yesterday, even if the grass was still wet, and the sky was still cloudy and gray. Damian and Dick seemed to be just fine, considering everything that had happened yesterday. Tim and Cassandra were mostly clueless, as both of them had been elsewhere and hadn’t even heard of the attack until now. Apparently, Jason still thought it was funny to withhold most of the vital information until Billy came clean with the Captain Marvel stuff.

“It makes so much sense…” Tim repeated for the third time after Billy transformed back into his child self.
“What do you mean it makes sense?” Dick asked, rubbing his own temples, “they told me about this yesterday, and when I woke up today, I honestly thought I had dreamed that entire conversation. It’s just…”
“Sorry I didn’t tell you”, Billy said quietly. He didn’t feel bad about hiding his identity from the general public, and he didn’t feel bad about hiding it when he first moved in, but he did feel pretty iffy about hiding it after learning about everyone else’s secret identities. Especially Dick, since Captain Marvel and Nightwing had spoken to each other more than once before.

“No, don’t apologize. It’s just…”
“It’s fucking trippy to know that Captain Marvel, who’s, like, one of the buffest guys on Justice League, is actually twelve”, Jason smirked. He was obviously just loving the conversation. In fact, he had been in a very good mood since yesterday, and it just wasn’t going away. Billy smiled sheepishly.
“Yeah, it’s a good disguise. Even though the transformation can be a little bit… loud”, he said. When he first started out as Captain Marvel, he’d been so worried that people would be weirded out by the sudden thunders that came out of nowhere – these days it was almost to be expected over there, as pretty much everyone knew Captain Marvel. He knew that people thought Captain Marvel actually used thunder as a way of transporting himself to different places, and he wasn’t going to correct anyone. Gotham City wasn’t as used to the same behavior, but from what Billy understood, the citizens wouldn’t be easily surprised by anything going on.

“Don’t take this the wrong way”, Tim started out carefully, measuring his words, “but when this Wizard gave you your powers, did he explain why he didn’t give them to… you know, an adult? It’s kind of crazy to think that he chose a nine-year-old.”
“Tim, did you just forget where you are at the very moment? You think it’s crazy that a nine-year-old became a vigilante? While you’re standing pretty much on top of the Batcave?” Stephanie was trying to hold her laughter, and pretty much everyone else was smirking as well. Tim rolled his eyes.
“I don’t think Bruce’s methods are very common, that’s all”, he defended himself. Billy welcomed the chatter, as he needed to think about it for a while. Not because he didn’t know the answer, but because saying it out loud sounded kind of conceited, even though he hadn’t decided the wording himself.

“He said he needed someone… that was pure of heart”, he finally managed, “I’m not sure why exactly, but that’s what he said. Something about the powers being too powerful to entrust to someone who could use them for evil.”
“I mean… he’s correct about that much”, Dick shrugged.
“I hope he had a better vetting process than ‘any child will do’. Imagine if Damian got those powers”, Jason said, pretended to quiver in horror, and dodged when Damian tried to kick him in the face.

“Has he said anything about Mister Mind?” Stephanie asked.
“I… haven’t exactly told him yet. I haven’t spent much time at the Rock, recently”, he admitted. To be honest, he wasn’t even sure if the Wizard would help him, even if he knew anything about Mister Mind. This might be just a new test to see how Billy would act in a dangerous, new situation, and teaming up with others was probably disappointing for the old man. The Wizard had never directly said “you shouldn’t have any allies”, but he had expressed his doubts about Captain Marvel joining the Justice League, and had told Billy multiple times that he shouldn’t count on others. Captain Marvel already had the powers of six gods, he was the chosen Champion, he should be able to handle pretty much everything by himself.

“Is he a good person?” Cassandra asked suddenly, breaking her silence. Billy was surprised by the question.
“Good person? The Wizard? I mean… I guess, yeah, I think he’s a good guy?” the stumbled with his words, “he did give me the powers and helped me learn magic, and he’s never been mean, so… yeah?”

Billy had never really thought about it. To him, the Wizard just… was. He was strict, demanding, and rarely approved of anything that wasn’t training. At the same time, he did choose Billy to be his Champion, and he had never really done anything to make Billy actively dislike him or anything. Sure, he wasn’t like Bruce. If the same thing was asked about Bruce, Billy wouldn’t have to think twice about his answer. But with the Wizard… it was much more complicated. Maybe the thoughts reflected on his face because Tim hurried to move on with the subject.
“Good. And if it ever feels like he isn’t a good person, you’ll tell us and Bruce, right?” he said with a smile.
“Sure… but I don’t think any of you could really take him in a fight”, Billy said, not even thinking about it until the words had left his mouth.

Suddenly, he realized he’d pretty much just dropped a lit match into a puddle of gasoline.

“I could win against an old man in a fight”, Jason immediately declared, “I don’t give a shit if he’s magical.”
“Surely, he wouldn’t be able to win against all of us…” Dick pondered out loud, thinking about it much more seriously than there was any need to.
“If we had time to prepare? We’d absolutely win”, Stephanie said, pumping her fist in the air in emphasis.
“Even if I didn’t have time to prepare! He’s an old man! Probably has a dumb wizard hat and a long beard or something!” Jason continued.
“He doesn’t have a hat…” Billy mumbled. Something flashed in Jason’s eyes.

“Wait a second. You also have magic. Do you think you could take me on? In Cap-mode, of course”, he challenged, already stepping closer as if Billy had already accepted the challenge. Billy took a step back.
“We don’t need to test that”, he said, shaking his head.
“You didn’t say no…” Jason continued, stopping just a few steps away from Billy.
“You’re not seriously trying to pick a fight with Billy… right?” Tim sighed.
“No, obviously not”, Jason rolled his eyes, “I want to fight Captain Marvel.”
“It’s the same thing!”
“It definitely isn’t.”

Billy couldn’t help himself.

“I mean, obviously Cap wins. You’re all good fighters, but it’s the powers of six gods versus people with no superpowers. It’s not a fair fight.”

This time most of the others perked up.

“You definitely shouldn’t underestimate people with no superpowers”, Dick grinned.
“I think your training should continue. Part two, this time as Captain Marvel. Get ready and change”, Stephanie added, stretching her arms in anticipation. Billy let out a nervous laugh, but he was definitely ready to prove himself.
“Cave. We can’t do this here”, Cassandra said, already moving toward the building and waving at the others to follow her.

“And no one – NO ONE – tells Bruce about this, okay?” Tim reminded everyone, “he’ll probably be gone for at least a few more hours, so that should give us enough time to pretend like nothing ever happened.”

Billy had never seen the entire group so united as they all agreed to keep this challenge a secret from Bruce. He had a funny feeling in his chest: warm and fuzzy, and he couldn’t put a name on it at first. It was only later, once he’d transformed once more into Captain Marvel and was flying to the cave, that he realized what it was. It was pure happiness.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t until a couple of days later that Bruce brought up talking to Superman and Wonder Woman once more. Billy hadn’t forgotten about it since their chat at the Rock – but to be perfectly honest, he had kind of hoped that Bruce would forget. It wasn’t because he didn’t trust either of the original Justice League members or anything like that. It was just the fact that he was still extremely worried about his position in the League. Even if Bruce was okay with having a child among their ranks, not everyone would see it the same way. He wouldn’t even be surprised if either Superman or Wonder Woman felt like it was their duty to tell everyone else in the League as well, and at that point, it would be pretty much impossible for Billy to stay there. He didn’t actively dislike anyone in the group, but from what he’d seen, some of them would kick him out without a second thought.

“You don’t have to defend yourself to them”, Bruce said, turning around in his chair. They were down at the Batcave, and Billy should have known that they were about to discuss something important when Bruce asked to talk to him. The man was already wearing the Batsuit, only without the cowl. To Billy, it somehow looked wrong. He had mostly gotten used to the fact that Bruce was Batman, but seeing him like that still felt like someone had just cut out a picture of Bruce’s head and attached it to Batman’s body.

“But if I don’t, they’re definitely not going to let me stay in the League”, Billy said. It would have been nice to believe that everyone would be okay with a 12-year-old Justice League member… yeah, it was much more likely that they wouldn’t be okay. They would definitely be nice about it, Billy didn’t doubt that, but it didn’t matter. Bruce took a deep breath.
“Yes, that’s going to be a discussion. But that can happen later – right now, I think we should just tell them the truth, and you should come back home after that. I know them, and… I think they’re going to want to have a discussion with me, first”, he said.
“Why can’t I be there for that?” Billy asked, “I can handle it.”
“I have no doubts about that. Still, it’s kind of… adult business. Don’t worry, they will hear you out”, Bruce added quickly when Billy wasn’t happy with the answer, “once they’ve gotten over their first reaction and really thought things through, I’ll make sure they will hear you out.”

It was probably the best offer Billy was going to get. He could refuse and not tell Superman or Wonder Woman anything, but at the same time, finally having people know whom he was felt really good. He didn’t have to worry about slipping up and saying something that only Captain Marvel would know, nor did he have to worry about anyone accidentally seeing him use magic. If he could have some people like that in the League, not just Bruce, it would probably feel even better. He just needed to get over the scariest part and take the leap of faith.

“Okay. Where and when are we going to meet them?” Billy relented after a moment of silence. Bruce smiled and got up from his chair.
“If it’s all fine with you, we can go right now to Metropolis”, he said. Billy blinked in surprise.
“Right now? You mean – what?” he stumbled in his words. Bruce shrugged slightly.
“They’re both in Metropolis right now. Of course, I could ask Superman to fly there, but I think it’s easier if we go to them. You could open a portal for us, right?” he asked. Billy still hadn’t quite gotten over the suggestion, so it took him a few moments to organize his thoughts enough to speak.
“I—I guess? I’ll need to transform first, though”, he said. His heart was suddenly pounding. Maybe Bruce saw the budding panic and worry on the boy’s face, because he stepped closer and put his hand on Billy’s shoulder.

“I mean what I said. You don’t have to worry about them, and you can speak to them more later – now, we can just tell them the truth, and you can come back here”, he said calmly. Billy didn’t want to tell him that the period after telling Superman and Wonder Woman the truth would probably be even worse than the actual moment, but at least this way he could get it all done with. It would be like taking the plaster off. The longer he took, the worse it would feel, right?

With the power of that thought, Billy got upstairs with Bruce, quickly turned to Captain Marvel in the courtyard, and headed back inside. It was already dark outside, prime Batman time. Tim was walking down the stairs when Marvel made it inside.
“I think people are going to develop some weird conspiracy theories about the lightning”, he said with raised eyebrows, “I’m supporting the theory that Bruce is trying to be the next Doctor Frankenstein.”
“Please, tell me it’s not too loud”, Captain Marvel sighed. He couldn’t control the volume of the lightning when he transformed, and while it wasn’t a problem in Fawcett City, he wasn’t sure if things would go over quite as easily in Gotham.

“It’s fine. Tim, we’re going to Metropolis for a moment”, Bruce said. Tim furrowed his brows.
“You’re going—Oh! Yeah, you can do that really quickly now, huh?” his eyes lit up when he understood what was happening, “Billy – Cap – you’re going to have to show me how that actually works at some point.”
“Sure”, Captain Marvel smiled, walked up to the nearest door – which happened to be a supply closet – and opened it. Tim couldn’t help but peek at the Rock of Eternity, but at least he didn’t follow them through the portal.

“Nervous?” Bruce asked and put on his cowl. Captain Marvel shrugged and smiled.
“Right now? Not as much”, he said, closing the door behind them and getting ready to open the next one, “when I transform back to Billy in front of Superman and Wonder Woman? Yeah, that’s going to be a little different. Courage of Achilles.”

Even the courage of Achilles didn’t fix everything, though. It gave Captain Marvel the courage to face his foes and do the right thing, but it didn’t get rid of nervousness altogether – though, even then, it did help with his nerves. Things often felt scarier as Billy.

Batman nodded at his comment. Captain Marvel knew the man had already started studying Greek gods and would probably be an expert on the subject in no time at all. A rogue thought crossed Marvel’s mind as he opened the door to the same rooftop he’d met Superman on earlier: was it weird that Batman most likely already knew more about the gods than Marvel himself? Sure, Captain Marvel had learned some things from the Wizard and finally read something about them thanks to Jason’s help, but his knowledge was still… extremely moderate.

The golden planet on top of the building seemed just as intimidating as before. Superman and Wonder Woman hadn’t arrived yet, but it would only be a matter of time. Maybe Superman was even picking up Wonder Woman from somewhere? Batman started to immediately check around the area, just so no one was listening in on them. Captain Marvel just stood there and looked at the city beneath them. Even a nighttime Metropolis seemed somehow brighter than a daytime Gotham City. He still hadn’t quite gotten used to how huge both of those cities were. Fawcett City wasn’t even small, but it felt like a rustic town compared to these two giants.

“Everything seems to be fine. How can a man with superspeed not already be here?” Batman muttered and Captain Marvel turned to look at him.
“Maybe he was in the middle of doing something? You know, like, taking a shower”, he suggested. Batman just looked at him with a blank expression and didn’t even manage to reply before they both heard a “swoosh!” right before a blur of red, gold, and blue appeared on the rooftop in front of them. Wonder Woman smiled as she stood up straight, and it took a moment for Captain Marvel to remember that she couldn’t actually fly – she must have just jumped… from somewhere.
“How is it even possible that Superman is the last one to arrive?” she asked immediately, looking around.
“Exactly my question”, Batman nodded. Marvel could have sworn he heard a bit of smug relief in his voice. He didn’t get to think about it much longer, as Wonder Woman walked up to him and offered her hand for a shake.
“Good to see you, Marvel”, she greeted as Captain Marvel shook her hand.
“Nice to see you too. What… did Batman tell you about what we’re going to talk about?” he asked and took a step back. Telling the truth to Bruce and the others didn’t seem to have helped at all with figuring out how to start this conversation.

Before Wonder Woman could answer, there was a second “swoosh!” as Superman landed right next to them.
“Just that both of you had something important you needed to tell us. At this point, I don’t even expect anything more specific from him”, he answered instead.
“You’re here. There was no need to be more specific”, Batman grunted. Wonder Woman let out a sigh and gave Captain Marvel a tired look. Marvel fought back an amused grin. Superman walked up to him with a wide smile.
“Good to see you again! I hope this meeting means that you two have patched things up?” he asked.
“Yeah, it’s all good”, Captain Marvel said. He didn’t even want to know what Batman had said about him to Superman or other Justice League members when he still didn’t know the truth.

Everyone was silent for a long moment.
“So… what is this all about? Do you need help with Mister Mind, or…?” Superman broke the silence.
“I mean, yeah, we do, but this isn’t about that… This is… well…” the words seemed to escape Captain Marvel, and he gave Batman almost a pleading look. Batman stepped closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder – Captain Marvel could see how weird it felt for him as well, as neither had really gotten used to the idea that Marvel was actually taller than Batman. Pushing past the weirdness, Batman nodded.
“Like I told you. It’s going to be fine”, he said. Both Superman and Wonder Woman looked very confused.

Captain Marvel took a deep breath.

“Superman. Do you remember the last time we met here? You told me it wouldn’t hurt to be a little more open… about myself. And yeah, you were right. I have been keeping a lot of secrets, and to be honest, if it weren’t for Batman, I wouldn’t be telling you this, but… He said that I can trust you, and I think he’s right. I’m kind of scared, but both of you should probably know the truth. I just want you to know that I really love being a part of the League, and just because I haven’t told this to anybody, doesn’t mean that I don’t trust you guys”, he said. The words came out steadier than he’d anticipated. He hadn’t practiced his speech, but the words just flew out of his mouth, like he’d been holding them in for a long time. Before he could continue, Wonder Woman took a step forward.

“If this is about your secret identity”, she said, raising her hand to keep the others silent for the moment, “there are very few cases where revealing that information is absolutely necessary. Being in the Justice League doesn’t require you to tell us everything about your personal life.”

There was a silent ‘no matter what HE might say’ in the look he threw in Batman’s way.

“Yeah… I think this might be one of those cases”, he said with an apologetic smile and gestured for Batman to step back. Batman had been holding his hand on Marvel’s shoulder the whole time, and as he backed away, he gave the shoulder a light tap. ‘You got this!’ the tap said.
“What are you—”
“Shazam!”

Superman’s voice got drowned by the sound of booming thunder. Lights flashed on the rooftop and suddenly Billy Batson was there, his heart pounding so hard he wouldn’t have been surprised if it broke its way out of his chest, made its own portal, and escaped back to Gotham City. Captain Marvel had been nervous: Billy Batson was terrified of what the reaction could be. He almost didn’t want to look at Superman and Wonder Woman, both of whom looked like they had grown at least a foot in height in just a manner of seconds. Still determined to finish talking, he opened his mouth before he looked at the superheroes in front of him.

“I’m Captain Marvel.”

---

Batman could feel the nervous energy surrounding Billy. The confession had been quiet, especially after the thunder that had just struck the rooftop. Up there, they were mostly separated from the rest of this busy and loud city. Batman would have been lying if he tried to claim that he had gotten used to the idea of Captain Marvel being a child, much less Billy. That would take him time and conscious effort. But when Marvel had turned to him, clearly asking for help, he really saw Billy in those eyes. Maybe one day it wouldn’t feel so uncanny.

“That… wow”, Superman was the first one to speak. The shock on both his and Wonder Woman’s face had been clear immediately after Billy had transformed back. Batman would have almost enjoyed the shock on their faces, were it not for the fact that he had reacted almost the exact same way.
“This is Billy”, Batman said, walking right back to Billy and this time lowering his hand on the boy’s shoulder, “he is my foster child, and yes, he is Captain Marvel.”

“Billy…” Wonder Woman said slowly, worry seeping through her words, “how old are you?”

It was clear Billy had been expecting that to be one of the first questions. The boy took a deep breath.

“Twelve”, he replied.
“Twelve”, Superman repeated, “and Captain Marvel has been in the Justice League for over a year… which means… oh.”
“Would it be okay with both of you that Billy goes home now, so we can discuss it? Just the three of us for now?” Batman asked, his voice forceful. He didn’t want Billy to be there once the news really registered for the others for the first time. Hell, Bruce wished he would have found out Billy’s secret somehow by himself, because he really would have wanted to react in a better, more constructive way.
“Yes, that would be for the best”, Wonder Woman said, then turned to look at Billy once again, “Billy, I—thank you for telling us. We can talk more about this later on, right?”

Billy nodded quietly. Batman wasn’t sure if the boy could hear something other than worry building up behind Wonder Woman’s words, but he definitely could. Thunder struck again, and Batman realized that Billy had probably muttered the magic word so quietly, he hadn’t even heard it.
“Do you… need me to leave a portal for you?” Captain Marvel asked, still mostly avoiding Superman and Wonder Woman’s gazes. Batman shook his head.
“Don’t worry about it. Just go home and try to get some sleep, okay?” he said. It was easier to talk normally to Captain Marvel when he actually made himself imagine Billy standing in front of him instead of Marvel, even though they were technically the same person. Yes, the distinction would be good for missions and such where it would be dangerous to slip up with calling someone by their actual name instead of a superhero name or vice versa. On the other hand, he wanted Billy to know that he was there for him no matter what, and treating him very differently as Captain Marvel would probably feel weird. It was a balancing act, and Batman was definitely still trying to find his footing.

After Marvel had entered the nearby door and disappeared into the Rock of Eternity, Batman could feel two stares trying to burn metaphorical holes through him.

“Can we continue this conversation somewhere else?” Wonder Woman asked after a moment of silence. Superman, who was clearly holding back his thoughts, nodded.
“Jon’s visiting a friend tonight, so if you don’t mind Lois overhearing… this conversation, then we can go to my place”, he suggested. Batman thought about it for a moment and nodded.
“That’s probably a good decision”, he admitted. Lois had proven to be trustworthy a hundred times over, and Superman’s apartment was secure enough for their conversation. Batman had visited him on multiple occasions and made sure he knew every nook and cranny… just in case.

---

Back in his civilian clothing, and his dignity slightly bruised after being flown near the apartment like a damsel being rescued from a tower, Bruce was ready for the upcoming discussion. He had already seen the extremely worried and concerned looks on both Clark and Diana’s faces, and he knew they wouldn’t be happy with this revelation. That was fine, he hadn’t expected them to just accept the situation as it was from the get-go – what he hoped, however, was that they would listen to him with open minds and at least try to understand Billy’s situation. Bruce hadn’t even decided if he thought Captain Marvel should stay in the Justice League, but at least he knew he’d given the subject plenty of thought.

Clark didn’t miss a beat once they were inside the apartment and the door was closed.

“What are you thinking, Bruce? Another child as a vigilante? You seem to attract them like a magnet”, Clark sighed. Bruce rolled his eyes.
“It’s not as if I chose him specifically because of that. I found out about it a couple of days ago and I’m still not sure what to think about it, actually”, he said and leaned against the living room couch, “and I know it’s becoming a pattern, but you really aren’t the person to lecture me about young vigilantes. How old was Jon again when he started out?”
“That’s not the same. Jon was born with his powers.”
“And Billy got his powers from a Wizard who, from my understanding, didn’t even ask beforehand if Billy wanted them or if he understood all the responsibilities that would come with them. Can we not do this?”

Diana sat down on the couch, her eyebrows furrowed.
“I never thought the powers of the Champion would be given to a mere child”, she said quietly, staring into nothingness, “I knew the Wizard would eventually pass the powers onto somebody, but…”
Diana didn’t even finish her sentence, just shook her head.
“You know the Wizard?” Bruce asked.
“I don’t know him personally, no. I just know of him. My father is one of the gods whose powers Captain Marvel has”, she explained. Bruce really, really wanted to speak to the Wizard by himself – if only the bastard didn’t live in one of the few places where Bruce really couldn’t get to by himself. Yes, he could ask Billy to bring him to the Rock of Eternity, but then the whole conversation would depend on Billy’s willingness to let Bruce meet this magical mentor.

One of the bedroom doors opened and Lois walked out, clearly having thrown on whatever clothes she had lying around. She had probably already changed into her pajamas earlier but didn’t want to show up like that in front of guests, not that Diana and Bruce were a new sight at the Lane-Kent apartment. Clark walked up to her and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
“Sorry. We needed to talk somewhere private. Hope we didn’t interrupt you”, he said.
“You didn’t text her beforehand that we were coming?” Bruce asked, lifting an eyebrow. Lois chuckled.
“A warning would be nice, but it’s fine. How important is it?” she asked. Clark turned to Bruce with a clear question in his eyes – is it okay to tell Lois about Billy, or should they dance around the subject?

Bruce decided to meet her somewhere in the middle.

“It’s about Justice League. I trust you, Lois, but it is kind of… sensitive. And not my place to tell”, he said. Billy had never met Lois, and it had taken Bruce a while to convince the boy to tell his secret to two superheroes he’d already known and worked with for more than a year. Lois caught the drift and nodded.
“How about I just put my headphones on and work on that article that White’s been after?” she smiled, gave Clark a quick peck, and disappeared back into the bedroom.

“… The Justice League. What are we even going to do? We have an age limit for a very good reason”, Clark asked, finally sitting down himself. Bruce breathed deeply. This was the subject Billy was most worried about in this entire mess.
“I feel sorry for the boy, but I don’t think he should stay. Justice League is very dangerous for children”, Diana said. Bruce walked in front of the couches so he could look at both Clark and Diana.
“Hasn’t he already proven himself, though?” he asked, “Captain Marvel has been a part of the League for over a year now, and despite everything, he has been a valuable addition to the team. I agree that under normal circumstances, no one under the age of eighteen should be allowed in… but these are definitely not the normal circumstances.”

He could see the doubts on both Clark and Diana’s faces, but Bruce had thought about this.
“What kind of precedent are we setting, though? That if someone can trick us into believing that they fit the criteria of the League, they won’t face any consequences and will be allowed to remain on the team?” Diana asked, getting up from the sofa, “I know he’s powerful, I know that probably better than most others, but that very fact also places him in a lot of danger.”
“He is also still pretty new to his powers, right?” Clark piped in, “didn’t Captain Marvel appear maybe three years ago? Jon was born with his powers, and it’s still a daily struggle for him to control them well enough.”

“I’m not saying I like the idea of Billy being in the Justice League. Still, it’s very clear that he has been robbed of a normal childhood, in more ways than one. He’s never had a family, and no matter how it came to be, I think the Justice League was one of the first places where he really felt like he belongs”, Bruce said. It was depressing, terrible, and made him want to turn back time, just to make sure that Billy’s life would have been better from the start. At the same time, it was the truth. Billy was terrified of losing the one place where he didn’t feel like a burden or forgotten, and he had taken an incredibly large leap of faith by telling anyone about his identity.

“… Would it be possible to move Captain Marvel into Teen Titans? He’d still be one of the youngest, but at least that would be closer to his age group”, Clark suggested. The mood in the living room was extremely serious and somber. This wasn’t something they’d had to discuss before. Years ago, when it was just Bruce and Dick at the manor, Bruce and Clark had argued a lot more about Batman having a child with him when fighting crime. As years passed, Bruce had grown to understand Clark’s point of view a lot better, and the same had happened with the Man of Steel. When the Justice League had been formed and they’d discussed the age limit for the first time, Bruce hadn’t tried to fight it, and none of the Robins had been members when they were still underage. Right now, Nightwing was the only one officially in the Justice League, and Dick was definitely a grown adult.

“That would force Billy to reveal his secret identity to even more people”, Diana pointed out, “there would be too many questions if Captain Marvel, of all people, would be suddenly placed on the team filled with teens. I don’t think that is a viable solution.”
“You know, when I got the message that you and Captain Marvel wanted to talk, I really hoped it had something to do with Mister Mind or just the fact that you two had settled your arguments”, Clark mumbled, leaning heavily against the couch.
“Well, that would have been too easy. Nothing is ever that easy”, Bruce sighed. He would have loved for an immediate solution to just appear to him, but nothing seemed to work.

“We don’t need to make a decision today. I just… thought you two should know, so we can make an informed decision about Billy either staying or leaving the Justice League. It’s been stressing him out, but I think, overall, that it’s a good sign that he agreed to tell you”, he added, “and anyway, Billy wants to make his case to you later on, so we can just leave it here and think about it.”
“How are things at the manor?” Clark asked, smiling at the change of topic, “is Billy getting along with everyone else?”

A small smile appeared on Bruce’s face.
“Things are good, all things considered. From what I’ve seen, he’s getting along with anyone. Just a few days ago, they had a “secret” sparring session down in the Batcave, trying to figure out who’s the strongest in the group”, he said, “plus I’ve heard that he has a friend outside the manor as well. I haven’t met the kid yet, but at least Dick said that everything seemed fine on that end as well. I’m happy for him.”

“I’m happy for you, too”, Diana said with a warm smile.
“What do you mean?” Bruce asked.
“You know what I mean. Your whole face lights up when you speak about how well he’s doing. Are you going to adopt him officially?”
“Ah”, Bruce needed a moment to collect his thoughts. It would have been a lie to say that the idea hadn’t crossed his mind already, but with Mister Mind, Captain Marvel, and everything else, he hadn’t had time to think about it as much as he needed to.

Diana and Clark were waiting for his answer.
“Before any hypothetical adopting can be done, Mister Mind needs to be dealt with. I’ll also need to get used to Billy being Captain Marvel, and that’s going to take a while… So, ask me again, once all of this has been dealt with”, Bruce replied. Diana grinned in Clark’s direction.

“I didn’t hear him say no”, she laughed. Bruce pretended to not hear her.

Chapter Text

Billy had never been to an amusement park before. The closest thing he’d visited was a traveling carnival, but even then, he hadn’t even gotten the chance to test the rides or anything. He didn’t really think it was a big thing or anything to be too upset over, even though the thought of visiting an actual amusement park sounded absolutely amazing. Freddy, however, thought this was the biggest travesty there was, and immediately informed him that they were going to visit the Amusement Mile. Billy would have been lying if he tried to claim that he wasn’t really excited about this plan.

For the past few weeks, he hadn’t heard much about the Justice League. Bruce said that he’d spoken to both Superman and Wonder Woman a lot, and that they were still thinking things through. It didn’t sound very promising, but at least Cap was still in the League. Billy had half-expected to be immediately kicked out, so maybe he could already count this as a win. Being optimistic didn’t stop the worrying thoughts from sometimes interrupting his sleep or trying to pry more information out of Bruce, but it made him feel a bit better. This trip to the Amusement Mile was welcome in that sense, as he didn’t have time to think about the League or even Cap.

“So, how many foster siblings do you have?” Freddy asked when they were lining up for Billy’s first amusement park ride ever. Bruce had been fine with the trip with one condition: someone had to come with him, in case Mister Mind tried to attack again. Billy, despite knowing he could protect himself just fine, agreed. He remembered how the trip to the arcade had ended and did not want a repeat of that, so he was perfectly fine with Tim tagging along.
“Six. And a dog”, Billy replied with a smile. He and Tim had already decided that Tim wouldn’t have to follow them everywhere, just stick by close enough that in case something started happening, he would be there to help.
“Wow. That’s… a lot of siblings, foster or not. I’m an only child, so it’s really difficult to imagine”, Freddy said, genuinely amazed. Billy realized he still hadn’t mentioned who his foster father really was and decided to treat the news like a Band-Aid – just rip it off and get it over with.

