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pegasister60 · 2 years

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This sick fic is based some brainrot I sent @modernsuperhero.

“Fic where Captain Marvel's just up and gone for a while in the winter and it's because Billy got really sick and he couldn't get a ‘Shazam!’ out. Mans can't even breathe through his *nose,* dude.”

“Freddy's this close to using Billy's Justice League comm and blowing the secret because even if his friend's probably not gonna die the city needs protecting. Billy hoarse shouts that he's got it. He'll be back out there soon.”

“Billy piled with every blanket they have and getting most of their fluids because they just need one good word. Just *one* clear Shazam and he'll be fine.”

“He'll still be sick as Billy but they'll be able to get to nicer spots to sleep and keep villains and criminals at bay until he changes back.”

(To clarify: Billy’s patrons are external peeps only in this one and Marvel’s only around sometimes.)

—

Billy feels pathetic.

He hasn’t been on patrol for days and people have noticed. He drops off the map all the time as Captain Marvel whenever one of his teammates needs a hand. He’s gone to space a nonzero amount of times, for weeks. So it’s not like the people of Fawcett are worried, but they’ve noticed.

And if they’ve noticed, the league has definitely noticed.

It hasn’t gotten to the point where they’ve started contacting him but he doesn’t want to let it get to that point. He’s gone four years without them dropping into his city for a wellness check and he’d like to keep that streak.

It’d be easy. Just power up, go on patrol for at least two hours, and then curl back up under the blanket pile to go round two with his fever. Or he could stay as Captain Marvel and just zap back to being Billy so he can hydrate and pee and possibly vomit. He’s learned not to go entire days as Marvel when he’s not on extended league trips because the consequences are disgusting. His younger body isn’t completely in stasis when he’s Marvel and it’s admittedly not the worst drawback to juggle.

The problem? He’s failed at step one.

“Sh-“ Billy fights not to cough. “Shazam.”

Instead of lightning crashing through the roof of the condemned clinic they’ve holed up in all that comes is that dumb fucking mucus from the back of his throat. The stuff that’s plagued him for days.

He coughs up the phlegm, spits off to the side, and tries again. “Shazam. Shazam, Shazam, Shazam!”

None of them come out louder than a whisper. Billy thunks his head against the wall and sniffles because wiping his nose with his sleeve would be pointless.

Freddy went to go refill their water bottles at a public fountain that’s still running a couple blocks away. Billy is supposed to be sleeping and getting better, but he doesn’t need to get better if he can just get a clear word out.

Just one clear Shazam and he’d be able to take a zeta tube up to the Watchtower to raid the infirmary and the fridge and also snag some more blankets because the one he’s snuggled up against is all gross now. And then he’d have some medicine and get better faster so he can get back to working for laundry and food money and also they’d be able to move all their stuff to somewhere less vulnerable. Somewhere that won’t make him sick again-

There’s so much stuff to do that he can only think in circles about and it’s driving him up the wall. Billy counts himself lucky that there haven’t been any big name threats in town. They show up sometimes if they think he’s not here so they can lure him back from whatever mission he’s on and spring a trap on him.

Instead it’s just been Freddy taking care of him as best as he can with the stuff they have. Billy swears that the moment he can he’s gonna go shove so many supplies into a pocket dimension that they’ll never have to think about not having enough until at least New Year’s. Damn whatever his coworkers will think, they’ve been hungry hungry and him throwing up what little they have isn’t helping. He wants to make this right so bad it burns worse than the cold.

“Shazam.” Billy croaks into the silence of the drafty supply closet. “Shazam.”

Billy looks, sounds, and feels pathetic.

Billy tenses at the sound of a door creaking. He grabs the screwdriver he’s hidden in the blanket pile and tries to look asleep.

“Billy, it’s me!”

Billy slumps with relief at the sound of Freddy’s voice. Cool, he’s not gonna have to knife fight someone over this spot. Again. It’s as his friend gets closer that Billy can make out his distinctive shuffle-tap and finds further comfort that it’s not a voice-snatcher either.

His life’s so fucking weird.

“I know you’re not actually sleeping, dingbat.” There’s a crinkle sound. “I got dinner.”

And Billy’s up. Well, as up as he can be when he’s probably running a hundred and one degrees and ejecting half his body’s fluids or so every day. Which is to say he opens his eyes, props himself against the wall to sit up, and makes grabby hands at the chip bags Freddy managed to score.

“You’re the best.” Billy croaks out. “Any heat?”

Freddy tosses the medium-size Doritos bag Billy’s way. “Pfft, like they even looked my way. I’m too quick to be perceived by mortal eyes.”

“Did you get the other thing?” Billy asks with no small amount of hope in his raspy voice.

“The water? Yeah, just a sec.” Freddy twists his backpack around so he can access it and pulls out one of the Gatorade bottles they fill with water.

“Nice.” Billy hisses out with a smile.

He shuffles out from under all of their blankets and grabs the offered water. Chips can wait, he has to try.

Freddy thinks otherwise.

“Whoa, hey, maybe you should eat first? You didn’t keep anything down yesterday.”

