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Chapter Text

William Batson was born in ancient Greece, he grew up in the streets alongside his siblings, he befriended a kid with the heart of a lion when he was 7, said kid shared his powers with Billy and his siblings when he was 10. 

When the kid died they tried to keep his father from doing something his son wouldn't agree of, in his anger, the man destroyed the whole place and almost killed them, Teth Adam was locked away as punishment, and the Champions were left hibernating as a last resort to save them, freezing them in time, their wounds healed, but aside from that their bodies were left unchanged.

Billy wakes up 5,000 years later in a strange world he doesn't recognize, all to fight the seven deadly sins, alone, the Wisdom of Solomon helps him navigate through this new and strange world. He absorbs all the knowledge he can from libraries, he rents an apartment using Captain Marvel to pose as his guardian, and he gets a part-time job at Whiz radio. 

He goes to school too with some help from the man he works for, sees it as a safe place to get more knowledge. And useful since he was initially the same age he was last he was awake. 13. 

He visits his siblings, misses them, he remembers the blood, the cries, the screams... He wonders what became of Teth Adam…Then, a year later, he joins the Justice League. He never tells them his identity nor anything about himself for that matter, he knows how children are viewed, they won't understand and they might kick him out, which he doesn't want to, they make him feel less alone, he doesn't want to lose that. 

He knows there's a lot of rumors regarding his origins, some of which are closer to the truth than some of them might realize, he doesn't tell them whether they are right or not, mainly because he has no idea how to explain such complicated things. 

Because how does he tells them that while he looks like a teenager and is a teenager in mind and all, he is centuries old? That while he looks like a teenager, he is older than all of them put together?

He finds good friends in the League though, but he can never forget about his siblings, one particularly bad day, a girl that looks too much like Darla for comfort dies, a street child that wouldn't be missed, and he can't handle it, he bolts off, ignoring his teammates calling, everything, as he comes to the Rock he touches around the Rock where Darla is at, he feels her energy, dormant but there, she is there, the relief is such he breaks down, crying as he falls awfully aware of how alone he is, he speaks in ancient Greek as he cries and begs for them to wake up, of how everything is so strange now, an alien world he no longer recognizes, he feels so alone, he doesn't understand anything, there were so many rules, do that, don't do that, speak, don't speak. 

And against his better judgement he ends up cursing at the wizard, calling for him, demanding answers he knows he will never get, the wizard has been silent ever since he woke up. 

"Why did you wake me up? Why only me? Why me? Didn't you once say that we were a team? Then why am I the only one awake? Teth Adam isn't anywhere to be seen, why am I awake? It's been two years since I put the seven deadly sins back into slumber, so with what purpose am I still awake? What do you want from me? What's the big idea? I have been on your every call since this whole mess began thousands of years ago. You promised they would wake up, but it's been two years, why haven't they woken up yet? Answer me dammit! Answer me....." 

He runs out of tears and is left curled into a ball, he falls asleep. 

All along unaware that the comm had been turned on and that the League had heard his meltdown. Diana understood every word crystal clear.

Billy stays at the Rock for a few days, magic makes the comm go away when he de-transforms, he tells Darla about how he got her a unicorn plushie, she had loved unicorns, she would have loved how many unicorn based things were out there, monumentally different from the real deal, but still unicorns, he buys things for his siblings sometimes, and he has several bunk beds, it was a lot, but between his job at Whiz radio and his translations from ancient Greek online… he had good money, and he wanted his siblings to have a home to come to when they woke. He kisses his hand and touches the rock where she is sealed at before finally leaving.

He wonders what is wrong with people as he walks into the Watchtower a week later, all happy and giddy as always, he is confused when Diana appears out of nowhere and hugs him, but he is never been one to turn down hugs, it made him feel less lonely, and it reminded him of Darla and her knack for hugging people. 

Diana was like a sister, she reminded him of Mary sometimes, so he hugs her back, confused but overjoyed. 

"Not that I mind, but why are we hugging?" 

He questions. She doesn't answer as she pulls back. 

"There's… something… come." 

He is confused, but he still nods as he follows after Diana, she leads him to the meeting room… where the others are at; Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Superman, Aquaman and Cyborg. They all have that weird sad look on their faces… but why? 

"Uhm, what's wrong?" He asks, now a bit worried. "Is this about last week? I know I shouldn't have left like that and then gone silent for a week, it won't happen again, scout's honor." He told, raising his hand for more emphasis. 

"You left your comm on when you left."

Batman's words took a moment to register, and then Billy felt ice grip his stomach, oh shit, did he meant what he thought he meant? Their faces told him that yes, everyone had heard his embarrassing meltdown. He coughed, trying to appear unfazed. 

"Oh." Is all he says, because what is he suppose to say in this situation? 

"What do you meant by "only one awake"?"

Wonder Woman's question made him frown, he's never told them about his siblings, nothing, even if it wouldn't put them in danger for no one but him could enter the Rock Of Eternity it still made him anxious, I mean, he trusted the League, but he was paranoid when it came to that place, where his siblings were literally at in a very vulnerable state. But he guessed a little tidbit of truth wouldn't hurt… 

"I was… asleep, sort of, had been so for several decades, not sure how long, I was only awoken because the seven deadly sins had been released, I thought I would go back to sleep once that was dealt with, I didn't, there was originally another champion... he shared his powers with me and five others, there can only be seven, he gave his powers to someone called Teth Adam who was dying, he lost them, people took advantage of it and killed him... Teth Adam grew vengeful against those who killed him and refused to listen to reason… he destroyed the city in his rage, we tried to stop him, but we failed."

