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Part 2 of Billy Batson & the Batfam
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Published:
2024-06-10
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2,997
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1/1
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Oh Yeah, He's Got a Bat-titude

Summary:

“What a condescending ass.” Billy complained, slumping into his throne.

Dick rolled his head back to look pleadingly up at the sky, “Oh god, don’t tell me you're talking about—”

"Yup, Superman."

Tim cut them a sly look, "So, who wants to screw up his shit with me?"

Jason grinned, sharklike.

***

This is just incredibly self indulgent and silly. Seriously, guys, this is ridiculous.

Notes:

Little disclaimer, I don't know anything about Black Adam or his relationship with Billy. I just needed a throwaway villain😅

As always, all the thanks to PrincessBelle234 for betaing!!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Billy sighed at the sense of contentment that enveloped him as he entered the Rock of Eternity. The amount of raw power and magic radiating in the air settled along his bones comfortingly. The magic in his core hummed in unison with it, warm and welcoming. Greeting each other like old friends.

It beckoned him closer, drew him towards the throne of the Wizard, the throne that belonged to him now. This whole place was his. It belonged to him, belonged in the same way his blood and bones were his. The same way Captain Marvel was still him while only existing as his secondary form.

The connection his magic had to this place gave him a baseline sort of awareness to it, whether he was the Captain or Billy, on Earth or otherwise. It made it easy to sense if any of the prisoners held on Eternity were breaking free. But that was about as far as the connection went when he was separated from his power’s home source. The second he stepped foot onto the Rock of Eternity, it was like he finally touched ground again. An integral part of his soul settled in its restless pacing.

This place was made of magic in its purest form, the same magic that burned in his chest. He felt drenched in it: the cloying feel of it all in the air, and stone, and the wards surrounding everything. It was the feeling of every magical being in the multiverse drawing from this same limitless source of power, from his source of power.

The sense of belonging he had, of oneness with the space around him was unparalleled. When he was here, he could feel everything. Every magical artifact, every prisoner shackled in ancient wards, every one of his own heartbeats, it all echoed through the bedstone beneath his feet in a writhing network of magic-imbued awareness. It was the most incredible thing he’d ever felt. Like he was awake for the first time all day. At peace in a way he couldn’t be anywhere else.

Billy walked across the dark stone antechamber lined with ward-drenched talismans. He walked as himself, enjoying the feel of the dormant magic buzzing in his core beside his human heart. His steps were heavy as he trudged up the wide steps to the raised dais and flopped down on his throne with a huff.

He tipped his head back to watch as the moving constellations of his Gods scrolled across the ceiling of the throne room. The bright stars shone down on the semicircle of thrones in a wash of white light. The Gods’ usually booming voices were softly purring in clear contentment inside of Billy’s head. Despite the warmth thrumming from his core, he felt untouched by it as he somberly gazed up at the stories recorded in myth and legend. In a way, it was all his history too, he guessed.

Batman had his skyscrapers and gargoyles to brood amongst, and Billy had his grand, echoing chamber of silence. No matter how much he belonged here, he was just surrounded by empty seats. And it was so lonely.

He missed being in the Justice League. He missed being able to go to the Watchtower when he didn’t want to be out but he didn’t want to be alone. He missed the beautiful view of space and the people always in the common rooms. He missed being among his friends. He missed the work too, the space missions and the visits from the JL Dark. Six months ago, he’d never would’ve guessed he’d say that.

But now that he didn’t have it anymore, he found he missed it all.