Billy gives Freddy a flat look. “We’ve been over this. Cap comes first because he’s gonna put us first.”

“Marvel would want you to eat.” Freddy points out.

“Marvel isn’t here right now.”

Billy pointedly doesn’t think about what Solomon would say about this. He’ll deal with the lecture while he’s grabbing all the cough medicine the Watchtower has in stock.

As it stands, he stands up so he can take a swig of water and go outside to transform. For all his worrying, Freddy knows Billy’s right and lets him leave the room to exit through the hole in the waiting room.

It’s near freezing outside and if this doesn’t work Billy’s probably setting himself back on any progress he’s made recovering. But he doesn’t care. He drinks a quarter of the water bottle, clears his throat, and tries to speak clearly.

“Shazam!”

Silence. Nothing but the distant sounds of his city going about its day.

His grip on the bottle tightens and if it wouldn’t be an absolute waste he’d chuck it as far as he’s capable of. Which would be pretty damn far, Strength of Hercules or no.

Billy doesn’t want to, but he walks back inside red in the face from more than just the cold and plops back onto their blanket pile. He eats his chips without a word and Freddy doesn’t even say anything because he does have tact.

They both know why this pisses him off so much.

After everything he’s faced, after all the fights and the invasions and the world-ending catastrophes. It’s a goddamn sore throat that’s doing him in. That’s made him feel more helpless and scared and uncertain than all his enemies combined.

Because it doesn’t matter how pure his heart is. His body is small and malnourished and doesn’t have decent shelter more than a third of the time. He’s going to get sick. And no amount of blessings or Wisdom or lightning can help him if he keeps hacking up a lung like this. His teammates won’t be able to help him if he’s wearing this face.

He won’t let them. No matter what Freddy says.

“Y’know-“

“No.” Billy shuts that line of thought down immediately.

Freddy balls up his empty Lays bag. “You didn’t even let me start.”

“I know what you’re gonna say, Freddy.” It’s the same argument every time.

“Well maybe this time you’ll find it compelling.”

Billy starts dragging the blankets onto his lap. “Highly doubt it.”

“Just, at least think about it. We wouldn’t even have to tell them you’re, well, you. We can tell them Cap sent us because you were really sick! And that he’s busy taking care of some bad guy and can’t get us the stuff he normally does.”

“You want to walk up to a zeta tube and tell them you’re one of Cap’s strays? Batman would look into us in a heartbeat and if he decides to keep an eye on us ‘for our own good’ I’d get caught so fast.” Billy rubs at his face. “The lightning’s not subtle, Freddy.”

“Then we don’t call Batman. What about Superman?”

“Superman would call CPS on us so fast. Next.” He’s willing to run down the list if it means Freddy drops this.

He doesn’t have to, apparently. Freddy drags a hand through his hair and leans forward from where he’s sitting on a crate that’s probably as old as they are.

“Then I don’t know how else to help you, Billy.” Freddy admits.

Billy’s confused. “What are you talking about? You’ve helped plenty.”

Freddy’s been providing for both of them for days now. Getting them food and water and keeping an eye on the news so Billy can actually sleep knowing there’s no big trouble. He’s even insisted on Billy taking more than his usual share of the blanket pile despite the fact that his sweat and general sickness is making them gross. Those have all been a huge help!

“That’s not true. Yeah, I’ve been picking up some slack, but I haven’t helped you. Not the way you do for me when I’m sick.”

“That’s not fair.” Billy says immediately. “You’re doing everything you can-“

“And what if it’s not enough?” The sudden intensity of Freddy’s tone makes Billy flinch back a little. “You haven’t gotten worse but you also haven’t gotten better. We don’t even know what you’re sick with, what if it’s something really bad?”

Oh holy shit. Billy didn’t know this was eating at Freddy so much. He feels like an asshole for not taking this seriously.

Of course Freddy’s worried. They both get sick all the time. They eat stuff they probably shouldn’t have, they cuddle their way through rough nights under bridges, they get exposed to all kinds of space germs because Billy’s life is weird.

But they’ve always had Cap through all that. By the luck of the gods Billy’s always been able to power up and take charge of the situation, even when he’s the one sick.

Especially when it’s Freddy that’s sick. He pulls out every stop and uses Cap’s form to get Freddy somewhere warmer, to get him good food, to get them access to medicine.

Freddy can’t do that. The medicine aisles in pharmacies are too far in the back for Freddy to make a clean escape, no matter how subtle or quick he is. Billy’s still the one that would have to get up and throw hands if someone tried to take this spot from them, sick or not. Freddy doesn’t have anyone he can call in to help.

Not without Billy’s permission.

Freddy seems to realize he’s unloaded and backtracks. “But we can figure something out. Please, Billy-“

“Okay.”

“I-“ Freddy pauses. “What? You’re serious.”

“Help me up, we’re calling Green Arrow. He owes me and he’s not a snitch.”

Freddy sticks his arm into the loop for his crutch and crosses the closet to help Billy up. “Epic. Alright, how far is the nearest tube?”