He bit back the pang of hurt at the reminder of the worst day of his life, the screams and the blood...

"We almost died from it, in a last attempt to save us the Wizard put us in a sort of hibernation state. All the wounds were gone when I woke up, but I was still the same age I was centuries ago, I began aging again after waking up. The wizard said that they would wake up given time, but it's been two years already and none of them has given any sign of waking up anytime soon."

He finished, looking down at his boots and frowning, he didn't want to talk about this. It was bad enough he had to live with that knowledge, he didn't need more people knowing and reminding him through pitiful looks.

"What's your relationship with these people?" Of course Batman would ask that, he bit his cheek, glaring at the floor, a knot burning at the back of his throat. The words burnt to speak. 

"The first champion was a good friend, Teth Adam was his father, the others... they were, are, my brothers and sisters."

 He corrected himself, they weren't dead, he didn't care if he had to wait for centuries, they weren't dead, if he woke up they could still wake up.

☆

Billy could tell from a mile that ever since he told the League about his siblings, ever since his meltdown, something seemed to have shifted in their eyes, he couldn't pinpoint what, but something had definitely changed. At least it wasn't pity. 

And then, one day, while he steps into the Rock Of Eternity, he comes across something that freezes him.

~

The League knew about Cap's siblings, knew of their current state, it was hateful and frustrating how there was nothing to be done about it, Zatanna had said there was nothing she could do against such strong magic, neither could Constantine. 

The Captain was still his cheerful self, smiling and goofing around as if nothing at all was wrong with the world. How did that man manage that? No one knew. But the reminders of his cries and pleas. The anger and the anguish. The desperation and desolation... it was still seared into their minds, sounds that might never quite fade from their minds.

It reminded a few of that quote of "People with big smiles hiding a lot of pain". He had said he would take the day off, so it came as a surprise to hear the sudden emergency alert coming from his comm. Batman was quick to pick it up. 

"Captain?"

"Batman?" The voice that came from the other end was undoubtedly Captain Marvel's, but his tone was smaller and much more vulnerable than anything Bruce's ever heard from the man, it strikes something inside him that he can't quite name.

"Yes, what's-?"

"She's here, her seal gave in, I don't know how, when I went there she was already there, but she didn't heal, she's not- she won't stop bleeding, I know you said before no one unauthorized was allowed in the Watchtower, but-"

"Marvel." Batman cut off, he didn't need more to know what those words meant, he could connect the dots within seconds. "What's your location?"

"I'm outside the Zeta tube from Fawcett City."

"Then get in."

And with that Batman cut the communication off in order to stand up, calling the others as he made his way towards the Zeta tubes.

The announcement of Marvel's arrival with the "guest" catching several people's attention, people Batman gave a glare to, right now, the last thing needed was a hoard of curious heroes.

As he arrived at the Zeta tubes he was met with Marvel, the man was carrying a woman with a very similar costume as his, the only difference being that hers had a skirt.

Chapter Text

Hades is one of the big three, but unlike his siblings, he doesn't have dozens of children roaming around, he just has one,  an 11 year old halfblood boy with black hair and bright blue eyes, a boy by the name of William Batson. 

He let him be raised by his mother and step father until the age of 4 when his parents died as a tomb collapsed. Billy was taken in by his uncle Dudley, C.C.'s brother, but Hades went for him and took him to the Underworld with him. 

Billy was free to travel between world's, he visited his uncle and friends, kept going to school and living a relatively normal life, if one ignored that he lived in the Underworld, and his dog was Cerberus. 

At the age of 9 he became the Champion of Magic. 

And at the age of 10 he joined the Justice League, as months went on he heard the rising rumors, of him being thousands of years old, immortal, an alien and so on. He found them amusing. 

He became friends with Diana who called him her brother to his father's distaste. He did amazing at hiding who he was, he had a great life, a loving father, a loving step mother, great friends, his uncle, he was even working alongside his heroes. 

And then Batman caught sight of him using the key to open a portal to the Underworld, Diana recognized the key after Batman showed the suspicious activity to the other members. 

But why would he go to the Underworld? He did had powers of Gods, but none of which were from the Underworld. Diana knew her uncle to be quite reclusive, he was rarely seen, even more so these past few years, she had heard about his son, a halfblood, the first child from Olympus since her own birth thousands of years ago, she's never met him, but she heard the boy wasn't even a teenager yet, and that Hades was extremely overprotective of him, she's heard the other Gods speak about him, even her father seemed enamored with the little boy even though she knew he would never admit it to Hades' face. 

Diana did admit she was curious to meet him, she might not spend much time with her siblings and cousins, but she knew each and every single one of them, so it was a bit of a goal of hers to one day meet this little cousin, especially one so young, she loved kids, and she is heard that that one was as energetic as he was bright, she heard her father say once that he couldn't understand how the King of the Underwolrd had such a sunny child. 

Some of the Gods referred to him as either little lion or little lightning, the reason for the last one remained unknown to her, and still, it killed Diana to know this child. She had visited the Underworld several times, but Hades and Persephone had every time said that the boy was running around in the human realm. 

Point is. 