 

~~~~~

 

Dick was looking for Billy.

He’d just gotten in from Blüdhaven and was taking the rest of the week off work as a surprise. Billy had been having a hard time of it lately. Bruce was still fighting tooth and nail to get Billy reinstated on the Justice League but Superman seemed to be holding firm. It didn’t help how many other Leaguers seemed to agree with Clark’s stance.

No one in the family really talked about it, even when Billy wasn’t around. But they knew the chances of him being allowed back were getting slimmer and slimmer as time went on.

So, the Bats did what they do best in a crisis, they closed ranks and came up with a contingency plan. Except for the fact that Bruce still seemed completely unwilling to even talk of their potential defeat, growling irritably whenever one of his children broached the subject… so, they still didn’t have one.

But Tim was back from his time in San Francisco with the Teen Titans now, so the official planning could begin. If Bruce couldn’t get his shit together, then the Birds of the Batfamily would come in to handle it. It was all well worn routine by now. But that still left Dick looking for Billy to give him some deserved cheering up.

Finally making it to the kid’s bedroom, he didn’t knock before barging in with the ostentatious crowing of, “Billy! Your favorite brother is back!”

At finding the messy room empty of the little brother he sought, Dick’s wide grin and raised arms dropped with a displeased sound. He was considering searching the living rooms again or just looking up his location on the Batcomputer to see if he was in Fawcett.

Then he saw the shimmering light coming from the closet.

Dick went to the Robins group chat, sending out an emergency summons to Billy’s room. There were three immediate answers but Dick didn’t bother to look at them, knowing his brothers would come.

Billy hated being alone. The fact that he left his portal open after going to the pocket-dimension Batcave that he refused to call a Batcave, could only have one meaning. It meant he was brooding with a high possibility of downward spiraling, and it was his way of silently asking someone to help pull him out of it. There were days where he couldn’t stand to be trapped in the Manor any longer but going out onto Gotham’s streets as himself was a recipe for disaster, and patrolling his city as Captain Marvel sounded intolerable. Slow days when all he wanted was to be alone but still craved companionship. Today was clearly one of those days.

Tim and Jason arrived together, crashing through the open doorway with battle stances at the ready. Jason still had a book clutched in his hand. Damian followed them not a minute later, his katana in hand, clearly having run the whole way.

Dick watched them freeze, cataloging his place beside the bed and the light emanating from the closet. They came to the same conclusion as Dick had, exchanging a wary glance. Tim pursed his lips and silently went to get a fresh cup of coffee and his abandoned computer, Damian following him out to retrieve the whetstone from his room to sharpen his katana.

When the pair got back, all four boys entered the spacious closet. Complex hieroglyphs were drawn with precision and care on an empty wall in the vague shape of a door. Dick took a fortifying breath before squeezing his eyes closed and stepping into the embrace of the shining, golden runes.

As always, the sensation knocked the breath from his lungs. There was a faint suck and then the feeling of carbonation bubbles traveling along his skin. It wasn’t half a second later that he was stumbling out into an antechamber of smooth dark stone.

Soft ambient light was reflected in the dark surface all around them, making the cavernous space feel slightly brighter than the black palace it was. His brothers appeared in a flash of gold light behind him. Their steps skipped in a similar way to him as they swiftly reoriented themselves.

They walked toward the brightest of the light. Passing stand after stand holding ancient weapons and artifacts that looked so close to disintegration they were no doubt held together only by magic. Many of them Billy had proudly shown off to his family after securing them in layers of magic to bind them tight and block their power. The amount of times Billy had protected the world from chaos by locating these dangerous objects before they could be found by archaeologists was astounding.

After they passed the newer sections of magical totems, they entered the main chamber. Towering pillars greeted them, black and imposing monoliths. Lining the main thoroughfare were gargantuan statues of gray stone. They had a sheen of menacing, oily, malevolence hanging around them in an impenetrable cloud. The boys passed these by quickly.

As they came up the steps, into the circle of pale thrones, they saw Billy in the central throne. He was draped across it sideways, his legs kicked irreverently over an armrest with his back supported by the other side. His face brightened when he saw them but he didn’t say anything.

They wordlessly took their usual places around him. Dick sat with his legs comfortably pulled up in the throne to Billy’s left. He pulled out his phone and began playing an obnoxiously bright sounding game with the volume all the way up.

Jason rolled his eyes as he sprawled out on the floor with his worn copy of Pride and Prejudice, “Dick.”

Dick just grinned in response. As if to say, “Yup that’s me! The uppercase and lowercase meanings both!” It actually made Billy give a snort of laughter. The two eldest brothers exchanged a victorious glance.

Damian chose a seat on Billy’s right side, a few thrones down. He began setting up the whetstone and going through the meditative motions of sharpening his sword.

Tim opened his computer, immediately getting to work, sitting on the floor and leaning back on Damian’s thone. Dick guessed it was Wayne Enterprises work today based on the scowl Tim had been sporting when he saw him earlier. Tim's face was carefully blank now though. The last thing they needed was Billy seeing Tim's mega bitch face and thinking that they didn't want to be here.

“So, how’re you doing, bud?” Jason grinned up at Billy, breaking hollow tension in a way Dick’s game couldn’t do.

“Fine,” Billy said with a smile but his face was too strained for it to pass as normal. He hesitated, then said in a small voice, “I just kinda want it all to be over. One way or another. This in between is killing me.”

Tim opened his mouth to say something when Billy stiffened. They all saw the shift, even as they pretended to be occupied by the objects in their hands. How his open, vulnerable expression shuttered. Going from childlike to stoney in the span of a second. His face had a grim set to it as he said, “Black Adam is attacking.”