“I think it’s the telephone booth four blocks East. The one by the nice deli.” Billy is tempted to take a blanket with him but just pulls his jacket closed and starts walking. “I’ll do the talking. We’re telling him we’re the kids Cap talks about and that he’s off-world. I’m gonna have to bullshit a report and maybe lie to Batman’s face when I clock in again but I want cough drops so bad.”

“If you tell them it was magic stuff they might not ask where you went,” Freddy suggests as they exit through the hole in the wall.

Billy snorts. “Of all the things to be thankful for I never thought it’d be the Justice League knowing fuck all about magic.”

The trip to the zeta tube is thankfully uneventful. Billy feels even colder than he normally would because of his fever and Freddy’s on the lookout for any trouble heading their way.

When they make it there the booth is more than big enough to hold them both. Billy prefers contacting people from these instead of using his actual comm when he can help it because he’s a little paranoid that Bats will get a ping on where he is when he uses it. Not an unfounded fear because he’d wave it off as a safety thing.

He dials Green Arrow’s extension and realizes as the phone rings that Freddy’s put himself in front of the door. No backing out of this, they’ve come this far.

“Cap, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Billy’s seized by a sudden anxiety. His throat feels like it’s squeezed shut and he wants to hang up and run. Freddy reaches for his hand and grips it tightly.

Green Arrow sounds concerned when he asks. “Captain Marvel, are you there?”

Billy takes a deep breath that’s probably audible and says, “This isn’t Captain Marvel, sir.”

There is silence on the other end and Billy’s never felt this wrong-footed in his life. He wants to bail so bad.

“What’s wrong, kid?” Green Arrow asks in a softer voice and something in Billy’s chest unwinds.

That’s right. His friends and coworkers are heroes. Helping the Billy Batsons of the world is what they do.

“Green Arrow, sir, we’re really sorry to bother you. There’s no emergency or anything but Captain Marvel said to call you if he didn’t come back from the magic place soon and-“

“Whoa whoa, slow down. How do you know Captain Marvel? Do you know why he left?”

“Oh, he didn’t tell us where he was going but he didn’t seem really worried. He brings us food and blankets and stuff sometimes.” Billy hears Green Arrow hum over the phone. Good, he remembers. “And normally we’d be fine with him being late, he’s off saving the world and all so we get it.”

“But you’re sick, right? You need help sooner than that.” Green Arrow guesses.

Billy knows he sounds awful but damn. Okay. Swallow back your pride and the little bit of shame, Billy. No time for that.

“Mhmm. He said we could call this number on this phone and someone else would help-“

“Don’t even worry about it kid, just tell me what you need. Food, medicine, a place to stay?”

Bill straightens his posture and says, “We’ve got a place to stay, sir. We’d really appreciate some nonperishable food items, preferably stuff we don’t need a stove for but if it’s canned we can finesse it with a lighter. But what we’re really hoping for is some cough syrup and fever reducers. Something for this congestion too-”

Freddy bumps their shoulders together and pinches his sweater with a meaningful gesture. He’s absolutely right, the shame’s already gone. And Arrow owes him big.

“And also small-bills and change for laundry, if that’s doable. Maybe some tarps and also like a wagon or something to carry this in. Do you need me to repeat any of this, sir?”

“Nah, I’ve got a list going. I can call in a solid and be in Fawcett before nightfall, probably like 8pm. Where do you want me to drop this stuff off?”

“We can come back to meet you at the uh-“ Billy fumbles for a second because he’s probably not supposed to know what this is. Luckily he has to cough and it covers his awkward pause. “The phone booth we’re calling from, sir.”

“Sounds like a plan. Don’t you worry. It’s going to be okay.”

Billy grips the phone and tries not to let Arrow hear how that made his breath hitch. For once he’s grateful for how raspy and congested he already sounds when he thanks his teammate and hangs up.

Freddy is content to let him have his little moment instead of rubbing this in his face. He’s being so patient today.

But Billy’s man enough to admit it. “You were right.”

Freddy squeezes his hand with a smile. “Always am.”

“Not true.” Billy playfully shoves him.

There’s not a whole lot to do while they wait for Green Arrow, but they head back to their spot to watch over it anyway. They start folding their stuff and taking inventory because when Arrow follows through it won’t be much longer until they can move.

When they get back to the phone booth early and sit inside it to wait a fancy black car pulls up on the curb.

Billy grips the screwdriver he brought with him and hopes Green Arrow’s not gonna show up to them beating off a rich creeper.

Then Green Arrow steps out the driver’s seat in full costume and Billy shoots to his feet so fast he nearly falls over. Freddy half-shoves him forward, which doesn’t help but it gets him moving.

“You the kids who called?” Green Arrow asks with a frown that Billy knows means he’s thinking hard.

“Yes, sir!” Billy croaks. He can’t wait to not sound like a garbage disposal.

“In that case-“ Green Arrow rounds the car and pops the trunk. “Come check out your haul.”

It’s the first time in a long time that Billy Batson has approached an adult man opening a car trunk and felt completely safe. Freddy’s quick to beat him there and take it all in.