“Yeah, about that. It’s not a big secret or anything, but I should probably tell you who my foster father is, just in case you ever want to visit us”, he said in a quiet voice. The people around them were definitely not focused on eavesdropping on them, as the couple behind them was too busy making out and the girls in front of them were deep in a conversation of their own, but Billy still felt kind of weird just mentioning this in a public place. Freddy furrowed his brows.
“You’re making this sound kind of ominous”, he said.
“I know, sorry. It’s just that, um, well… It’s Bruce Wayne.”

Freddy didn’t seem to even blink for a few seconds after the fact dropped, and Billy had to gently nudge him to move forward so they wouldn’t hold up the line.
“Wait… The Bruce Wayne?” Freddy finally asked, regaining some of his composure. His voice was a loud whisper, but just as Billy had assumed, no one seemed to hear what they were talking about.
“Yeah. I wasn’t sure if I should bring it up or how to bring it up, but I didn’t really want it to be a secret”, Billy explained, hoping to make his reasoning as clear as possible, “but he’s kind of a celebrity or something and I know that people might have lots of opinions him, and you would have found out anyway if you ever visited me because he lives in a mansion, so—”
“Dude, you don’t have to worry. That’s awesome”, Freddy interrupted before Billy could continue. Relief washed over Billy.

“Yeah, so, I just needed you to know that. And don’t worry, he’s cool. He’s already told me that you can visit if you want to”, Billy said, moving with the line. It was almost their turn, and he was getting more nervous with each step. It wasn’t the most dangerous-looking or tallest ride in the park, not even close, but Billy didn’t have anything to compare it to. He didn’t even understand why the ride made him so nervous – Captain Marvel flew on a daily basis, and on this ride, Billy would be strapped in and the likelihood of him falling off would be much less likely.
“If this turns out to be a prank, I’m going to be very annoyed”, Freddy said, “but wow, I didn’t know that Bruce Wayne has that many kids. Yeah, I don’t know a lot about him, but there are always so many rumors. One of my favorite podcasts actually had an episode about him a little while ago.”

If only people knew that even their wildest rumors probably couldn’t match the reality. Billy would have loved to see what Freddy’s reaction to the whole “Bruce Wayne is Batman” revelation might be, but that was the one subject where he definitely knew to stay quiet. They hadn’t even had to talk about it, as keeping each other’s identities a secret was obvious to everyone.

“What were they talking about?” Billy asked. He liked podcasts and audiobooks, especially now since he could afford to have some apps on his phone. He was still working on his reading with Jason and tried to read physical books as often as he could, but listening was just much easier. Freddy winced.
“Maybe you shouldn’t listen to that episode. They just had… lots of opinions. Like, yeah, they got kind of mean at points, but they did also talk about the good stuff he’s done. There are just a bunch of rumors that are always going around, right? But it’s cool that you know the real guy. If he’s taking in foster kids, he can’t be too bad, right? Unless this is like an Annie-situation—oh hey, it’s our turn!”

The previous group of people had exited the ride and new people were getting let in. Billy’s heart kept pumping as they showed the ride attendant their wristbands and went to choose their places. To Freddy’s dismay, they weren’t able to get the “best” spots at the very front of the ride, but Billy really didn’t mind that – seeing everything from that point of view sounded a little bit too exciting.

Once they’d found a place to sit in, Freddy gave his crutch to one of the employees, who placed it with the bags and other stuff that people couldn’t take on rides. Billy tried to seem as nonchalant as possible as he sat down; fortunately, this specific roller coaster allowed them to sit right next to each other, and Freddy lowered the lap bar for them.
“I probably should have asked this before we got strapped in”, Freddy said and looked at Billy, “you’re not afraid of heights, right? This isn’t like, the tallest ride in the park, but still.”
“Thanks, but I’m okay with heights. This should be fine. I’m fine”, Billy repeated, maybe aiming the last sentence more at himself than Freddy or anyone else. One of the employees checked that they were properly in their seats and that the lap bar was pushed down as far as possible, then moved to the next person. Everything happened almost faster than Billy had anticipated, and he watched with fright as the employee made her way to the operating booth.

“Hey, what’s the likelihood of these rides breaking?” he whispered when the ride finally started moving. The speed was agonizingly slow, and even though they weren’t sitting right at the front, Billy could see that they were moving toward a great ascent. Freddy hit him lightly on the shoulder.
“This isn’t going to break. C’mon, it’s your first ride, don’t think about stuff like that!” he whispered back. Maybe they both knew that talking loudly about the ride breaking, while still in motion, wouldn’t have been the best idea. Billy nodded. The ride isn’t going to break, he thought firmly as the ride took them further up, and even if it does, it’s not like Cap wouldn’t be able to save the day.

His knuckles were white from gripping the lap bar as they reached the peak.
“Everything looks so cool up here”, Freddy sighed, really taking a moment to look around and appreciate everything. Billy took a deep breath and did the same. Obviously, Freddy wouldn’t know about it, but Billy had seen so many better views from way higher up. Still, seeing the Amusement Mile from this angle wasn’t that bad.
“The sights are probably even better from up there”, he said, pointing toward the tallest ride.
“Yeah! Wanna check that next?” Freddy asked, absolutely beaming. Billy couldn’t get his answer out in time as the ride stopped for the briefest moment… and then started moving very fast.

Again – Billy was used to high speeds at great heights. What he now knew was that he really, really wanted to be the one who controlled where he was going, when he was going, and how fast he was going. Not to say that he didn’t like the ride: after the first shock and feeble attempt to fly elsewhere by himself, he actually really liked the thrill. Some people on the ride were screaming and he saw a couple of people lift their hands up – despite being told not to do so when the ride began! – and just enjoying everything. Now that Billy was mostly sure that the ride wasn’t going to break and bring everyone down with it, he could also just enjoy the ride.

It was over sooner than Billy would have liked, but the idea of visiting all the other rides in the park lifted his spirits.

“That. Was. Amazing”, he told Freddy once the ride had slowed down and arrived at the unloading spot, “we need to visit this one again at some point. And all the others. Is it possible to go on all rides in just one day?”
“Depends on the day. Today seems to be quieter than usual, so I think it’s possible”, Freddy said, “sometimes the lines are way too long and some of the rides are full all the time. It gets annoying really fast.”

Billy, bursting with energy, was ready for everything the Amusement Mile had to offer.

They didn’t end up visiting absolutely every single ride, but that was mostly because some of them were designed for very little children, and they had already outgrown those. Freddy couldn’t get on every single ride because of his crutch, but fortunately, it didn’t prevent him from most of them. After they were finished with the biggest and most popular rides, they moved on to the smaller ones that didn’t gather quite as many people. Freddy was prattling facts about the park and the rides with such frequency, Billy thought he should let someone at the park know that they were missing out on a very promising and enthusiastic employee.

“I think this place has been rebuilt or repaired, like, at least twenty times. Batman has fought the Joker in here at least ten times, and then there have been loads of other supervillain attacks”, Freddy told him. They had chosen a slow boat ride through a gentle artificial river near most of the gift shops.
“How is this park still open if it’s that dangerous?” Billy asked, turning around in the tiny boat to look at Freddy as they spoke. Freddy grinned.
“Don’t worry. Daytime is usually safe. Most of the fights happen at night”, he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Billy was used to villain stuff and all, but still, he couldn’t be quite as casual.
“Does it ever feel like Gotham is… I dunno, a really dangerous place to live? Even though you have Batman”, he said. Fawcett City wasn’t the same. Billy had fought a couple of “bigger” villains in Fawcett, but Gotham seemed to have incidents every other month, if not more often.

“Can’t really argue. Gotham is pretty dangerous”, Freddy said, leaning against the railing on the boat. He had tucked his crutch safely in the boat rather than leave it at the loading area, and as the boat wasn’t a big one, Billy kept accidentally knocking his feet against it.
“So…? Why do you stay here?” he asked. Freddy had to think about the answer for a little bit.

“Granddad says that once you’ve lived in Gotham City, it’s hard to leave. Not because something is preventing people from leaving, but because they just want to stay, even if – okay, when – it gets dangerous. He did also say that we would probably move out immediately if anything bad happened to either him or me, even though the rent is pretty cheap where we live”, Freddy said after he managed to put his thoughts into words. Billy nodded slowly. He still didn’t really get why people would stay here, but he needed to remember something: he lived here as well, and despite everything that had happened, he was pretty happy about his life here. He did miss the safer feeling of Fawcett City every now and then, but with every passing day, he was becoming more adjusted to this city.

The boat made a quiet turn and Billy could see that the ride was almost over.

“Well, I’m glad that you live here. I like everyone at my foster home, but, you know, most of them are much older, and the one person who’s almost my age likes completely different things”, he said with a smile. Freddy brightened up at the words immediately.
“I’m glad you moved here, too! Even though our first encounter ended in a mall fight”, he smiled.

And our second meeting ended in a kidnapping, Billy thought, but kept that one to himself.

When the boat stopped, Billy got up first and helped Freddy out. They had arrived at the park pretty soon after it had opened, and ever since then, more people kept pouring in. It was a good thing that they’d gotten the big rides out of the way, because the lines right now might have taken them at least double the time.
“So, where are we going next?” Billy asked. Freddy opened up his phone, where he had the Amusement Mile website open and scrolled down a little bit.
“I think we’ve already visited the best rides. We could go to the shops and see if they have any new superhero merch, they usually have a pretty good selection, at least in the Batden”, Freddy said, gesturing towards a black and yellow building, “I mean, it’s obviously at least eighty percent Batman merch, but there’s other stuff too.”

Billy thought back to the Nightwing figurine he had gotten at the arcade. He still loved having it, but knowing what he knew now, it did feel kind of strange that Dick had been right there when he’d selected it. Having Batman merch would probably feel even stranger, though he really liked the thought of seeing Bruce’s face if he came home in a Batman shirt.
“Yeah, let’s go check it out”, he said, not even trying to hide his smile.

They didn’t make it all the way to the store, however, as they were stopped by a loud scream piercing the air. They both stopped dead in their tracks but didn’t even have the time to look around with a confused expression before chaos erupted. Multiple gunshots rang through the air, creating even more screaming and crying, and the people with the quickest reaction skills had already started to move. Billy’s first reaction was to transform immediately, but then he realized where he was. He couldn’t transform right here, especially now that people were running around and knocking into him every now and then: he didn’t want to electrocute anyone, nor did he want to reveal his secret identity to a bunch of people. So, instead of shouting out, he turned to Freddy.

“We need to get inside”, he said, gently tugging Freddy to follow him. He had already spotted one of the gunmen: the man was wearing a dark hood and pointing a gun at the nearby people, barking orders at them. Billy couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying, but he knew enough that he didn’t want to be there.

Could Mister Mind be behind this? The thought popped into his head as he and Freddy moved toward the nearest store. Mister Mind hadn’t had anyone use guns before, but maybe after the last failed attempt he’d realized that he would need something more powerful than mere fists. Maybe it had been a foolish thing to think that he could have a nice day at the amusement park without anything bad happening, especially after what Freddy had said about the park not being a stranger to being attacked.

Billy wished he could just lift Freddy up and carry him to safety, but he definitely wasn’t strong enough like this. He would need to get Freddy to safety, then slip out by himself and transform somewhere people couldn’t see him. He wasn’t sure where Tim was at the moment, but he was probably already getting ready.

“Stop right there, brats!” a voice called out and someone grabbed Billy’s hair from behind. The sudden movement jerked Billy away from Freddy, who swayed a little after walking as fast as his leg would allow. Billy tried to turn around and kick the person behind him, but the adult man was clearly stronger than him and pulled him back.
“Let go of him!” Freddy shouted and didn’t continue toward the store, to Billy’s dismay. Instead, he tried to hit the man with his crutch, almost falling over in the process. The gunman didn’t let go of Billy’s hair and instead sneered at Freddy.
“Well, aren’t you a little fighter? Scarecrow’s gonna like that. Hey, here’s another one! Get the blond one, won’t ya?” he shouted at one of the other gunmen that had arrived. One of them acted quickly and grabbed Freddy by the arm that didn’t have the crutch.

Billy saw red and suddenly didn’t even care if someone saw him transform in the middle of the day.

“Don’t touch him!” he shouted, “Sha—”
Before he could finish the spell, the gunmen grabbed his mouth with force, interrupting the transformation by accident.
“Shut the hell up or I’ll knock ya out”, he spat out.

Billy bit him. It felt like a good idea at the time, if a little childish. The gunman cursed loudly and slammed the butt of his gun against Billy’s head.

Everything went very blurry. Billy could hear Freddy shouting somewhere in the distance, but it was suddenly much further away than he’d thought. The gunman said something, and suddenly everything went black.

When Billy woke up, he was laying on the ground, still in the amusement park. It didn’t feel like he’d been out cold for a long time, but that wasn’t really something he could really know for certain. Then the sight of Freddy getting grabbed by one of the gunmen came back to his head, sending Billy sitting straight up and regretting it almost immediately as a jolt of pain surged through his head.

“Stay down for now, you got smacked pretty hard. We’ll need to look at that injury back at the cave”, another voice said, though this one wasn’t either of the gunmen nor Freddy. Billy blinked a couple of times, and once the pain had gone down even a little bit, looked at where the voice was coming from. Red Robin was standing near him, his suit a little dirty and with a scratch that seemed like a bullet had grazed him on the shoulder, but otherwise intact. There were no gunshots, screaming, or fighting, but there were still crying and worried voices, though the park was much, much emptier than just moments before. Billy tried to understand what had happened.

“Did you get them? Did the gunmen get arrested?” Billy asked immediately. Red Robin grimaced.
“Unfortunately, just some of them. We would have needed more people here to actually stop all of them”, he replied quietly, keeping his voice so low that only Billy could hear him. Not that anyone was really paying attention to them - in a normal situation, Red Robin would have attracted much more attention, but right now people were focused on tending the wounded and getting out of the park. So much for that ‘daytime should be safe’ thing that Freddy had said earlier. Speaking of whom…

“What about Freddy? Did you help Freddy? He was grabbed by one of the men”, Billy asked, looking around. He didn’t see Freddy, but that could have been because of multiple reasons. Maybe Freddy was being tended by one of the ambulances that had arrived. Maybe he’d already gotten to safety and his granddad had fetched him home.

Billy hated the look on Red Robin’s face.

“I’m sorry, Billy, but… like I said, I couldn’t stop them all”, he said quietly, “they were grabbing children everywhere, and some of them managed to escape with them. It seems like this was a planned attack because they had secret escape routes built into the park beforehand. We were just unlucky to get here today when the attack actually took place.”

Billy’s blood ran cold.
“They took children? This wasn’t, like, Mister Mind’s ploy or something? Why would he take others?” he asked, then remembered something. The gunman before had spoken of Scarecrow. Billy didn’t recognize the name, but he also didn’t think that they were talking about regular, field-guarding scarecrows either.
“One of the gunmen mentioned a Scarecrow”, he said. Red Robin’s face went even more serious than before.
“We need to contact Bruce. If Scarecrow was behind this, we need to find those children as quickly as possible. Here, I’ll help you up.”

Billy begrudgingly accepted the help and hated how his footing was unsteady when he stood. What’s more, he absolutely hated how useless he had been during that entire attack. He was Captain freaking Marvel, and still, he couldn’t help his friend from being taken by a villain. He should have been able to stop all the gunmen with no trouble, and here he was, not even being able to stand properly by himself. Billy tried to swallow his anger and frustration, but Red Robin must have noticed his expression before it could be hidden away.

“Don’t worry. Bruce will take care of this, and Freddy will be just fine. He’s dealt with Scarecrow before”, he said, clapping Billy’s shoulder in a manner that probably could have been comforting, had it been anyone else’s shoulder at that moment. To Billy, it felt like a pity pat. Yeah, you have more superpowers than anyone else in our household and couldn’t stop the gunmen, let alone one of them, the pat said. But don’t worry, we’ll take care of your mess. You’re welcome.

Billy knew Red Robin meant nothing like that with his words or actions, but right now it didn’t matter. All he knew was that he would absolutely take care of this and find Freddy, no matter what.

Chapter Text

“No, you are not getting involved in this.”

Bruce had heard about the attack at the Amusement Mile before Tim and Billy even made their way home. Even though he knew Billy was more resourceful than most kids his age, it had been a terrifying fifteen minutes before he’d heard from them. Alfred had immediately fetched an icebag for a head injury that Billy had suffered during the attack, and in the meanwhile, both Tim and Billy had given Bruce an explanation of what had happened at the park. It was clear from Billy’s voice that he was angry, rather than scared, from the attack, and he had immediately asked Bruce what they would do to get Freddy and the other kids back to safety.

That was the thing. Billy wouldn’t be facing Scarecrow.

“What do you mean? I have superpowers, of course I’m getting involved”, Billy argued. He was genuinely confused. Bruce sighed.
“Superpowers or not, Scarecrow is incredibly dangerous and not someone you should risk facing with barely any training or research. I have dealt with him before, so I will take care of him. You are going to sit this one out”, he said. They were alone in the study. Tim had gone down to the Batcave with Alfred to start figuring out where Scarecrow was taking the children and who his accomplices could have been.

He did understand that superpowers made Captain Marvel a very useful and capable ally – if he didn’t think so, Captain Marvel wouldn’t have been accepted into the Justice League to begin with. He also knew that Billy had already gone through many challenges during his short time as a superhero. However, this was Scarecrow they were talking about. His tactics, for the most part, weren’t physical. He was constantly developing his fear toxin to new levels of disturbing, and if Billy were to come into contact with that, the results could be disastrous and traumatizing.

Telling Billy about the fear toxin probably wouldn’t stop the boy. It could even motivate him to act more carelessly. No one really understood the magnitude of the toxin before they themselves came into contact with it, and there were too many people who had never survived the experience. Bruce knew he wouldn’t be able to stop Billy from going to fight Scarecrow the moment he figured out where the man was, so he really wanted to keep Billy out of everything concerning the investigation. Fortunately, as much as Captain Marvel resembled Superman in his powers, super-hearing wasn’t a part of his magic. As long as Billy wouldn’t be able to eavesdrop, he shouldn’t be able to act erratically and get himself hurt in the process.

Billy glared at him. He was aggressively pressing the icebag against his head. Bruce could only imagine one of the thugs hitting him with a gun. The thought made him angry, but it also made him more resolute in his decision to keep Billy away from Scarecrow. If a single thug could knock Billy out, then he definitely wasn’t ready to face someone like Scarecrow.

“They took Freddy. He took Freddy. I can’t just sit here and do nothing”, he said. There was a strain on the boy’s voice. This whole thing must have weighed on him a lot. Bruce stepped closer to Billy.
“I know it’s difficult, but right now, the best way to find Freddy and get him to safety is to leave everything to me. Can you please do that?” he asked.
“No”, Billy replied without a pause.
“I’m not really asking, Billy. Part of being a superhero – a part of being in the Justice League – is to know when to act and when to let others do the work. You are not getting involved”, Bruce said, hoping to end the discussion then and there. Billy seemed to have a different idea, because while he took a step away, he was getting more and more annoyed by the second.
“You’re making the wrong decision! You can’t seriously believe that keeping me out of this is going to make things any better! I’ve been doing this for a long time—”

“You are twelve, Billy. You have had your powers for three years, I have been Batman for much, much longer. You have faced villains before, but this is entirely different”, Bruce said. He recognized the tone in Billy’s voice, the way he believed nothing could actually hurt him in a situation like this. He had heard it plenty of times before from different mouths, and where had those led them? To crowbars and swords, that’s where. Billy would need a lot of training before Bruce would let him face someone that dangerous, at least when he had the option to say no. There would be times when no one had the chance to refuse a fight, but those were in the future.

“Why? Why is this different? I’ve fought Black Adam, who has magic and is thousands of years old, so why is a superpower-less guy with a lame name too much for me to handle?” Billy continued pushing.
“Did you get hurt fighting Black Adam? And didn’t you tell me it ended in a truce?” Bruce asked.
“Well, a little, and yeah, but—”
“There’s no ‘truce’ with Scarecrow. Believe me, I have fought him for years, and he keeps breaking out and coming back – he’s not just a regular man who you can talk to.”
“I can just—”
“Enough, Billy.”

There was enough force behind Bruce’s words to make Billy quiet for the moment. Billy was still simmering, probably just barely keeping himself from continuing the argument. Bruce, however, was done with their conversation.

“Go to your room. Please”, he said, almost struggling to add the ‘please’ in the end. He was more worked up than he’d realized. Billy opened his mouth, noticed the serious look on Bruce’s face, and stomped out of the study. Once Billy was completely gone, Bruce sighed and slowly sat down on one of the sofas, pressing his hands against his forehead. He didn’t like telling Billy to stay out of it. It was obvious how much it mattered to Billy that his friend had been taken, but it was exactly that kind of emotion that could make everything even worse, were he to face Scarecrow and the fear toxin. Those feelings of anger, worry, and the need to prove himself would only result in hurried and bad decisions, and when those were mixed up with the incredibly powerful superpowers Captain Marvel possessed… Bruce knew he’d made the right decision. He could only hope that Billy would understand his side of the argument once the kids had been saved and Scarecrow would be back behind bars.

Until then, he just didn’t want Billy to get hurt. Dealing with Mister Mind was already bad enough, and they still hadn’t managed to find out anything new and useful that could help them end that threat.

Bruce just sat there for a couple of minutes, after which he headed toward the Batcave. The sooner he dealt with this new problem, the sooner he could go back to trying to solve the other one. As if his life didn’t feel like one big problem all the time already.

---

Billy was absolutely not going to let Bruce tell him what to do – well, what not to do – right now. When he’d asked Bruce what they would do about Scarecrow, he had expected some reluctance, not an outright denial. It was utterly wild that Bruce thought he could keep Billy from doing his absolute best to find Freddy and the other kids. This entire manor was filled with superheroes and vigilantes with no superpowers, yet he expected the one person with extremely useful powers to stay out of it? Yeah, no.

Stomping his way through the hallway, Billy tried to figure out what his next move was. Without any knowledge of Scarecrow and his habits, known hideouts and such, it would be difficult to do anything. Eavesdropping in the Batcave would most likely be impossible and seeing how Bruce had spoken to him just moments earlier, Billy was pretty sure Bruce wouldn’t be changing his mind any time soon. He was pretty sure that Bruce was at least telling the truth and doing his best to find Freddy and the other kids, but he wasn’t seeing things clearly right now: if he just let Billy help him, they could solve the case much faster.

Perhaps his argument with Bruce had been louder than he’d expected, because as soon as he turned toward the stairs, he noticed Alfred had been following him. Billy was still too annoyed and nervous to even wonder how he hadn’t even heard Alfred following him all the way to the entrance hall.
“… What?” he asked when Alfred didn’t say anything. The butler let out a sigh and took a couple of steps closer.
“Master Bruce is just trying to keep you safe. I hope you understand that, even though sometimes he… perhaps doesn’t know how to say it in the gentlest way”, he said. Billy bit his teeth together. That wasn’t the problem!
“I get that. Even so, I can take care of myself and shouldn’t be benched because I have slightly less experience than the others”, he said, trying to keep his temper down – this was Alfred he was talking to, and Alfred hadn’t decided to keep him out of the loop.

Still, Alfred didn’t seem to be against this decision, as he just gave Billy an annoyingly understanding look. Billy kept his mouth shut and made his way upstairs, just to almost crash into another person. Couldn’t he just have a small moment of stewing in his annoyance all by himself? Was that too much to ask?

“You have two eyes, Batson. I suggest you use them”, Damian said, crossing his arms as he spoke. He seemed well, considering everything that happened the day before.
“You have two eyes as well, you could have dodged just fine”, Billy snapped back and pushed past Damian. He couldn’t get very far, though, because Damian followed him with apparent curiosity in his eyes.

“Father benched you.”

It wasn’t a question; it was an observation. Billy stopped at his door and turned to look at Damian, who was watching him intently.
“Yeah, he did. So what?” he said. There was the slightest smile on Damian’s face, and it made Billy even more frustrated than before.
“He really does not budge, even though you have magic powers… That is interesting. What was too “dangerous” for you to participate in?” he asked. Billy sighed, turned back around, and opened his door.
“Do we really need to talk about this? He thinks that Scarecrow is too dangerous for me, even though I could easily beat that guy up and save my friend”, he said, hoping that Damian would leave it at that.

Damian followed him into his room and closed the door behind them.

“Scarecrow? I thought it would be something worse, considering your magic”, he said. To his credit, he did sound genuinely surprised. Billy was starting to feel like giving up and just talking would be much easier than trying to get Damian to leave the room. Plus, there was the possibility that venting would make him feel much better.
“I know, right? I doubt the Scarecrow even has any magical powers, since he sent regular goons with guns to the amusement park. I would have been able to help Freddy and everyone else at the park already if I had been able to transform right away!” Billy complained, sitting down on his bed. He never would have guessed that Damian would even entertain the idea of listening to Billy vent about… well, anything. Yet here he was – even if Damian looked more amused than righteously outraged as Billy had sort of hoped.

“I could let you in on a… family tradition. If you’re not scared”, Damian said after a moment of thought.
“… A family tradition?” Billy repeated. He might have even been kind of touched, were it not Damian who was talking to him. When the words came from his mouth, they sounded more sinister than touching.

“Father has benched everyone at some point. Multiple times. Do you think everyone really just listens to him?” Damian asked with a roll of his eyes. Billy hadn’t thought about it. After all, this was Batman they were talking about. The Batman! Even though Billy had gotten to know Bruce and Batman wasn’t exactly as intimidating to him as before, it was still difficult to imagine people really talking back to Batman. But, from the sound of Damian’s voice, it was clear that this was nothing new to the Robins. Against his better judgment, Billy felt kind of excited about it.

“You’re telling me to look for Freddy and the others without him? Won’t he be mad?” he whispered, even though Bruce had most likely already gone down to the Batcave and wouldn’t be eavesdropping on their conversation. Damian shrugged his shoulders, but there was something mischievous about the look on his face.
“I am not telling you to do anything. But if you decide to do something about it, I might be able to help you at least locate Scarecrow”, he said. Billy thought about it. The offer was actually enticing, but there was still one problem – the fact that the offer was coming from Damian. Damian hadn’t given Billy any reason to distrust him or anything like that, but he had also never given him any indication that he’d be willing to do something like this for him.

“Why are you doing this?” Billy asked. Damian furrowed his brows.
“What do you expect me to answer? Do you not want to find your friend?” he replied, and though his face was usually like a closed book, he did seem almost a little bit offended by the question.
“No, of course I do!” Billy defended himself immediately, “it’s just that you… kind of don’t seem like the kind of person who would help me go against your dad.”

The frustration went away from Damian’s face, and he gave Billy a smug smile.

“Clearly, you have no idea how anything works in this manor just yet. So, do you want my assistance or are you going to do as father says?” he asked. That didn’t really explain the relationship between Bruce and Damian at all, but Billy got the distinct feeling that Damian was not the type of person to indulge people he’d known for a month and a half about his relationship with his dad. So, he wasn’t going to ask.

“Yeah, I want your help. I need to help Freddy”, Billy said instead, firm in his decision. Damian nodded: there was no sign of surprise on his face, so this was most likely the answer he’d been anticipating. Billy didn’t mind. Even if Bruce didn’t want him to fight, he couldn’t stay out of this. He wouldn’t be a superhero if he let others do all the hero stuff and just hid away when there was the possibility of danger – so if he needed to act behind Bruce’s back, he was willing to do so.

Chapter Text

It was almost midnight when Damian appeared back at Billy’s door with the three most likely hideouts that Scarecrow could have been using right then. Billy had only reluctantly eaten dinner after Alfred had spoken to him and convinced him to come down. Bruce hadn’t eaten with them, and Billy hadn’t asked where he was: it was pretty obvious that he was still down in the Batcave, still not letting Billy join the search and the fight. Alfred seemed used to these situations, which just confirmed what Damian had spoken about earlier: everyone had most likely gotten benched at some point. It did help Billy feel a little bit better, but not enough to change his mind.

“Master Billy”, Alfred had said as Billy had finished eating and was leaving the dining room, “whatever you decide to do, I implore you to be careful.”

“Don’t worry about Bruce. I’ll talk to him about it”, Tim had said when they’d run into each other near the study, “he can be a little stubborn. Okay, he can be the most stubborn person I know. But don’t do anything reckless.”

And, of course, Bruce had said nothing. Billy hadn’t even tried to go to the Batcave to continue their conversation, because it was pretty obvious what he would say. There was always the possibility that everything would go even worse if Billy tried to argue his case further: so, when Damian finally came to him with the possible locations, Billy was more than ready to go.

“I could have found out his exact location with more time”, Damian told him, “but I believe we agree that the sooner you act, the better. Once you find the correct hideout, message me so I can provide backup.”
“You want to come as backup?” Billy asked. He was actually surprised by this: earlier, Damian had said nothing about coming along. This was apparently a stupid question because Damian rolled his eyes.
“Only idiots go in without any kind of backup. You find the correct place and get the brats out, then we deal with the Scarecrow. Simple”, he explained. From the tone of his voice, you’d think he’d already explained this same plan ten times before – but no, this was the first time he’d ever mentioned anything about it. Not that Billy was against the plan. He was pretty sure he could handle all parts of that plan by himself, but it would be extremely ungrateful to deny Damian’s help at this point.

