Chapter Text
Diana goes home with him.
A zeta tube drops them within a ten minute walking distance of where he lives and, as wild as it is to think that Wonder Woman is going to visit his house, he doesn’t care nearly as much as he should.
“Just a safety precaution,” she assures him. Not that it does much to lift Billy’s mood. He doesn’t need a fucking babysitter. “We don’t think they’re going to strike again so soon, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Yeah. It still doesn’t make him feel great.
Billy just grunts, hands shoved deep in his pockets. He could tell her that this is unnecessary, that he’s perfectly capable of taking care of himself, and he doesn’t need them treating him like he’s a child.
But he doesn’t.
The truth is that this has left him feeling rattled. He doesn’t like being vulnerable. He likes being able to look after himself.
And sure, things have gotten better since Rosa and Victor took him in. He’s gotten better. He no longer feels like he constantly has to be looking over his shoulder. There are people in his life who he feels safe around.
The Captain was a big part of that too. Being one magic word away from invulnerability tends to have that effect.
That’s part of the problem.
All of that has been stripped away from him in a single night. Which is why he doesn’t protest when Wonder Woman offers to take him home.
The ugly truth is… he’s scared. He’s scared of what this might mean for him. He’s scared of what this might mean for his family. He doesn’t want to put them in danger, but he fears that he already may have.
Again.
“I won’t pressure you to talk about it,” Diana says slightly. Her hands are tucked into her pockets, “but I’ve found that talking about it helps.”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he mumbles.
“Okay,” she says easily, which throws him off because he had been ready for a fight. But she keeps her eyes forward and seems content to let it lie.
He glares down at his shoes and does his best to keep pace with Diana.
The humiliating thing is, he knows she’s slowing down for him because there’s no way he can keep up with her brisk pace as plain old Billy Batson. She’s dressed down for the occasion too, leaving her hair loose instead of tying it up in a tight bun and trading the crisp pantsuits she generally favors when she’s out of the costume and at her day job to simple slacks and a blouse. A pair of spectacles, which she certainly doesn’t need, are perched on her nose.
She looks like she could be his mom.
Then of course, that was the idea. A lot less people who are going to ask questions if they look like they belong together.
“You know,” he says finally because the silence is starting to get to him, “I could have gone home by myself. I’m not a baby.”
“Is that what you’re worried about?” She doesn’t sound shocked.
“You’re all acting like I can’t be left alone for two seconds.”
Her lips pinch together. “It’s not about your age, Billy. Someone tried to harm you. That’s not something we can overlook. We take care of our own.”
Hearing that last part should make him happy. For the longest time, that had been his biggest insecurity: that they wouldn’t see him as truly one of them.
If he’s being honest, it still is.
“You wouldn’t walk Batman home,” he says bitterly.
“That’s because he is Batman.” Diana sighs, which is the answer he expected and that’s infuriating . “Billy, I won’t lie to you about this. It’s true that some of us still have qualms about your age.”
It’s not what he wants to hear. He lowers his voice. “I’m just like any of you when I’m the other guy.”
“But you are not always him,” Diana says gently. “Even Superman died once.”
Billy’s heart is hammering away in his chest. He knows she’s speaking the truth; there’s not a person alive who doesn’t remember the day Superman died.
He wants to be seen as their equal. He is their equal. When he says the word, he’s more than a match for more than half of them.
But even Superman died.
He’d thought he had been careful with his secret identity but apparently not careful enough. Someone had still known enough about him to try and kidnap him for reasons that they still hadn’t uncovered and that… that scared him.
And he hates it. He hates it because he doesn’t want their protection, but he doesn’t know what to do without it because he hadn’t been enough to protect himself and what if they come after his family next?
What if it’s Freddy who gets grabbed off the street next? Or Darla? What if they go after Victor and Rosa?
“We’re here,” Diana announces and it says something about his state of mind that she had been paying more attention to where they had been going than he had. That’s not saying… She’s incredibly observant and probably one of the smartest people Billy knows, but… this is his home. This is his town.
Billy stares up at the house and feels his stomach do an unpleasant somersault.
This is the first time he’s seen any of them since he was… since all of that and he has no idea how this is going to go.
Well… that’s not entirely true. He has something of an idea, but it doesn’t make him look forward to this anymore. He knows he scared Victor and Rosa half to death, especially if two members of the Justice League are keeping watch over them.
Diana doesn’t pressure him. She waits patiently behind him while he wrestles with his thoughts, trying to build the courage to walk up the steps and knock on the door.
When he does, it’s with dragging feet.
“Billy!” The door is flung open before he even has a chance to knock and Rosa spills out onto the porch. He has a second maybe to adjust to her presence before she’s enveloping him in a crushing hug with enough force to nearly knock him off his feet. Victor is right behind her and he wraps his arms around the both of them, holding them close. “You’re okay,” Rosa murmurs into his hair. “You’re okay. Oh, I was so, so worried about you.”
Worn out, Billy lets himself be held. Being so close to the people he loves is a reminder of what almost happened.
It’s not a comfortable thought or one he wants to dwell on for long.
Diana remains at a respectful distance at the top of the stairs, watching the proceedings sympathetically, but that doesn’t make him feel any better.
He doesn’t ask for sympathy.
Rosa extends a hand, smiling gratefully. Tears are glistening at the corners of her eyes. “Thank you for bringing him home…”
“It is the least I could do,” Diana says carefully, accepting Rosa’s proffered hand. Her eyes are solemn. “I can’t imagine how frightened you must have been.”