Hades was very picky with the living people he let into the Underworld, especially after his son was brought there, so why is the Captain going there? 

Next time the League sees him he stammered and ends up making excuses and running off. Several months later, the League is fighting a villain that can't be harmed, not even Superman and Captain Marvel can hurt it. 

A bomb from Batman shows fire can harm it, and so Billy does the only thing he can think of, he uses his powers, he breathes fire, what best fire there is than Hades' himself? Blue flames engulf the monster, Marvel's eyes glowing a burning blue as threads of blue flames dance around his hair. He is never breathed so much fire before, and once the monster is nothing but ashes he drops from the sky, vision going black. 

Last thing he remembers is strong yet gentle arms wrapping around him instead of the painful collision with the ground he had expected. 

Meanwhile, in the Watchtower, Wonder Woman is pacing around. 

"I don't understand, I'm sure those were Hades' flames, but the Captain has no reason to have them. The only one who can harness such flames is Hades himself, and his son, or so I have heard, I have never met him."

"Cap could be a demi-god, I mean, he fits the criteria, right?" Flash asks no one, it wouldn't be a stretch, one of the running theories was that the man was a demi-god much like Diana. A bit odd that of all possibilities it would be Hades God Of the Underworld. 

"Couldn't he be Hades' son?" Batman questions. This at least would explain the man's trip to the Underworld. Diana shook her head.

"That's impossible, Hades' son's still a child. And if the Captain were a demi-god I would know, he isn't." Diana told, all demi-gods had a distinctive scent.

Captain Marvel didn't.

But again, he usually smelt strongly of ozone, she couldn't really sense anything past her father's mark on him. If it wasn't because she had asked her father about it she would have genuinely thought Marvel was her actual brother.

He wasn't. Her father had been quite adamant about that.

So what was he?

////

Billy wakes up with a groan, he sits up and looks around, he glanced at the clock on the wall and winced, shit, his father would not be pleased, he might be crawling up the walls wondering where he was. 

He was quick to leave the bed, but before he could even take a step forward the door opened, revealing several members of the League. He gives them a sheepish grin. 

"Did we win?"

"Yeah man, uh, thing's dust now."

"Good." Marvel lets his shoulders drop as relief floods in. That relief is short lived though, for now he is getting weird looks, some wary, others confused. 

"Since when can you breathe fire?" Batman's question makes him frown. Shit. Right. He did use that ability, not Captain Marvel's. But his. 

And as he glanced at Diana he bit his tongue, shit, he could tell she knew things she shouldn't, he hadn't wanted to use any of his powers because he had feared she would catch on, it had been hard enough to avoid her as it was. She would undoubtedly recognise the fire. Hades' fire, something no being on Earth could wield but Hades himself. And a certain someone. 

"Those were Hades'  flames, how is it possible?" He didn't answer. What the hell was he suppose to answer in this scenario? Thus, he stared at the floor.  

He hadn't wanted them to know his identity, at least not yet, he had wanted to wait until he was at least 17 or 18, hell even 15 at most, because 11 was not a good age for adults to trust him. He didn't want them to use kid gloves with him or for their friendship to become awkward. 

"You are him, aren't you?" Diana's voice made him wince. Shit. 

"I don't know what you are talking about, I should get going, it's late and I'm already fine so-." He tried to walk past them, but a hand grabbed his arm, a hand with a golden brace. He had no escape from this, did he? 

"What do you mean "him"?" Green Lantern questioned confused. 

"Hades' son."

"But you said he was a child." Billy made a face at the word, he knew he was a child, he didn't need people rubbing it on his face, he didn't had anything against being a child, just against how people treated him for it. 

He fred his arm from Diana and stepped back, like a bandaid, get it over with quickly and he could go home and sleep for the next week. 

"Yes, I am him. How? Transformation magic. It makes me look older than I am. Why didn't I tell you? Because I have been doing this for over a year before you asked me to join, and I am perfectly capable of pulling my weight and getting things done, my age is irrelevant, but you all would have still treated me with kid gloves, which I certainly don't need nor appreciate. I get it, I'm a "child", it doesn't mean you get to treat me as if I were stupid or a frail little thing who needs to be shielded from the world's horrors and whatnot. Even in my usual form I could very much beat several villains on my own. You can kick me out if you want, but I won't stop doing what I do, with your help or not, I will still do everything in my power to protect those who can't protect themselves, and I don't care if you are alright with it or not." Billy was quite sure that was the longest sentence he is ever said in his life without taking a breath. But he was afraid that if he took the breath he might lock up and be unable to say what he wanted to say. 

Silence filled the room, but he refused to back down, he would not run nor hide, father had taught him better than that. He would face the consequences with his head held high. 

"How old are you exactly?" Batman's question didn't have the heat Billy expected. It caught him a bit off guard. He hesitated for a moment before answering. 

"11." He ignored the sharp intake of breath and the horror in some faces. "Again, I'm young, not stupid nor frail."

"Show us." Billy didn't even need to be a genius to know what Batman was asking, he sighed, annoyed. 

"Fine, stand back." He told before taking a few steps back himself. And then he called the word. "Shazam!" Lightning struck down, and soon he felt the power leave, he did not like how he was suddenly barely waist level with everyone in the room. He was freakishly small for a 11 year old, hilarious because his father was almost as tall as his form of Captain Marvel. 