“Yeah, sounds good”, Billy said, taking a closer look at the addresses listed on Damian’s phone. He didn’t know why he bothered – it wasn’t like he was going to recognize any of them. Damian would just need to send them to Billy’s phone so he could even find any of the places. That was one more superpower he wished he had: an internal navigator of sorts. Seeing a superhero fly in the sky looked cool. The coolness factor was significantly less if the superhero in question was holding a phone and getting lost while trying to find their destination. Now the only problem was leaving the manor without anyone else noticing. If Billy transformed into Captain Marvel in the yard, it wouldn’t be very difficult for Bruce to realize what was going on. Though, to be fair: it would be too late for him to do anything.

It wasn’t like Billy thought Bruce would be able to physically stop him from leaving. It was more about the stern talking to and disappointment he was definitely scared of. If Bruce found out before he left, he might have been able to talk Billy into staying. So, to avoid even the possibility of anything like that happening, they needed to leave fast and quietly. Billy could transform somewhere else, and they could sneak back later. Once Bruce found out about the kids being saved and everything turning out just fine, he would have to admit to being wrong about benching Billy.

“So, how are we going to leave without anyone noticing?” Billy asked. He knew Damian had a motorcycle he was definitely too young to legally drive, but that would make too much noise in the night.
“Aren’t you the one with the magical powers? And the magical portals?” Damian gestured toward the closet. Billy had repaired the portal to Fawcett City about a week ago after realizing that it was still very useful. He didn’t have to hide his identity in the manor anymore, but if any outsiders saw Captain Marvel flying in and out of the Wayne Manor on a regular basis, it would most likely raise a lot of questions.

“Oh. Yeah, that works”, he said. He would have to fly right back to Gotham from Fawcett City, but at least Bruce wouldn’t be able to hear the lightning all the way from there.
“What about you?” he asked. Damian gave him another, incredibly smug smile.
“I have left the manor without father noticing multiple times. Just remember to send me the message after you find the hideout”, he said, and with that, Billy stepped into the portal and closed the door behind him.

This time, he’d placed the portal in a different location on the other end – it was near the subway tunnels he used to live in, and though that meant the location wasn’t as good as it had been with the previous place, it was still safer. Billy still had no idea how Mister Mind had been able to find the previous portal, but he didn’t want to risk that happening again.

While Damian had been gone, Billy had been trying to figure out the best way to save everyone and fight Scarecrow. He had tried searching for information on the internet, but nothing he’d found was really helpful in his situation. There were quite a few articles about Scarecrow getting captured, escaping, fighting Batman, and getting arrested again. There were a couple of web pages discussing some sort of “fear gas” he used to attack people with. Some people actually seemed interested in his work, but thankfully, most people seemed to agree that he was an awful human being and shouldn’t be roaming the streets of Gotham City.

It took Billy a moment to get up from the tunnels and into the Fawcett City night. There, he transformed and left immediately for Gotham City. He wanted to find everyone as fast as possible, in case Scarecrow was hurting them. It was one of the scariest parts about this: Billy had no idea why Scarecrow had taken children and thinking about the possible answers to that question was even worse than simply not knowing. All he could hope for was that everyone was still safe, and whatever Scarecrow was planning hadn’t had time to take place quite yet.

He sent Damian the first message once he was back in Gotham. The first place he visited was a completely empty warehouse – Captain Marvel did have to break a window to make sure, but as the place seemed extremely abandoned, he didn’t feel too bad about it. Also, it was in the shadier part of Gotham he’d never seen before: he didn’t even have to wonder why no one had taken him there yet. It wasn’t a secret that Gotham City had plenty of shady neighborhoods and finding Scarecrow’s lair in a place like that wouldn’t be surprising at all. It was the opposite, in fact: Captain Marvel was certain that he would find Scarecrow in the dirtiest, shadiest place he could imagine.

Or a cornfield. But somehow Captain Marvel knew that the guy wasn’t being quite THAT literal with his name.

Captain Marvel wasn’t sure how long it would take for him to actually get used to Gotham. He knew Fawcett City extremely well, but this was new territory, and the people were different. Of course, people needed help everywhere and he was happy to provide it, but right now he was on Batman’s territory. He would probably stick to teleporting to Fawcett City to still help the city he had grown up in, and if people saw Captain Marvel in Gotham City too much, it would raise lots of questions. He didn’t want the people back in Fawcett to think that he’d abandoned them: he also didn’t want the people of Gotham to think that Batman needed another hand. Bruce was being stubborn right now, but Gotham had been doing mostly fine in Batman’s care, at least to Marvel’s understanding.

It took a bit of looking around for Captain Marvel to find the second place, but when he did, he got a feeling that this was the correct place. It seemed to be an abandoned office building with planks covering the windows and graffiti all over the walls. The street beneath the building was littered with trash, empty bottles, and cigarette stumps, and someone was slumped over in one of the corners. Captain Marvel wondered for a moment if he should wake the man up and ask if he’d seen anything – but upon further consideration, he knew it would be a stupid idea. So, he flew to one of the nearby windows and tore the planks away, revealing a smashed window that would be easy enough to enter… at least for someone who didn’t have to worry about getting cut by the glass.

The room he climbed into was dark: the only spots of light came from the cracks on the planks, which let the streetlights slightly inside. It was cleaner than Captain Marvel had expected, though that wasn’t saying much: the floor still had a slight coat of dust and sand, and it wouldn’t have been surprising to see a mouse or a rat scurrying across the floor. Captain Marvel continued forward as quietly as possible – he didn’t want to risk anyone getting hurt, in case anyone heard him coming and panicked. If Freddy and the other kids were here, they needed to get out first, before anything else could happen.

Damian was also expecting a text from him, but Captain Marvel still wasn’t completely certain that this was the right place. As soon as he got any kind of confirmation, he was going to send the message.

He wasn’t used to being sneaky, but thankfully, he didn’t have to step on the floor, so creaky floorboards couldn’t give him away. Captain Marvel floated silently through the halls, peeking into the empty rooms, hoping to find anyone. Preferably, Freddy and the others, but he wouldn’t have minded finding Scarecrow, either. Hopefully, either one would lead to the other, and he wouldn’t have to worry about having to spend too much time looking for everyone.

Captain Marvel didn’t have to wait for long. After a few more minutes of searching, he heard voices from one of the rooms. He didn’t recognize the men speaking, but at least it confirmed that the building did have life inside.

“Where the fuck is Fred? He was supposed to be here an hour ago!” a male voice complained.
“Quit yer whinin’. My headache’s gettin’ worse”, another one snapped, followed by the sound of something hitting the table. Captain Marvel stood still, quietly hoping to hear anything useful.
“I’m going to fucking whine as much as I fucking want! I’m not getting paid enough to fucking sit here and watch over some fucking brats. If Crane wasn’t fucking nuts, I would have left already”, said the first voice, who sounded like he was competing with Jason for the ‘most swear words in a sentence’ award that some people just really liked fighting over.
“Shut the fuck up”, the second one, the one with the headache, mumbled, “just be fuckin’ quiet, will ya? Yer louder than the bastards.”

It was enough evidence: this was the correct place. Captain Marvel sent a quick text to Damian, ‘found the place, it was in this address’, then stepped into the room. To the two men’s credit, they were immediately on their feet as he entered the room. However, their faces were soon lit up by confusion.

“Who the fuck is this?” asked the loudmouth, aiming a gun at Captain Marvel, “we were told to prepare in case the Bat was going to show up, not this clown.”

“Okay, I’ll give you a chance to tell me everything”, Captain Marvel said, stepping further into the room, agitating the men further, “where are the kids, and where is Scarecrow?”

Sometimes that worked. Captain Marvel had been able to build a reputation in Fawcett City in particular, and sometimes the smaller criminals, like muggers and such, did give up before anything else could happen. Right now, though, the men definitely didn’t let go of their guns – instead, they aimed them further, apparently extremely unaware of what definitely wouldn’t hurt Captain Marvel. Like, come on. Most people definitely knew how invulnerable Superman was to all kinds of attacks, but here was Captain Marvel, getting a regular gun pointed at his head. How long would it take for people to know that something like this simply wouldn’t work? Even Batman wore a bulletproof suit, so you didn’t even have to be actually bulletproof to win that fight.

One of the guns went off, and Captain Marvel felt a bullet hit his chest, then watched it fall to the floor. Multiple screams rang out from another room. He let the man get another shot in, just in case he wouldn’t believe the first one, then grabbed the gun and broke it in half.
“Where are the kids?” he asked again, stepping even closer. The second guy still had his gun, but didn’t start shooting – instead, he seemed to realize how futile it would be and lowered the weapon, still not letting go of it.
“What do we get if we tell ya?” he asked, like there was any chance of him getting anything. Captain Marvel gave him a cold look that answered everything, and the first man didn’t wait for a proper response.
“The brats are in the next room, right over there. Scarecrow is in the basement, doing whatever he even fucking does. We’re just paid to be here”, he said, giving his buddy an annoyed look. Captain Marvel nodded.

“Good”, he said, glancing at the door the man had pointed at. This was working out well: he could get the kids out first, then he could deal with Scarecrow. He wasn’t going to let these guys just walk out, either. He didn’t have time to fly them to a police station – he wasn’t even sure where the nearest police station would be – so he compromised by grabbing them both and putting them in one of the windowless rooms in the building and blocking the door with a rusty locker and a bookshelf. He followed that by sending Damian another message, informing him of the two grunts. Damian had responded to his previous text with a simple “OK”, so Captain Marvel assumed that the boy was on his way to the building.

Everything was going smoothly. Marvel returned to the previous room, finding the door to the other room unlocked. The building was probably way too old and decrepit to actually have working locks on each door, but since the grunts had guns, it wasn’t a surprise that the kids hadn’t tried to escape on their own. Captain Marvel opened the door quietly.

The room inside had no windows, and the only furniture was a couple of dusty bookshelves, a broken table, a broken lamp in the ceiling, and a singular chair with slightly wonky legs. Huddled together in the middle of the room were the missing children – there were maybe ten or fifteen of them, with the youngest looking like he was maybe six years old at best. Their eyes were filled with suspicion and fear, but one of them smiled when he realized who had entered the room.

“Is that… Captain Marvel?” he asked with visible excitement. It caught the attention of the others, and they started to stand up and cautiously approach the man. Though the situation was incredibly serious, it felt really, really good to be recognized by someone like this.
“Yes, it is me. I’m here to get you out of this place”, he said. His eyes combed through the kids and a terrifying realization struck him – he didn’t see Freddy anywhere. It would have been impossible to miss him, since Freddy was such a big fan of all superheroes: even if Freddy had just gone unnoticed, Captain Marvel would have at least heard him. But no, Freddy wasn’t in here, and that was not a good sign.
“I wanna go home”, one of the youngest boys cried out and clutched onto Marvel’s leg. It did wake Captain Marvel up just enough to realize that no matter what was going on, he wouldn’t be able to keep up his search for Freddy before he got everyone here to safety.

“I’m going to get you home. I’m actually working with Robin, so there’s no chance that anyone here is going to get left behind”, he said to the boy, giving him an encouraging smile, “is this… everyone that’s been here? I don’t want to leave anyone behind.”
“That one boy is still in the basement”, replied one of the oldest-looking kids – she was probably older than Billy, although no one else in the room but Marvel knew that. That gave him a bad feeling.
“One of you guys is in the basement?” he asked. As in, the basement where the grunt had said that Scarecrow was. No, that did not sound good. The girl nodded, twirling a strand of blonde hair nervously around her finger.
“They… kept taking some of us down there. I’m not sure what’s going on there, but nothing good. She came back from there a couple of hours ago”, the girl explained and nodded toward another, brunette girl, who was probably in the same age range as Billy.

Captain Marvel hadn’t really noticed the girl earlier, but with just one look, he knew that something was wrong. She was one of the very few kids who hadn’t really reacted to his arrival, almost like she hadn’t seen him open the door. She was sitting in the corner, pressing her legs against her chest and just staring forward with an empty stare in her blue eyes. Captain Marvel walked up to her, slowly and gently, and kneeled so he would be on her level. Still, there was no reaction.

“She hasn’t told us what happened. She hasn’t really… done anything, after she came back”, the blonde girl continued with a worried look in her eyes. Captain Marvel raised his hand slowly, so as to not frighten the girl, and laid it gently on her shoulder. The blonde girl took a step forward.
“You probably shouldn’t—"

Her reaction was instant: her head turned toward Captain Marvel and she let out the loudest scream she could, almost tripping on her own feet as she tried to stand up. Captain Marvel raised his hands like he was surrendering, trying to convey that he didn’t mean to do anything bad, but it didn’t help at all. The other kids were already retreating to the other side of the room as the little girl stared at Captain Marvel with wide-open, fear-filled eyes.
“Stay away from me!” she screamed, her eyes darting from Marvel to the other kids, even to the empty floor and the walls, “stay away from me, please, stay away! Go away!”

Captain Marvel blinked in surprise.

“I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to help you get home”, he said. He didn’t come any closer and kept kneeling, as his full height might have been too intimidating right now. Tears were running down the girl's cheeks and she had started shaking, her eyes still not focusing on anything in particular. It didn’t seem like she was entirely aware of where she was, or that she was being talked to.
“She’s been like that all the time since she came back”, said a boy with a rocket-shaped backpack, “she was even worse before because she wouldn’t calm down before.”

The girl was breathing heavily and holding her hands up in fists like she was ready to fight anyone who came too close.

“Do any of you know her name?” he asked. The only reply he got was a bunch of murmurs and shrugging, meaning that no one here had any idea. It made things slightly more difficult, but Captain Marvel pushed on. He really wished Damian would already respond to his text to tell him that he had arrived because they really needed to get the kids out as soon as possible.
“Hey there. My name is Captain Marvel. Can you tell me your name?” he asked. The girl's eyes moved to stare at him, but it still felt like she was looking at him through a field of fog. At least she wasn’t screaming anymore, and she seemed to be realizing that no one was attacking her right now.

“G—Go away…” she whimpered, her words faltering, “I—I can’t… I tried to—your faces are—”

Captain Marvel furrowed his eyebrows. He wished he knew the girl’s name because at least that way it would be so much easier to draw her attention. He just needed to get her to calm down, and in order to do that, he needed to know what was going on.
“What do you see? Can you describe it to me?” he asked. The girl’s breathing hitched, but she seemed to actually consider the idea.
“There are… there are dead people in here”, she whispered, closing her eyes as she said the words, “the faces are scary and they—they keep looking at m-me.”

Captain Marvel looked around. All the children in the room looked perfectly normal, nothing dead about them.

“Everyone in this room is alive. I think you saw a nightmare”, he said, “I promise you, there are no dead people in this room – and even if there were, I could easily protect you from them. Could you please come with me, so we can leave this place?”

The girl opened her eyes reluctantly. She was still shaking like a leaf, but she managed to look at Captain Marvel. There was a certain understanding between them, and finally she walked up to him. She stopped in front of him and reached her hand out, placing it on the left side of his chest.

“… You’re alive”, he said. Captain Marvel smiled. His phone buzzed, signaling Damian’s arrival.
“Yes, I’m alive. And everyone else here is alive as well. We should leave this place, don’t you think?” he asked, offering his hand to the girl. She clutched onto it with both hands. Captain Marvel checked that the text message was actually from Damian and turned to the rest of the group.

“Okay, listen, everyone. Robin is waiting for you outside, he’ll take you to a police station, where your parents or guardians can get you home. I’ll take you to him, but then I’ll need to look for the last boy you mentioned”, he said, gesturing with his free hand for the kids to follow him. He received no complaints, as the kids were understandably eager to leave the building. The scared girl kept squeezing his hand with all her might as they walked through the empty halls and promptly ignored the blocked door, where Captain Marvel had stashed the grunts. Robin was waiting for them at one of the windows, ready to help the kids climb outside.

“Wait, or you’re going to cut your hands open”, Robin commanded as he broke the remaining glass so everyone could climb out with more ease, “one at a time, and hurry up. We don’t have all night.”

He could have been slightly more compassionate with the way he spoke to the children, but then again, this was Damian Wayne they were talking about. It was already sweet enough for him to make sure that the kids wouldn’t be all cut up from climbing through broken windows. As the kids started to leave through the window, the scared girl on Captain Marvel’s hand turned to him.

“Are you… going to come with us?” she asked. Her voice was still frail, and she was still pale and shaking, but it was much better than how she’d been just a few moments earlier. Captain Marvel shook his head.
“I would, but I need to make sure that everyone here gets out. Robin will make sure that you get back to your family”, he said with a smile, turning toward her. She took a deep, shaky breath.
“My grandma. I’m just visiting”, she corrected quietly. Okay, in that case, this was probably the worst possible first visit to Gotham. Hopefully, it wouldn’t sour the entire visit.
“They’ll find your grandma, and you can go back with her. I don’t think I caught your name”, Marvel said, trying to get her in a better mood. She looked up at him as her turn to climb through the window was coming up.
“Mary”, she told him, “and… thank you. For saving me.”
“That’s my job”, Captain Marvel smirked, “but you should really go. I think your grandma is worried sick.”

Mary managed to muster the smallest smile on her face, but that was more than good enough. Robin instructed her through the window, and before he climbed out himself, he took a look at Captain Marvel.

“Are you not coming, Marvel?” he asked. Captain Marvel shook his head once more.
“No, there’s still… one more. And Scarecrow”, he said, wondering if it would be weird to name Freddy while the kids were still so close-by.
“Scarecrow is in this building?” Robin asked.
“Yeah. Apparently, he’s in the basement… with the last kid.”

Robin thought about it for a few seconds, then gave Captain Marvel a warning look.

“Do not do anything stupid. I’ll take these kids to the station, explain the situation, and after that, I’ll come back here and we take down Scarecrow. Do not go down there alone”, he said, climbed through the window, and disappeared into the night with the kids.

Captain Marvel left immediately to find the way down to the basement. He knew Robin meant well, but he was not going to wait. If Mary was anything to go by, Freddy could be in huge danger, and waiting was going to make everything so, so much worse. He didn’t know what exactly was going on down there, but these were the situations where superheroes were needed. If it weren’t for him, the kids would still be in the building, and probably would be for a long while – maybe Batman would have been able to find them later on, but even that felt too slow. No, this was his job, his responsibility. Captain Marvel was the one who needed to take care of this, no one else. With that resolute mindset, he kept searching for the way down.

Chapter Text

It took him a little bit of searching, but Captain Marvel finally found the way to the basement in one of the rooms. It was a dark, dank stairway with dirty, dusty steps – but there were clear signs of at least some people walking up and down. The walls were lined with spiderwebs and cracks, and the haphazard lighting bathed everything in an almost sickly, greenish color. There were only a couple of doors, which made the search much easier than upstairs. Marvel made sure to keep quiet: he wasn’t sure how well the voices from upstairs had carried down here, but he didn’t want to alarm anyone to his presence. He wanted to get Freddy out, first and foremost, after which he could return to finally take care of Scarecrow.

It didn’t take long for him to find what he was looking for: as he approached one of the last doors in the basement, he could hear faint noises. Slowly, he crept closer to the door and listened. It was hard to make out any words, but the voice didn’t belong to Freddy – the voice was lower and raspier, it clearly belonged to an older man. Captain Marvel wasn't sure if the voice was speaking to Freddy or not, but that didn't matter right now: he just needed to get Freddy out, make sure he was alright, then return and fight Scarecrow. It wouldn't be a long fight, obviously, but he needed to make sure that he wouldn't be able to kidnap any more kids. Marvel let out a breath and threw the door open.

Freddy was sitting on the floor by the wall, his bad leg at a weird angle. His crutch was laying on a table on the other side of the room, thankfully intact, but nonetheless out of Freddy's reach. Freddy didn't look like he was otherwise hurt - he had immediately turned toward the door, and the hopeful look on his face was enough to light the entire, otherwise grim and dark room. One wall was entirely filled with bookshelves filled to the brim with heavy books, and a little further away, there was a desk with a couple of computers on one end, and multiple glass flasks and bottles with strange-looking liquids inside them. Scarecrow was nowhere to be seen, even though Captain Marvel was pretty sure he’d heard another voice just a few moments ago, but there was another door near the table – maybe that’s where Scarecrow was hiding.

“Captain Marvel?” Freddy’s voice was excited, though he tried to keep his voice down, quickly glancing at the closed door. It was easy to hear the genuine surprise in his voice, as pretty much everyone would have thought that Batman would show up to deal with something like this. Marvel fetched the crutch from the other side of the room, then crouched at Freddy’s side.
“Are you hurt? Did he hurt you?” he asked. Even with closer inspection, nothing seemed to be physically wrong with him, unless his leg was hurt. Freddy shook his head, then thought about it, and gave him a shrug.
“Not right now. But my leg kind of hurts”, he said, nodding at the offending limb. Captain Marvel nodded and scooped Freddy into his arms as gently as possible, making sure the crutch stayed with them.
“He’s been taking kids down here and doing some kind of freaky experiments. There was a girl down here before I was taken, and I’m not sure what happened to her, but she was really scared when she left”, Freddy explained as they made their way out of the room – Captain Marvel would have loved to hurry, but he was afraid of Freddy not dealing well with high speeds right now. He still wasn’t great at moving others with super-speed: he didn’t want to accidentally hurt people who had normal bodies that broke so much more easily.
“What kind of experiments?” he asked. Freddy was speaking quickly and nervously, but at least that meant that he wasn’t too badly hurt or scared. If he went quiet for too long, that would be a cause for concern.

“I don’t know. I just know that the guy in here did something to her and she got really, really scared, and that was probably his goal. He didn’t say anything to me when I got here, but he keeps talking to himself when he’s on the computer or doing other stuff, and it sounds like he’s trying to make something stronger or something”, Freddy explained to the best of his abilities. It didn’t sound good, but with Freddy soon out of the building, the only thing to take care of would be Scarecrow and the two guys he’d locked away.

When they were at the broken window, Captain Marvel carefully lifted Freddy out of the window, shielding him from any rogue shattered pieces of glass. With the crutch, Freddy seemed to be able to balance himself enough to stand with almost no wobbling. Marvel let out a small sigh of relief.
“Robin should be here soon to get you to the police station. I can wait here with you if you want”, he said. He was kind of worried about Scarecrow escaping, but he also didn’t want to leave Freddy all by himself on a random Gotham street – that just sounded like a recipe for a disaster, particularly after what the boy had just gone through.
“You’re working with Robin?” the delight in Freddy’s voice was pure, “I thought you mostly operated in Fawcett City and stuff. Is this guy who kidnapped us a really big deal or something?”

“I happened to be in the area, and it seemed like Gotham needed some help. I don’t think Batman will mind me butting in for a little”, he said. Okay, Batman’s reaction was still something to be determined, but that wasn’t something that Freddy needed to hear right now.
“Wow”, Freddy sighed in awe, “do you think you could—watch out!”

Captain Marvel had sensed something weird just before Freddy’s warning ran out, and he stepped in front of the boy and turned around. Something small hit him in the chest. It didn’t come at the same force a real bullet would have come at him, and it didn’t even hurt: an amused smile was about to creep on Captain Marvel’s face, only to be halted by a sudden cloud of gas that enveloped him. It must have come from the thing that had been shot toward him. Had Marvel had an extra moment to choose his reaction, he would have held his breath. This, however, was too sudden, and by the moment he realized the gas was everywhere, he’d already taken in a surprised gasp of contaminated air. Freddy actually moved forward, but Captain Marvel stopped him by stretching his hand toward him.

“Freddy, stay back. I’ll take care of him, you’re safer out there”, he said, though ‘safe’ was still a relatively loose descriptor of that particular street. Freddy nodded, a frightened look in his eyes, and actually took a step back. Marvel coughed and moved back into the building, now very keen on fighting the man who shot at him. It must have been Scarecrow, Captain Marvel had searched the building and found no others except the two men, who were now stuck in one of the rooms.

Everything seemed hazier than before. What had the gas actually done to him? Captain Marvel hadn’t really fought foes who tried to use poisons or anything similar as their weapons, so he couldn’t even say if his powers included ‘immunity to any toxins’. If asked beforehand, he would have guessed that toxins couldn’t do anything to him – but right now he wasn’t too sure.

“You’re not who I expected”, a raspy voice called out from somewhere out of sight, “not that I mind. This is the kind of information that is even harder to find.”

Captain Marvel dashed toward the voice, doing his best to ignore the slight haziness around him. Scarecrow was standing near the doors to the basement, his head covered by a crude mask, and a small gun in his hands. His posture was more relaxed than Captain Marvel thought was normal for a guy in his position.
“I’m sorry to disappoint, but you’re not getting anything from me or the children”, Marvel said, and in a flash, he was in front of the man. The plan had been to quickly subdue him before anything could happen: but as soon as Marvel’s hand touched Scarecrow to grab him, another explosion of gas erupted, filling the space with alarming speed. For a moment, it completely obscured Captain Marvel’s field of vision. Still, nothing seemed to happen.

When the gas faded and Marvel could see again, he noticed that, instead of Scarecrow, he was holding the lifeless corpse of the Wizard in his hands instead.

Captain Marvel immediately let go and retreated a couple of steps. The corpse fell to the floor with a low thud, limbs in a weird position, empty eyes staring endlessly into nothing, and electricity crackling all around him. It didn’t make sense: the Wizard didn’t leave the Rock of Eternity, and he definitely shouldn’t be here, even if the body in front of him looked extremely real and extremely dead.

“Why would you do that?”

Freddy appeared in the room, leaning heavily on his crutch. His face was white as he stared at the corpse.
“I didn’t do that”, Captain Marvel immediately said, “you shouldn’t be here, it’s dangerous.”
“No, you killed him”, Freddy shook his head, turning to look at Captain Marvel, “why did you kill him?”

Captain Marvel took a step toward Freddy, trying to figure out a way to explain how he hadn’t done anything, but Freddy stumbled back as soon as he moved, his eyes filled with fear. The crutch fell on the floor and Freddy swayed, falling by its side.
“Stay away!” he shouted when Captain Marvel, once again, tried to reach out. Marvel stopped for a moment, only now realizing that his hands were actually sparking with lightning. He tried to make it stop, but as he shook his hand, a rogue lightning bolt just leaped off his fingers and struck a nearby wall.

“Pathetic. The Wizard should have known bestowing his powers to a child like you could only result in his ruin”, Black Adam’s voice suddenly boomed behind him. Captain Marvel turned around to face him.
“I haven’t killed anyone! I’ve only saved people!” he argued back, even more lightning buzzing around him. Black Adam didn’t seem impressed by his claims.
“You are delusional if you believe you are actually saving people. You could not even save one boy from being taken, let alone anyone else. You are a child, playing with powers you do not understand, and even the Wizard knew it. He only chose you because he did not have any other options for a Champion – he would have abandoned you immediately, were he to have another choice.”

“Shut up!” Captain Marvel shouted. A bunch of lightning bolts shot out from all around him, hitting the ceiling, the floor, the walls, some even jolting into other rooms. He knew full well why the Wizard had chosen him, and that was because he fit the criteria of being pure of heart.

But are you really, a quiet voice asked from within him. Right now you are doing something that Bruce expressly told you not to do, that’s not very ‘pure of heart’. Would someone pure really disobey someone who had only cared for him for the duration of their relationship, lie about it, and ignore everyone’s warnings? Surely, there were others with purer hearts who could handle the powers of the Champion better than Billy Batson, who lied to almost everyone he met. He had accepted Bruce’s offer of moving in with him, even though surely he could have taken care of himself, especially with his powers. Instead, he’d put the entire Wayne family in danger at least once, and they hadn’t even solved the Mister Mind situation yet.

Black Adam looked at him with serious, unwavering eyes. Captain Marvel’s heart was thumping, and he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt like this when he wasn’t Billy. Right now he was Captain Marvel, he was supposed to have the courage of Achilles, so where in the world was that right now? He wasn’t supposed to be afraid when he was Captain Marvel, that was supposed to be one of the points!
There was a silent gasp. Captain Marvel spun around to find Freddy lifeless on the floor, his crutch still nearby, scorched by one of the rogue lightning bolts that had escaped.

No, this wasn’t happening. It had to be a trick – it just had to be a trick. No matter how many times Marvel told himself it was a trick, he couldn’t make the bodies disappear nor get rid of the fear now squeezing at his heart and roaming around his mind.

Maybe Black Adam had a point. Captain Marvel hadn’t been able to protect Freddy from Scarecrow’s grunts, even though he should have been able to deal with the situation much faster than anyone else. It was his fault anyone had even been taken to this place to be experimented on by Scarecrow – if he’d acted immediately, he would have been able to stop the grunts from hurting anyone. Instead, he’d been slow and stupid, and everyone else had paid the price for that. Even the attack at the Wayne Manor had been his fault, as he somehow hadn’t realized that an outsider could use the portal as well. It wasn’t like the hiding place had been perfect or anything even close to that. Everyone at the manor had been helping him, providing him with food and shelter in the most generous way, and he had repaid that kindness by almost getting them killed.

There were more corpses in the room. Some faces Marvel recognized, others he didn’t. All of them were covered in scorch marks, faces twisted in terrified expressions. Terrified because of me, Captain Marvel realized and tried to look away – though, wherever he looked, another corpse waited for him.

Then, the voice he’d been most afraid of hearing entered the room.

“If I’d known who you were from the beginning, I never would have taken you in.”