Rosa nods, but she doesn’t speak. She’s more guarded than Billy can remember ever seeing her when she faces the Amazonian warrior.
“Billy?” There’s a flash of Darla’s purple unicorn shirt at the door. It’s all the warning Billy gets before she’s flying into him. “Billy! I was so scared!”
It just about knocks the wind out of him, but he wraps his arms around her. He’s never been more grateful to see her before in his life.
“Hey, Darla.” He smiles wanly at her. She’s getting taller. The top of her head nearly brushes his chin now. He pats her hair.
The rest of his siblings have clamored together at the door. They’re whispering, but not doing a very good job of keeping it down. Billy does his best to tune them out.
The only one absent is Mary. He wishes he could see Mary too, but she’s away at college. He’s not going to see her for another three months.
Victor quietly shoos them back inside. “I know you’re all relieved to see your brother, but go back inside for now. We’ll join you in a few minutes.”
Reluctantly, they file back inside the house.
Darla in particular clings to Billy until she’s finally coaxed back inside.
Billy lingers on the porch a moment longer. “Why don’t you go with them, Billy?” Victor asks kindly. “I know your siblings missed you a lot.”
“No.” Billy shakes his head. “If you’re going to talk about me, I want to be here.”
“Billy…” Rosa says. She glances at Victor.
Billy lifts his chin and meets their eyes head on.
It’s not like them to butt heads and it’s not like him to act belligerent like this. Not anymore. But recent events have left him feeling off his axis and not at all like himself. He feels vulnerable and he’s desperate to prove to them all that this isn’t the case.
“I understand your concerns,” Diana says, “but perhaps it is best to let him stay.”
They look at her, this warrior woman standing on their porch, and they relent.
“Okay,” Rosa says unhappily.
“I’m not going to stop,” Billy says abruptly. It’s important that he gets this out of the way now. “Even if you kick me out of the League.”
“No one is kicking you out,” Diana says and in the same breath, Victor says, “We’ll talk about that later.”
Something raw and desperate is clawing its way up his throat. “You can’t force me to do something I don’t want to. I mean, what’s the point of having these powers if I can’t use them? I can help people.”
“What about you, Billy?” Rosa says. “You’re so young. You should be worried about school. Not supervillains.”
“Life didn’t really give me that option.” It’s easier to focus on just one person so he focuses on Rosa.
Her lips are pressed together thinly. She knows he’s right. They all know he’s right.
Because, at the end of the day, they can kick him out of the League if they want, if that’s what will make them feel better.
But they can’t stop him from doing what he does.
Billy stays awake long after he’s already gone up to bed, long after Freddy has stopped trying to talk to him and rolled over to face the wall on his side of the room.
He doesn’t know if he’s actually asleep or just pretending to be, but it’s not like it matters.
His phone pings and he snatches it from the bureau to see a message from Mary.
Are you okay? Freddy told me what happened.
He frowns and unlocks his phone so he can type a quick response. Freddy’s a rat.
Mary’s response is just as quick. He’s worried about you. So am I.
Don’t you have exams to study for? I’m fine. He flips the phone over on his chest and stares at the ceiling. There’s another text from Mary, which he ignores. He puts the phone on silent and throws it back on the dresser.
They can finish their conversation tomorrow.
Someone knocks on the door.
Billy doesn’t answer. Maybe if he pretends to be asleep, his parents will go away.
He should have known better.
“Billy?” Rosa pushes the door open a crack. “Are you awake?”
Billy squeezes his eyes shut and barely stifles a sigh. Is everyone going to be checking up on him tonight? But he can’t pretend for long when it’s Rosa.
“Yeah.”
She steps inside, fingers still wrapped around the door knob. “Do you want to come downstairs? Victor and I were making hot chocolate.”
He considers for a moment, then decides that he really wouldn’t mind hot chocolate. He doesn’t think he’ll be getting to sleep anytime soon with all the thoughts that are zipping around inside of his head. “Okay.”
He follows Rosa downstairs. She’s still on edge, but that’s okay because Billy is too. Their house is being monitored by the Justice League. They may have to relocate.
And it’s all his fault.
Victor is sitting on the couch. He has two steaming, ceramic mugs in his hands and a third one sitting on the coffee table. “Hey, kiddo.” He smiles when he sees Billy and holds up one of the mugs. “Did you want whipped cream on this?”
“No, thanks.” Billy loves whipped cream. Usually. It might be too much for him now. He accepts the mug and settles himself on the couch. “So,” he says.
“So,” Victor agrees.
Rosa grabs the last mug and sits in the armchair facing them. “Billy, I understand where you’re coming from. But I want you to understand where we’re coming from.”
Billy squirms uncomfortable.
“You’re our son, Billy. And you have this amazing gift and you do so much good with it. But there are also people who want to hurt you for it and that’s… so hard for Victor and I.” She dabs at her eyes. “We love you so much, Billy. And if something happened to you…”
“Mom…” Tears are welling in his own eyes.
Victor places a heavy hand on his shoulder. “We’re used to people wanting to kill you by now, Billy,” he says quietly. “And by you, I mean the other you. But this time, they went after you you. The one without superpowers.”
Billy swallows down the lump in his throat. He doesn’t know what there is to say to that.
Quietly, he sets the mug back down on the coffee table and gets up, crossing the room so he can join Rosa on the chair. He wraps his arms around her neck.
Rosa doesn’t say anything. She simply holds him.