It’s so much. Canned food, a 48 pack of water bottles, four folded up tarps, thick blankets, disposable bowls and plastic silverware, a portable stove. And that’s not even counting the Aldi bag of snacks and candy and reusable ponchos.

Billy wants to cry. This is the most anyone has ever given them at once and all he had to do was ask. He feels so stupid and so grateful at once.

He didn’t even notice when Green Arrow opened the back seat to pull out an actual red wagon until he started stacking stuff onto it. Billy’s small and sick and he’s never respected Green Arrow more in his life. He’s going to take every bullet for this man. All of them.

“Didn’t know if you wanted anything else, so take this too.” Green Arrow finishes stacking stuff and presents them with some sandwich bags of money.

One is full of just quarters and is heavy because of it, another is filled with wads of what look like ones and fives, and the third is filled with wads of twenties. Plural.

Billy is crying. He shouldn’t be because his nose is already congested and he’s gonna be so embarrassed later that he cried in front of his coworker, but fuck it. He hugs him and gets a surprised little oof for his troubles when he squeezes the life out of Arrow. Arrow hugs him back anyway and it takes everything in Billy not to cover his friend’s costume in snot.

Billy’s probably just another victim that Arrow’s helping. One act of kindness out of the thousands Green Arrow does a month.

But for him and Freddy? This is everything. And Captain Marvel’s gonna have to be the one to pay it back tenfold next time Arrow breaks a bone he shouldn’t have and needs someone to watch over his city.

“Thank you.”

Green Arrow’s voice is warm and sure and a little bit of that everything when he says, “No problem. Stay safe, alright? The Big Red Cheese will be back before you know it.”

Billy pulls back and laughs. Because yeah, yeah he will.

He decides to pull the cart while Freddy keeps a hand on its contents from behind. Green Arrow watches them for about a block before they can hear his expensive car rev to life and pull away.

Billy gives it another two blocks before Freddy signals it’s all clear and he pops the entire cart into a pocket dimension. They walk the rest of the way with empty hands but wide grins as they talk about what they should actually have for dinner now. They’ve already had some chips but given their high spirits they can probably split a can of chicken noodle soup or two. As a treat.

Before any of that though Billy pulls the medicine they got out and onto the floor so they can read over the labels and decide what he should take. The sore throat is an absolute priority now that they’ve been provided for. Freddy Freeman and Billy Batson are pretty set but Fawcett as a whole needs Cap back soon.

Some yucky cough syrup and actually hot soup later, they’re hashing out when they should go do laundry and what else they need and if it’d be viable to try to split a gym membership again for a little while for the showers. They can afford to have this conversation.

And if Captain Marvel drops by the Watchtower to submit his report a few days later and he tells Green Arrow they’re more than even with the widest grin anyone’s ever seen on him?

Well, that’s none of their business.

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burritowitch · 1 year

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sometimes a family is a mom a dad and their kids, sometimes a family is two dads or two moms and their kids.

and then sometimes a family is a pair of twins, their bestie, and a talking tiger in a suit

#billy batson #shazam #freddy freeman #mary bromfield #captain marvel #my favorite shazam is when its three homeless losers and their tiger who just happen to have magic #theyre just so silly #such blorbo #like yes theyre the champions of the gods #but theyre also sleeping in a cuddle pile on the floor of an abandoned basement

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an-entity-i-think · 1 year

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Young, neglected characters aren't always incompetent at taking care of themselves

I know it's not what some of you want to hear, but- despite the perfect savior concept of getting them into a batter family- that doesn't mean that

A. They even WANT to be 'saved' and

B. That they aren't doing a decent job at taking care of themselves

The thing about having independence at a young age, is that you learn pretty quickly at least the basics or you fail

If you make it too obvious while going to school (esp elementary but also middle), you will be caught

If you don't have a supply of food or the ability to make food, you will be caught (either by police or any adult) or very sick and THEN die or caught

If you change attitudes and routines completely and suddenly, you will be noticed and possibly caught

NEGLECTED KIDS WHO LAST MORE THAN A FEW DAYS KNOW THIS (even if subconsciously)

"Saving the poor baby" is good for children who are just recently out on their own (think a couple weeks, maybe a couple months if you stretch it)

But a couple years??? I'm sure a few children would like someone to take care of them but most of them (while also maybe yearning for the same) would rather not and I'll tell you three big reasons why:

Nobody noticed that they needed help when they truly needed it, regardless of the fact that they hid it with all their power, ergo others are not to be trusted because they do not care.

And/or

It has been like for as long as they remember and change that drastic is hard for any adult let alone a child to imagine.

And/or

They are perfectly capable of keeping themselves alive and do not need outside help (this can be a statement of truth, misleasing pride, or fear of change/other people)

"Wanting to save them" may result in anger at the idea that they are incompetent, especially if the child has been taking care of themselves for so long. Cause regardless of age, children have always been resilient and adaptable and capable.

Not every child will be saved from a bad situation and they know that. Children aren't stupid, and they aren't stupid to assume they can take care of themselves when so many have had to in the past and will have to in the future.