Captain Marvel’s blood ran cold. Batman stood on the other side of the room. He looked even more imposing than ever before – his face was completely covered in darkness, his silhouette was larger than Marvel remembered, and his voice was lower than ever. Batman took a couple of slow steps toward him, and Captain Marvel retreated as much as he could, accidentally almost stepping on Freddy’s scorched corpse.

“You really are as childish, naïve and selfish as I thought from the start”, his words were like daggers, ones that were actually capable of piercing Marvel’s skin and shredding him on the inside. Captain Marvel recognized the words being thrown at him, and no matter how calm he tried to be, he noticed his hands were shaking.

“The only reason I didn’t get rid of you as soon as I learned the truth was that I was intrigued – but I should have known that you would try your hardest to destroy my life and everyone else around you”, Batman said. He kept moving closer, and Marvel kept retreating further away.
“Stop it”, he whispered, trying not to hear the words.
“I’m done with pitying you. You can’t return to the manor anymore, and you are not part of the Justice League. It was a unanimous vote”, Batman kept speaking.
“Stop it!” Captain Marvel commanded. His back hit the wall and he couldn’t move back any further. Batman was still approaching slowly, taking a few steps at a time.

“No one needs you and no one wants you. If your parents were still alive, they would agree with me. You could just disappear and no one would even notice. You. Are. Nothing.”
“STOP IT!”

The shout came from deep within Captain Marvel and soon the room shook as the lightning building around his body released. Electricity filled the room and small explosions erupted around the building, most likely breaking every electric appliance that was too unfortunate to be located so nearby. Batman flew back to the other side of the room, his back smashing against the wall. Cracks quickly formed around the spot where he’d collided, it was almost a miracle he remained standing after the hit. The electricity was still pooling around Captain Marvel, flowing all around his body like blood flowed in his veins, and he didn’t even care – he needed to get away from everyone else, he didn’t want to be in this stupid building anymore, he needed to—

Batman took another step, almost falling over. He needed to steady himself by leaning against the wall, then pushed himself back up. Even his suit had a little bit of smoke coming out of it, especially in the spot where the lightning had hit him.

When Batman next spoke, his words seemed fainter, not as loud as the cruel ones earlier: like his voice was coming from another side of a wall, despite him standing right there.

“This isn’t you. Whatever you’re seeing isn’t real.”

Captain Marvel tried to keep his hands from shaking, or at least stop the electricity from crackling all around him. He would have loved to believe those words, but the corpses were still staring at him – had they always stared right at him? – and they were still there when he closed his eyes and opened them again. Nothing seemed to work.

No, that wasn’t exactly true. He could make it stop, but he was petrified of knowing how leaving the form of the Champion would make him feel when he was already so scared and horrified.

There will be even more casualties if I don’t do something, Captain Marvel thought to himself. The scorched corpses on the floor looked like they were laughing at him, and even when he flew out of the room and into the empty street, he could still see them. Trying to ignore the vacant, yet accusing stares, he spoke the word.

“Shazam.”

One more lightning strike, larger than the others, and Billy stood in the middle of the street, alone. The corpses were gone, but everything he’d seen and heard was crystal clear in his mind. Billy couldn’t contain a loud sob, which soon turned into full-on crying. Everything he’d tried to ignore, all the negative emotions he’d tried to hide, and everything scary he’d come across or even thought about – everything was hitting him at that exact moment. It was difficult to even breathe between the sobs as Billy curled down on the ground, covering his face with his hands. He had done a terrible mistake coming here, he just made everything worse, and now Bruce would be angry with him and actually kick him out of the manor, after which the Justice League wouldn’t want him to stay either, and then he wouldn’t have anything or anyone on the entire planet who would care about him, and then—

Billy heard footsteps approaching. He lowered his hands and saw Batman coming closer to him.

“No! Stay away from me! Please, just—just stay away from me!” he managed to shout despite the sobbing. This time Batman didn’t continue moving, but crouched maybe seven feet away from him.
“Billy, it’s me. I’m not here to hurt you, and I want to help you. I know you’re scared, but that’s okay”, the man spoke, his tone soft. Maybe he was worried that Billy would change back into Captain Marvel if he didn’t act gently – there was still the possibility of Billy messing everything up. Billy tried to steady his breathing: even one deep breath would have helped him a lot, but suddenly that was the most difficult thing he could imagine.

“I’m sorry”, he whispered, pressing his face against his arms as he sat on the ground, “I—I didn’t mean to, I—I wanted to—please, don’t— I want to stay in Gotham, please don’t make me leave.”

Suddenly, a pair of hands pulled Billy closer. In any other situation he would have reacted, maybe tried to fight back, but he was too tired and he was still crying. Batman pulled him in for a silent hug. Billy didn’t know how to respond, but the gesture seemed to break the last, shaky walls that had still been up in Billy’s mind. He leaned into the hug and didn’t even try to stop the sobbing.

“Please don’t make me leave”, he repeated, shakily managing to get the words out, “I just—I just wanted to—”

Batman hugged him a little tighter.

“I’m not going to make you leave. I promise.”

Chapter Text

Bruce felt like a complete idiot. He had enough children to know that if they wanted to do something behind his back, they were going to do it unless they were strapped into a chair and being under constant watch – maybe even then they’d find a way. Yes, he had known that Billy really wanted to save his friend and would be more capable of doing so than, say, other kids his age, but he thought that omitting any important information from him would physically keep him from apprehending Scarecrow. What he really, truly, hadn’t expected, was for Damian to help him. If Bruce would have had to guess which one of the kids would help Billy disobey his orders, his first guess would have been Jason. After that, maybe Tim or Stephanie, although he could imagine Dick caving in or maybe Cassandra feeling sympathy for Billy’s worry. But Damian – he hadn’t even seen the two boys interacting that much, and he’d thought Damian still mostly just tolerated Billy in the house.

And suddenly, the two were sneaking behind his back. Never expect anything.

It hadn’t taken very long for Bruce to realize what had happened. At that point, he had narrowed his search down to an old office building that had already been used as a criminal hideout a couple of times before, by multiple different gangs. That tended to be the fate of many abandoned buildings in Gotham City, and it was impossible to completely prevent. The thought of Billy being in a shady area like that had felt wrong, even when Bruce tried to remember that he was thinking about Captain Marvel at the same time. Remembering and believing that Billy was actually Captain Marvel was still a work in process. While Bruce knew Billy had shown him actual evidence and there was no reason to not believe him, it was still something he needed to remind himself of.

That was the reason he didn’t like magic. Magic was stupid, it couldn’t be logically deciphered and understood, and it made things like little boys turning into adult superheroes possible and created all sorts of problems. In many ways, magic made Bruce miss the time he’d thought aliens were the most annoying, strange thing he’d come across. These days Clark made more sense than Billy.

At first, Bruce had been angry. He had told Billy to not go after Scarecrow in no uncertain terms, and here he was, gone from the manor. But, on the way to the office building, that anger turned into worry. He didn’t know if the fear toxin would affect Captain Marvel. He really, really hoped not. Bruce absolutely hated the toxin and the whole idea of it, and even he couldn’t handle it well, even though he’d, unfortunately, come into contact with it multiple times. He could usually break through the hallucinations and other effects, but it was still a rough time. Billy had no idea what he was going up against, as Bruce really doubted that Damian had been able to give him a proper brief before leaving for their “mission”.

When he arrived at the building, Robin was there – trying to get a small boy with a crutch to move with him. Batman stepped further into the shadows for a moment, just so he wouldn’t interrupt anything important just yet. The Batmobile hadn’t been small enough to enter the alley they were in, so he’d had to leave it a little further away. He already donned his gas mask, because if he’d learned one thing from fighting Scarecrow, it was to expect the fear toxin at any given moment.

“Can you go and see if he needs any help? What if that did something to him?” the boy was speaking to Robin, his face extremely serious.
“I’ll go there right after you’re gone from here”, Robin sighed, his impatience showing even through his mask.

“Captain Marvel was hit with the toxin?” Batman asked, stepping into their line of sight. The boy with the crutch got startled and almost fell, regaining his balance only barely. Robin made a face that wasn’t regretful enough for Batman’s tastes, but right now that wasn’t important.
“Y-yeah. Just after he got me out. We were talking and suddenly he got hit, and now he went there to fight the dude who gassed him, but he’s been there a while so I don’t know if he’s fine or if that even does anything to him, so…” his voice trailed. The boy’s eyes hadn’t left Batman even once during his speech, and Batman was almost certain that had they met in better circumstances, he would have already been asked to autograph something.

“Robin, get him to safety”, Batman said, then turned to look at the child, “I’ll help Captain Marvel. Go with Robin.”

The boy hesitated a little bit, but didn’t argue – he followed Robin down the alley. Batman watched as they went, then climbed through a broken window into the building. It was immediately clear that something was wrong: the air was crackling with electricity to the point that even Batman could feel it. Captain Marvel was definitely in the building, and this really wasn’t boding well. Batman took a deep breath and moved further into the building, ready to defend himself from anything that could attack him.

Scarecrow was lying on the floor in the hallway, unconscious but breathing. His clothes were slightly charred, but nothing irreversible – he must have been hit by lightning. Batman didn’t have to search long after that. He could hear the crackling in another room and quickly walked in.

Captain Marvel had a frantic look in his eyes. He hadn’t seen Batman yet, and it was painfully obvious that he wasn’t immune to fear toxin. His eyes were flickering across the room, seeing something that clearly wasn’t there. He was whispering something so quietly that Batman couldn’t hear a thing, and every now and then small bits of lightning just burst out of him, none of them reaching quite as far or as powerfully as the one that had gotten Scarecrow. Batman retreated enough to make sure Scarecrow was detained, just in case he’d wake up and try to run… and after that, he turned back toward Marvel.

“You need to fight this, you know. It’s scary, but it’s not real. You were poisoned”, he said loudly, taking a couple of steps forward. Captain Marvel spun to look at him, but whatever he saw, he was even more scared than earlier. Marvel quickly took a few steps backward, a fearful gaze masking his face.

“Stop it”, he whispered, staying far away from Batman. Even though this was Captain Marvel, it was more obvious than ever that Billy really was in there, no matter what it looked like. Batman wished he knew what Captain Marvel was seeing at that very moment because maybe he could have used that to bring him back to reality – now he just needed to rely on the basics he’d learned from dealing with the fear toxin.

“I can’t make it stop for you, you need to fight it. It’s okay to be afraid, that’s always normal. Just don’t let that fear control you”, he tried again. Captain Marvel shook his head.
“Stop it!” another command came, this one stronger and more decisive than the other one. Batman knew better than to leave it there, so he moved forward once more, intent on getting Marvel to snap out of it. Maybe changing back into Billy would help with that, since the transformation seemed to heal other ailments as well. There was also the possibility that the fear toxin would evaporate faster because of the magical powers that Captain Marvel possessed, but that wouldn’t help them as long as they were still indoors with the lingering fear toxin in the air.

“Listen to me. You need to go outside, you need fresh air. Then you’ll see that—”
“STOP IT!”

The last shout shook the entire room, and lightning bolts were released from Captain Marvel’s body. One of them hit Batman square in the chest, sending him flying back and colliding with a wall. The impact made his head spin for a moment, and he would have a huge bruise on his chest in the near future: probably nothing worse than that, though, since the suit did protect him from the worst damage. He would have to fix the suit when he got back to the cave, but right now he needed to focus on Captain Marvel. Bruce took a shaky step, almost fell, and leaned against the wall for support. Electricity was still visibly crackling all around Captain Marvel, even his eyes had an electric tint of color in them. This time, Bruce didn’t even attempt to walk quite as close as before.

“This isn’t you. Whatever you’re seeing isn’t real”, he said, really trying to get the words across. Come on, Billy, you can do this, he thought. This time Captain Marvel’s eyes flashed with something – hopefully recognition – and after a small moment of hesitation, he suddenly just flew out.

Batman let out a sigh. That should be a good thing… probably. He still needed to go after him, make sure that everything was fine and the hallucinations wouldn’t make him do anything he’d regret later. He glanced at Scarecrow’s unconscious and restrained body: he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere even if he did wake up, and as soon as Robin got back, they could make sure that Crane was taken back to Arkham Asylum. With that thought, he turned around and went to find Marvel.

It was easier than he’d thought – in just a moment, he heard a lightning strike. He followed the sound, taking off his gas mask once he was far enough from the contaminated building, and found Billy curled up in a little ball in the street.

Billy was crying. Batman hadn’t really thought about it before, but he hadn’t seen Billy cry until now, despite everything that had happened to him in the short period of time they had been living together.

“No! Stay away from me! Please, just—just stay away from me!” Billy cried out once he noticed Batman coming closer. Batman stopped a few feet away and crouched to be at Billy’s level. He wanted to take his cowl off, but they were still in public, and Crane was still just in the nearby building: this would have to do for now.
“Billy, it’s me. I’m not here to hurt you, and I want to help you. I know you’re scared, but that’s okay”, he said quietly, hoping that the words were at least somewhat comforting. Billy didn’t back away this time, but he did hide his face in his hands and kept whispering apologies and attempts of apologies. But what mostly got to Batman was the one, soul-crushingly real plea that came from him.

“Please don’t make me leave.”

It made all thoughts in Batman’s mind halt for a moment. He hadn’t really thought what the fear toxin would make Billy see and hear, how it would affect him – the bigger question had been if it would affect him at all. Now, he understood one of Billy’s biggest fears. Maybe he would have been able to figure it out, but hearing it from Billy himself… It was the kind of fear no child should have to have. Gently, Batman pulled Billy into a hug. Once again, he would have felt better about it without the suit on, but he couldn’t just let Billy sit there. The boy kept crying, repeating his one simple plea, like Batman was already planning on throwing him out as soon as he could. Just the fact that Billy thought that he could be thrown out at this point made him feel like a failure as a foster parent.

“I’m not going to make you leave. I promise”, he answered, not leaving the hug.

---

“What were you thinking? I could maybe understand what you did if we were talking about some smaller, less dangerous criminal than Jonathan Crane. You know he’s dangerous, Damian! We all know what he’s capable of!”

Bruce was walking in circles, unable to stand still. They had returned to the Batcave an hour ago, after transporting Scarecrow to Arkham Asylum and making sure he was locked up once more. That wouldn't be it completely, and Bruce would have to make sure all the kids who were taken by him were at least mostly fine. It would probably include visiting Crane and trying to gather more information from him, but in a moment like this, he really didn't want to focus on that man any more than necessary. It had taken Billy some time to mostly calm down, and once the crying had stopped, he had fallen asleep almost immediately. Bruce had stayed with him until he was completely asleep, and then a little while after that. To be completely honest, Bruce could have stayed by that bed for the rest of the night and possibly the next day, but he did have other things to worry about as well. Damian was standing nearby, his arms crossed, still in his Robin suit.

“I thought he had superpowers. I thought he would not even get hit, but even then, I thought he would be immune”, Damian replied. As much as he pretended to be unfazed by what had happened, Bruce was at least pretty sure the boy felt bad about Billy’s current situation.
“And since when do we test these things by sneaking out and going in there without a plan? You know better, I know you do”, Bruce said with a heavy sigh. He wasn’t angry at Damian, that wasn’t the thing. Frustrated, though? Definitely. It wasn’t the first or the thirtieth time one of his kids went against his orders, not even the first time when they got hurt after doing so, but he got never used to the feeling.

Each time someone got hurt, Bruce just couldn’t fight the thoughts that came to him: I could have helped him if I was there in time. If I only would have made myself clearer, they wouldn’t have gotten hurt. If I just made them listen, and really got them to trust me, nothing bad would have happened. Next time, someone might die, and it will be my fault. He could almost hear the sound of gunfire in his mind.

“Now I do. Are we done?” Damian snapped back and threw his arms above his head, “he is alive, father. He has probably already gotten over it.”
Bruce shook his head very lightly to pull himself back to the current moment, then shook his head in reply to Damian’s words.
“We can’t know how long something like that will linger. Look, I know you both did a good thing – you got the kids to safety, that’s great – but you really need to consult me in things like this. We could have talked it over—”
“Do not pretend like you would have changed your mind if I had asked. Batson knew it as well, and that is why we went there”, Damian interrupted, “if I had listened to you every time you wanted me to stay behind, I would probably still be in the training phase of becoming Robin. Batson needed a push.”
“At the risk of his life? No, he didn’t need a push, Damian!”

Damian just shook his head and left for the elevator. Bruce almost went to stop him, but decided that right now wasn’t the time. If he were to continue this conversation, he would probably just get heated, and that would just make everything worse. So, instead, he just slumped on one of the chairs and ran a hand through his hair. It felt like the day had been much longer than it actually was.

Like always, Alfred seemed to have a sixth sense of knowing whenever he was desperately needed. He came down on the elevator just a few minutes later.

“Would you like some tea, Master Bruce?” he asked. Bruce pushed the chair around just enough so he could see the man.
“No thank you. I’m wondering if I’ll be able to sleep after what just happened. Poor Billy… of all the damn people, of course he had to run into Crane”, Bruce sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, “Jesus, I don’t think any kids that age would be able to handle something like that well.”
“Master Billy does have an advantage in this field”, Alfred said, smiling slightly, “he has you to rely on. Of course, I do not believe he should act exactly as you did in order to face his fears, but you do know a thing or two about dealing with your fears, Master Bruce.”

For better or worse, Bruce mused. But he didn’t want Billy to adopt his ways of coping with fear, the world was just fine with just one Batman. No, they would have to talk about what Billy had seen and how to deal with the memories of that in another way.

“He kept asking me to not make him leave”, Bruce said quietly, opening his eyes, “he was terrified that I was going to throw him out because of this. It’s the same reason he’s so desperate to stay in the Justice League, I think. He’s had too many situations where he’s finally comfortable somewhere, something happens, and suddenly that comfort is taken away from him.”

Bruce had done his research into Billy’s past as well as he could. The results had not been fun to look at: so many foster homes in so few years, then a three-year gap in pretty much all documentations as he had lived in the streets of Fawcett City. Reasons as to why the previous foster families hadn’t kept him for a longer time weren’t listed anywhere, but Billy probably had his own ideas of what had happened in order to make all those people pass him from one person to the next, until there had been none.

They were quiet for a long moment.

“I’m worried that he actually thinks I would throw him out just for trying to help people”, Bruce admitted, breaking the silence. In his mind, he kept going back to the clock tower, back when he still didn’t know about Billy’s powers or his secret identity. Billy had a very good reason to be wary of him, as their interactions back then had been far from great or even decent. Why would he trust that Bruce wouldn’t throw him out after all the things that Batman had said to Captain Marvel?
“I’m sure he knows you would not. Or if he doesn’t, you can still show him that he still has a home right here”, Alfred said. Bruce took a deep breath.

“I hope so. Thank you, Alfred. You seriously need to sleep at some point, though. You’re working too much for your age”, he said, finally allowing a faint smile on his face. Alfred furrowed his brows.
“How old do you think I am, Master Bruce? I am not a brittle old man”, he said, half in jest, half in ‘I might be speaking in a jovial tone, but don’t you dare imply that I am too old for my job’ kind of voice.
“No, you are not. But please, go to sleep. I’ll try that as well.”

Chapter Text

Billy woke up at least five times that night. Twice, Bruce had been there; once, it had been Alfred. When he woke up for the fourth time, no one was there, but the lights had been left on. When he woke up for the fifth time, he didn’t even try to go back to sleep. Each time he opened his eyes, he wasn’t sure where he would be – would he still be at the manor, or was that just a dream he’d had? Or would someone be waiting for him to wake up, just to tell him to leave and never come back? Neither Bruce nor Alfred had said anything about it when they’d been there, just that he should go back to sleep. There seemed to be an implied ‘we’ll talk later’ that didn’t bode well in Billy’s mind. Right now he didn’t really want to know the topic of their future conversation.

He had gone directly against what Bruce had said. Maybe it would have been okay, had he succeeded in his mission and taken down Scarecrow without any problems. It definitely wasn’t okay now that he had miserably failed, getting doused with that weird gas and hurting Bruce in the process. Bruce was most likely just waiting for Billy’s shock to pass by for the most part before kicking him out for disobeying the rules. Maybe he’d give Billy a day or two to get over the gas, then he would have to return to Fawcett City. Or maybe Billy would have to go back to the system, and they’d try to pass him off to another family that would keep him around for a month or two before returning him, and the cycle would begin again until Billy ran away to once again live in the subway tunnels or something similar.

He could still see the corpses from the night. They weren’t physically there, of course not – now that he had changed back to Billy and it had been a while, he realized that they had never really been there. It should have been obvious, but back at the hideout, everything had seemed so different in a nightmarish way. But even if they hadn’t really existed, they still haunted Billy’s mind, and so did everything he’d heard. Even if the words hadn’t actually been spoken by Bruce or anyone he’d seen, he knew that what they had said was absolutely true. They were just the kind of truths that adults didn’t say out loud, especially to a child. They kept those truths hidden and said things like “it’s not that bad” and “I don’t mind it”, even when they didn’t actually mean it. Well, Black Adam was the exception to that, he didn’t try to hide any of his negative thoughts from anyone. Bruce, however, did. Billy knew this for a fact, as he couldn’t remember Bruce saying anything negative to him about Captain Marvel or the danger Billy had put everyone in.

As much as Billy didn’t want to leave the manor, it would have been worse to have Bruce tell him he’d have to leave. That made the solution fairly simple – very early in the morning, while everyone else was still asleep or elsewhere, Billy put on his clothes, scrubbed the portal off the door in his room, got his phone, and after a moment of indecision, his Nightwing figurine. After that, he opened the window of his room.

He knew that everyone would know he’d done something once the lightning would strike. Fortunately, he also knew that they wouldn’t be able to do anything about it regardless since Captain Marvel was easily faster than any of them, and he would be out of sight as soon as they heard the thunder.

Billy purposely didn’t look back at his room. He didn’t want to waver in his decision. This was the best choice for the moment: he couldn’t be kicked out if he left first, and that gave him at least a small amount of control of everything. Billy took a deep breath, climbed through the window, and whispered “Shazam!” as he jumped out. He didn’t even look at the manor once as he dashed away, not really sure where he was actually going. He just knew he needed to find a place to actually think about everything and what he would do next.

That place was found fairly quickly, and it was on top of an apartment building in the southern half of Gotham City. Once there, Captain Marvel transformed back into Billy, hoping that the thundering sound would be ignored by most citizens. Tons of weird stuff happened in Gotham all the time.

Then he was completely alone.

He could have gone back to Fawcett City, but strange as it was, Billy didn’t want to leave Gotham just yet. He needed a bit more time just to think about everything before he left. Taking a deep, slightly shaky breath, Billy sat down on the roof and just stared at the city. Despite it being early in the morning, Gotham still didn’t seem as calm as other big cities did. There was something about it, something in the rhythm of the city, that just didn’t seem capable of being calm, and that was probably the reason it needed Batman so much. It needed Batman and it needed the Robins, and it had been stupid to believe that it might have needed anything more. No one seemed to actually need or even want Captain Marvel, let alone Billy Batson. Maybe he hadn’t been able to find a family that would actually want him because there was something inherently wrong with him? There didn’t seem to be any other explanations for it. He had seen other kids get successfully fostered and adopted – most people in the manor had been adopted in fact – so it couldn’t be purely about the system. And if it wasn’t about the system, it was about Billy.

Billy’s heart was pounding. He tried to close his eyes and calm down, but his mind just kept racing and jumping around, unable to stay still.

Now that Bruce knew who Captain Marvel was and had seen him mess up that whole Scarecrow thing, he would definitely tell everyone that Captain Marvel shouldn’t be in the Justice League anymore. It was still very possible that Bruce wouldn’t tell the others about his identity, that would be a step too far, but he held a lot of power in League matters. Now that Superman and Wonder Woman also knew about everything, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to make sure that Captain Marvel was removed from the League and never allowed back in, even when Billy himself became an adult. He had lied to everyone by not telling them about his age or anything about his personal life, and that was wrong. Once they’d announce his removal, the only thing he’d have left was the Rock of Eternity. Sure, the Wizard would probably be happy about this development. He did always believe that Billy was too distracted, and now all those distractions would be removed in one simple swoop.

Would it be better for him to just live at the Rock of Eternity full-time, only coming back to Earth to fulfill his duties as the Champion? At least then he wouldn’t have to worry about things like relationships with other people. He hadn’t seen the Wizard interact with anyone for the entire time they’d known each other… would that be Billy, someday in the future? He wouldn’t be the Champion until the end of time, and he didn’t know what happened to Champions after they weren’t… well, Champions anymore. He could only think of Black Adam, but that was a different case entirely, as he hadn’t just aged out of being in his role. Maybe Billy’s destiny was to just become the Wizard, a lonely, yet powerful being, who was never happy with anything. It was a terrible thought.

Breathing was suddenly more difficult than Billy had remembered, and he had to make an effort to deeply breathe. He picked up his phone from the pocket of his hoodie and stared at the screen. Of course, he had forgotten to charge it. Billy wondered for a moment if he should leave it like that – he almost didn’t want to know if anyone had tried to contact him, even though he’d been gone for maybe fifteen minutes. Then the curious part of him won, and he closed his eyes briefly, whispering a couple of magic words. He could feel the surge of electricity in his hands, and when he opened his eyes, the phone was already turned on.

He had a couple of messages. That made Billy’s heart jump for a moment, and despite his worries, he went to check out the sender. There was a small surge of disappointment when he noticed that Bruce hadn’t tried to contact him, at least not yet: the sender was actually Freddy. Relief washed over Billy, as that meant that Freddy had probably made it home or at least to safety after the previous night.

“sorry that i didn’t answer right away!! i’m okay now. i actually saw captain marvel, he came to rescue me! and the others too. i don’t want to say that getting kidnaped was worth it but yea. there was one thing that”

The first message ended abruptly, only to be followed by a second one that had been sent a few minutes later.

“sorry, dunno what i was saying. are u ok?”

Billy couldn’t help but smile at that. Freddy had been the one to get kidnapped, yet of course, he was asking about how Billy was. Billy had to think about his reply for a while, as telling the truth would have been way too much right now.

“im okay. its great that your okay!”

It was short and insufficient, but as much as Billy wanted to ask about Freddy meeting Captain Marvel, right now he didn’t want to deal with that much lying. If they just didn’t talk about Captain Marvel, he didn’t need to lie, and that felt like a good enough solution. Plus, Freddy was definitely asleep at the moment, as the messages had arrived during the night at least four hours ago.

Almost absent-mindedly, Billy went through his list of contacts. Most of them were the people in the manor, and of course, Freddy, and Harley.

Billy just stared at Harley’s name for a moment. Right now he didn’t want to be alone, and everything within him told him that being alone, especially right now, was a bad thing. He didn’t want to contact anyone in the manor, as that would have defeated the purpose of leaving, and pestering Freddy right now felt like a mean move. So, in a rash decision, Billy pressed his finger on the call button and placed his phone against his ear. It had been a while since he’d run into Harley, but she had given him the number herself: “if there’s anything you need”, she had said. She probably hadn’t been thinking about Billy actually taking her up on that offer, at least not like this.

She might just hang up, Billy thought as the phone beeped against his ear, trying to reach Harley. She also could just tell Billy to never contact her again. She had given him her number just after Billy had been kidnapped, so maybe it was just something to make him feel better, not something that she expected him to use later. Bruce had said Harley and Red were the kind of people Billy shouldn’t associate with, so there was the possibility that Billy had simply been tricked once again into thinking he had someone in his corner. Maybe Harley wouldn’t even remember him, their meeting had been so brief, and the phone call would only freak her out. But on the other hand—

“Ya? It’s freakin’ early, what’s going oooooooon?” Harley yawned at the end of her sentence, making the ‘on’ drag on for at least five seconds. Billy wasn’t sure what to say. Hey, Harley, I messed up big time and now I’m homeless again and I’m not sure what to do—
“Sorry”, he said and was surprised by how coarse his own voice sounded, “I didn’t mean to—”
“Oh, it’s you. Marvel kid. Yea, Billy. What’s up and why are you already up?” she asked. Hearing her remember his name – and, unfortunately, the Captain Marvel part as well – felt good. Billy fidgeted a little, trying to make sense of his own thoughts.
“I… um. I kind of—I’m not sure”, he said, his voice cracking at the end. Oh no. Please, no. He had cried enough last night, he didn’t want to cry even more, especially not when someone was listening. Billy wiped the corner of his eye aggressively and took a deep, annoyingly shaky breath. Before he could speak, though, Harley spoke again.

“Where you at?” she asked. Suddenly, she sounded more awake than just a few seconds earlier. Billy heard her move and shuffle things around.
“I’m—I’m not sure. It’s a roof… somewhere. I think”, he replied and pressed his free hand against his left eye, almost as if to push any potential tears right back in.
“Random roof?” Harley asked and sighed loudly, “okay, so, you can fly and stuff. How ‘bout you fly to… uhh… do you remember the rooftop where we had that lil' scrap with Red? Let’s meet there.”

Billy thought about it for a moment. Most of the rooftops looked pretty similar to each other, not only in Gotham but in other cities as well, but he did remember pretty well where the kidnapping had taken place. Maybe it would take him a couple of tries, but he could find it. He wasn’t sure why exactly Harley wanted to actually meet him and not just talk on the phone, but he didn’t have anything against the idea. Mostly he was worried about breaking down and just crying in front of Harley, but he would probably have enough time to gather his thoughts and prevent anything like that from happening.