He wasn't quite sure how to feel about Diana coming to kneel before him. He could tell from a mile that she was just realizing the fact that they were biologically related.

"Captain?" Her voice is soft, her eyes searching. 

"You can call me Billy." He conceded, holding his hand out for a handshake, Diana took it.

"It's good to meet you Billy." Diana said, smiling warmly at the boy, resisting the urge to hug him. In this form, she could make it out, as Captain Marvel she could never make it out, he smelt like ozone and too much like her father in general. But like this... she could smell the ozone, yes, but she could also smell the Underworld's familiar reek of sulfur.

Hades' flames.

Even the bright blue eyes, how did she never notice his eyes were the exact same shade as Hades'? A shade of blue no human eye could ever aim to mimic?

Chapter Text

Billy has been on the League for four years now. He is 16 and has recently found out that his crush of two years liked him back, so now he was dating Stargirl. They had agreed to keep their relationship as superheroes... at arm lengths, it would be creepy for a teenager to be too close with an "adult". 

And still, they mess up several times, the first time it happens Courtney comes from a mission completely exhausted, she plops down by his side, leaning against him and falling asleep almost immediately, he runs his fingers through her hair absently, watching her sleep, this before frowning as he catches sight of several cuts littering her arm, thus, he runs his hand down her arm, using his magic to heal the small cuts that litter her forearms.

He jumps out of his skin when someone clears their throat in a very uncomfortable fashion, and he looks up to be met with Superman who motions for him to follow him. The man gives him advice to not be too close with the teenager for some people could misunderstand, even if he tries to explain that all he was doing was healing her, Superman still gives him a very suspicious, very wary look.

Billy has no idea why.

The second time it happens, it's Flash and Green Lantern who pass him by the hall, Stargirl on his back, she had insisted on a piggyback ride while on their way to the cafeteria, she was animatedly telling him about her plans with Mary and some of her other friends for the night. He greets Flash and Green Lantern with one of his usual smiles, he is a bit confused when he is regarded with awkward greetings. This before Flash insists Stargirl comes with him because he wants to show her something. She pouts at the speedster, but she still agrees, Billy is left alone in the middle of the hall, feeling like he was missing something about the whole awkward interaction.

The fourth person that sees him is Wonder Woman, she sees him with his head dropped on Stargirl's shoulder, she is stroking his hair, asking him if he would want for her to call Victor to pick him up once he gets to Fawcett City, that way he wouldn't have to fly all the way home, he could even sneak a nap at the van. He hums. 

Diana refuses to see it with vile intent, she wants to believe the others are misreading things, Cap was generally a very physical person, and Stargirl obviously felt comfortable with the interaction, Diana's seen Stargirl's father not comment on her interactions with Cap, so she wants to believe nothing is amiss. Her brother was not a vile man. The League should know better than that. 

The fifth person who comes across an "odd" interaction between them, it is Batman, he sees the concerning footage of Stargirl kissing Marvel's cheek, innocent, but the way the man reacts to the kiss with a stupid grin is what leads him to call a meeting to confront the hero. 

Billy is very confused with everyone's weird looks, even more so at Stargirl sitting in a meeting room usually reserved for the original ones, but again, he's never been quite sure on the why he was also allowed in there when he wasn't really one of the first six let alone one of the first 20 heroes in the League.

Stargirl is sitting across from him between Superman and Wonder Woman, she looks as confused as he feels. Then Batman speaks. 

"I have called this meeting because there is a most delicate matter to discuss. We are heroes, we are meant to protect and do good, in here, we respect each other regardless of gender, age or race."

Billy was massively confused on where this was going, specially because everyone seemed somewhat uncomfortable and like they knew where this was going, where the hell was it going? 

Courtney gave him a questioning look to which he shrugged. Batman turned to look at him, a serious face Billy had to admit made his throat close as fear sparked at the pit of his stomach, why did it felt like he had evoked the man's anger? He didn't remember doing anything wrong. He hadn't skipped any duties and he had turned in his reports very diligently. So why- 

"Captain, you have been working with us for four years now, you are a friend of ours, it's because of this that you were given the benefit of the doubt. But I need an answer, what is your relationship with Stargirl?"

Billy's brain short circuited at Batman's words, he heard Courtney make a funny sound, as if she were equally caught off guard by this. Where did that question come from? 

"What are you talking about? We are friends, you know this, everyone does." Billy told, not sure what was expected of him. Batman narrows his eyes at him before putting on the footage of the security camera near the Zeta tubes. 

Of Stargirl kissing his cheek before disapearing into the Zeta tube. And his stupid dopey grin at it, Billy knew the gravity of the situation, but he still felt embarrassed over what was suppose to be a moment no one would ever see. He could swear he heard Courtney snicker. 

"Is this whole thing because of that?" Stargirl asked, seeing where this was going, she knew she shouldn't have been so careless, her dad had warned her to behave if she didn't want him to have a talk with Billy, about what? She had no idea.

But at the same time she could get an idea about it, and now... But she hadn't thought it was a big deal... plus, she didn't even need to act that much, she loved Billy, but being lovey dovey with him when he looked like he could be her dad was a bit gross. Now.... shit. 

"Yes, this is a serious matter, there are rumors, and if this gets out do you have any idea what that might do to our reputation? And our reputation isn't even the biggest concern here, the fact is that we can't have an adult having such relationship with a child, it's illegal and flat out wrong."