An Alternative:

Stop the narrative of "saving them" from such a terrible way of life (the only life they've known or have known for a long while).

START doing more of those skittish, feral, alley cat things where you either gain the characters trust and learn to be a family with TIME or you just like straight up steal the baby and live with the fact that your going to have a lot of screaming and scratching and broken belongings for a few weeks until the baby learns to feel sort of safe or makes an escape lol

#neglect #entity writes dc #entity writes #dc #robin #tim draks #billy batson #shazam #captain marvel #jason todd #bruce wayne #batman #homeless izuku midoriya #dead inko midoriya

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dcmainlybillythoughts · 2 years

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I've made head canons about things that Billy does because of his years on the streets but here's the stuff he picked up that worries the hell out of people when they realize

I mentioned flinching last time too but I'm putting it here because it implies so much when other people see Cap doing it

Also mentioned last time that he is displeased by the smell of alcohol but isn't affected by the smell of cigarettes, but over all he's used to both

When he messes up he apologizes alot, but then when people tell him not to and it was a minor mistake he'll panic thinking they thought his apologies were annoying

If he ever starts panicking he pulls himself into the back of his mind and escapes to a weird and comforting fantasy world, on the outside he looks really spaced out so people tend to worry about him

One time he was trying to get someone out of a bad mood and asked if they had eaten, and then explained that different people react differently to lack of nutrition. He also accidentally mentioned he's one of the people who can go a day or two without food before experiencing major problems.

Sometimes Cap feels like he can't say "no" to others unless he's really busy or if what their asking is really stupid

When anyone picks up on all of these and sees the pattern they worry for Captain.

I don't have any other ideas for this, I did but then I started typing and forgot.

#billy batson #captain marvel #shazam #dc #dc captain marvel #headcanon #homeless billy hours #billy making people sad and worried hours #billy needs a hug #JUST GIVE THE DAMN KID A HUG

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cerealboxlore · 1 year

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I like how I started my blog with the intention of being a Twisted Wonderland blog.

And then Billy Batson came in with an iron chair and wrecked my life.

#Gosh golly #This homeless orphan ruined my life #Cheers for Billy Batson to being my favorite son #I cherish him #Sorry Twisted Wonderland #This kid has super powers #billy batson #what happened to my life

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daydreamerdrew · 1 year

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Whiz Comics (1940) #47

#two important things here #first is Billy’s backstory being presented as him growing up in an orphanage #the original backstory from Whiz Comics issue 2 had him homeless after being kicked out by an abusive uncle that stole his inheritance #but the idea of him being raised in an orphanage isn’t new to here #in Mary’s first appearance in Captain Marvel Adventures issue 18 we see that she traded places with the dead baby of a wealthy woman #after their caretaker learned that Billy and Mary’s parents had died with the reasoning that at least she would get a good upbringing #while Billy would be sent to an orphanage #but the backstory that Billy was raised by an abusive uncle that kicked him out when his inheritance came in wasn’t dropped #later in Captain Marvel Adventures issue 88 there was a story that elaborated on what Billy’s life was like with his uncle #I just think this all is interesting #the second important thing is that Billy doesn’t know his birthday but says he can’t be more than 14 years old here #in the character writing guildlines for Fawcett characters from 1942 it’s said that Billy’s age shouldn’t ever be stated #so that readers can imagine him how they want #but for the purposes of the writers they imagined him as having been 12 when his stories started and about 14 by then #and so should be written with the reactions and characteristics of a 14 year old #meaning that they’d imagined that he’d aged 2 years in 2 years time #this issue was published in 1943 #and I imagine at that point they realized that didn’t want him to grow up anymore #fawcett comics #billy batson #sterling morris #my posts #comic panels

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minibatson · 4 months

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Billy Batson Headcanon.

Billy doesn't express any form of anger in the Captain form. He's scared to. He's scared that he could hurt someone, kill someone, if he isn't careful.

The Justice League see him as a Superman type– Always happy with never ending optimism. Billy is optimistic, yes, but not in the way that he presents to the Justice League. The Captain is 'everything is okay, and everything will keep being okay', whereas Billy is 'everything is f^cked, but we can fix it if we try'.

The Justice League only see flashes of it. A glare when Batman announces spending thousands, if not millions, on improvements for the Watchtower, looks of envy when everyone talks about food and clothes. They think it's because he lives in the Rock of Eternity, and can't have these things.

They don't realise the reason until they finally meet Billy, and realise that he's a literal homeless child.

#billy batson #dc comics #shazam #captain marvel #dc captain marvel #Billy is the embodiment of eat the rich #and it scares some people in the League #Cap is a pacifist #Billy is not

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dcxdpdabbles · 10 months

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I love your writing. It's just the best. Seriously I check dc dp tags to see if you've written anything.

By the way, can you write anythng with another dc hero or maybe a villain? Maybe Superman or Captain Marvel(Shazam) or anything. You don't have to obviously, but it would be really cool if you did.

Oh gosh, thank you! I'm glad you like my rambles. I'm happy to write you a dabble! Hope you like!