“I think I remember”, he said quietly, doing his best at keeping his voice steady. His body seemed to have a mind of its own, because he almost didn’t even notice yet another traitorous tear falling down his cheek. Billy wiped it away as he listened to the noises of Harley moving around and most likely stubbing her toe somewhere, because Billy could hear both the thud of something hitting something, and the incredibly colorful and specific group of curse words that escaped Harley’s mouth.
“Great!” she said after she managed to stop cursing, still sounding a little bit pained, “meet me there in, like, fifteen minutes max, right, kiddo?”

Billy nodded, remembered that nodding absolutely did not help, and let out a quiet, tired, almost inaudible laugh.
“Okay”, was all he could say in response as he stood up. He had no idea what to expect, and for some reason, that felt almost good. Not good in the regular sense, like a guarantee of something going well or something that made him feel safe and happy. Just good in a way that at least something was happening, and for a moment, he didn’t have to think about what he was going to do next. With a deep, long breath, Billy did his best to push the entirety of last night somewhere in the back of his mind and just focus on what was happening right now. He shut his phone off entirely and put it in his pocket before transforming. No distractions.

Rooftop, Harley, fifteen minutes. Concentrate. Don’t think about the corpses or the manor, definitely don’t think about Bruce or anyone else. Not right now.

Chapter Text

Billy found the correct rooftop with relative ease – there were still bits of wilted vines and leaves left, making it easier to recognize. Clearly, the roof wasn’t cleaned very often, and apparently this time it just made things easier. He had transformed back once he’d landed, wondering how many people he had woken up with the thunder. Sure, lightning was a natural occurrence, but not when the sky was otherwise clear, and the sun was already rising. One could only hope that Gotham was a strange enough place for people to not question some sudden thundering, at least when it didn’t harm anyone.

Once there, Billy sat down. Not thinking about anything had turned out to be a difficult chore, and it didn’t matter if he was flying around or just sitting still – his mind was still racing, unable to halt for even just a moment. It seemed incredibly unfair. Shouldn’t the courage of Achilles help him with something like this? Or the wisdom of Solomon? Why did his powers suddenly feel so useless when he desperately needed something to make him feel at least a little bit better? If only there was a god with powers of absolute fearlessness, those were the kind of powers Billy would have loved to have at the moment.

He could hear Harley slightly before he could see her. The footsteps echoed from the hallway below, and just a few seconds later, she appeared at the door to the roof. Her makeup was clumsier than last time – most likely either drawn on last minute before she left home, or just left over from the night before. Her hair had some glitter stuck to it, and one of her ponytails was slightly looser than the other. Even if Billy hadn’t known that he’d woken her up before, he could have deduced it by now. Well, she was still wearing red pajama bottoms, so maybe it was given.

“I ain’t late, right? I don’t think it took even fifteen minutes. Jesus, I’m good”, she grinned as she walked up to Billy. She was surprisingly awake for someone that had been asleep maybe twenty minutes earlier. She took a quick look at her phone, whispered a loud ‘hell yeah!’ and turned back to Billy.

Billy didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t even considered what they were going to talk about or what they were going to do now that they were here. Fortunately, he didn’t need to say anything, as Harley let out a long, exaggerated sigh and gestured for Billy to stand up.

“Come on. We ain’t gonna stay here, this was just a meeting place. Have ya eaten breakfast already? It’s pretty darn early, but maybe that’s a healthy time to eat or somethin’”, she said and impatiently waved her hand more when Billy didn’t immediately stand. Billy stood up slowly, uncertain if he was hearing things correctly.
“We’re going somewhere?” he asked. Harley looked like she’d just been asked if the water was wet.
“Isn’t that what I just said? Come on, let’s go! I only picked this place because you’ve been here, not because I like the scenery”, she said, still waving her hand, waiting for Billy to follow him.
“But why?” Billy couldn’t stop the question from escaping his mouth. He still didn’t know why Harley had actually wanted to meet with him, and now she wanted to go somewhere? Was this some kind of weird prank he just didn’t get? It was obvious that trying to predict anything that Harley would do was going to be a fool’s errand, but there had to be a reason for her to be here.

Harley let out a long sigh and stopped waving her hand for a moment.

“Because we’re gettin’ breakfast. And then we’ll do something else, still workin’ on that one. You ain’t gonna leave me hangin’, right?” she said. Her answer didn’t actually, well, answer anything, but Billy felt like trying to pry more information out of her wouldn’t help at all. He took a deep breath.
“Yeah, we can go. Where are we going?” he asked. Harley flashed him a wide grin and headed toward the door she’d used earlier.
“First, a shop. Second, my place. Red ain’t home at the moment so she won’t mind, and you don’t seem like the type of kid to make a mess”, she said as they entered the hallway, then lowered her voice a little, though not as much as Billy would have liked, “just as long as you remember that we have a rule of absolutely no thunderin’ inside. Got that?”
“Yeah, got it.”

***

When Billy heard the word ‘breakfast’, he thought of two kinds of meals. One type of breakfast was the kind of breakfast they had at the manor, where everything was homemade, fresh, and there were lots of things to choose from. The other type of breakfast was the one Billy was more used to during his stay in the streets – back then it had been whatever he was able to scrape up, trying to eat at least something to have enough energy for the day. Sometimes he’d been able to afford a cheap breakfast at Betsy’s, but those days were rare.

What Billy absolutely didn’t expect when he heard the word ‘breakfast’ was five different tubs of ice cream, four bags of chips, a gigantic frozen chocolate cake, at least a dozen bags of candy, six big bottles of soda, and a small bag of baby carrots. Harley seemed to simply pick up everything that looked even slightly good to her, and Billy simply followed her around the store, confused by what was happening. He had heard her correctly, right? She had said breakfast, right? The only breakfast-looking thing in her cart at the moment was the bag of baby carrots, and even those had seemed to be an afterthought, as according to Harley, ‘well, might as well pick up somethin’ vegetable-y’. She also seemed very keen on having Billy pick up strange things in her already filled cart. Billy didn’t want to make the trip even more expensive than it was already turning out to be, so just to appease Harley, he picked up a small bag of Sour Patch Kids and threw it in with the other stuff.

The stuff they bought filled four shopping bags and dragging them to Harley’s apartment, despite the building being reasonably close to the store, was a workout. Captain Marvel could have easily carried all of them on one arm, but transforming wasn’t an option now that they were surrounded by other people, so Billy just needed to trust in his own, much lesser strength. Harley faired a bit better with her share of the bags, but finally getting to the correct apartment felt like a huge relief. To be fair, the amount of sugar they were carrying did motivate Billy quite a bit, even if he still wasn’t sure that this stuff constituted “breakfast”.

“That should last for at least…” Harley thought about it for a moment as she fumbled with her keys, “a couple of days, right?”
“Shouldn’t they last for a week at least?” Billy asked, putting the shopping bags momentarily down and stretching his aching arms. The apartment building Harley lived in was… well, different, at least when compared to the Wayne Manor. The lighting in the hallway was yellow, and at least three of the lamps on the way there were broken. There were a couple of cracks in the walls, and it was painfully obvious that no one had actually cleaned the hallway in months. He could hear shouting in one of the other apartments, and even though he couldn’t really make out what they were yelling about, it didn’t sound good. Harley shrugged as she inserted the correct key into the lock and opened the door.
“You think I have that kind of self-control? Absolutely not. I give these fellas like, four days”, she smirked, grabbed her shopping bags, and waltzed into the apartment.

The inside of the apartment was much nicer than Billy had expected after seeing the hallway. There were plants everywhere: vibrant flowers and intricate vines, some plants almost reaching the ceiling with their height, some stretching out from their pots and making their way around the furniture like tiny snakes. They all seemed perfectly healthy and well-cared for, and for a moment, it felt like Billy had stepped into a greenhouse instead of an apartment in Gotham of all places. Even the air in the apartment smelled sweet and fragrant, but not in an overpowering way, just pleasant and nice. Harley noticed his awe and smirked.

“Red’s into plants. Ain’t that a surprise”, she rolled her eyes playfully, closed the door behind them, and moved further into the apartment. Billy hurried to follow her, making sure not to accidentally step on any rogue plants. Now that Harley had mentioned it, this shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Apparently, Harley and Red – who Bruce had identified as someone called Poison Ivy, though Billy hadn’t really done any research on her – were living together, and since Red could make actual plants grow from her hands, the plants made perfect sense.

Despite the plants, it was obvious that Harley lived there as well. There were eccentric design choices all around the place – mismatched furniture and bright colors seemed to be her things. As they walked into the kitchen, the first thing to catch Billy’s eye was a giant, elegant chandelier. It stood out even more when he saw that the table beneath it was the most ordinary piece of furniture he had ever seen, surrounded by chairs that seemed to all be individually purchased from very different stores, since none of them made sense together. Some were padded and looked more like armchairs, while others were plastic and looked so brittle, they could break at any moment. The walls had all kinds of photos on them, some framed, some not. Billy recognized Harley in some of the pictures, but most of them seemed extremely random… well, except for one, where she was taking a selfie with Batman.

Billy took a closer look at the picture. He didn’t know anything about the circumstances of the picture, but it was obvious that Bruce hadn’t actually decided to be in the photo, and Harley had just barged near him and snapped the photo before he could have retaliated. It was an older photo, since Batman was wearing an older version of his suit, and Harley also looked different – mostly because she was wearing some kind of full red and black bodysuit with a jester-like hat covering her head.
“You know Batman?” he asked quietly. Harley, who was in the middle of putting any perishables into the fridge, stopped for a moment and let out a short laugh.
“Yeah, real good. Batsy and I have met many times”, she said, glancing at the photo, “though not for a while. I’ve been, like, a good – okay, maybe the right word is better – girl for a while, so we haven’t really got a moment to, you know, chat like we used to. Shame, really. Hey, can you give me your bags? I think you have the ice cream there, and it ain’t any good if it melts right now.”

Billy nodded slowly; his eyes were still locked on Batman’s face. Even though it was a photo, an old photo at that, it seemed like Batman was judging Billy even then. Billy tore his eyes away from the photo, grabbed the bags, and brought them to Harley.

“Are we really having this for breakfast?” he asked, still waiting for some kind of punchline. Harley furrowed her brows.
“Of course. I didn’t buy these for nothin’. Get yourself a plate, one of the big ones over there, and start gatherin’, yeah? It’s gonna be the best breakfast you’ve ever had”, she declared and pointed at one of the cupboards. Not wanting to argue, Billy did as he was told and fetched a bright red plate for himself, and slowly started gathering the sweetest breakfast he was ever going to eat onto it. Harley joined him soon after, filling her plate much faster. When she was done, her plate looked like an attempt at modern art, the way everything was piled on with absolutely no care. Once their plates were full, they didn’t stay in the kitchen, but went straight to the living room and sat down on the sofa.

“Finally! I’m starving”, Harley sighed and already started digging into her plate. Billy just watched her for a small moment. The strangeness of… well, everything that was going on, was incredibly difficult to comprehend. So much so, Billy’s brains decided to just check out for the moment. He took his spoon, got a spoonful of strawberry ice cream and gummy candies that were shaped like little soda bottles, and took a bite.

It was cold, sweet, and absolutely perfect.

It was everything he could have hoped for, and even that one spoon of deliciousness gave Billy such a boost of energy, he immediately dug in for more. Maybe the gummies and the ice cream weren’t made to go together, but right now they felt like the most perfect combination there was. The second spoonful was different, yet also worked in different ways: it was a piece of chocolate cake smooshed into some vanilla ice cream, with some sour candies stuck into it.

He hadn’t thought that he’d be able to finish his plate at all – that was quickly proven wrong, as he went for a second plate maybe ten minutes later, maybe even sooner. Harley didn’t mind. She simply encouraged his behavior, filling up a second plate as well, piling everything even higher than before.

“Ya know, I know that the whole ‘breakfast is the most important meal’ is just some corporate propaganda and stuff”, she explained, mouth still half-filled with chocolate cake and chips, “but sometimes it really works like that! Probably depends on the breakfast, though, because this stuff is absolutely the bomb. This really gets your day going!”
“I’ve never had a breakfast like this before”, Billy nodded, glancing at their plates in slight disbelief, “when I was little, finding breakfast was kind of rare. At the manor…”
His voice went quiet as he thought about the manor. He would have been lying if he tried to claim that he didn’t love the breakfast that Alfred made. Thinking about it made him sad, and he tried to repress the feelings by taking a way too big bite out of his piece of chocolate cake. Harley turned around on the sofa so she could face Billy and took a bite of her own breakfast.

“Wanna tell me what happened? Didn’t you say you were staying with Bruce Wayne?” she asked. Her tone was casual and light, but there was a certain something in it that Billy couldn’t quite describe.
“He—I…” Billy tried to figure out a way to explain what had happened. Harley knew about Captain Marvel, but Billy was pretty sure that she didn’t know about Batman – and telling her about Batman wouldn’t be a good thing to do, even if she was super nice and had kept Billy’s secret. Billy hadn’t been able to keep her secret as well as he’d liked, but he really hoped that Harley either wouldn’t find out or wouldn’t mind that Bruce had found out about her and Red.
“I messed up and I sort of… ran away, but I’m pretty sure I would have been kicked out regardless”, he mumbled. He concentrated on staring at one of the plants on the opposite side of the room, just so he wouldn’t have to look at Harley as he spoke.

“Did he tell you that he was gonna throw you out?” Harley asked, momentarily setting her plate aside on the sofa table next to them. Billy shifted in his seat.
“Not yet”, he admitted, “but he has every reason to. I went directly against what he said, he told me not to go anywhere, and I didn’t obey, and everything went wrong. Like, really wrong. Even when I was Captain Marvel, Batman needed to rescue me because I messed everything up.”
“Does Brucie know about your sudden growth spurts?” Harley asked. Billy was having a really, really hard time trying to come up with an excuse that wouldn’t risk anyone else’s secret identities. If this was something he’d discussed with Bruce earlier, there wouldn’t be a problem, but trying to come up with an excuse on his own turned out to be a difficult task.
“Yeah. Maybe not everything, but mostly, yeah. He told me that Batman would take care of Scarecrow and I shouldn’t do anything about it, but Scarecrow kidnapped my friend… so I went to fight Scarecrow”, he finally said, hoping that Harley wouldn’t realize why it took him a while to come up with an answer. Harley blinked in surprise.
“You fought with Crane?” she asked, eyes even bigger than usual. Billy didn’t like how just talking about Scarecrow was dragging him back to the night before: he pushed his breakfast aside as soon as the corpses entered his mind once again.

“It didn’t go well”, he muttered, then spoke slightly louder, “what good are my powers if I lose against someone like him? I’m supposed to have the courage of Achilles, but I still got scared when I was doused with that gas thing.”

It bothered him more by the minute. He understood that Billy Batson would have gotten scared in that situation, but Captain Marvel shouldn’t have been affected by it as much. He shouldn’t have been affected by it at all, in fact. He understood still being nervous or worried as Captain Marvel, but being afraid wasn’t something that should happen. Billy hadn’t spoken to the Wizard about it, and right now he felt like he didn’t even want to see him about it. The Wizard would probably tell him that he’s been shirking his responsibilities for too long, and now he needed to deal with the consequences.

“Achilles? The guy who refused to fight in a war and only changed his mind after his boyfriend was killed?” Harley asked after a moment of silence, “I dunno if he’s the best example of courage. Besides, having courage doesn’t even mean that you can’t get scared. Doesn’t everyone get scared sometimes? I think it would be kinda freakier if you weren’t scared because of Crane’s shit.”
“But with courage, I shouldn’t get that scared!” Billy said, put his plate aside and curled up, hugging his knees, “it’s so stupid.”
“Isn’t it courage when you do the stuff that scares ya, kid? So, I don’t think you can have courage without bein’ a lil’ afraid sometimes”, Harley shrugged her shoulders as she spoke, as if the thing she was talking about was obvious. Billy finally turned his head to look at her.
“It doesn’t matter. I still did stuff that I wasn’t supposed to do, so Bruce would have kicked me out regardless, and I probably can’t be a part of Justice League anymore either, because Batman saw me fail with Scarecrow”, Billy said, pressing his face against his legs. He wasn’t sure why he was speaking about this with Harley of all people. Maybe because she seemed to be a very good listener. She kept her attention fully on Billy and didn’t interrupt him or even seem disinterested. Maybe she seemed a little bit amused at the mention of Justice League, but that didn’t seem to be malicious.

“And you didn’t talk to Brucie about this? I’m just gonna make a guess and say that you have bad experiences about people not havin’ your back, am I correct?” she asked. Billy took a deep breath. Usually, he tried to suppress those memories from his previous foster homes, and usually he was pretty successful at doing so. He didn’t want to think about the what-ifs, because that was just a rabbit hole that made him feel terrible about himself and his choices so far. What if he had done something different and he’d actually grown up in a foster family so far? What if his parents hadn’t been murdered, and he never would have gone into the system? Before he had become Captain Marvel, he’d think about those things a lot, even though they weren’t helpful thoughts to have. At least as Captain Marvel he had the Wizard, who despite his many flaws had never let him down, at least not yet.

“Mostly”, he answered truthfully, “but it’s my fault. I just keep doing things that make people not want to keep me around, and I don’t know how to stop.”
The Wizard really seemed to be the only exception to this rule, but it made sense. He had made Billy his Champion, and it probably wouldn’t be easy for him to change his mind and find another candidate. It was probably something the Wizard had thought about more than once, and sometimes he talked about--

“Then fuck those people.”

Harley’s voice was so sincere, it took Billy a few moments to register what she had said. With furrowed brows, he glanced in her direction. She shrugged.

“Not literally, but ya know. You’re like, eight years old? I don’t think you have to prove anythin’ to people who are supposed to have your back. If they don’t, then fuck that, you have better places to be at. You don’t wanna be crawling back to someone who never even appreciated ya in the first place. Believe me, I absolutely know”, she said, grimaced slightly, then continued, “in my extremely qualified and trustworthy opinion, though, you should probably talk to Brucie and ask if he was actually gonna throw ya out. If yeah, then forget him. Captain Thundermuscles doesn’t need someone like that takin’ care of him. But there’s a real good chance that he wasn’t gonna make you go anywhere.”

Billy couldn’t help but sit there and listen quietly, and even though he tried to fight against it, he felt an annoying, familiar sting in the corner of his eyes. He still wasn’t sure if it was as easy as Harley made it sound, but he also knew that she was probably correct. She seemed to be correct pretty often, even if she wasn’t able to remember his age at any point.
“… I’m twelve”, he corrected her in a quiet, careful voice, “but what if he makes me leave?”
“Then you find someone who isn’t a hunky scumbag idiot loser. Trust me, kid, I’ve known ya for like, two seconds, but you don’t seem like the type of guy to actually piss everyone off. Now, here’s an actual piece of qualified medical advice for ya: get your plate and start eatin’. You’ll feel better and you have magical muscles anyway, it’s only gonna be good for ya.”

Billy took a deep breath and grabbed his plate. The stinging in his eyes was still there, but he didn’t feel quite as bad about it. Harley took her own plate and started eating first, so encouraged by her example, Billy also took another bite of his breakfast. The things he had seen the night before kept swirling in his mind like a brewing storm, trying to make him feel worse, but for some reason, they couldn’t quite get to him at that moment. Maybe while they were talking, Harley had cast some kind of spell over him, preventing him from succumbing to those thoughts and memories… even though Harley probably didn’t have magical powers. He couldn’t just shut the memories away and never think about them again, but at least talking about these things, even a little bit, had helped him at this moment.

They ate in silence for a couple of minutes before Billy spoke again.

“… I’ll talk with Bruce”, he said, his voice slightly stronger and more decisive than before.
“There ya go”, Harley grinned, then thought of something and continued, “but whatever happens, can you take me flyin’ at some point? I’ve asked Superman but he’s never taken me anywhere nice. I think he told me it wouldn’t be ‘decent’ or whatever.”

Billy snorted with laughter.

“… Thanks, Harley.”

Chapter Text

When Billy and Harley were finally finished with breakfast, Billy felt like he wouldn’t have to eat anything for the rest of the day. They had finished most of the chocolate cake, at least two tubs of ice cream, and tons of other stuff – just not the baby carrots that were left in the fridge. Billy wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but it had to be at least two hours or at least something like that. Their conversation topics had shifted into much less personal things, and Harley had managed to convince Billy into giving her a personal flight at some point in the future. Once they had cleaned up most of their mess, Billy had finally gathered enough courage to turn his phone back on in order to contact Bruce.

He had fifteen messages and six missed calls.

Billy blinked in surprise. He had anticipated one, maybe two messages, but nothing like this. The messages were from pretty much everyone at the manor, and a couple of messages from Freddy, who was the only one who didn’t know anything about Billy running away that morning. Billy checked his messages first because he still needed a little extra time until he was ready to check the others.

“still not really over the fact that i actualy saw cap marvel”, said the first message. His second message was sent half an hour later.
“can we mb meet soon? maybe somehwere else than the amusemnt park. you know.”

Billy’s first reaction was worry. Logically, he knew that what had happened to Freddy wasn’t exactly his fault, even though he should have been able to prevent it. Would he be putting Freddy in unnecessary danger if they met, or was he just worrying about everything too much? There was still Mister Mind to worry about, and if Freddy were to get possessed, Billy wouldn’t have any idea what to do. Still… he did want to see Freddy again. Maybe they just needed to meet in a place that didn’t feel quite as dangerous.

He was in the middle of sending a message to Freddy when his phone started buzzing. Bruce’s name flashed on the screen, and for a moment, Billy was unsure if he wanted to answer it. He had told Harley that he would be talking to Bruce, but now it felt so sudden. He glanced in Harley’s direction – she was laying on the sofa, deep in a text conversation of her own. When she noticed Billy’s gaze, she leaned toward him just enough to make sense of the text on his screen.

“That was fast. Go on, answer it”, she nodded with a wide smile. Billy let out a small sigh, got up from the sofa, and walked a bit further from Harley. He wasn’t sure what Bruce was going to say, and he didn’t want to risk anything by having Harley accidentally – or completely on purpose – eavesdrop on their conversation. He stopped next to a plant with fragrant, bright orange flowers, and finally pressed the green button on his screen.

“Billy, are you okay?” was the very first thing Bruce asked when the call connected. Billy breathed in.
“Yeah. I’m fine”, he said. When he didn’t specify anything, Bruce continued.
“You… you really gave us a fright. Where are you right now?”

Billy had a hard time believing that Bruce didn’t actually know where he was. Sure, he had turned off his phone, but he had seen the Batcave, and there were hundreds of ways to actually find out where Billy was at that moment.

Maybe Bruce just wanted to know if Billy would voluntarily tell him his location.

“I’m… at Harley’s place”, he said. He didn’t feel comfortable lying about this, and even if he did, Bruce would probably find out that he did so. Billy didn’t want to make things even worse than they already were, and somehow he just knew that lying wouldn’t make things better.
“At Harley’s… and you really are fine, right? Why are you at Harley’s place?” Bruce’s voice was tense and worried as he spoke. Billy couldn’t hear any anger in his voice, though. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was very good at pretending to now be angry, or because he actually wasn’t angry at all.
“I’m okay. I… I wasn’t… I thought I had to leave. I really messed up last night”, Billy had to force the words out of his mouth, and even though they were slightly shaky and quiet, they did come out.

Bruce let out a breath.
“Billy, you absolutely do not have to leave because of last night. At no point have I wanted to make you leave, I promise you that. I’m sorry if I made you feel like you couldn’t trust me”, he said. Billy felt guilty.
“It’s not that. It’s just…” he said, staring intently at the orange flowers, “why aren’t you angry at me?”
“Why would I be angry at you?” Bruce asked. Billy kind of wished they weren’t speaking through a phone, because right now he couldn’t tell if the question was genuine or not.
“I didn’t do what you said. I went to fight Scarecrow, and I didn’t even defeat him. I don’t want to be a burden to you”, Billy said, lowering his voice so Harley definitely wouldn’t hear him.
“Billy, I want you to listen to me very closely”, Bruce began, his voice stern and stable, “everyone messes up sometimes. I have messed up more times than I can count. No one in this manor or anywhere else is perfect, and that doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve a safe place to stay at. You did what you did because you wanted to help your friend, and I can’t fault you for that. I should have told you why I didn’t want you to go there, and we could have found a solution that works for everyone. And in case I didn’t make it obvious already, it would make me really happy if you came back to the manor.”

Some part of Billy knew he shouldn’t wait for a “but”, but he couldn’t help it. It all sounded too… simple. It was hard to comprehend that sometimes things just worked out like that.
“Is it really okay?” the words slipped out of his mouth before he could prevent it. Bruce let out a chuckle. He sounded tired.
“Yes. Of course it is. Do you need someone to pick you up?” he asked, and Billy could hear the relief in his voice. Billy glanced in Harley’s direction.
“Yeah, thanks. That would probably be the easiest thing. I’ll ask Harley what her address is.”
“No need. I know where she lives. I’ll send Tim to get you.”

Of course he knew.

“See you soon, Billy. We’ll talk more when you’re back here, okay?”
“Yeah, see you.”

Billy just stood there after the call ended. He didn’t know how to feel. Everything just felt a little bit unreal, even though Bruce had very clearly told him that he wasn’t kicked out.

“Everything okay there?” Harley asked from the couch, leaning forward so she could see Billy. Billy blinked a couple of times, put his phone into his pocket, and walked back to her.
“Yeah…” he said, suddenly feeling his face go warm, “Bruce… wasn’t going to kick me out. You were right.”
“Of course I was right”, Harley smirked and sat up straight, “I don’t have a PhD for nothin’. And honestly, like, it’s kinda nice to know that Brucie ain’t a complete jackass. You never know with the billionaires.”

Billy sat down next to her with a sigh and looked at his phone again. The half-written response to Freddy was still there, waiting for him to finish the sentence. To be perfectly honest, Billy didn’t even remember what he was going to write originally – even that short phone call with Bruce had thrown him for a loop. He deleted the first attempt of his message and quickly wrote another one.

“yeah if your up for it! where do you wanna meet?”

That would probably be the only reply he was actually going to send right then. The rest of the messages were from everyone at the manor, and it would be easier for Billy to actually talk to them in person instead of explaining what had happened through text messages individually… and anyway, Bruce had most likely already told everyone where Billy was and what was going on. It was hard to explain the feeling that Billy felt as he scrolled through the messages filled with concern and confusion. Well, most of them were like that. Jason had sent him a message that simply read: “That was probably the loudest way to run away I could even think of”, which, in retrospect, was definitely true. The others were mostly asking where he was, what was going on, and asking him to not do anything reckless.

Now that Billy’s head felt clearer, he realized that even if he was going to run away, maybe he should have left a note or something behind, because a couple of messages – the ones from Dick and Stephanie – were worried that something had happened to him. Billy hadn’t even thought that his disappearance could be interpreted as something like that, which was stupid, considering the looming threat of Mister Mind.

“Thanks for everything, by the way”, Billy said, putting his phone away and turning to look at Harley, “the breakfast, letting me come here, all those things. They… really helped.”

Just saying that felt insufficient, but at that very moment, there wasn’t much else Billy could do. Harley flashed him a wide grin.
“My pleasure, kid. I did tell you that Auntie Harley’s here to help”, she said and yawned, “even when it’s way too early to actually be awake. Like, who are we, Red?”
“Sorry about that”, Billy smiled sheepishly, “I didn’t really know who else to call… but you’re really nice.”
“Aww. Get over here, you’re gonna make me all weepy”, Harley cooed and pulled Billy in for a hug. Billy hadn’t expected it, and though the gesture wasn’t unwelcome, he had no idea how to respond. Thankfully, Harley seemed content just hugging him and seemed perfectly happy after she let him go.

The sound of a door opening and closing made Billy jump a little bit. He had expected Tim to send him a message or something once he was near the apartment, but maybe he was already there? Billy was already about to get up and walk to the door, but when he saw a redheaded woman walk in, he decided to stay where he was.

Logically, Billy knew that when Red had kidnapped her, she had been brainwashed and didn’t have anything to do with the actual kidnapping. She had been angry about the whole thing, actually, so it was almost annoying how Billy’s first reaction to seeing her was caution and nervousness. He hoped that it didn’t show too badly on his face. Their eyes met for a moment as they both registered what was happening and how they knew each other. Red broke the eye contact first, turning to look at Harley.

“… Do I even want to know what’s going on here?” she asked with a sigh. Unlike Harley, she seemed to have been awake for quite a while already. She was carrying a big bag of what seemed like mulch, and that was probably why she hadn’t taken off her moss-green jacket quite yet. Harley jumped up from the sofa and went to give her a kiss on the cheek.
“We were just havin’ a nice lil’ breakfast with my buddy here. You remember Billy, right?” Harley asked. She didn’t seem worried about the fact that Billy had been the reason Red had gotten mind-controlled earlier, or the fact that Red had been the one to kidnap Billy. The moment could have gone in multiple different directions, but fortunately, right now it seemed like everyone was more interested in being civil with each other than starting any unnecessary fights.

Even better, actually.

“Right… sure”, Red said, giving up her line of questioning very quickly, “well, I guess you’re involved in this too, so might as well fill you in.”
“Involved in this?” Billy asked, unsure if he knew what they were talking about. His phone buzzed and he knew that it was probably from Tim, but now he was too interested to immediately read the message or leave the apartment. Red nodded, put the bag of mulch on a nearby side table, and turned so she could see both Billy and Harley.
“With the asshole who messed with my mind back then”, she explained, crossing her arms as she spoke, “I’ve been trying to figure out who he is, and I’ve finally made some progress.”