"I'm not a child!" Stargirl snaps before realizing what she just said, and that in her wording, she just admitted there was something between them. Shit. "I mean, in any case, I will be turning 18 in four months."

Billy gave her a pleading look and she wisely shut up, I mean, in any case too, if anyone was younger here, it was Billy, he was 16.

"That's beyond the point!" Superman snaps. "He is twice your age, you are twice her age, what are you thinking?" Superman said, turning to look at the man he thought he knew, even now, he couldn't still believe they were seriously having this conversation. 

Marvel sighed in what seemed like frustration, dragging his hands down his face. He then seemed to come to a conclusion. 

"Look, I know this looks bad, like, seriously bad, but I can explain."

"Explain? There's nothing to explain! She's 17, and you said you were thousands of years old, even in Atlantis below 18 is underage, a child."

Billy groaned at Aquaman's words. God, this was so not happening, he hadn't wanted for his identity to come out like this, but his reputation was at stake, he couldn't let them think he was some old perverted man who went after minors.

"I lied, alright?" He blurted out before he could regret it. 

"Cap-"

"I know what I'm doing." He cut off, giving Stargirl a look, yeah, he had admitted to her once that it terrified him to the core the idea of having to tell the League his identity, he's even had nightmares about it, but his reputation was at stake here, his integrity as a person, a hero and everything in between. He could deal with this. 

Courtney gave him a doubtful look before nodding. 

"You lied? About what exactly?" Batman asks, narrowing his eyes dangerously. Billy bit his cheek, shit, he really didn't want to say it... 

"I'm not a thousand years old nor was I born with these powers, I'm... I'm human." He didn't miss the several surprised looks, and before anyone could speak he went on. "I got these powers not even a year before you asked me to join, this is not even how I usually look like, the magic just enhances everything, kind of like how that Supergirl clone was aged up to be in her prime form? That's sort of how it's for me. That's why I never go into undercover missions nor have I revealed my identity. I wasn't really planning on doing it yet, but I don't really feel like being seen as a pervert who goes after little girls." 

"Little girl?! I'm older than you!" Stargirl protests. He made a face at her. 

"You know, it's kind of unfair how you call yourself older than me, but if I say it you go up and steal my fries."

She stuck her tongue out at him with a grin. 

"Wait, time out. What do you mean you are older than him?" Flash asked, not sure he was following. 

"I told you, this is not how I usually look like, I guess this would be how I would look like somewhere in the future, maybe not, who knows? Magic is weird man. But uhm, I'm actually 16. So, thecnically speaking, we aren't doing anything wrong. Her dad's seen my civilian form, he can tell you I'm not lying, he even met my parents."

Explaining his romantic life to the League wasn't something he ever thought he would have to do. He was regarded with several doubtful looks. He sighed, would he seriously have to do this? He groaned before standing up. 

"Alright, want proof? I can give you proof." And before anyone could ask what he would do. He called the word. "Shazam!" Lightning struck down, lights flickering.

And once the smoke had cleared, where the Captain had been standing at not even a few seconds ago, a young boy stood, dark hair, blue eyes and a red, gold and blue jacket, a Wonder Woman jacket.

"See? I'm 16, and I will be 17 in a few months, I have a perfectly reasonable and very legal age to be with her, now, can we please stop talking about this?" He almost begged, he was embarrassed enough as it was. He shouldn't have gotten out of bed today. 

The League for their side stared at him with several kinds of expressions. The most predominant one being shock. 

"You were 12." Superman's words caught him off guard. 

"What?" 

"You were 12 when you joined."

"So? Robin was 10, and don't tell me that's different because he was trained, Captain Marvel is indestructible even when a 12 year old was his host. You could say he was, is my full body armor. Why didn't I tell you? Because you would have put on your kid gloves and treated me like an idiot frail little thing who shouldn't be exposed to such horrors. Well, news flash, I have been seeing messed up shit since I was 7. And yes, my parents do know, they aren't exactly thrilled but they are coming around the idea. And I was gonna tell you, you know, when i was 18."

"Dude." Flash looked mortified.

"I don't see what's the big issue here." Stargirl said as the silence dragged on. "As he said, Robin was 10 when he started, so if age is the issue that's quite hypocritical of you. He learnt how to fight, eventually. And you know perfectly well that while he can be extremely immature he's never let any of you down nor messed up a mission. Either so, last I checked he could mop the floor with Superman, shouldn't keeping him on your side be your main goal instead of his age?"

Stargirl did have a point there, but this was so much more different than with Robin or any other underage superhero, because Captain Marvel had been exposed to things no child should be exposed to, he was sent to fight Superman several times, they had offered him alcohol, invitations to bars and Oliver's definitely not for kids parties, they had even played FMK, had spoken to him about things in their personal lives no child should ever have to hear, at. All.

No wonder he was always so uncomfortable and trying to get away from certain activities, like the parties, the bar invitations, the flirting and the R-rated game nights, he had escaped from most of them under the guise of having magical stuff to do, but not all of them.

Christ, Barry had tried to kiss him once during a truth or dare game, making the count, he had tried to kiss a fucking 13 year old. No wonder the Captain had scrambled off the couch and bolted to not be seen for the next following days, God, he felt like he might be sick, and like turning himself up to the cops, or to the FBI.

