Chapter Text
The way the JLA found out ended up being pretty stupid; which, if Billy was being honest, he’d kind of always expected the way they found out to be like that. The ideal scenario was Billy turned eighteen and told them then, preferably in a funny way so no one got too upset. Like maybe he’d throw himself a birthday party at the tower and bring a cake that said ‘finally an adult.’ The more realistic scenario was that Billy made a dumb mistake and the pieces finally came together for someone. What actually happened was Billy fully just fucked up.
It happened during a battle which was also not ideal. They were all congregated in Fawcett because the threat had kind of been too big for Billy to deal with by himself; or rather, he totally could have handled it but not without egregious property damage. So he called in the JLA to come assist with keeping the battle under control and getting civilians out of the way.
The threat itself was pretty unusual, but weren’t all villains? Actually, Billy wasn’t sure if this counted as a villain , per say; he thought it might be something sent by a villain. Anyway, it was definitely of a magical nature, which made Billy the most equipped to actually defeat it. It was a massive sort of snake-like creature made out of a stony substance. Batman would probably do his best to get some sample later and figure out what it actually was, but the specifics didn’t matter much to Billy. He just wanted the thing out of his city.
The rest of the JLA was trying to keep it distracted; the Flash whizzed around it, Batman threw explosive batarangs at its head, Superman was trying to laser it into submission, et cetera. Billy had discovered after a bit of fighting that the only thing that seemed to do actual damage was his lightning bolts. And even then, they were just breaking chunks off and making the thing roar in fury. At this rate, it’d take the whole night to break it into pieces, and Fawcett City could not deal with it for that long.
Which left Billy with one option. It was a pretty risky maneuver, but he had managed it fine before. He still did his best to avoid using it but… it was probably the only thing that would work. Billy paused, hovering in mid-air, and then sighed. Well, what could he do? He just needed to be quick enough to change twice.
Heaving a breath, he called out to the monster and shot another lightning bolt at it. The thing screeched and whipped its head towards him, and then Billy was shooting off into the sky. He needed as much time as he could get. The thing followed after him, shooting into the air just behind him. Then, when he was pretty sure he was high enough, Billy paused and shot back downwards to land on the top of its head, clinging onto a horn.
He only had a moment of the beast's confusion, but that was enough. “Shazam!” He whispered. The sky cracked open and he was blasted with lightning. The monster barely had time to begin its next shriek before its head was shattered into chunks of stone and it began to plummet back through the air and towards the ground.
So the good news was this: the monster was defeated and Fawcett was safe. Billy even had enough time to transform before he hit the ground! But there was also bad news, because as soon as he mentally congratulated himself while he plummeted, one of the shattered chunks of stone hit him in the head. And he blacked out. Like an idiot.
It wasn’t for very long- Billy definitely didn’t have a concussion or anything- but when he opened his eyes again, he was way closer to the ground and absolutely did not have time to switch back into the Captain. Still he opened his mouth to shout, in the desperate hope that he was not about to become a Billy pancake, and a force slammed into him.
The air was knocked out of him, and he choked on the word, coughing violently. Then he looked up. And that was Superman carrying him, a determined set to the man’s face as he shot through the air. Billy could hear the crash as the stones hit the ground behind them. So no Billy pancake, but… this was pretty much just as bad. Billy tucked his face into the man’s chest as they flew towards where Billy was sure the other heroes were. He was being carried by Superman , he might as well enjoy it before his whole life fell apart around him.
He felt them slow to a stop, and then he felt Superman touch gently to the ground. Billy kept his face tucked into his chest until he felt the man sigh beneath him and gently pry him away like a clingy toddler. Seriously, just like a toddler because the man held him in the air with his hands under his armpits to look at him for a moment. Whatever Billy’s face did was apparently enough for him to set Billy hastily on the ground. He had to force himself to turn and face the rest of the JLA. He was pretty sure the jig was up, or at least that he did not have the lying skills to explain this away.
When he turned, he was met with the sight of the JLA staring him down and a massive pile of rocks behind them. Which, if Superman hadn’t saved him, Billy would currently be at the bottom of. Damn.
“Captain,” Wonder Woman started. Then she stopped and just looked at him.
“So, what was that maneuver you just pulled?” Hal had his arms crossed and a strained smile on his face. “Was it like a transformation spell that somehow killed the monster and left you looking like a six year old?” He laughed stiffly, shoulders tensed. Everyone looked tense actually, but Billy was kind of hung up on one detail.
“ Six, are you serious? I’m eleven, dude!” The instinct to defend his age was too hard-wired for Billy to stop himself. But the dead quiet after he spoke made him realize what he had just said. Shit. Shit shit shit. No playing this off now. He crossed his arms, hoping he looked defiant and not like a petulant kid.
The silence only lasted for a moment before everyone was shouting. Billy very pointedly did not try to distinguish their words from each other, because he was not answering until they calmed down and asked questions one at a time like adults .