Billy immediately sat up straight.
“You know who he is?” he asked excitedly. Unfortunately, the look on Red’s face told him to lower his expectations immediately.
“No. But I have figured out some things”, she said, “as in I checked the security cameras in my greenhouse, and I’m pretty sure the bastard got me there. There was a rogue bird that got in, and when I was getting it out, something clearly happened because that’s where my memory blacks out and I start behaving weird on the recording.”
“No one came in except for the bird?” Harley asked, disappointment heavy in her voice, “I just want the mind-messing dude to already get his head bashed in, we ain’t getting’ anywhere with just some birds.”
“I don’t know if the bird had anything to do with it, but that’s when it happened. Maybe he mind-controlled the bird first and then moved onto me”, Red suggested, her eyes filled with anger at just the thought.

Billy listened to them speaking and tried to wrack his brain. Something about Red’s latest suggestion felt weirdly right, but he wasn’t sure why. The metallic little bugs were much easier to understand, even if they weren’t sure how exactly the mind-control part of those worked… but Red hadn’t had a bug like that. Neither had Damian, but Damian had had the—

“Do you remember anything crawling into your ear back then?” he asked as soon as the thought popped into his head. Both Red and Harley turned to look at him with furrowed brows.
“Crawling… into my ear?” Red repeated slowly, as though talking to a small child. Billy felt a blush creeping onto his face but tried to ignore it.
“Yeah, I—there was a situation where one person got mind-controlled by Mister Mind, and when Batman looked into it, there was this… live caterpillar in his ear”, Billy explained, knowing full well how weird and kind of stupid it sounded. He would definitely have to leave the part with the bats in the cave eating their only evidence out of his story, as that would probably ruin the remains of his believability, even though he was only telling the truth.

“Of course, the fucking Bat is involved…” Red muttered quietly, then looked at Billy, “look, I—”

She stopped mid-sentence. The look on her face was perplexed, and though it was clear that, at first, she was going to deny any ear-crawling, the fact that she actually needed to think about it already said a lot. Harley’s face was a mixture of amusement and concern, a weird combination that somehow came across as perfectly sincere. Red was deep in thought for a few moments longer, and then there was a flash of realization in her eyes.

“He might actually be right”, she said at first to Harley, only then turning to look at Billy again, “I can’t say for certain, but it’s definitely possible. I would have to watch the recording again, but I do at least remember something falling on me when the bird got in the greenhouse.”
“Can you send Batman the recording?” Billy asked. His phone buzzed again, and this time he took a quick look at it. Tim was asking if he was going to come down himself or if he needed to be picked up from the apartment itself. For a moment he considered inviting Tim in, but he probably wasn’t in his Red Robin outfit right now. Harley and Red probably wouldn’t want just a random guy walking in, so Billy just quickly sent him a “in a sec!” in hopes of keeping the conversation going for a few moments longer.

Red let out a sigh.

“Look, kid, I can see that Batman is working on this case, but he and I…” she waved her hand in the air like she was swatting an invisible fly, “let’s just say we do not exactly work together.”
“But he can help us find Mister Mind!” Billy insisted, “you can also just give me a copy of the recording and I’ll get it to Batman; you don’t even need to do it yourself! Please, just help me with this.”

Red turned to look at Harley, who grinned at her.
“Like I said, Billy’s my buddy. I think it’s fine. Plus, Batsy will probably owe you one”, she said with a wink. Red rolled her eyes, looked at Billy, took another look at Harley, and let out another sigh, this one sounding more like a growl.
“I have the recording on my laptop. Do you have an email address I can send it to?” she asked. Billy actually did have his own email address, one that Tim had helped him make a while ago. So far, he hadn’t had almost any use for it, but right now he was grateful for its existence and he should probably thank Tim later again. He gave the address to Red, who begrudgingly wrote it down, still looking unhappy about this. Billy remembered Bruce’s reaction to finding out that she had been the one to kidnap Billy – it hadn’t been fun, but maybe this would be something that helped him see Red and Harley in a better light? No matter what their history was, Harley had been only hugely helpful to Billy, and now Red had helped him as well. Surely that counted for something?

There was a moment of silence between them in the apartment, and Billy knew it was his time to leave. He had gotten so focused on possibly learning new information about Mister Mind, he had momentarily forgotten the conversation that was still waiting for him back at the manor, and a slight feeling of dread returned to haunt him. Maybe it was stupid to worry about it, as Bruce had already told him that everything was okay, but hearing it through a phone call wasn’t the same as hearing it in an actual face-to-face conversation. Billy took a deep breath.

“I’m going to… go now. I have someone waiting for me down there”, he said, nodding toward the window. He got up from the sofa and turned to look at Harley, a smile forming on his face.
“Thanks again. Let’s have breakfast again at some point?” he suggested, almost surprised by the steadiness of his own voice. Harley smiled and offered her fist for a fist bump.
“Yeah, any time, kid. And remember what we spoke about”, she said and gave Billy a satisfied grin when he returned the gesture.

Then it was time to return to the manor. Despite his nervousness and dread, Billy was surprised to realize how much he was looking forward to it – and how right it actually felt.

Chapter Text

Usually, when someone ran away from the manor, it was because they had fought with someone. Most of the time, that fight had been between them and Bruce. It was a depressing thought, but Bruce couldn’t count all the times one of the kids had run away for one reason or another. It never got easier, even though when he’d been younger, Bruce had often been too angry after the fights to actually get concerned, and Alfred had needed to give him more reality checks than he would have liked.

Before the phone call, the latest actual conversation Bruce had with Billy had been about Scarecrow. He still didn’t feel like it could be called a fight, even though thinking back at it, he would have done so many things differently. He would have explained himself better, let Billy know why fighting Scarecrow in particular wasn’t a good idea. Maybe he could have even let him participate in the search.

It was easy to think about what he could have done. It was harder to accept that he hadn’t made it crystal clear that no matter what had happened that night, Billy would definitely still have a place at the manor. He should have stayed in the room with him until the morning, it was stupid that he hadn’t. Billy had made one of his greatest fears explicitly clear after Scarecrow had been taken down, and Bruce still hadn’t had enough sense to simply stay in the room and not just hope that his words had been enough, especially since Billy had been in such a panicked, drugged state just after the fight. It was possible that Billy didn’t even have clear memories of what had happened last night… no, actually, that was probable, not just possible.

Bruce did feel a little bit better knowing that Billy wasn’t just wandering the streets aimlessly or anything like that, but he just wasn’t sure how to feel about Billy running away just to end up at Harley Quinn’s place. He wasn’t even sure what to think about Harley Quinn altogether. She had seemed to make a visible effort to be… well, maybe not ‘good’ exactly, but maybe ‘better’ after she had finally ended things with Joker a few years ago. To be perfectly honest, Bruce hadn’t expected her to actually stick to her word on that one – she had ended things with Joker countless times before that – but this time something had been different, and she had actually stayed away from the clown. It didn’t mean that she wasn’t a criminal or that her moral compass wasn’t unbelievably gray, but at least she hadn’t been involved in as many city-threatening schemes as she used to. And now, for some reason, after the kidnapping incident, she and Billy had become… friends?

Maybe Batman should have a friendly conversation with Harley at some point, just to make sure that she wasn’t planning anything nefarious. But that could be taken care of later, especially if Billy would be willing to tell him about this weird friendship in his own words… if he was willing to speak to Bruce at all after what had happened, which wasn’t a guarantee, even if their phone call did end on a hopeful note.

“Do not beat yourself up because of this, Master Bruce”, Alfred told him as he walked into the entrance hall, where Bruce was pacing around. Even though the phone call had calmed his nerves a little bit, since Billy agreed to come back to the manor, he still wasn’t sure how to make sure Billy wouldn’t feel like he needed to do something like this ever again.
“Why not, Alfred?” he sighed, unable to stop his pacing, “how many times has something like this happened? Why is it so impossible for me to make it clear to these kids that they have a place here no matter what? If it happened once, I would understand it, but it just keeps happening… At some point, we just have to accept that I’m the problem here.”

Bruce liked to think that he had grown a lot as a person and a mentor-like figure during his years as Batman. It was a miracle how well-adjusted Dick had grown up to be despite the numerous mistakes Bruce had made with him all those years ago, back when he just apparently couldn’t comprehend that he was dealing with a child, not a miniature-sized soldier at some points. Bruce didn’t want to make the same mistake with Billy, but it seemed like he was now overcorrecting himself, especially since he was dealing with Captain Marvel, not just a regular child. Finding a middle ground seemed impossible, especially considering all his superpowers that Bruce didn’t even fully understand yet.

Alfred stood there, watching him pace.

“Do you think I did a bad job with raising you, Master Bruce?” he asked suddenly. That was enough to make Bruce stop immediately and turn to look at the old butler.
“What? No, Alfred. Never”, he replied immediately, genuine concern in his voice.
“I am just referring to your own logic”, Alfred said with a slight, maybe a bit melancholic smile on his lips, “you yourself ran away multiple times when you were younger. Eleven times, if my memory doesn’t betray me.”
“That’s not the same. I was—it was never about you when that happened”, Bruce said defensively. He remembered running away multiple times, often for the smallest reasons. Sometimes he had had a fight with Alfred before he’d done so, but even then it wasn’t because of Alfred. Other things had always been the primary cause, and fighting with Alfred had been such a small part of it—

Bruce let out a sigh. That was exactly why Alfred had asked the question, and it had taken Bruce a moment to realize why he was bringing it up.
“Touché”, he said and couldn’t help but smile, “Okay, fine. You can have this one.”
“It is not a competition, Master Bruce”, Alfred raised his eyebrows as he spoke, a quiet ‘but if it were, we both know who the winner would be’ hanging in the air.

The sound of a motorcycle made both of them turn toward the door. Bruce took in a deep breath and walked outside, trying to clear his mind as well as he could. He watched as Tim drove through the gates and near the door, with Billy clutching him from behind, a dark helmet covering his head completely. He didn’t seem hurt, and when he hopped off the motorcycle and took his helmet off, he gave Bruce an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry I—”, he began apologizing, but Bruce cut him off before he could even finish the sentence and crouched in front of him.
“Don’t be sorry. What happened last night was traumatizing and I don’t blame you for leaving”, he said, pressing a hand on Billy’s shoulder, “but, just in case, if you ever feel like leaving so suddenly… Please, talk to me first, like I should have talked to you about Scarecrow. I just really need you to know that I would never throw you out, especially just because you tried to do something good. Actually, you didn’t just try, you did save all those kids. Next time we should probably just work together so nothing like this will happen again, okay?”

Billy was quiet for a long moment as Tim parked his motorcycle nearby.
“I’ll… try to remember that”, he finally said, running a hand through his hair, “Harley told me I probably feel this way because I’m not used to people having my back, and it’s—I think it’s probably true. But I want to try to change that.”

Sometimes Bruce almost forgot that Harley used to be a psychiatrist, but if she was able to understand Billy like that just in the few brief meetings they’d had, she definitely hadn’t lost her touch. Maybe on this rare occasion, she actually wasn’t being a bad influence to anyone, and Billy seemed to have learned some good things from her. It didn’t mean that Bruce still wouldn’t treat her with extreme caution, but she had done something good, and he was willing to acknowledge that.

“That sounds like a great goal. I want to be someone you can trust, and I’ll work toward that as well”, Bruce said with a smile and stood up. Billy smiled brightly at that, then seemed to remember something and quickly picked up his phone from his pocket.
“Oh! And there’s also something else I found out when I was at Harley’s place”, he said, tapping his screen and opening something, “Red came home when I was leaving and she told me she’s been trying to find out more about Mister Mind. There’s apparently some kind of camera recording from a greenhouse she was in when she got mind-controlled by Mister Mind, and she sent me the footage.”

First Harley was giving Billy good advice, and now Poison Ivy was actually helping them in their investigation? What was going to happen next, would the Penguin help them trap Mister Mind in the Iceberg Lounge? Bruce blinked in surprise but tried to gather his thoughts as quickly as possible.
“She sent you the recording?” he repeated, still slightly thrown by the weird circumstances.
“She’s really angry at Mister Mind for getting in her head. She really wants to find him”, Billy nodded, showing Bruce the video file that Ivy had sent to him. That made more sense than Ivy simply helping them for no reason – she was pissed, so she had her own personal motivations behind this. It didn’t change the fact that the footage would probably be helpful in some sort of way, though.

“Can you send that file to me? We can analyze it better with the Batcomputer”, he said, waving his hand in the general direction of the Batcave. Billy nodded, began to write something on his phone, then decide against it and gave his phone to Bruce.
“I’m not sure how to do that”, he admitted with a slight blush on his face. Bruce hoped his smile was more encouraging than amused as he took the phone and quickly sent the file to himself.

“We should go inside, standing here is kind of pointless”, he said after giving the phone back to Billy, who nodded and followed when he started walking toward the door. Bruce took note of Billy slightly slowing his steps as he moved closer to the manor, taking a long look at it before they opened the door and stepped inside. Bruce recognized the thoughts that must have been going through Billy’s mind at that moment: he had been prepared to never return to the manor, and now that he was back, it felt kind of weird. Bruce had gone through the same thing when he was a teenager a couple of times. Whenever he had run away, he had been stubbornly certain that he would never return… only for him to return usually just a couple of days later. The longest time he’d stayed away had been a month and a half after a particularly bad disagreement with Alfred, but even after that, the manor had somehow welcomed him back.

“So… you went to Harley Quinn’s place?” Bruce asked only after they’d reached the study and Billy had sat down. One part of Bruce wanted to go down to the Batcave and immediately start analyzing the video footage, but another, more sensible part of him knew that it wouldn’t be the best time for that. Billy had just returned and Bruce wanted to make sure that he was actually wanted back. He could look at the video slightly later.

Billy nodded.
“I… didn’t really know where to go, and I just kind of saw Harley’s number on my phone”, he explained, sinking into the dark brown sofa he was sitting on, “we ate breakfast and talked about stuff.”
“That sounds like a good time”, Bruce said, fighting back the urge to add, ‘and weirdly normal, considering who you were staying with’. Billy brightened at the thought and nodded.
“Yeah, it was. Though I think we ate a little bit too much candy”, he said with a laugh.
“… Didn’t you say you had breakfast with her?” Bruce asked. Then he remembered who they were talking about, and suddenly felt like he hadn’t actually needed to ask that question. He wouldn’t have been surprised if Harley’s normal breakfast consisted of cotton candy and cheese. Billy tried to hold back a smile but failed miserably.
“It was the weirdest breakfast I’ve ever had”, he grinned, “and then we… just talked. A lot.”

The smile on Billy’s face wavered a little bit, and Bruce wondered if it would be okay to ask more about their conversations. Based on what Billy had told him, they weren’t just light-hearted conversations or Harley trying to convert Billy into doing something criminal. Fortunately, Bruce didn’t have to make a decision on this part, as Billy continued speaking after a small pause.

“I’m really sorry for running away”, he said before Bruce could stop him from apologizing, “it’s not because I don’t trust you or others here specifically, I just…”
“You just have trouble trusting people in general, right?” Bruce filled in the sentence when Billy didn’t find the words to do so himself. Billy shrugged slightly and adjusted his hoodie so that his face was slightly more covered, though not enough to completely hide his face from Bruce.
“It’s not on purpose”, he said, his voice slightly defensive. Bruce turned around on the sofa so he could make better eye contact with Billy.
“I didn’t think it was. I think it’s just something that has happened because you have had too many bad experiences with people in general. I just hope that I can be one of the good experiences that help you let people in a little bit more, maybe starting with me and the others here, As long as you still want to stay here”, he said. Billy didn’t turn away as he thought about it.

“If you’re really okay with what I did, then—then yeah, I really like this place. But I can’t promise that I won’t do anything wrong in the future”, he said. Bruce almost wanted to track down every single foster family Billy had been in before and thoroughly make sure they would never even try to foster another child in the future, because what kind of people had Billy met to think that he needed to be perfect just to have a home?
“I’m not asking for perfection, Billy. No one is asking for perfection from you”, he said, hoping that Billy would really understand that this was the truth. No one was perfect, Bruce knew that probably better than anyone. He definitely wasn’t perfect, far from it. Billy shifted a little in his seat.
“The Wizard kinda does”, he muttered and turned to look away. Bruce furrowed his brows.
“What do you mean?” he asked immediately. Billy shrugged dismissively, even though this definitely wasn’t the kind of subject that could be ignored just like that.

“He doesn’t mean anything bad by it. He just… well, I’m his Champion, so it’s kind of obvious that he wants me to be perfect? Or it’s more like he wants Captain Marvel to be perfect, and he thinks I should be Captain Marvel most of the time. Billy Batson is more of a… sidenote to him?” Billy tried to explain himself, gesturing with his hands as he spoke. He kept his eyes firmly on a nearby bookshelf as Bruce listened and kept getting more pissed off word after word. He already didn’t have a high opinion of the Wizard in his mind, and now he definitely wanted to have a chat with the old man – preferably without Billy being present, just so Bruce could be as frank as he wanted.

“Has he said these things? Or is this a feeling you have?” he asked, just in case. Billy shrugged again.
“Both? He didn’t say that he doesn’t care about me, as Billy, but it’s pretty clear that he prefers me to be Captain Marvel all the time. He did say that the Champion should be pretty much perfect, though”, he said. Bruce didn’t like how casually Billy said these things – he had probably internalized most of this stuff and didn’t even think to question how cruel it was for the Wizard to just… be so dismissive toward Billy, especially if he really did feel this way and Billy didn’t simply project his own fears onto this man. Even if it was a projection, the Wizard clearly hadn’t done a good job at making sure Billy actually felt cared for.

“Do you think I could meet the Wizard at some point?” Bruce asked. He tried to make it sound like he just wanted to have a peaceful chat with the old man, even though he was pretty sure that if what Billy had told him was correct, the conversation would be far from peaceful. Billy seemed a little alarmed by the question.
“You want to meet him?” he asked, “I mean… I’m not sure if he… I guess I could ask? At some point?”
“I would appreciate that”, Bruce said. Maybe his voice was a bit tense, despite his best efforts at trying to sound more casual. There was no way for him to do research on the Wizard by himself and that frustrated him to no end. He would have to either ask Billy or directly talk to the man, and even those things depended on others. Not having control over these things was something that Bruce really didn’t like, especially since magic was once again involved.

Before Bruce could ask more about the Wizard, he heard footsteps approaching the study. Two sets of footsteps, in fact: they paused for a moment before entering the doorway, most likely wanting to make sure they weren't interrupting anything too important. When Bruce didn't continue speaking, Tim poked his head into the room with a smile on his face. When Billy had run away, Tim hadn’t doubted even for a second that he would come back soon enough. Even though Bruce had still been stressed about the whole thing, he had to admit that Tim’s optimistic attitude at that moment had helped him calm down even just a little bit. Tim, too, had run away more than once, though maybe not quite as many times as most of the other Robins.

“Alfred thought you’d like some tea”, he said, gesturing behind him as he entered the room, “and I thought you’d like some company, at least if we’re not interrupting anything.”
“No, you’re not interrupting anything. And Billy could do with some kind of… actual breakfast”, Bruce said, remembering what Billy had mentioned about his meal at Harley Quinn’s place. Billy shook his head immediately, his face turning a little pale at the thought.
“I can’t eat anything right now. I think I would explode”, he said and shook his head once more to make his point as clear as possible. Alfred’s eyebrows twitched a little as he set down the tea tray he’d been carrying, but no one other than Bruce could even notice the small reaction. The soft and warm aromas of bergamot and lemon were incredibly inviting, and Bruce – hoping that Billy might copy him a little bit and also drink at least some tea – took one of the cups and sipped at the hot tea.
“Maybe later then. After we’ve taken a look at the recording”, he agreed.

Tim sat down on one of the sofas and leaned forward.
“What recording?” he asked, sounding immediately very hopeful. That feeling was something that Bruce also felt, even if he didn’t outwardly show it. He really wanted to see the recording and find something that would help them close the case with Mister Mind for good.
“I did quite like it when the discussion of work topics was kept in the Batcave…” Alfred let out a little sigh. He didn’t really direct his words at anyone, but they were spoken loudly enough for everyone to understand that maybe they should change the topic.
“We will… fill you in when we go back down”, Bruce said with a slight laugh, glancing in Alfred’s direction. Tim didn’t seem completely satisfied with the answer, but he wasn’t about to go against Alfred’s wishes.

“Fine, if we’re not going to talk about work things, we can do something else. Billy, do you want to crush B in another game? There’s this one fighting game I think you’d be really good at…”

Chapter Text

Billy watched as Bruce clicked on the video that Red had sent him earlier. They had descended into the Batcave shortly after dinner. The dinner had been like a little victory in itself since Billy had – to his own surprise – managed to eat a regular amount of food, despite the sugary breakfast he’d had. Tim had taught him a new game, and while Billy didn’t get it quite as quickly as the racing game before, he really liked it. So much so, he was able to put aside everything Scarecrow related for at least a good couple of hours and just concentrate on relaxing and having fun. He knew that once it was time to go to bed, things wouldn’t be as simple, but he tried to enjoy the feeling while it lasted.

When the screen finally turned on, they could see the inside of a greenhouse. It was entirely filled with different flowers, fruits and vines. They weren’t in neat rows, instead seeming to grow wildly around the place, only barely leaving anyone visiting enough room for walking around. It took Billy a moment to even notice where Red was in the footage, as her red hair and green clothes almost vanished into the greenery surrounding her.

“She should invest in some better security cameras. You can barely see what’s going on”, Tim mumbled, shuffling next to Billy as they stared at the screen.
“It doesn’t seem that bad to me?” Billy said. To him, the video seemed to be of pretty good quality, even if they wouldn’t be able to perfectly see everything that could happen. Tim shrugged, still clearly disagreeing, but he wasn’t looking for an argument. Maybe he was used to the camera quality that they had in the manor: Bruce had the money to buy all the best equipment. Harley and Red didn’t seem to be lacking for money, even though their apartment building did seem a little bit sketchy, but maybe this was something that didn’t feel like a priority.
“She’s a criminal, Tim. It’s for the better if she doesn’t have better equipment because we know where the money for those would come from”, Bruce sighed as he stepped away from the monitor to take a good look at it.

Billy wasn’t sure if he wanted to ask more about Harley and Red. No, he wasn’t stupid – he had realized quite a while ago that they weren’t exactly the same superhero material as Batman and the Robins. Still, it did seem like they were… reformed, maybe? Harley had mentioned a colorful past, Red had seemed hesitant about working with Batman… and Bruce was so obviously surprised that Billy had been hanging out with Harley. It was surprising that Bruce hadn’t tried to tell him not to contact Harley anymore, but perhaps all the good Harley had done – what with saving Billy and taking him in after the runaway incident – made Bruce realize that maybe this shouldn’t be the hill to die on. Whatever Harley’s past included, Billy didn’t feel the need to prod, even if he was curious.

Minutes passed, and nothing interesting seemed to happen on the video. Red was moving among the plants, but everything was filmed too far away to see anything noteworthy. Then, when Billy was starting to already feel a little bit bored, something happened.

A bird flew into the greenhouse, passing the camera and making its way straight toward Red, who straightened up immediately, clearly not too happy with her newest guest. As they watched the tape in silence, the bird spun around Red a couple of times, often sweeping right by her head. At some point, it stopped, and the bird flew away from Red and the line of sight of the camera. It looked like Red was mostly annoyed by what had happened – once again, it was pretty hard to tell from the tape alone – and then swatted at her own ear like she was aiming for an annoying bug. Maybe the hit didn’t land because Red stretched out her hand in order to repeat the action… but nothing happened. For a moment, she was completely still, almost like her limbs just forgot how to move. It took her a couple of seconds to move again, and even to Billy’s untrained eye, it was obvious that something had happened. Red didn’t even spare a glance at her beloved plants as she turned around and immediately went to the door, leaving the greenhouse in complete silence. The same silence echoed in the Batcave as they kept watching, just in case anything else happened… but nothing did. After a few minutes of nothingness, Bruce paused the video and took a deep breath.

Billy felt mostly excited.

“That has to be the moment she got mind-controlled! Somehow Mister Mind used the bird to control her or—or something like that!” he exclaimed. Maybe he shouldn’t have been that happy to see someone get mind-controlled, but this meant that they were at least one step closer to figuring out how Mister Mind worked and how they’d be able to stop him, and that was enough to make him giddy. Bruce was much more solemn as he rewound the tape to the moment when the bird flew in.
“Yeah, the bird doesn’t seem to be a coincidence. And the date matches – it’s the same day as when you… met him for the first time”, Tim said, dancing around the whole kidnapping part of the story. Bruce played the tape once more, slowing it down.

“Red thought it might be something like… what if Mister Mind controlled the bird first and then moved onto her? But that wouldn’t really explain why he needed to use the caterpillar with Damian, and if he only uses caterpillars and the metal bugs, that bird doesn’t really make sense”, Billy spoke his thoughts out loud, really hoping for a moment when the puzzle pieces would fit together and give him a useful answer.
“The control being based on proximity would make sense…” Bruce muttered.
“But wouldn’t it make more sense that he himself would have to be close to whoever is being controlled? It would be kind of terrifying if it’s enough that the previous person or thing being controlled is close enough to the next victim”, Tim furrowed his brows as he spoke. Billy had been so focused on the tape, he didn’t even realize that someone was using the Batcave elevator until Jason walked out of it.

“Anything good on the tv?” he asked as he walked to them.
“Just a mediocre quality surveillance tape”, Tim replied and shrugged his shoulders. Jason glanced at the screen and raised his eyebrow, as a look of surprise flashed on his face.
“Poison Ivy? Been a while since she’s been involved in anything”, he said, taking a few steps closer, “she still owes me a couple hundred dollars.”
“Why does she owe you money?” Billy asked, even though that definitely wasn’t something that was important at the moment. Jason opened his mouth, received a glance from both Bruce and Tim, reconsidered, and shrugged.
“I’ll tell you later.”

Bruce rewound the tape again and watched it again, focusing on the part after the bird left the greenhouse. Billy, trying not to look extremely interested in whatever wasn’t being told to him right now, turned to look at the screen. In slow motion, Red swatted at her own ear once again. The quality of the video wasn’t good enough to see if she actually hit anything, but--

Wait a moment.

The bird had probably been controlled by Mister Mind, or at least it seemed that way. Mister Mind had needed some kind of vessels for his mind-controlling schemes so far – the electronic bugs that created the zombie-like attackers and the live caterpillar they’d found in Damian’s ear. When Damian had been controlled, Mister Mind had spoken through him in a very similar way he’d already done with Red when Billy had been kidnapped… which probably meant that the same caterpillar had been used back then. Since the bird had so purposefully flown close to Red—

“What if the bird carried the mind-controlling caterpillar there?” Billy suggested, "If Mister Mind is able to control animals as well, he could easily use the birds to carry things like that around. Red didn’t have a bug in her neck, and she was controlled the same way Damian was because that’s the way Mister Mind has been able to speak much more. If he can control birds and other animals, fetching them isn’t probably all that difficult, since the animals would be doing all the work for him.”
Tim had an excited smile on his face, matching Billy’s excitement in a way that Jason and Bruce could never.
“That’s probably it! And birds aren’t really something that people really look at, even if they are carrying something with them. It would also make it easier to fetch the caterpillar once he doesn’t need to control someone anymore, although I have no idea why he would fetch the same caterpillar instead of using another one. Maybe he only has one that does the job?”

“Maybe he is the caterpillar”, Jason joked with a smirk, only to be firmly ignored by everyone. Billy’s mind was still racing – another incident had just come to mind, and it was starting to make much more sense than before.
“And remember when the bats took the caterpillar! Maybe they didn’t actually eat it but carried it to somewhere safe, somewhere where Mister Mind could fetch it himself. That would make so much sense because if he can control a bird, he can definitely control a bat”, Billy spoke, the words coming out of his mouth faster than they needed to, only hoping that his explanation would actually make sense and not just make everyone think that he was grasping at straws here. Bruce listened to him without interruptions, and then took a moment to think everything through.
“It would mean that he’s able to switch who he’s controlling with relative ease. And if he controlled the bats, he’s able to control more than just one being at a time, which makes things trickier. I doubt the bats are controlled with the electronic bugs, so he either had something else to control them with, or he’s able to control them without anything additional”, Bruce said, staring at the paused screen, “neither of those are good options.”

“I really wish we had the caterpillar back. We really need to study it in order to find out what’s actually going on”, Tim let out a sigh and sat on a nearby table, nearly knocking over a cold cup of coffee. Frustration was starting to gnaw at Billy; he had hoped that they’d make some more progress by watching this video, and even though it had helped them a little bit, it wasn’t nearly enough to even start figuring out how they could find Mister Mind. That caterpillar they’d found in Damian seemed to be an extremely important piece of the puzzle, but it was either eaten by the bats or carried to safety by them… and neither of those options helped Billy or the others. Billy closed his eyes, trying to piece it all together. Mister Mind had made it very clear that he was after Billy’s powers: that’s how all of this had begun. He needed them to resurrect his fallen brethren, whatever that meant, and he had also mentioned—

Of course. The next course of action was so obvious, yet Billy had been stalling it to the best of his abilities. Not once, but twice had Mister Mind mentioned an ‘old fool’ as he spoke, and when that was spoken in the same sentence as Captain Marvel’s powers, there weren’t really any other options as to who he was talking about.