"The point of dividing the heroes between ages is so as to not expose them to certain things. Or like, if we knew your age, we would have been mindful of what we said and did around you." Green Lantern said.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I could care less about any of that, I lived in the streets man, I have seen pretty messed up shit for a kid, doesn't faze me anymore." Billy knew that was the wrong thing to say the moment the League's faces fell, horror overtaking their expressions. "I don't live in the streets anymore, I have a foster family." He's quick to add, just in case Batman began making plans that would involve adoption papers, he knew the guy had a knack for adopting black haired kids with blue eyes.

He liked Batman, but he was not gonna let him adopt him, plus, he liked his current family thank you very much.

"And are you safe there? Happy?" Wonder Woman asks, eyeing the very worn out jacket and ratty sneakers, he seemed unharmed, and he didn't seem malnourished, but Diana's spent enough time in the world of men to know the kind of evil people were capable of, even now, she had a hard time believing people could be so vile towards children, even their own children or children meant to be under their care.

"Yes." His answer was genuine, so Diana let herself relax at that, she didn't care much about his age, he might be a teenager, but he had saved their lives a dozen times, and while he could be immature Diana would never hesitate to trust him with her life, he was reliable and one of the greatest man she's ever met, his age didn't change that.

She did felt a bit hurt that he had lied, but she could also understand why would he do it. 

"You said your parents know... why would they let you do this?" Superman asks, he doesn't seem happy.

"Because it doesn't matter what they say, I will still help people, they know it perfectly well, they don't like it, but they know they can't really stop me." Billy didn't mention the fact where he had once seriously considered giving up Captain Marvel when the Vasquez first found out, he had been terrified of the possibility of losing them, terrified of being thrown out, that they had had enough of him.

Of being left completely alone again.

Courtney had been the one to convince him to not do it, that he was over thinking too much, Rosa and Victor would never turn their backs on him, he knew that now.

"And you will really not stop? No matter what we say?" Superman asks, holding the boy's gaze, those eyes gave him the answer, this was a battle long lost, Clark knew that it didn't matter what he said, Captain Marvel would keep doing this, so the least he could do was make sure he didn't do it alone.

"No, though I might consider leaving if you start treating me like a child, I'm 16, not stupid nor frail, I have the literal power of Gods, one of which is the actual God of Wisdom." Billy stated, it would kill him to leave the League, but it would kill him more to have to watch them walk on eggshells around him and being subjected to a lesser treatment as if he were stupid or frail.

The sudden sound of a buzzing phone caught his attention, he pulled his phone out from his pocket.

Mama Rosa

"I have to answer this." He excused himself, giving Superman a pointed look before turning around and answering the call. "Yes?" He asked in a low enough voice to not be overheard.

Billy? Honey? Where are you at? Came Rosa's soft voice, the sound of a movie running in the background.

"I'm still at the Watchtower, had to deal with some stuff, will tell you later."

Are you alright? Why are you whispering? 

"I'm fine, don't worry."

... Alright, if you say so. I just wanted to let you know that dinner's almost ready. 

Right, one of their new rules was that unless he was on a space mission, he had to be there for all their meals.

"Alright, I will be there soon."

Chapter Text

William Batson was born in ancient Greece, he became the Champion at the tender age of 10. In a most fatidical battle with an enraged Black Adam gone terribly wrong, his siblings were slaughtered and he became fatally wounded, in a last attempt to save him he was put in an hibernating state.

So he is now centuries old, theoretically, but he still has his age of when he was put in "suspension" mode. 

15.

He was woken to fight the seven deadly sins, as he won, he was left to navigate a much too modern world, struggling to cope with the loss of his siblings that still feels too fresh for him and having to learn how to survive in a world he doesn't understand and where being under the age of 18 comes with dozens of dangers hiding behind masks of goodwill, but he is nothing if not determined. 

Then he joins the Justice League, several months after his apparition, it's convenient for he can stay at the Watchtower instead of the streets, he doesn't understand the modern world, and honestly? After that woman, a social worker? He had no idea what even that meant, but the woman had grabbed him and had insisted on helping him, he had let it happen to see how it went... not so good, she had put him in a house with a most hostile man, he had left after the man had beaten him for taking food without asking. 

He had been a slave in the past, he wasn't about to let anyone step over him anymore, he would never be afraid or defenseless, so he left. The Watchtower was better, he could eat lots and he got to hang out with Flash and Green Lantern, no one seemed too hung up on his explanation of wanting to live in the Watchtower over not mixing well with the modern world, plus, he could submerge himself in the computer, learning as much as he could about how things had changed. He likes it there, it helps him not think about the past. He was doing great...

Until a villain attacks his mind, bringing forward his worst memories to immobilize him, making him relive the feelings and sensations felt at the time. 

He sees his siblings be slaughtered, he can remember the taste of copper as he screamed until his throat was raw, desperated to transform, to break free from the binds and save them, but he couldn't, all he could do was watch as a spear decapitated Eugene before him, how Mary was stabbed through the heart, her blood splashing on his face, the impotence as he screamed trying to lift the rubber Freddie was trapped underneath before it crumbled and crushed him. How Darla's head was crushed, and Pedro's heart ripped out. He feels the blood pool in his mouth as a sword went right through his chest from behind. He turns to see Black Adam. A broken whisper as he meets the man's eyes. 

"Why?"  