Billy Batson was expecting a lot when the Wizard told him to only break the ice crystal in dire situations. He figured if the dying man had enough time to pass on thousands of years' worth of knowledge and store Old magical artifacts, then the Crystal had to be a last resort.

He also figured it wouldn't be so darn breakable. Billy felt they should have made the last resort a little steadier if it was so important.

But no, one accidental trip over his far too worn-out pants legs had the thing shattering like cheap glass.

Billy stares at the shimmering remains, his heart pounding in his chest as the soft green glow that had always come from the crystal fades away.

"Oh no. no, no, no. I can fix this. I can fix this. " He whispers to himself, falling to his knees and scooping up the pieces. He tries to reattach them, but the crystal melts in his palms. "I can't fix this."

All this because some jerk kicked him out of his old sleeping place, down by the docks. He had been squatting in Old Man's Jackson shed ever since the man finally bit the dust, and he had been so excited to have a building all to himself. Word must have gotten around somehow because he comes back from a Justice Leauge Meeting to find a sixteen-year-old rooting through his stuff.

As a homeless ten-year-old, Billy had scrambled to reclaim his possessions, including this critical crystal, jumping on the intruder with a war cry. He got a broken arm, a black eye, and a few bruised ribs for his troubles.

Thankfully he could walk away with most of his things as the teen sneered and screamed at him while he ran away.

It's not that Billy couldn't fight off the homeless teenager, but he didn't, and to go all Captain Marvel on some random citizen. Captain Marvel can go toe to toe with Superman, but plain old Billy Batson struggles to take kids his own age. He's always been smaller than his age group, not to mention hunger's damage to him.

He returned to the abandoned subway, stumbling down the dark tunnel. Billy didn't like the place- it was damp and cold and a little too open if someone else wandered in, but it was the only place he could go for the night on such short notice. He was thinking of asking Batman if he could take more shifts on monitor duty just so he could sleep at the watch tower.

Then his pants leg got stuck on a broken stair, and he fell, sending his dew earthly possessions into the air. Now he was, blinking away the spots from the beating the teenager gave him and a powerful artifact he promised the Wizard he keep safe, broken beyond repair.

Against his will, sobs start to shake his body. The more he fought to clear his eyes from the tears, the more he began to fall. He leans his forehead on the floor, uncaring how a piece of crystal cuts his skin, causing a trail of crimson to flow down his face. What's one more scar on his already broken body?

In a moment of weakness, he violently wishes he could run to his mom for comfort. It's a fantasy. She's long gone, buried next to his dad, and his uncle was somewhere warm spending their money.

The knowledge causes more despair, and he sobs harder.

Why does he have to be here hungry, without a home, when his father's brother didn't even bother to attend their funeral is living off of his inheritance? Living great, if all the zeros he saw on the check were any indication?

Life is genuinely unfair sometimes. That's why he took being Captain Marvel so seriously. Someone had to protect people from the cruelty of life.

A swirling green portal rips open underneath him just as the trailing thought of I wish someone out there wanted to protect me just as much.

His echoing scream, the swirling green, is the last thing Billy knows before everything goes black.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Billy wakes to the sound of someone humming. He blinks open his eyes, fighting against the exhaustion and the siren call of slumber. The first thing he notices is the soft green of the walls, like the color of Easter eggs he used to paint with his Dad. He smiles at them.

It's his favorite color.

Then Billy notices his eyes getting heavy again as he slowly turns his head into the plush pillow and sinks into the warm blankets around him. His body is boneless in comfort, his eyes are closed, and he's just dropping off into dreamland when his mind finally notices that you're homeless and don't know this room. You're in danger!

Billy leaps off the bed like he's been shocked, throwing the two blankets on the ground. Glancing around, he's horrified to see he's in some kind of kid room- comics, toys, posters- all tailored to his tastes. He can even spot an archeology kit for kids sitting on a desk, just like the ones his parents used to buy him when he wanted to help out in their digs.

He always thought he actually found something in his little play rocks while waiting at one of the tents as his parents worked. They always beamed when he showed them the fake dinosaur bones he discovered in his kits.

He even has nice, fluffy pajamas. The kind that doesn't have buttons or zippers but is oversized, so they let him toss and turn in the night. His bottoms are a grey and black checker pattern, while the top has the Batman symbol proudly on the front.

Everything is perfect, from the decor, to his clothes to even the furniture placement.

It's the bedroom of his dreams.

Oh gosh, he has been Coraline-ed!

"Oh, Billy! You're up. Breakfast is ready and I just finished ironing your uniform." A man's voice says from the doorway. He swings his head around to see a man in his late twenties in an apron smiling at him. He's handsome, has fluffy black hair and baby-blue eyes, and practically embodies comforting vibes.

The other-mother.

"Who are you!?" Billy demands, fist raised. He can't go Captain Marvel with someone dead on staring at him- at least he risks his secret identity, but he has been on the streets long enough to put up a decent fight.

The man seems flabbergasted by his aggression which causes Billy to bristle until he slaps his own forehead.