“… I’m going to ask the Wizard about this. I think he might know something about Mister Mind”, he said, almost surprising himself by how quiet his voice was. If this had happened before Billy had moved into the Wayne Manor, he wouldn’t have felt quite as worried about the upcoming conversation: now he was simply dreading the look of disappointment he could already imagine on the Wizard’s face. Bruce’s eyes snapped away from the monitor as the Wizard’s name was mentioned.
“I’ll come with you”, he said immediately. It didn’t come as a surprise, considering their earlier conversation, and Billy wasn’t sure how to feel about it. On one hand, it was terrifying – he had no idea how the conversation between Bruce and the Wizard would go. On the other hand… it felt kind of good to have someone so eager to come with him into what would definitely be a complicated conversation. Billy didn’t even notice he was smiling about it until Bruce gave him a little encouraging smile back, and for a moment, they were silent.

“Is he like a… wizard wizard? Like, with a funky fucking hat and everything?” Jason broke the silence with the most important question of them all. A small burst of laughter erupted from Billy before he could do anything about it as he imagined the Wizard with a very stereotypical black and pointy hat.
“Sorry. No, he doesn’t have a hat—or, well, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him, like, wear one”, he managed to reply after the initial picture finally faded from his mind, though now he was worried that he would get the same mental image stuck in his head when he would next see the Wizard face to face. Maybe a little hat like that would make him even a little bit less scary to be around.
“Why do you think your Wizard knows something about it? Is he an expert in…” Tim began his question, got stuck on how to word it properly, and then slowly finished his sentence, “… uh, mind-controlling caterpillars? Or weird bugs in general?”

“No, it’s just… I think Mister Mind knows him. He hasn’t mentioned the Wizard directly, but he doesn’t seem to like that the Wizard gave me these powers instead of him? Which I guess makes sense if he wants these powers to resurrect his species or something”, Billy said. Then something clicked, something that he hadn’t really even thought of when Mister Mind had first spoken to him. He had definitely used the word ‘species’ to describe the fallen brethren he’d been talking about, and that… that wasn’t really a normal word to use when talking about regular humans.

Suddenly Jason’s quip about Mister Mind being a caterpillar hit much closer to home.

Bruce caught onto the word choice quickly.
“Do you think it’s possible that Mister Mind is an alien since he’s talking about his species?” he asked. Billy blinked a couple of times. Yes, he knew there were multiple aliens just in the Justice League itself, and they weren’t really anything new, but the thought hadn’t really crossed his mind.
“I—I think it’s possible?” he replied. Bruce picked up his phone, tapped on the screen a couple of times, and pressed it against his ear. It couldn’t have taken more than a second for the person on the other end to answer his call. Billy turned to look at Tim, who still had a look of excitement on his face.
“He’s probably calling Superman. Kind of the obvious choice for alien-related stuff”, Tim explained, waving his hand toward the silent conversation that Bruce was having on the phone, “it doesn’t mean that Superman automatically knows of every single alien species there is, but he also has a better database on everything to do with alien stuff. Bruce is kind of salty about that.”

“I am not ‘salty’ about it, Tim”, Bruce said sharply as he ended the call, “and our database isn’t too far from his. Superman is going to visit his database and get back to us as soon as he can. Billy, how soon do you think we can visit the Wizard?”
“We could do straight away—” Billy began to speak, only to be interrupted by Jason.
“Don’t be a dumbass. You got back this morning, Gandalf can wait at least a day so you get to fucking sleep. Right, Bruce?” Jason said, throwing Bruce a warning look.
“You’re right, Jason. I didn’t think that through”, Bruce agreed, running a hand through his hair, “everyone needs to rest, considering… well, everything. Maybe Superman finds out something that’s worth bringing up with the Wizard.”

Billy just stood there, unsure of what to say. The truth was that he really wasn’t looking forward to sleeping that night, and anything that could make him think about anything other than the Scarecrow felt like a really good idea. He did feel much better after talking with Harley and Bruce, but he just knew that as soon as he was alone and in a dark room by himself, the nightmares would come back. His heart started pounding faster just thinking about it, and Billy dug his nails into the palms of his fists, trying to keep the fear from showing on his face.

Maybe his thoughts showed on his face regardless since Bruce walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“You can’t avoid sleeping forever. But I can stay with you if that helps”, he suggested, his voice so gentle it made Billy feel almost worse. He hated feeling like a little kid – which it definitely would feel like if he wasn’t even able to sleep without someone staying there by his side.
“Thanks, but… I think I’ll… be fine? I might just leave the lights on or something”, Billy said, mustering up the best smile he could at that moment. Bruce gave his shoulder a little squeeze and let go.
“The offer still stands. You don’t have to deal with anything like that alone”, he said, “and we can figure out when to visit the Wizard tomorrow. I think we all could use a break from investigating for now since there’s nothing else we can do until we hear back from Superman.”

Bruce was the first one to leave the Batcave, probably keen on showing everyone else that they should do the same. As soon as the elevator door closed behind him, Tim gave Jason a tired look.
“I would bet money that he’s going to return here in maybe like an hour. ‘We could all use a break’ is Bruce-code for ‘you all should leave the cave so I can overwork myself without any judgmental looks”, he smiled but did jump up from the table and moved to the elevator to wait for his turn.

Both Billy and Jason stood there for a few quiet moments. Then Jason took a deep breath, took a few steps so he was standing closer to Billy, and leaned against the table that Tim had sat on just moments earlier.

“Okay. Look”, he then said, catching Billy off guard.
“What?”
“About that sleeping thing”, Jason said. Despite the earlier silence between them, it seemed like Jason really hadn’t thought through whatever it was that he wanted to say. Billy felt the need to defend himself.
“It’s not—”
“I know what it’s like. You want to avoid sleeping because everything seems better compared to whatever the fuck is going on in the inevitable nightmares you’re going to have”, Jason interrupted him, running his hand over one of the visible scars on the side of his head, “but that’s just going to fuck you up even more, because then you start falling asleep when you don’t mean to, which means that the shitty nightmares are going to get you when you’re not expecting them.”

“But… if the nightmares keep waking me up…” Billy muttered, his voice quiet.
“Then you wake up, realize it’s a nightmare, and go back to sleep”, Jason said, “obviously it sucks, but there’s not really much more to it. Keep the lights on and maybe take Bruce up on his offer if it doesn’t feel too much like a fucking horror film to have him sit there and watch you sleep. Just try to sleep, and maybe once you’ve woken up enough times to realize you’re still safe, it actually starts to feel that way.”
“How long did that take you? To feel safe?” Billy asked. Clearly, Jason was speaking from experience. Jason just stared at nothing for a moment, long enough for Billy to regret asking the question so nonchalantly.
“Different circumstances”, Jason finally replied just as Billy was about to apologize and take back the question, “but in your case, I don’t think it’s gonna take too long. Obviously, I have no clue what went on in your gas visions, but that’s what they were – just a bunch of gas. Captain fucking Marvel isn’t going to lose too much sleep over a little bit of gas, right? Just punch the gas or whatever.”
“Just… punch the gas”, Billy repeated.
“Exactly. Easy.”

Unexpectedly, that almost made Billy feel… a little bit better? Like he was a bit more prepared to face the corpses and the accusations that would haunt him in his dreams once more. He wasn’t completely sure that punching the gas would actually do the trick, but he was willing to try that one as well.

“Thanks, Jason. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Chapter Text

The following night was… better. Not good, but definitely better than the last one. Billy struggled with the idea of asking Bruce to stay with him right until it was time to go to sleep. In the end, he decided to swallow his pride and take a step toward the goal he had mentioned to Bruce earlier: he really wanted to get used to the idea that people were willing to have his back. Sometimes that just meant that he actually needed to ask for help, even if the idea still felt a bit foreign.

He did wake up at least three times… or maybe those were just the times he remembered. One time he woke up with a shout, sweating and heart pounding, which made Bruce immediately move closer to him in case there was anything he needed help with. Bruce was asleep when another nightmare woke Billy up, but just seeing him sitting there and not having left - even if sleeping in an armchair he’d dragged in from another room must have been much more uncomfortable than his normal bed – made everything seem much calmer and somehow just more… real. He really was there, just like he had said that he would be. It wasn’t a lie or something that Billy had simply imagined; he just really was there. Maybe that realization made Billy feel good enough to get at least four hours of uninterrupted sleep, which was amazing compared to last night. Once he was awake, he couldn’t remember the nightmares clearly enough to know whether or not he actually tried to punch the gas as Jason had suggested, but at least it had been an option.

Through the entire breakfast Billy held onto the hope that Superman would visit them with whatever information he’d been able to find out and delay the inevitable visit to the Wizard. Billy knew that if he just asked, Bruce might have been okay with delaying the visit himself… but Billy didn’t want to make everyone else wait just because he felt a little anxious about seeing the Wizard. This was something he simply needed to deal with. Maybe having Bruce with him would be a good decision since he wouldn’t be able to run away without telling anyone where he went. Running away in Gotham City didn’t leave him nearly as many choices as the Rock of Eternity, where the entirety of pretty much all the universes were waiting for him just behind simple doors.

Then Superman sent a message to Bruce, saying that it would take a while longer to find out anything useful since they didn’t have anything more concrete to search for. It had been a long shot and Billy knew that – they didn’t even know if Mister Mind was an alien or not – but it was still disappointing to hear. Now they would just have to rely on the Wizard. Billy’s stomach churned. He still wasn’t even sure if the Wizard would be willing to speak to him about this, much less even meet Bruce. The first time Billy had even brought someone to the Rock of Eternity was when he had revealed his identity to Bruce, and even that had been very brief. There was always the possibility that the Wizard would just laugh in their faces and immediately remove them from the Rock… which didn’t sound too bad, now that the thought had crossed Billy’s mind.

Bruce, however, looked ready to face the Wizard. Once it had been confirmed that they wouldn’t be meeting up with Superman before their dreaded visit to the Wizard, he had changed into the Batsuit.
“Why are you coming to the Rock as Batman?” Billy asked once Bruce came up from the Batcave, carrying the cowl in his hands. It still hadn’t been long enough for Billy to get used to this sight in particular. Sometimes he still had some problems with really connecting Bruce and Batman, but he was mostly fine with seeing either of them separately. This strange middle ground still weirded him out a little bit, but he did his best to not let it show. Either Bruce hadn’t noticed how weird Billy found the whole thing, or he was nice enough to not say anything about it. They were standing in the inner courtyard: the sun was shining so brightly that for a moment it was easy to forget that they were still very much in Gotham.

“Just in case”, he replied with a cryptic tone. Billy nodded slowly, unable to come up with an actual answer, even though a couple of questions already popped into his mind. Just in case what? What did he expect to happen? Even if the Wizard was a bit of a jerk sometimes, Billy was almost certain that their visit wouldn’t result in a fight of any sort, and the Wizard most likely didn’t have any interest in Batman’s secret identity. He wasn’t going to argue against the decision… but just looking at him made Billy the tiniest bit uncomfortable. He knew it wasn’t for a good reason and he knew it was because of the fear gas, but seeing the Batsuit just brought up some bad memories from the Scarecrow night. It was even worse when Bruce put the cowl on, transforming into the dark knight in front of Billy in a matter of seconds. Billy took a deep breath – he could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and he hated that reaction. This is Bruce, he told himself. This is Bruce and he’s just wearing a costume. No reason to get freaked out.

“Are you sure you’re ready to meet with the Wizard?” Batman asked, apparently misunderstanding the source of Billy’s anxiousness. It did, however, create a perfect excuse for Billy to lean on.
“Mostly, yeah. It’s just been a while since I saw him”, he replied quickly, “but it should be fine, I think. We can… we can go now. Just… um, Shazam!”

Though the sky was clear and bright, the lightning still came down with full force and brought Captain Marvel with it. Yes, Billy could have gone in as himself… but right now he needed the courage of Achilles quite a bit more than he usually did. Batman kept staring at him after the transformation was completed, long enough for Captain Marvel to get a little bit self-conscious.
“… What?” he asked, his voice defensive.
“… I’m still not entirely used to that”, Batman answered, “but never mind about that. Are you ready to go?”

Meeting the Wizard still didn’t feel like something that Captain Marvel actually wanted to do or felt too good about, but at least now his mind wasn’t filled with the thought of escaping into one of the random doors leading to some random universe in the Rock. You can do this, he told himself as he stretched his arms and legs. You can do this, it’s just the Wizard. If he knows anything about Mister Mind, this visit will be worth it. You’ll be just fine! With these affirmations in mind, Captain Marvel opened the door that usually led back into the manor. He was greeted with the familiar sight of the Rock of Eternity and stepped in before any further regrets could fill his mind. Batman followed him with an inquisitive look in his eyes, though Captain Marvel couldn’t really read him any better due to the cowl covering his face. Still, it would have been obvious to everyone that Batman was interested in everything going on around him. Probably also very cautious and prepared to face anything, as usual, but mostly very interested.

With reluctance, Marvel closed the door behind them and stepped further in, doing his best to mentally prepare himself for the upcoming talk.

“Okay. You can do this”, he repeated to himself like he was giving out an order. Batman glanced at him but didn’t say anything. He was probably curious about this whole place, but Batman was tactful enough to know that this wasn’t the time to really investigate and research everything around him – not when they had something to accomplish. Captain Marvel took a deep breath.
“Wizard?” he called out, almost surprising himself with how steady his voice was despite everything going on in his head. If Billy Batson had tried the same thing, there would have been the possibility that he couldn’t have even gotten the words out without a nervous stutter. Batman kept a keen eye on his surroundings: it must have been a weird experience. Bruce had visited the Rock once, very briefly, and back then he’d had so much more important things to think about than the actual Rock of Eternity itself. Now he had more time to even take in his surroundings, maybe even form some questions that he would inevitably ask Billy later, once they had returned to the manor.

Captain Marvel could hear the Wizard before he saw him. The sound of a wooden staff reached him before he could see the old man carrying it, and suddenly this entire moment felt so much more real than just a few seconds ago.

The Wizard didn’t have a pointy hat like Jason had suggested, but no one could have confused him for anything other than the actual Wizard. He had long, grayish-white hair and an even longer beard. Captain Marvel had never seen him in any other clothes than the white robes he was wearing right now as well, and sometimes it made him wonder if he really only had that one set of robes – in which case, ew – or if he had a bigger collection of different white robes.

Despite the nervousness of the situation… well, more likely because of it, Marvel couldn’t rid himself of the thought of the Wizard wearing a pointy hat. It was really not the mindset he wanted to have when beginning this conversation, and his inability to not think about it was a really bad sign for things to come.

“It has been a while… my Champion”, the Wizard called out, with great emphasis on the title he had bestowed Billy Batson three years ago.
“Yeah? It’s been… a little while. Time passes and… stuff”, Captain Marvel replied with the eloquence of a sack of potatoes, “so, there’s, like, a thing I really need to talk to you about, and—”
“You ignore your duties and me for this long, and you only come back when you need something from me?” the Wizard interrupted the sentence, walking closer to Marvel with disdain in his eyes, “and not only that, but you also bring a stranger to the Rock of Eternity. Have you completely forgotten everything I have ever taught you?”

Captain Marvel closed his mouth and cast his gaze on the floor. Yeah, when the Wizard put it like that, it did sound worse than he’d liked.

Batman took a step forward so that he was almost standing between Captain Marvel and the Wizard. The contrast between his completely dark suit and the Wizard’s white robes was almost fascinating.
“You have no right to speak to him that way. If asking for help is something that you frown upon, clearly you have not taught him well enough”, he spoke in such a low tone, his words almost came out like a growl. The Wizard didn’t even blink as he slowly turned his gaze from Captain Marvel to Batman.
“You are only here because of my generosity, stranger. I have the power to cast you out at any given moment. I would advise you to think twice before speaking to me out of turn”, he said with an icy cold tone, somehow not affected by Batman’s menacing tone at all.
“We’re just here to ask about—”, Captain Marvel tried to steer the conversation back into a safer territory, but immediately stopped talking when the Wizard gave him a warning look.

“This is the Rock of Eternity, a place far too important and powerful for you to bring just anyone, for any reason whatsoever. Especially someone who hides his face and does not know when to simply listen”, the Wizard continued speaking and turned to look at Batman once again, "You are in my domain, and you would do well to remember that. I do not know why my Champion decided to bring you here, but do not think that you have any kind of power over me while you’re in here.”

Captain Marvel could see Batman tense as the words kept coming, and in order to prevent any kind of upcoming quarrels, he quickly stepped back in front of Batman and spoke up.

“He’s here because he’s been helping me for a while now”, he explained quickly, hoping that Batman would catch his drift and not say anything that might upset the Wizard – at least before they got answers. The Wizard definitely didn’t seem happy with the whole situation, but at least he hadn’t thrown anyone out yet, so that could definitely be counted as a success already. Captain Marvel took a quick breath to steady his thoughts before he spoke again.

“Do you know who Mister Mind is?”

The Wizard’s demeanor changed. A genuine look of concern and surprise flashed in his grayish-blue eyes as he took in the question.
“… How do you know that name?” he asked. Even his voice was now softer and quieter, and in an unnerving way, Captain Marvel knew that it meant only one thing: the Wizard really did know something about Mister Mind, and it wasn’t going to be anything good.
“He’s been attacking me”, he replied, “he’s been sending mind-controlled people after me, and I… well, we’ve been trying to figure out what’s going on. All I know right now is that his name is Mister Mind and that he wants my magic for himself.”

The Wizard listened to him quietly, then shook his head in worry.

“You know who he is”, Batman said, taking another step so he was standing right next to Captain Marvel.
“Please, tell me how to get rid of him. He keeps sending out other people so we haven’t been able to do anything to make him stop or find out where he’s located”, Captain Marvel spoke, getting more hopeful every moment. Finally, they would be able to find this guy and stop him for good! Sure, there would be a fight, but it definitely wouldn’t be anything that they couldn’t deal with.

“His name is Maxivermis Mind”, the Wizard finally revealed, “and he might be the most powerful telepathic worm to ever exist.”

There was a moment of silence. How long it lasted, Captain Marvel couldn’t tell. It could have lasted for only a couple of seconds, it could have lasted for a couple of hours. All of his thoughts simply came to a halt as he tried to process what he had just heard. Batman had gone even more silent than usual, which was almost impressive.

“Worm… as in… a person you don’t like…?” Captain Marvel asked, hoping that this was what the Wizard had actually meant. In an extremely disheartening gesture, the Wizard simply shook his head.
“No. He is a worm. Even I am not certain where his species originates from. Some suspect his species comes from the planet Venus, and some that he comes from the Wildlands. Nevertheless, his power is vast and dangerous”, he said, staring somewhere beyond Captain Marvel and Batman. If anyone other than the Wizard had told him this, he never would have believed them... but this was the Wizard. Captain Marvel was certain that he didn’t even have a sense of humor, and he couldn’t remember a time the Wizard had actually lied to him about anything.

A worm. This entire thing… everything that had happened since Billy had been attacked in the subway tunnels was because of a worm? Sure, there was a possibility that it was an alien worm, but that didn’t make Captain Marvel feel any better. All this time he’d at least been expecting a… somewhat humanoid villain behind the scenes? Most of his villains—well, there had been the situation with the crocodiles, but even they had been wearing business suits and walked on two feet, so it hadn’t been quite as off-putting. Surely the Wizard would have mentioned it if this was a human-sized worm, or if there was anything else to be mentioned about him, but the silence on that part was deafening. People had gotten hurt because a WORM wanted his powers… Captain Marvel ran a hand through his hair, trying to keep his thoughts on the matter at hand. He could have a meltdown about this back at the mansion: now he needed to concentrate in case there was anything else the Wizard could tell them about this – he had a really hard time even thinking about it – worm.

Before he could form the next question in his mind, a sudden laugh escaped from Captain Marvel’s mouth. He quickly covered his mouth with his hand and closed his eyes, concentrating on staying as serious as possible. He wasn’t even sure if he was laughing because this was funny or because this was just so, so absurd.

“A telepathic worm is behind these attacks?” Batman recovered faster from the shock. His voice was admirably steady, like he hadn’t been told the most ridiculous thing they could have even imagined just a few moments ago. The Wizard nodded solemnly.
“Many, many years ago, he sought an audience with me: his species of worms already had the minor power of telepathy, but this specific one wanted more power and knowledge than he was able to gain on his own. He thought that I would be capable of helping him…” he spoke, ignoring how Captain Marvel was still doing everything in his power to not start laughing, “but I saw into his heart, and I knew nothing good would come of helping him, so I denied his request.”

“H-He wanted to be more—a more powerful w—worm…?” Captain Marvel’s words came out with a stutter despite his efforts, “I’m sorry, but I—I need a moment to— I don’t know, like… accept that I’m fighting an actual worm?”

The Wizard didn’t look quite as amused.

“You might laugh now, my Champion, but this worm’s powers are—”
“Please, I know—I know he’s a worm, but could you not… like… call him that? I’m sorry, but it’s really difficult to take your words seriously when you say it like that”, Captain Marvel quickly asked. He really did want to know everything the Wizard could tell them, but he also needed to be able to actually listen to him without having to spend all his energy trying not to laugh or simply smash his head against the wall. The Wizard let out a long, slightly disappointed sigh, and continued.
“Mister Mind’s powers are incredibly powerful. Back when he came to me, it wasn’t so – all of his species only had minor powers of telepathy, nothing worthy of notice. But years later, they started developing their powers on their own and tried to take over an entire other species for their own gain. I was left with no other option than to lead an attack against their species.”

There was a small moment of silence as the puzzle pieces fit together in Captain Marvel’s mind, but yet again, Batman was the first to react.

“You slaughtered an entire species?” he asked. The Wizard stood up straighter.
“My only regret is that I failed at this, as Mister Mind is still alive. Somehow the powers of his fallen species transferred into him, making him capable of much more than he ever could have achieved on his own.”
“Fallen brethren…” Captain Marvel’s words came out as a whisper, "So he—he’s the last of his species and wants to bring them back. That’s why he wants my magic, it’s because he only had the powers of telepathy and those won’t help him with that!... But how did he survive your attack if everyone else died?”
“That I do not know. He has managed to stay hidden after the extinction of his kind… until now, it seems.”

Even though Captain Marvel really didn’t agree with how Mister Mind had been using people to attack him or the way his species had apparently tried to take over another species, he couldn’t help but feel… a little bit understanding about what was going on. Even if they were talking about a mere worm, it was obvious that the worm had enough intelligence to know what was going on and mourn for everyone that had been lost during the attack. Mister Mind, despite every horrible thing he’d done so far, was probably feeling… lonely. That was something that Captain Marvel could understand perfectly well. His biological family had been taken away from him as well, even though he had been too young to remember anything about them. He could only imagine the feelings of hurt and horror as Mister Mind had to learn that every single… worm… had died during the Wizard’s attack, leaving only him behind. Maybe even the rejection he’d experienced from the Wizard earlier, getting his hopes up and getting them crushed—

Still. Even though his motives were more understandable than before, it didn’t excuse the things Mister Mind had done so far. Innocent people had gotten hurt in his quest for the Champion’s powers, and that was something that couldn’t be ignored.

“… Do you have any idea how we could fight him?” Captain Marvel asked. He didn’t know how to feel about the fact that the Wizard had apparently slaughtered an entire species, so he tried to bottle those thoughts up. Not now.
“You are the Champion, and he’s after you. The powers I have bestowed upon you should be more than enough for you to take care of this, wouldn’t you think? Then again, you have been neglecting your training and your duties”, the Wizard gave a withering look, “had you only done as I asked, you would be much more well-equipped to handle a situation of this caliber. It is a worrying sign that you even need to ask for help.”

It felt like someone had grabbed Captain Marvel’s heart and squeezed it. The Wizard was right, of course. Marvel had been avoiding the Rock for quite a while now, and if he had followed his training more diligently, there could have been the possibility that he wouldn’t even be in this situation. No one would be in danger at the manor, for example, because he wouldn’t have had to ask for help. He would have been able to deal with everything by himself, just like he should have been able to do already.

“… Yeah”, was all he could mumble, “I’m—I’m sorry. I’ll do better in the future.”

There was a hand on his shoulder, and as it would have been very out of character for the Wizard to do something like that, Captain Marvel didn’t even have to look up to know that it was Batman’s hand.
“You cannot be serious”, Batman said, and now Captain Marvel needed to look up in order to know who he was speaking to. Batman’s hand was still on his shoulder, but his eyes were locked with the Wizard’s.
“I beg your pardon?” the Wizard asked, his brows furrowing slightly in contempt.
“You choose a literal child as your magical Champion, give him much more power than anyone should ever have, and then you chastise him for needing help?” Batman spoke louder than before and this time stepped completely in front of Captain Marvel, “have you ever even considered what’s going on in his life, or are you too self-centered to even think about anyone other than yourself?”

“It’s fine—” Captain Marvel tried to say, but Batman waved his hand in the air to make him quiet down.
“He’s more than capable of performing his duties and being the Champion the Earth deserves, were he only to stop playing around. It's his fate”, the Wizard answered. Captain Marvel took a couple of steps back, not wanting to get in the middle of this.
“Stop playing—THAT is exactly what his ‘duty’ should be right now! Playing around! He’s twelve, for God’s sake, and he was much younger when you stepped in and decided that he would have the responsibilities that most people couldn’t handle at any point during their entire lifetimes, especially as children! Even though Billy is incredibly, surprisingly well-adjusted to someone in his situation, he should not have to deal with life-threatening situations on such a regular basis without any support, and DO NOT even try to claim that you are all the support he needs, because clearly, you have done a shit job at supporting him. He needs people who actually want to help him and support him with no strings attached, not because of fate or duty or anything like that. Did you know that he hasn’t gone to school for years? That he hasn’t had a proper roof over his head? That he feels inadequate and like he shouldn’t even be himself because you feel like you have the divine right to make decisions on his behalf. When he told me about you, I really wanted to believe you couldn’t be so mind-numbingly egotistical and outright cruel to a mere child, but I guess I was wrong.”

There was a long moment of silence. Captain Marvel had no idea how to respond, or if he was even supposed to respond. He… didn’t know what to think. He hadn’t realized that Batman… that Bruce had actually listened to him that much, to actually form these opinions and thoughts on everything that was going on. Yeah, Captain Marvel had his problems with the Wizard sometimes, but hearing someone say all these things out loud – especially in front of the Wizard – felt surreal, like all of it was happening in a dream.

Something wet fell down Captain Marvel’s cheek, and he quickly wiped it away before anyone could see.

The Wizard hadn’t moved once during Batman’s speech. Now that it was over, he simply moved his staff forward and shook his head.

“Get out”, he muttered. His voice sounded weird in a way that Captain Marvel had never heard before.
“Get out!” he shouted his command the second time and raised his staff in the air. Before Captain Marvel could say or do anything, he was standing in the inner courtyard of the Wayne Manor, right where they had been before they had entered the door to the Rock of Eternity. It took both of them a few moments to gather their thoughts and realize that they had been cast out of the Rock.

“… Shazam”, Captain Marvel said when he couldn’t think of anything else. Batman turned around as the lightning hit and watched as Billy emerged from the small cloud of smoke. Surprisingly, turning back into Billy didn’t really open any floodgates. He just… he didn’t know how to feel. His brain was trying its very best to keep up with all the thoughts that kept flooding it, but really going through everything that had just happened would take him much more time than just a few minutes. The mixture of emotions was so strange and all over the place, he didn’t know if he wanted to laugh, cry, lay face down on the ground, or jump around in excitement – maybe even all those at the same time, or at least in very quick succession.

“Billy?” Batman asked as he removed his cowl. He seemed a bit worried, and it wasn’t hard to understand why. Billy walked up to him and didn’t even bother to look up as he hugged him. It was an awkward hug because of the height difference, but Billy didn’t care as he squeezed his hands around Bruce’s waist, closed his eyes, and pressed his head against Bruce’s chest.
“Thanks”, he mumbled. Bruce was momentarily thrown off by the sudden gesture, but it didn’t take long for him to wrap his arms around Billy and answer the hug. He didn’t even have to say anything in return. The last time they’d hugged, Billy had been crying and unable to control himself… but this time there were no tears. This time, it just felt good. Maybe Billy wasn’t able to articulate himself any better than saying a simple ‘thanks’, but Bruce seemed to understand everything he needed to without any bigger words.

Chapter Text

The next few weeks passed in a blur. Even if they had passed the biggest hurdle by finally figuring out who – or rather, what – Mister Mind was, they still needed to find him… and right now it seemed like he had decided to avoid them altogether. It would have been lovely to think that he would never return, but even Billy wasn’t optimistic enough to believe that.

He still wasn’t completely over the thought of his newest bad guy being a literal worm. Bringing the news to the rest of the manor had caused what could only be described as complete chaos. For the first time, Damian hadn’t had anything to say about this new info, as it seemed like his thoughts had gone completely blank at the news. Tim seemed excited, immediately bursting with questions upon questions that neither Billy nor Bruce could actually answer. Dick, Cassandra and Stephanie had to remove themselves from the study in order to have a moment to calm down and compose themselves after varying levels of immediate laughter. Jason hadn’t worried about that as he had burst into the biggest laugh Billy had ever heard him let out.
“I told you he was the worm! I figured it out first!” he had managed to form the words whilst still laughing uncontrollably. Even now, weeks later, Billy could see him grinning to himself every now and then, and it didn’t take a genius to know what he was thinking about.