This before dropping from the sky, lightning striking around him before the world went black.

Chapter Text

Billy is 16 and he really doesn't want to go home, he is much too tired to use a Zeta tube let alone walk to said Zeta tube, the mission had taken over 50 hours where he had to use his magic left and right, giving him not time to breathe at all, all in all his endless stamina seemed to have gone down the toilet, Batman calling a meeting isn't surprising, he is embarrassed but glad when Batman calls the meeting off after he faceplants on the table due exhaustion. 

He sends Rosa a text that he will be sleeping at the Watchtower before going to his room, there he de-transforms and passes out. He wakes up feeling like he still should sleep over several hours more, but he has school and he really doesn't want to miss it today, there was a math test today. 

He is half asleep so he isn't quite aware that he never returned to his Captain Marvel form. So he isn't sure what the deal with the confused looks he gets is, he wishes them good morning with a half smile and while he gets answers people look at him as if he were some unknown object. He drags himself to the cafeteria, snatching a bagel and a red bull from the fridge before sitting down on his usual spot, he stares at the ceiling as he chews, wondering how mad would Rosa be if she knew the kind of breakfast he was having, she would definitely team up with Darla and shove a ton of food at him, he didn't really find it annoying, it was the opposite, it always filled him with warmth to know he now had people who cared about him. 

So lost in thought he was he didn't notice the attention he had on himself. Of the heroes whispering about the kid with the red hoodie, wondering who he was, if he was a new hero from the Young Justice League, or if he was one of the Robins or young heroes who never took the mask off.

Billy for his side dawns the rest of the red bull before disposing of the can and setting out for the Zeta tubes, he would have made it had it not been for the sudden grip on his arm, he looked at the hand grabbing his own arm, an arm clad in golden scales, before looking up to be met with narrowed eyes. 

"How did you get here? You are not from the Young Justice." Aquaman's question made him frown. Of course he wasn't, what was his big idea? Yet, before he could answer he pulled Billy with him. "Doesn't matter, Batman will know what to do."

"What are you talking about?" Arthur ignores him and Billy is much too tired to argue, so he follows, Arthur leads him to the meeting room where the rest is at. Raised eyebrows come his way. 

"What's with the kid?"

"I caught him snooping around the Zeta tubes, he isn't from the Young Justice League nor is he ours." Aquaman's words took a moment to register, Billy felt ice crawl up his neck before any remaining sleep vanished, he looked down at his hand, his very small very normal hand, his arm had red, but that was the red jacket he was wearing, with a red shirt with Cap's lightning bolt, it had been a birthday gift from Rosa, her way of letting him know she was finally coming around this whole thing. He didn't usually wore his merchandise, but it had been her first gift to him since their argument about the whole Captain Marvel thing. 

So he wore it, a lot. 

Point was. He was fucked.

His attention snapped to the front when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he looked up and was met Superman. 

"Hey there son, how did-" Billy cut him off as he raised his hand infront of the man, this was not how he had wanted this to go, but he might go sick if Superman so much as spoke to him as if he were a stupid and clueless child. 

"Hold it. I'm not a child, well, not a random child. You know me, you all do, I didn't wanna fly back last night so I stayed here, I don't like sleeping in my other form, last time I did I broke the bed." He could see the gears turning at his last words, it was no secret how many beds he had broken, in his defense he had been still getting used to having an adult's body twice his size with super strength in a small room. 

And then. 

"Captain?" Finally Aquaman released his arm with a confused frown on his face. 

"Yes?"

"Are you- why are you- Is this like a power saving mode?" Flash's words made him frown. Should he go along with the lie? It wasn't like he was 11 anymore and panicking over being found out and kicked out. Stargirl was 16, Robin was 14 for God's sake. Cyborg was with the League and he was 18. Just two years older than him. He wouldn't be kicked out... right? Here came nothing. 

"No... it's not power saving mode. This is how I usually look like..." A pin drop could be heard. He grew nervous. 

"How old are you?" Superman did not sound happy. 

"16." He could tell from a mile several of them were taking count on that, and he winced at the realization in their faces. 

"You were 11 when we asked you to join?"

"So? Robin was 10 when he started, I don't see the issue. I know I lied, but you can't really tell me you would have let me stay if I had told you. I know you don't like child heroes, but even before I had these powers I have always been more kind of the kid who gets his ass kicked in an alley for helping someone than the kind to play at the park and cower and hide whenever there's trouble. And before you ask, I do go to school, I have passable grades and I do get to have a "normal" life doing stupid things like any teenager. I just happen to be a superhero too. And my parents do know, they found around two months ago, they aren't exactly thrilled but they are coming around it." He finished, holding their gazes and standing his ground, refusing to appear fazed with this. 

He was freaking out but no one had to know that. 

"Now, not that I'm escaping guys, but I should really get going, I have a test today and my mother's gonna spit fire if she knows I didn't take it because of Cap's affairs."

And with that Billy was quick to make a run for it in a not-escaping fashion. Thanking the Gods no one stopped him.

///////////

"William Joseph Batson. Son to C.C. and Marilyn Batson. 16. Orphaned at the age of 4 after a tomb collapsed on his parents. He went into the system after his uncle claimed being unable to take care of him, was in over 15 different foster homes up until he was 7. There are no records of him after that. He was caught several times throughout the years for trespassing and minor thievery, but he never made it into the assigned foster homes. At the age of 13 he was finally caught after he tried to hack into the police database using the computer in one of the police cars. No charges were pressed with the condition that he agreed to be put in another foster home, he's been on the clear ever since."