"Right, forgot about the introduction. I'm Danny Fenton, and I will be your new guardian until you are old enough to care for yourself." Danny smiles, and the boy can't help but find it too pretty to be authentic. "As per your request as the champion of Magic."

Billy has been taken by someone who knows he's Captain Marvel. Which could be better on the one hand but on the other, it means he can do this.

"Shazam!" A bolt of lighting has him shifting into his adult form and flying a break neck speed towards the threat. He intends to punch Danny, but his fist is caught in Danny's palm like it's nothing.

Danny seems unimpressed. "Don't think you can Shazam yourself out of class, young man. Being a hero will cut your attendance, but I won't allow you to skip just because."

Calm yourself, child Batson Solomon says to Bill. King Phantom is here per your request for aid. He will not harm you.

What request!? I never called for him!

When you broke the Infinite Realms Crysta of distress, you called for someone to protect you like your caregivers once did. King Phantom is the most vigorous protective spirit in all the realms. He answered the call. Solomon replies. Billy can feel the god shift on his golden throne a sense of amusement. It's strange to know what the gods are doing without really seeing them He made a deal with the wizard to pose as your father until you are of age. You both are bonded by this Oath.

An oath. That made Billy feel a little better. He knows that once an Oath is made, no one in the parties involved can break it. If the Wizard had done one while borrowing Billy's body then Billy would be untouchable until the contract was done.

He has a new dad that would be bound by magic and the might of the six gods to protect him.

Billy was curious to know if that was a good thing or not. Being protected is not the same as being loved.

"Kid? You okay?" Danny asks.

"What is expected of me? What do you want me to do?" Billy counters, floating back a little now that he knows what's happening. An Oath is a two-way deal. If Danny had to pretend to be Bill's father, then Billy had to do something for Danny.

"Well, I expect you to have your teeth brushed and eat your breakfast before class, but something tells me that's not what you mean." Danny jokes with a chuckle. Billy frowns, which makes the humor on the man's face disappear. "In all honesty? You are my anchor. I haven't been in the material world for years. Not since my home dimension was destroyed by an asteroid. I missed it. I missed people."

Okay, nothing sinister. But he would never let this random stranger think he had the right to boss Billy around.

"You don't have to pretend to be my dad when we're alone. And you can't tell me what to do!" Billy hisses, expecting the man to get upset like other foster fathers had been before he ran.

Danny nods. "Sounds fair. Sorry for coming on like a fruitloop."

"A.....fruitloop?"

"A big fruitloop. One with a cat."

Right.

"You said my uniform. What uniform?" Billy asks to choose to come back to Danny's odd phrase later.

"Gotham Acadamy. I signed you up for classes-"

"We're in Gotham!? Why?!"

Danny tilts his head. "It's the only place with enough death to sustain me."

Billy is glad he is Captain Marvel right now. Otherwise, he thinks he would need more guts to ask. "Why do you need death?"

"Not death itself, more like the by-product. I need ectoplasm since I;;m a ghost." With a bright flash of twin rings, Danny shifts into a very obviously non-human form, and Billy's mouth drops.

"You're dead?!"

"So-and-so. I'm a halfa. A being dead and alive but at the same time neither" Danny rubs the back of his neck, twirling his small point tail nervously. "Yeah, it's a bit confusing. Sorry."

"It's fine....ugh so we just live in Gotham until I'm what eighteen?"

"Until your twenty." Danny winces at the glare Billy throws him. "Sorry, ghosts see adulthood as two decades for the living, two centuries for the dead. Since I'm both, I have to follow both and thus have to be your caregiver until you're twenty. I can portal you to Fawcett whenever you need to hero with the snap of my fingers. It'll be inconvenient, but I promise it will be better than the streets. And I will never, ever hurt you, Billy."

Billy crosses his arms, listening with half a ear as the gods start speaking at one, their voices and opinions a background noise he long learns to turn out until Atlas is louder than the rest.

I understand this might be a lot at once, young Batson, but accept King Phantom's help. You will no longer be alone. It is not easy carrying the world on your shoulders, trust me.

The god's words make Billy sure this is a good idea.

"Shazam!" With another burst of lighting, Billy is a kid again, stretching his neck back to make eye contact with the taller man. "Alright. You got yourself a deal .... again."

Danny grins, warm and delight dancing in his eyes. "Excellent! Lets's hurry then, we're supposed to arrive at your school early today to meet with a man in charge of your scholarship who is my new employer for computer software. That's our cover, by the way. We moved here after I got a job at the man's company."

"Who are we meeting?"

"Someone unimportant, I'm sure," Danny says, waving a hand. "My friend Clockwork set us up our background, we have the papers to prove everything."

Billy finds out that Danny really is from a different universe because how in the world could he claim Bruce Wayne as unimportant!

#dcxdpdabbles #Ghost Dad au #Danny adopts Billy #Then moves him to Gotham #Where he uses ghost magic to get a job with WE #Nothing sus here #HOPE YOU LIKE #I don't really know Billy's story line besides some comics so I blended the facts I do know about him for his backstory #Not Phantom Planet Canon

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suzukiblu · 8 months

Note

WIP guessing game: help

"I know about Billy, Marvel," Batman says, and Billy . . . blinks.