Billy had heard nothing from the Wizard, but to be fair, Billy hadn’t tried contacting him either. He hadn’t visited the Rock of Eternity since he and Bruce had been kicked out, and he still wasn’t sure if he would even be let in. At least the Wizard wasn’t angry enough to take Billy’s powers away or anything like that, but the longer Billy could avoid finding out just how angry the man was, the better. He couldn’t remember the last time the Wizard lost his composure like that.

The only good thing about their visit had been the new information they had been able to gather about Mister Mind, and even then, Billy wasn’t sure what they would even do about the worm once they caught it. It was intelligent enough to make even the thought of killing it uncomfortable, so that was out of the question. Putting a worm in prison didn’t seem like a real option, and negotiating peace with it seemed implausible. And then there was that one thought Billy couldn’t shake off his shoulders: he could kind of understand why Mister Mind was doing what he was doing. His entire species was dead, killed by the Wizard. That was something that Billy couldn’t even fathom, an entire species dying out was too terrible to imagine.

What Billy could imagine, however, was the burning desire to bring back his parents. He would have tried that, were it an option. If the powers of the Champion were great enough to bring people back from the dead, he wouldn’t be an orphan right now.

And now he was feeling bad for a worm. Great.

“You should go hang out with Freddy. He will get worried if you insist that you have been sick all this time, and I think it would be good for both of you”, Dick noted one morning at breakfast. It was just him, Billy and Alfred that time – the others were away at work or other responsibilities. Billy still had no idea what the others even did during the day, or how they even had the energy to function at night doing all the crime-fighting stuff after their day jobs. He had asked Bruce once about his job, but the answer had been something like “business and other things that you would find boring” which didn’t help much. Billy took a bite of his toast before responding.
“I just—”
“I know, you don’t want to risk the same thing happening as last time. But you also can’t hide in the manor for the rest of your life because something could happen once you go out”, Dick interrupted the answer.

“I’m not hiding in the manor. I go out all the time”, Billy protested.
“Going out as Captain Marvel doesn’t count. Billy Batson needs to go out as well. I think everyone in this manor knows far too well what happens if you don’t find a balance between your secret identity and your real self”, Dick countered, earning a long, deep sigh and a nod from Alfred.
“What do you mean?” Billy asked. It was mostly out of curiosity, but partly to shift the topic.
“Let’s just say that you’re probably seeing one of the best versions of B. When he started out as Batman, he wasn’t nearly as… well…” Dick struggled to find the right words, “adjusted.”
“Master Bruce had difficulties with finding a clear line between himself and Batman. It was exasperating, and I hope that you will never have to go through that same struggle, Master Billy”, Alfred said with a gentle, though a bit concerned smile.

Billy furrowed his brows. Did he have difficulties differentiating himself from Captain Marvel? It felt different compared to Bruce and the others, since the form of the Champion was something so intricately tied with him.
“I don’t think I need to worry about that. It’s not the same thing”, he replied. As much as he loved being Captain Marvel, there was a reason he didn’t spend all his time in the form of the Champion – it just didn’t feel right, especially now that he had more of a social life as Billy Batson.

… And Freddy was a part of that social life, one that he didn’t want to lose because of his nerves. Sure, they had been texting, so it wasn’t like he’d just vanished from Freddy’s life… But a meeting would be nice, as long as everything didn’t go wrong the same way as last time.
“Didn’t you say that it would be okay to invite Freddy here?” Billy asked Dick, remembering their conversation back at the arcade. That day hadn’t gone particularly well either, but at least nothing had happened to Freddy then. Dick grinned and nodded enthusiastically.
“Of course! And if he needs someone to drive him here, we can arrange that too”, he said, gulped down the rest of his coffee and stood up.
“It doesn’t have to be immediately!” Billy protested, his breakfast still half-eaten, “and I’m not even sure if Freddy is available today or if he’s busy or anything like that, I need to text him first and ask---”
“Just making sure that you’re not chickening out. Send him that message and I’ll make sure that if today is fine, we can get him a ride at any point”, the man smiled brightly and disappeared from the room before Billy could protest.

“… And it’s really okay that he comes here?” Billy turned to look at Alfred, who was sipping his own cup of tea.
“Master Bruce has already told me that it’s fine if you’d like to have your friend over. Personally, I find it refreshing when new people visit the manor. It’s good for everyone around here”, he said after a moment of thought, put down his cup of tea and moved to collect the coffee cup Dick had left on the table. Billy got his phone out to text Freddy, powering through the memories from the Amusement Mile. This time, it would just be the Wayne Manor. Sure, Mister Mind had once managed to sneak in, but even that was through the portal in Billy’s room. If something bad were to happen, it would be almost comically unlucky at this point.

“hey sry that it has taken a wile but do you want to maybe come over? i asked fro permision and it’s cool for everyone. it’s ok if your busy tho, but if your free then today would be fine with me. or tomorrow. let me know if those work or sumthing else.”

It didn’t take Freddy even two minutes to reply.

“omg yeahh???? of course I’m coming. I’ll come straight from school so like after 3pm? my grandpa should be able to bring me ther”

“Freddy said he has time to come over after 3 p.m., is that okay?” Billy turned to look at Alfred, who gave him a nod as he emerged from the kitchen.
“There’s nothing planned at that time, so I don’t see why not. I’ll inform Master Bruce”, he said.

“yeah its ok! see you then!”

Billy let out a breath. It’s fine. It’s totally fine. Some freak incidents didn’t mean that every meeting they had was doomed to end in disaster. And even if something were to happen, they would be in Wayne Manor, where any of the Robins or Batman could easily arrive to help them in just a minute if needed. It. Was. Fine.

“I presume Master Freddy is staying for dinner”, Alfred mused more to himself than to Billy, “a slight change of plans, but nothing to worry about. I’ll just prepare for a couple of different dishes, just in case of allergies…”

Billy couldn’t prevent a smile from spreading on his face. He couldn’t wait to see Freddy’s reaction to the mansion. He was very happy that he’d told Freddy about his foster family before, because at least Freddy had some idea of what to prepare for… even though Billy was still almost certain that Freddy was not ready for everything that the mansion had to offer. He wouldn’t be able to show Freddy everything in one day, but maybe if the visits were to become a regular thing, they could check out most places. It was almost a tragedy that Billy wouldn’t be able to show Freddy the giant dinosaur in the Batcave, or the Batcave in general, but fortunately there was more than enough to see in the mansion itself.

Just the thought of Freddy’s reaction made him a little bit less stressed.

***

Bruce was not happy with himself. Every day that passed by without any progress on Mister Mind felt like a day wasted, and a day closer to the inevitable moment that they would be taken by surprise. The worm had managed to surprise them a couple of times already, and he really wasn’t looking forward to the next time. Yes, they had a slight advantage knowing what they were fighting against… but it clearly wasn’t enough. They hadn’t been able to stop the creature from crawling into people’s ears and taking over their bodies so far. Sure, they had held the culprit once, after removing it from Damian’s body, but they hadn’t known what they had in their possession. The same mistake wouldn’t happen again.

Unfortunately, Clark’s research into “possibly Venusian telepathic worms” didn’t help them a whole lot.

“The database told me that there had been sightings of such… worms… on Venus a long time ago, but it seems like they weren’t native and didn’t even stay there for a long time”, Clark crossed his arms as he spoke, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. It seemed like almost everyone had trouble keeping a straight face as they spoke about the real menace that was hunting down Billy – the same menace that had already succeeded at kidnapping him once and controlling both Dick and Damian. Bruce did understand the youngsters finding this whole worm-thing funny, but he did have less patience for Clark, who already had such ridiculous foes of his own that he should be used to them. Was a mind-controlling worm really less serious than an imp who you had to trick to say its own name backward? Did he even have to mention the Microwave Man?

“Well, apparently only one of them exists these days, so at least we don’t have to worry about the rest of them unless Mister Mind succeeds with its plans. We just need to figure out where this one is and deal with it”, Bruce said. He had invited Clark to the Batcave to discuss, once again, whatever they could figure out about Mister Mind. Clark had made a couple of trips to the Fortress of Solitude to find out whatever he could about the worms, but even now, they were still stuck.
“And how are you going to deal with it?” Clark turned to face Bruce with a more serious expression on his face. Bruce shrugged his shoulders.
“I’m not sure yet. I’m sure the Wizard would love to finish what he started”, he said, unintentional disdain creeping into his voice with the mention of the Wizard.

Bruce hadn’t gotten over how badly the visit had gone. Yes, they had gotten some much-needed information they needed, but at the same time he was furious on Billy’s behalf. He couldn’t fathom someone taking care of Billy and forcing such perfection and duties on such a young boy…

… or maybe the problem was that seeing the Wizard like that felt like staring into an old reflection, and he knew far too well what kind of damage that behavior could inflict. No matter how well Dick seemed to feel these days, he had deserved a much better childhood – one that Bruce had not given him. Seeing the Wizard repeat the same mistakes, putting the same pressure and worries and demands on Billy that had driven Dick away multiple times in the past, felt like being forced to relive some of the most awful mistakes he’d made during his life.

“But you’re not going to let that happen, right?” Clark asked with a stern voice, waking Bruce from his thoughts, “if we let him be killed, we will be responsible for the entire species ending with him.”
“I’m not too excited about that idea, either, but I’m not sure what the alternatives are. It already held Damian captive once, has kidnapped Billy, and doesn’t seem to feel any remorse about those actions. It doesn’t seem to be interested in having a conversation, either”, Bruce sighed as he spoke and turned to the Batcomputer. The screen was filled with a large picture of what Mister Mind should look like, based on the camera footage in the cave from the time when the worm was removed from Damian’s ear. The footage wasn’t clear, but they had been able to see it pretty well, so the picture was most likely realistic. A green worm with red dots in its body, large eyes and tiny, caterpillar-like feet.

Okay, it was still hard to believe that this was the culprit they had been trying to find for such a long time already. But, Bruce reminded himself to stay sane, stranger things had happened. Stranger things would happen in the future, as well, even though it wasn’t a comforting thought.

Clark seemed relieved that Bruce wasn’t going to just chuck the worm at the Wizard and let the man finish the genocide he’d started.
“Well, there’s still time to think about that. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to help more, but if Mister Mind is from the Wildlands as the Wizard suggested, my database isn’t going to be of any use. I’m still not certain that I even understand what the Wildlands are”, Clark ruffled his hair as he spoke, also staring at the picture of Mister Mind.
“Neither do I”, Bruce admitted. He had asked Billy about the Wildlands once they had been evicted from the Rock of Eternity. Apparently, it was some sort of separate dimension where animals ran the society? It felt like something out of a storybook, and unfortunately Billy didn’t seem to know a whole lot about the place in general… other than apparently some crocodiles in business suits had escaped the place at least once. It was a miracle that Bruce hadn’t heard about that before.

“So… how’s Billy doing these days?” Clark changed the subject, as neither of them could come up with anything useful regarding the worm problem. Bruce leaned back on his chair and glanced up at the ceiling. Somewhere up there, Billy was preparing to have his friend come over. They would probably hole up in the gaming room for most of the day, considering how they had already spent time in an arcade before.

“Better. His encounter with the Scarecrow was… rough, but he’s recovering”, he replied, picking up a pen in front of the computer and spinning it around in his hand. Had Captain Marvel been physically injured, Billy would have already bounced back with no problem. Unfortunately, they were dealing with Crane, so who knew how long the nightmares would follow Billy. According to Billy himself, he had been able to sleep better at least the past few nights, but their interpretations of the word “better” were most likely very different.

“Do you think he’s recovered enough so that Diana and I could have a chat with him about Justice League? I don’t want to barge in if you think he’s not ready for that”, Clark suggested.
“I don’t think prolonging that conversation would do anyone any good. He’s probably dreading that talk, though”, Bruce turned to look at Clark, “what’s your opinion right now?”
Clark lifted his weight from one foot to another.
“Wish I knew. If he were new to the Justice League, it would be an easy no, but he’s been with us for a year already. And I don’t want him to feel like we don’t appreciate everything he’s done, or that we don’t want him around. It’s just… he’s younger than Jon.” Clark looked uncomfortable as he spoke, and Bruce understood that feeling well.
“And making him leave Justice League would raise a lot of questions that aren’t easy to answer”, he added. People, especially other members of the League, would definitely want to know why Captain Marvel was made to leave. They could probably create a plausible excuse, but a lie of that caliber would need to be watertight.

“I would like for just one thing to work out and be simple. Is that too much to ask for?” Bruce sighed as he stood up and completely turned away from the computer screen. Clark smiled and clapped his shoulder.
“There will be something like that, just you wait. At least, that’s what I’ve been telling myself for the longest time”, he said with a laugh.
“You are fooling yourself”, Bruce replied, but it wasn’t a reprimand.
“Could you tell Billy that Superman and Wonder Woman would like to have a chat with him? We’re not doing the conversation today, but maybe one of the following days would work out?” Clark suggested, backing a few steps away, clearly ready to head back to Metropolis.

“You could tell him yourself. He’s up there at the moment”, Bruce said, pointing a finger up at the ceiling. Clark looked up, like he hadn’t even considered the possibility until it was mentioned out loud.
“It would probably be fair for him to know my secret identity, since I know his…” he muttered, lowering his gaze. The ceiling was still covered in lead; a precaution Bruce had taken a long time ago to keep his identity a secret. These days it was more of a hindrance to Clark, but Bruce did feel good about it, just in case any unknown Kryptonians were to arrive at his mansion. It was unlikely, but Bruce wanted to be prepared for anything.
“I’ll probably tell him once we have our talk. Sounds like he’s preparing to have a friend over, so I don’t want to distract him from that”, he smiled after listening silently for a moment, “it’s still wild to think that you actually have stuff for kids to do in your manor.”

“Clark. I have six children, one foster child and a dog. Of course I have stuff for kids to do.”
“Don’t say it like it’s obvious. We both know what this place was like before you caved in and started to listen to those kids.”

Bruce rolled his eyes, unwilling to admit defeat. Clark knew him well enough to let it be and waved his hand.
“If I find out anything new, you’ll be the first to know. Bye now”, he said, gave Bruce enough time to wave back, and then sped out of the cave. Bruce stretched his arms, purposefully kept his eyes away from the computer screen and made his way toward the elevator. Maybe he just needed to think about something else in order to have a breakthrough with Mister Mind. Or maybe he really wanted to meet Billy’s friend and see what kind of person Billy had been so eager to save from Scarecrow.

Chapter Text

Freddy’s eyes were filled with glee and astonishment as his grandfather’s car parked in front of the Wayne Manor. Billy was already waiting by the gate, since Freddy had texted him a few minutes before they arrived.

“I’ve only seen pictures of this place, but I never thought I’d see it this close up! It’s way, way, WAY larger than I thought it would be!” Freddy gushed as he jumped out of the car and made his way to Billy with such speed that for a moment, Billy forgot that he didn’t have a speedster’s superpowers. Behind Freddy, an old man stepped out of the car, also staring at the manor with curiosity.
“Hi, mister Freeman”, Billy said as the man walked closer, still distracted by the manor. Bruce, who had wanted to meet Freddy already by the gates, approached the man with a held-out hand.
“You must be Jacob Freeman”, he greeted, “I am Bruce Wayne.”

The most unnecessary introduction in Gotham City. Ever. Billy noticed how Freddy simply stared at Bruce in clear awe and hoped that any podcasts that the boy might have listened to hadn’t been talking trash about Bruce lately. Billy himself still hadn’t listened to any of those, but even he hadn’t been able to avoid reading and hearing some of the rumors being spread on social media. If only those people knew who they were really gossiping about…
“Uh, yes. Yes. I presumed as much”, mister Freeman said, shaking Bruce’s hand with some nervousness. Bruce gave the man a smile and then turned to Freddy, offering him his hand as well.
“And you’re Freddy, right? Billy has told me so much about you”, he said, his smile widening as Freddy grasped his hand with unbridled enthusiasm. Even Billy, who didn’t have super hearing even as Captain Marvel, could hear the boy’s heart thumping in excitement.

“Will you pick up Freddy today? We can also have someone drive him back home, if that makes things easier”, Bruce turned back to Jacob Freeman, who apparently had enough time to collect himself for the rest of the conversation.
“It’s fine, mister Wayne, I can pick him up. Freddy and I decided that I’ll come back around eight to get him, if that’s okay with you”, he suggested, “I can also come by earlier if that messes up when you all eat dinner or anything like that.”
“No problem at all. We have actually already prepared for Freddy to stay for dinner, just in case, so he can also eat here before coming back home”, Bruce said, gesturing toward the manor. Freddy gave his grandfather an excited look, ready to plead if necessary.
“If it’s no problem for you, then it’s fine by me. Freddy, call me if you want to be picked up earlier”, mister Freeman said. The look on his face made it clear that even he didn’t believe that Freddy would leave the mansion any sooner than absolutely necessary.

Freddy’s grandfather and Bruce stayed behind as Billy and Freddy already made their way toward the manor.
“This is place is so much bigger than I imagined”, Freddy gushed, spinning around every couple of steps trying to see everything there was to see, “I mean, I knew it would be big, and I’ve seen pictures and stuff, but I never really thought that I would come here? Because, you know how sometimes pictures make things look bigger than they are because of the perspective and everything like that?”
“It’s weird to think that this was only built to house one family. I think this place could house… I don’t know, at least fifty families or something”, Billy nodded along. He didn’t know how many rooms there were in the building, but if you counted all the space in the courtyard, and especially all the space below, you could easily fit a whole town’s worth of people in the manor.

“Maybe even more. I think if you—” Freddy was about to say something, but his sentence was cut short as they entered the building. Billy really enjoyed being the one witnessing the pure awe in his friend’s eyes. It still wasn’t long ago that Billy had been the one completely struck by everything around here, and he still occasionally was, especially when he found new areas in the building.
“I feel like I’m in a movie”, Freddy whispered, slowly turning around and taking in everything, “like, where everything is so fancy and expensive and unrealistic.”
“I know!” Billy replied with enthusiasm. It felt so good having someone around who wasn’t used to all the glamor: almost like a sanity check, yes, it was completely normal not to be used to giant buildings with more paintings than an art gallery would have.

Trying to decide where to start was difficult. There were so many good options, and Billy wanted to show Freddy everything all at once. All his discomfort and nervousness from before had mostly vanished the minute he and Freddy stepped inside the manor, leaving him almost incapable of standing still as pure excitement coursed through his entire body. He felt better than he’d felt in a couple of weeks and didn’t want the feeling to go away too soon.

Billy knew he should introduce the gaming room later on. It was obvious that they would stay there for the rest of the day if that was the first room they would go into, and there was SO much of the manor to comb through. As he was still trying to decide, Freddy turned toward him.
“So, how many secret passages have you found?” he asked with glee.
“Huh?” Billy stumbled. It took him a couple of seconds to realize that obviously Freddy didn’t know about the Batcave and only associated mansions with secret passages.
“I bet there’s one behind at least one of these paintings. Or some big statues. This place HAS to have at least a couple of secret passageways”, Freddy said, already making his way toward the wall to inspect one of the paintings. This one had a really grumpy-looking old man wearing an old-fashioned suit glaring intently back at whoever was looking at the painting.

“Haven’t found one yet”, he shrugged his shoulders. He wanted to show Freddy the dinosaur hiding below the mansion. He really, really wanted to. If he could have just shown Freddy the dinosaur without outing everyone in the manor as secret superheroes, he would have done so in a heartbeat.

“I’ve found at least four, I can show you guys one of them.” Out of nowhere, Dick had appeared next to them without even making a sound. Billy jumped a little at the surprise, but Freddy just beamed with joy.
“I remember you! You were with Billy at the arcade!” he exclaimed, waving his free hand, “I’m Freddy.”
“I remember you, too, Freddy. I’m Dick. I’m the expert around here when it comes to hidden passageways, I’m pretty sure even Bruce doesn’t know about some of them”, Dick said. Billy gave him a slightly nervous glance: should they really mess with any hidden places when the Batcave was so close by?

He was probably worrying for no reason, because Dick seemed really confident in himself… and it would have been too late to take back what he’d said. Freddy was already way too invested, and if this really was something that didn’t lead to anyone’s secret identities being revealed, then Billy was all for it.
“I bet there really is at least one behind a painting”, he joined in the guessing game, “but probably not in the lobby?”
“I would put one in my bedroom if I lived in a place like this. And maybe, like, the kitchen so it would be easy to sneak in a snack whenever I felt like it”, Freddy said.
“And any of these huge paintings could easily hide a door or a crawlspace or something like that”, Billy was getting more and more invested, trying to figure out which painting looked the most suspicious. Most of them were too high on the wall or on a spot where a secret passage wouldn’t make any sense, but there were plenty of good options out there. Dick clearly enjoyed listening to their guesses.

“I haven’t gone through all of these, but there is at least one secret room hidden behind a painting. It’s on that corridor”, he pointed to the right direction, “but do not tell Jason that I told you it’s there, he likes to think that he’s the only one who knows about that place. He hides his secret stash of p---”

Dick stopped, looked a bit sheepish, avoided looking at Billy and Freddy’s confused faces, and shrugged.

“Uh, what I meant to say was, that, uh, he hides his secret stash of… Pokémon cards there. He doesn’t want others to know that he really… likes those”, he completed the sentence still not looking at them. Billy wasn’t sure why Dick had suddenly turned a couple of shades redder than before, but maybe he just felt a little bit bad for revealing Jason’s secrets. Billy wasn’t sure why Jason would be ashamed of his card collection, but maybe it was because he thought he was too old for those.

“Anyway”, Dick said and pointed in a completely different direction, “there’s a hidden passageway that leads outside, and it’s just near the kitchen. Do you guys wanna try to figure that one out?”

***

The day went by faster than Billy could have anticipated. Dick showed them the secret passageway near the kitchen – one that was behind a statue of yet another grumpy-looking gentleman. Whoever had built the manor, or at least decorated it, had seemingly loved the aesthetic of having someone glare at you angrily at all times. Freddy had been the first to figure out that they could move the statue’s head to the side in order to open a way into a dim hallway. They didn’t go all the way in, but at least they got a good look around.
“There has to be at least a hundred of these around here, there has to be!” Freddy had muttered excitedly as they stepped back into the main hallway.

After dinner, Billy had finally led Freddy into the gaming room, and as suspected, neither of them felt like leaving any time soon. It was already evening when they started to feel tired, lying down on the beanbags and just feeling content.
“Thanks for coming over”, Billy said, letting out a yawn, “I’ve never had a friend come over before.”
“Never?” Freddy asked. He had been lying on his back, but now he turned around and almost fell to the floor. Billy shrugged.
“Lots of foster families. I mean, I probably could have asked some of them and maybe they would have let me, but I’ve never felt like… I dunno, like it was right or something. It’s hard to explain”, he said, eyes fixed on the wall behind Freddy in order to avoid eye contact.
“Ah. Okay. Well, it’s kinda cool being the first one you invited. Would have been cool even if the place wasn’t a mansion, I think”, Freddy grinned, “I thought you were avoiding me for a while.”

Billy buried his face in the beanbag. He had been having such a good time, he hadn’t even thought of these things. But now Freddy was here and bringing it up, and maybe talking about it wouldn’t be such a bad thing, maybe?
“I… I didn’t want anything bad to happen. You know, since last time…” his voice trailed off and lifted his head up. The grin on Freddy’s face faded as he caught on.
“Okay, that’s fair. But unless you like, planned the whole thing, it’s pretty unlikely that anything like that would happen again”, he sat up and stretched his arms. His Superman-hoodie was wrinkled and the colors on the symbol were slightly faded, “I mean, to be fair, my grandpa still isn’t sure if we should move out of Gotham to be safer. But he still hasn’t made any decisions, and I think it’s because Robin and Captain Marvel came to help pretty quickly, and I hope we’re not moving.”

Just the thought of Freddy moving out of Gotham made Billy sad. Obviously, he wanted Freddy to stay safe, but he also hated the idea of him not being in the same city. Making portals and visiting him through those would only be an option if Freddy knew about Captain Marvel’s real identity or at least Billy’s magic, but those were things that Billy really wasn’t ready to just drop on him. Yes, it would have made things easier: yes, it would have been cool to share something like that with him. But Billy could already hear Bruce in his mind, warning him that he would be acting recklessly and putting Freddy in more danger than ever before. Bruce would be right, of course. He had been right about Scarecrow as well, even if Billy didn’t like admitting it.

“I guess I just got really scared. I didn’t want you or the other kids to end up as experiments, that’s messed up. But yeah, I just kinda figured that nothing like that would happen over here”, Billy gestured around as he sat up as well, “no one’s going to end up in a creepy, abandoned building here. Though, I think that there might be some creepy abandoned rooms around here somewhere, if we just dug deep enough.”

Freddy seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, a rare thing. It wasn’t surprising – Billy didn’t like to think about that night, either. Even though Jason’s suggestion to punch the gas was still something he was willing to try, it didn’t fix the nightmares or the regrets he had about that night.

“Let’s talk about something else”, Billy suggested, hoping to switch their conversation into something happier. Freddy snapped out of whatever daze he’d been in and nodded with a smile.
“I need to start a list of every superhero I’ve ever met. I’m off to a pretty good start”, he said.
“You don’t already have a list? I was sure you’d have a list”, Billy let out a laugh.
“No. I mean, I have a separate list of superheroes I’ve seen, but that’s different than meeting them. I can already put Robin and Captain Marvel on the new list”, Freddy grinned and glanced at his own hoodie, “man, I wish Superman held meet and greets. They would probably be in Metropolis, but I think I could have a chance of talking grandpa into making it a small vacation.”

I could probably ask Superman to have a meet and greet in Gotham, Billy thought to himself. His list of superheroes he’d met was impressive, but being a member of Justice League helped more than anything else. He hadn’t tried listing all of them at any point, but he wasn’t surprised that a super-fanboy like Freddy already came up with that idea.
“If I got to choose… I would want to meet Beast Boy”, Billy said after thinking about it for a while. Who wouldn’t want to be able to turn into animals? It was one of the coolest powers Billy knew of, even if it wasn’t one of the strongest ones. Captain Marvel and Beast Boy had never met, as they were in different superhero circles, but Billy kept hoping that they would meet. Maybe they would even get put on the same mission at some point! Beast Boy would have been useful when Billy had to deal with the crocodiles in suits, for certain.

“Yeah, that’s a good one! I would LOVE to meet the Flash, my grandpa knows a guy who met him once and said that he’s super nice”, Freddy was getting hyped up. Before they could get too much into the conversation, the door to the room opened and Alfred stepped into the room.
“I’m very sorry to intrude, but your grandfather has arrived to take you back home”, he nodded toward Freddy. Freddy deflated just the tiniest bit, but grabbed his crutch and stood up.
“This place is awesome. AWESOME”, he told Alfred immediately, gesturing around, “and you’re, like, the only one working here? I hope mister Wayne pays you like a million dollars per hour.”

Alfred couldn’t help but smile at that.
“I’ll make sure to request a raise, then. It was a pleasure having you around, Master Freddy. I hope you’ll become a frequent visitor”, he gave Freddy a polite bow. Freddy seemed confused for a moment but smiled and bowed back.
“Yeah, of course I’ll be coming back. Thanks for having me!” he said and turned to look at Billy and added, “See! You’ll have to invite me over at least pretty often!”

Billy laughed.
“You don’t have to worry about that. It was really fun! I’ll text you and we can decide the next day later”, he said, walking up to Alfred and Freddy. He was feeling all warm and fuzzy, and that feeling didn’t go away as Freddy walked toward the stairs. Billy was about to follow him, but Alfred placed a hand on his shoulders.
“Before I forget, Master Billy”, Alfred said in a quiet voice, so quiet that Freddy had no chance of hearing it, “Master Bruce asked me to tell you that Superman and Wonder Woman would like to speak with you. Not today, but as soon as you’re ready.”

That warm and fuzzy feeling didn’t disappear completely, but wow, did it feel like someone had tried dumping a bucket of cold water over Billy. His heart skipped a beat as he fully registered the words he’d just heard.
“Have they told Bruce what they decided?” he asked and turned to look at Alfred.
“I’m afraid not. I believe they have not made a decision yet, and they want to include you in the conversation”, he replied, his expression turning softer, “but whatever the decision will be, I’m sure they are trying to find a way to keep you safe. As capable and powerful as you are…”
“… I’m still a kid”, Billy finished the sentence before Alfred could. He did understand that point mostly, but it still felt like everyone around him was underestimating how powerful he actually was. The Justice League didn’t need to protect Captain Marvel any more than its other, older members, who were frequently in much more danger than Billy was most of the time.

“I’ll… yeah. I’ll talk to them. Can it be like tomorrow or the day after? I want to get it out of the way”, Billy said. Now that he knew that they were just waiting to talk to him, he didn’t want to stew in uncertainty any longer than necessary.
“I’m sure that we can find a way to make this happen. I’ll inform Master Bruce”, Alfred nodded. Billy could hear the doors in the lobby closing. Freddy would be bursting with excitement if he was going to meet Superman and Wonder Woman at the same time, yet Billy was filled with dread – but at least the dread was numbed by the happiness that Billy still felt. Maybe this would go well, maybe not, but at least this meeting with Freddy didn’t end in disaster. Good enough, at least for now.