“Eleven? Holy fuck-”
“Language, there’s kids here-”
“Didn’t he join last year- ”
“Oh God- ”
Batman raised a hand and stepped forward, and that was enough to shut everyone up. Billy swallowed nervously. The guy had been nicer to him lately- not being so harsh during the notes section of mission briefings, giving him lollipops from a seemingly never-ending supply in his belt, even patting him on the shoulder now and then. That being said , Billy was still kind of terrified of him. Especially when he was standing in the center of their group with such an unreadable expression. After a moment of staring Billy down, he nodded. “It’s about time you said something,” The spawned a whole new slough of shouting, and even Billy dropped his arms in confusion. Another hand raise from Batman shut them up again, even more so when the man turned a vaguely incredulous expression on everyone.
“ None of you figured it out?” He asked. No answer. He shook his head in disappointment and turned back to Billy. Seeing his confused expression, Batman continued. “I’ll admit, I didn’t know the specifics and I wouldn’t have guessed shapeshifting into the Captain, but I knew you were not an adult.” Here a bit of disdain leaked into his tone. “Even if the world’s greatest heroes apparently had no idea they were speaking to a child.”
Here Kal spoke up. “If you knew, then why didn’t you say anything?” Batman looked unimpressed, and if he made that face at Billy, he was pretty sure he would shrivel up and die.
“You’re the one who's so adamant on not pressuring people to reveal secret identities. On letting them reveal in their own time,” Kal made a strained noise.
“Yes but he’s eleven ,” he tried. Billy looked behind him to see the man gesticulating wildly.
Batman just shrugged. “The first Robin was younger. Besides, he’s obviously very capable. And he has us to keep an eye on him.” Billy frowned, re-crossing his arms.
“I don’t need anyone to keep an eye on me. I was chosen for this job because I can do it on my own.” He protested, staring Batman down. The man shrugged again.
“And yet,” He said shortly. Billy opened his mouth again but Oliver beat him to the chase.
“What do you mean ‘you were chosen?’ Did someone do this to you? Give a child superpowers?” He sounded righteously offended and Billy rolled his eyes.
“Yeah but he was an ancient wizard who’s dead now. He chose me because I’m pure of heart, and therefore the best for the job,” There were several annoyed noises from various league members, but Billy chose to ignore that. “And I’m great at my job, thank you very much.” He raised his chin.
“Wait,” That was Barry, and when Billy looked at him he had a horrified expression on his face. “We played… fuck- freak- marry, kill with you,” Groans of despair echoed out. Billy wanted to scream because he did not want to be reminded of that.
“Yeah and you gave me beer. Which was gross. I don’t know why anyone would drink that shit,” He pointed out. Kal made a noise behind him.
“Langua-”
Oliver cut him off, waving a hand. “That’s what all kids say; you’ll grow into it.” Billy rolled his eyes.
“Yeah right.” Billy glanced around at the group again, and now Barry looked nauseous .
“I… I asked you for advice on my sex life,” He whispered, sounding so ashamed it was almost funny. Billy made a disgusted face, and Hal and Oliver started laughing. Batman was not laughing though.
“You what.” His tone was flat, and Barry’s face went completely white.
“I didn’t know,” He tried. Batman was stalking up to him, and then uttering a stream of furious, hushed words. Barry looked closer and closer to passing out, and Billy would feel bad for him if he wasn’t still trying to wipe any reminders of their conversation from his mind.
A hand fell on his shoulder and Billy turned to see Kal crouching down behind him. He was trying his best to not be offended. He was not that short. Anyway, he kind of had bigger concerns on his mind. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “Are you gonna kick me out of the league?”
Other conversations went dead silent. Kal looked over his shoulder at the people behind him, and Billy was kind of too scared to look too and see what their faces were doing. After a moment Kal sighed and scrubbed his face with his hand.
“Against my better judgement, no,” he admitted. Billy couldn’t stop the grin from over-taking his face. “You’ve proven yourself to be a very valuable and responsible League member. But” He held up a finger and Billy tried to get himself under control. “We need rules. Like a curfew and a panic button with you at all times. And we need to tell your parents too,” Billy shrugged.
“Yeah that’s all fine, but that last thing is not gonna be a problem,” He shrugged. Kal frowned.
“Do they already know?” Billy shook his head.
“No, they died.” It was very silent for a second. Kal had a pitying expression on his face, and Billy pivoted on his heel to look at the group again so he didn’t have to see it. “I have no guardians to speak of! So we’ve got no issues on that front,” He said brightly. Batman had somehow returned to his place in front of Billy without making a sound. Barry still had his face in his hands; Billy was pretty sure his knees were shaking.
“What’s your name?” Batman asked, doing Billy the justice of not bending down to talk to him.
“William Batson. But you can call me Billy for short,” He admitted; they might as well know his name since they knew practically everything else about him now too. Batman was expressionless. Hal spoke up from his place.
“Sorry- is that spelled Bat-son? Like b-a-t-s-o-n?” Billy nodded. Hal started snickering, but Batman silenced him with a look. When he turned back to Billy, his face had softened, if that was even possible.
“Why don’t you come with me, Billy? We can go back to my hou- the cave and discuss this further.” Billy nodded, stretching. He was pretty tired- but then again, when wasn’t he? As Batman set a hand on his shoulder and began to guide him away, Billy looked behind him to wave goodbye. Kal was sighing, shaking his head, and the others were all making pointed gestures and expressions. What was that about? Whatever, it didn’t matter because he was about to see the Batcave and also Batman was handing him another lollipop. All in all, his reveal didn’t go so bad.