"You know?!" he sputters. Okay, so apparently his secret identity was just . . . literally never a secret at all, then. Which, well–Batman, so that just figures, really. So actually this is kind of a relief and might even mean that he's fine with–

"Yes," Batman confirms with a nod. "So I understand your current reservations about parenthood."

. . . wait what.

"Huh?" Billy says, blinking stupidly at him.

"I don't know how much of you is still C.C. Batson or what you do or don't remember about being him," Batman says. "But the resemblance is undeniable, if nothing else. Certainly your and your wife's deaths were . . . well, suspicious. And you're hardly the first archeologists to dig up a god or six."

Oh, okay. Well.

This is apparently what Billy gets for his personal mental image of a "hero" being his dad, then, isn't it.

Crap.

"To be honest I've been looking for Billy for a while now, I just didn't want to bring it up before I found him," Batman admits, looking dissatisfied with himself. "My most recent reliable intel puts him in Fawcett City, but I assume you're aware of that, given your evident attachment to the place."

"You're looking for Billy?" Billy asks incredulously. "Why?"

"Because he's your son," Batman says. "And because he's a homeless child who's been abused and neglected and needs help. I honestly don't know where you go when you're not being Captain Marvel–frankly I'm not sure if you even exist when you're not being Captain Marvel, given what little I actually know about your powers and your death and your role as the Champion of Magic and just how damn impossible you are to find when you're off-duty–but I'm assuming that wherever it happens to be is not necessarily conducive to providing a stable home environment and being legally dead certainly can't be helping with that, so my original intention was to find the boy and help you arrange some manner of care for and visitation with him. And given the revelation of your relation to Robin, well . . . I'd like to take Billy in myself, if you'd both be comfortable with that. It seems . . . appropriate, under the circumstances."

"You want to foster Billy because I'm Robin's soulmate?" Billy says, absolutely positive that he's misunderstood literally every single word that just came out of Batman's mouth. There is no possible way that he did not.

"It's not exactly out of my wheelhouse," Batman replies wryly. "Although I'll be keeping this one out of the tights, ideally. Though I make no long-term promises about that because quite frankly at this point I'm spoiled for soulmates who insist on wearing capes and I wouldn't really be surprised to turn up another one, especially given that Robin is yours and your own involvement in the superhero community."

Billy stares at him.

"Wait, are all the Gotham vigilantes your soulkids?" he blurts unthinkingly.

"Not all," Batman says. "But, well . . . probably more of them than you'd expect."

"Oh my god," Billy says in disbelief. "And you're just telling me that?! You don't tell people things, you're Batman!"

"I haven't always been the father I should have been," Batman says, and then he pulls down his cowl. Billy chokes, and then chokes again because apparently Batman is Bruce freaking Wayne and his brain just . . . just needs a moment to process that fact, like there is literally any way whatsoever that he could ever actually process that fact. He would've been less surprised to see a Kardashian under that mask, he's pretty sure. At least they've got athletes in the family, technically! "So I'm not going to make things difficult for you with Robin. Clearly he needs more than I'm capable of providing, and I'm perfectly willing to be transparent and to co-parent with you as much as possible. I want Robin to be safe and content and grow up well, and frankly put, Batson, you've proven yourself to be a good man time and again and I trust you to do what's best by our son."

Okay, well, now Billy just feels like dirt.

"You do know what happened to Billy, don't you?" he asks just a little bit desperately, because there is literally no way that this conversation is a real and actual thing that's really and actually happening. "Like, just–everything that happened there? There's a reason he's not in school or the system or with a relative or anything like that."

"What happened to Billy wasn't your fault," Batman tells him, meeting his eyes all quiet and intent and sincere. "And I will do everything in my power to help you make it right."

"Oh no, you're actually like . . . just genuinely a really good person, aren't you," Billy says despairingly, staring at him all over again and really, really wishing he could swear right now.

Maybe he'll just go throw himself into the sun. Maybe that's what he'll just go and do.

The corner of Batman's mouth quirks up wryly. His eyes even crinkle a little, which Billy can see on account of his total lack of cowl right now, oh god.

Billy despairs.

"I mean it," Batman says gently. "It wasn't your fault, and it doesn't mean you can't be a good father now."

"I need to talk to Robin," Billy says, because he definitely, definitely needs to talk to Robin. Batman inclines his head in an accepting nod, because Batman is probably under the impression that Billy wants to go give Robin a good ol' traditional "I know I'm not your biodad but I'm here for you, champ!" kind of speech, and Billy just . . . really cannot explain the real situation to him right now. Or ever.

Can he just lie to Batman for the rest of their lives, maybe? He can just pretend to be his own dad for the Justice League and keep dodging whatever Bat-surveillance happens to be in Fawcett and parent his older-than-he-is soulmate, right? That's a thing that he can do?

That's probably not a thing that he can do.

Although he might be willing to try, at this point.

#billy batson #bruce wayne #shazam #batman #chromatographic #rinfic #wip: billy and damian and the whole soulmate thing

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