That serious expression would be so out of place on anyone else. Anyone but one of them. You’d expect to see that look on a world-worn veteran superhero, not a kid whose face still held baby fat in the cheeks. But it’s not like they were in any place to judge, their faces had all been the same way.

They didn’t ask how he knew about the attack, Billy just knew things like that sometimes. As he stood and called out, “Shazam!” a lightning bolt arched down from the domed ceiling, hitting him square in the chest.

In a flash of light Captain Marvel replaced Billy’s small form. They were only just able to call out good luck to him before he flew out to deal with the threat.

Dick mourned the loss of the heartfelt conversation they were about to have, where they could actually deal with the problem. It always seemed to happen that way, they’d get close to addressing the issue and then there would be some way to avoid actually talking about it. Dick wanted to curse, this fucking family.

Not even half an hour had passed before Billy portaled back in at the end of the hall. He’d been practicing using the power of Zeus to travel through a bolt of lightning. The only time he was able to manage it was traveling back and forth from the Rock of Eternity. Still, when he managed to accomplish it without catching on fire, it was cause for celebration.

But today as he appeared in a shower of sparks and slender forks of electricity, he just looked angry. He stalked past his collection of talismans and the grotesque horde of statues. His cape swirled thunderously behind him, the stark white flashing lividly. His anger was like lightning and thunder in this form.

“What a condescending ass.” Billy reached the end of the walk before calling out his activation word and walking up the steps as himself again. “You’ll never guess who dropped by to ‘help’ me today.”

Dick rolled his head to look pleadingly up at the sky, “Oh god, don’t tell me—”

Billy continued past his brothers to flop down on his throne. “Superman found it necessary to butt into my business.” He scoffed, “Last week I took down a Titan Goddess, hailing from the time before the Gods rose to power. I made a pitstop for snacks afterward and I still made it in time for movie night. I had time to spare, and I brought falafel home for everyone! I’m at the top of my game! But that ageist prick just has to flex his hero complex on me.”

“Don’t hate, we all have hero complexes,” Came the muttered comment that Billy just chose to ignore.

“And you know what? I’m angry! I want to be in the Justice League.”

“Hell yeah! Get angry!” Jason cheered.

“And I’m allowed to be angry about this!”

Jason helpfully added, “Damn straight!”

“He had no right to kick me off the team, I didn’t do anything wrong!” Billy added spitefully, “Besides, Batman is team leader. He should’ve gotten final say on this!”

Tim muttered, still pointedly staring at his computer screen, “Co-leader and main strategist, actually.”

Jason, feeling supportive and wanting destruction, talked over him, “So go give Supes a piece of your mind!”

Billy froze and self consciously slumped back into his throne, “No, probably not.”

Jason threw his head back with a groan, booing in disapproval. Dick kicked him, saying in a scolding voice, “Oh, stop instigating, Jay.” He turned his attention back to Billy. “But hey, if you want to be on a team, I can hook you up with a spot on the Titans!”

“No, Dick!” Billy’s voice sounded whiny even to his own ears. “Everyone’d think I’m a pedophile!”

Dick didn’t bother to muffle his snicker, “But I go on missions with the Titans all the time!”

“That’s different. You were one of the originals. Me, I would just look like a thirty year old man on a team with fifteen year olds.” Billy said, totally not pouting.

Tim piped up from where he had been typing, his face relaxing from its pinched focus. “Well, I just got into the JL’s systems, so do you want to just safely screw with their shit?”

For the first time in the conversation, Damian perked up. He dropped the polishing rag he’d been drawing across the blade of his katana, grinning wickedly.

Billy mirrored the expression.

Dick, deciding he had to be the buzzkill since Bruce wasn’t here, cut in. “Hang on, how did you manage to get in? Cyborg is on Monitor Duty today, he’s actively in the systems.”

Tim smirked cockily, “How can he be busy with me when he’s running around in circles chasing down all the fail safes and decoys I built into the system the last time I hacked the Watchtower?”

Jason cackled at the look on Dick’s face. “Don’t tell me you’re actually surprised, Dickie. Timberly has been pulling this shit since he was fourteen.”

Damian, Billy, and Jason crowded around Tim to watch the live feed as he began pulling up a rick roll, setting it to play every time Hal or Oliver made fun of Batman behind his back. “Come on, Dick! It’s not like I’m dismantling the alien invasion alarms. Besides,” Tim blinked piously, an angelic smile on his lips. “How much damage could I really do when I only have an hour?”

Dick huffed a flat laugh, “You’re hilarious.”

Tim’s smile turned sharp. “C’mon. You know you want to drop that container of green glowy rocks that you hid in Clark’s office back in your Robin days. Haven’t you wanted to see his reaction? He’s gonna freak out, it’ll be great.”

Dick’s eyes narrowed defiantly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

His smile only grew, “Yeah, you do.”

Dick pursed his lips, resolutely not looking at Billy’s wide hopeful eyes or Jason’s joyous, shit eating grin. But then, he saw Damian looking at him with something like respect in his eyes.

His shoulders slumped in defeat to the cheers of his little brothers. Dick nodded, fighting a smile, “Yeah, yeah I do.”

Jason clapped his hands together, “Yeah you do!” He pointed to a security camera on the screen, "Let's go, he’s already on his way to his office.”

Dick heaved a sigh but couldn’t help but smile as he settled on the ground next to Tim. Billy was snickering beside Damian with a mischievous curl to his lips and a light in his eyes. Bruce was going to give them an earful when they all got back to the Manor, but it would be worth it. Dick would take the blame anyway, anything to keep that happiness in his Little Bird’s face.

And it was after all his box of fake kryptonite hidden in the false panel of Superman’s ceiling. And he really had been waiting years for the opportunity to drop it on the desk in front of him.

Notes:

Kudos and comments are appreciated! I'm always up for a chat about my favorite characters❤️❤️

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