Batman hadn't wasted time to use facial recognition to look up Captain Marvel, Superman had been quite insistent to know if he had been telling the truth regarding his age. Though Bruce had also done it to make sure Marvel wasn't using that as an excuse, even if it would make sense for him to be a teenager.

Would explain his behavior quite well.

Turns out he was real. Or at least that's how it seemed.

And if this was right... he joined the League when he was 11, the idea of the implication that he had been homeless at the time... it made some of them wonder if that had been the reason for him to take on the extra shifts left and right, or how he would take a lot of food with him, and it was no secret that he had liked to stay at the Watchtower during winter.

How did an 11 year old even survive for so long on the streets? 

Chapter Text

Captain Marvel is very… indestructible. 

The same can't be said of Billy Batson, the bullies went too far and while they were hanging him out of the window they let him go, he broke his collarbone, injured his neck, broke several ribs and had a concussion. Had he been anyone else he would have died by falling head first from the third floor. 

On the bright side? The bullies got expelled and arrested for attempted homicide. 

On the not so bright side? He can't be Captain Marvel for he entered a comma, his brain too swollen, the doctors said he would wake up once the swelling subsided, but Rosa and Victor feel like they are living a nightmare. His siblings decide to take turns to watch the city because that's what Billy would want, they try to not engage with the Justice League no matter what. Billy once said that the less they know about his civilian life the best, with Batman no one could ever be too careful. 

But then Bolt gets captured by the League, because Captain Marvel has been missing for over a week and now there's suddenly very sketchy heroes with his powers who avoid them like the plague. 

Batman interrogates her, but Darla promised her siblings she wouldn't talk. But then Wonder Woman threatens to use her lasso and Darla breaks, because what if she told them Billy's name? Billy would understand. So she introduced herself. 

"I am Bolt, Captain Marvel is my brother, I don't have him kidnapped nor nothing of the likes, he is fine, he will be back once he heals. Until then we are to take turns to watch the city and help you if you need it. He didn't warn you because you can't exactly warn people about things you don't know will happen."

The League is flabbergasted, because Cap has a sister? Did that made the other ones his siblings too? How many did he have? Did that mean one of their heaviest hitters had several siblings with his exact same powers and none of them was ever the wiser? And what did she mean by heal? Cap had been thrown into buildings and smashed around by aliens and he always came out without a scratch. Not even Batman knew his weakness. 

So what the hell had hurt him? 

"Heal? Is he hurt? Where's his comm? Why didn't he say anything?" Wonder Woman questions worriedly. Bolt seems hesitant to answer. 

"He can't use his comm right now, and the rest… I promised I wouldn't tell, but it's…, he will be fine. You don't need to worry."

"What do you mean by he can't use it?"

Silence. 

"Can I ask how did he got hurt?" Batman asks. Bolt stares at him, she knew Billy wouldn't want her to tell them, but they looked very worried, and confused, a little bit of truth to let them understand wouldn't hurt. Right? 

And if Billy didn't wake up- no, he would wake up. He had to wake up. 

"This... form, it's not our own, this is an alternate form made of magic , Eu- uh, Stormbreaker believes it's the magic's way of pushing our bodies to fit a prime version of ourselves. Our actual appearances look completely different from our hero persona, in our regular form, we don't have any powers or abilities, we might be a bit more resistant than a regular human, but we aren't indestructible nor really any more powerful than a regular human. Captain Marvel was hurt while in this form and… he hasn't woken up yet."

She heard someone suck in a sharp breath, but she didn't knew who, she was now looking at her shaking hands, she curled her fingers into a fist, saying it out loud felt so real it made her feel like she couldn't breathe. Because it's been over a week and Billy hasn't woken up. His brain wasn't swollen anymore, she had heard her parents talking about it. 

"What do you mean he hasn't woken up? How..?" Darla didn't answer, she felt sick whenever she thought of what happened, she had seen it, the whole school had seen it, and her parents had gotten into some legal stuff she didn't understand because apparently some kids had recorded it and put it on YouTube.

Why would anyone do such horrible thing? She had no idea, she remembers the blood, the sound of his body hitting the floor, even if Pedro had kept her away she had heard his whimpers, the labored breathing, she remembers Mary's desperated voice, Freddy's terror, she remembers it as if it were yesterday. 

And she feels even sicker because it all had been her fault, if she hadn't shouted at them they wouldn't have pushed her, and if they hadn't pushed her Billy wouldn't have tripped them into the trashcan infront of the whole school. 

"There's these two … people, they have always been horrible with everyone around them, because of certain events Captain Marvel retaliated… they felt humiliated by the way he retaliated, Captain Marvel's… other form isn't anywhere near as intimidating or powerful as his hero one. He is faster than average but they got him when he was less expecting it… And they were two, they hung him out of the window from the third floor, they say they didn't meant to let him go, but I was there, I saw it, it wasn't an accident, they tried to kill him. And they would have succeeded had he been anyone else."

Silence filled the room. Captain Marvel has never been hurt, not even a scratch, no one could have ever imagined he had a more… vulnerable form. Or that they would find out about it like this. The idea that someone had tried to kill him… it made their blood boil. 

"Where are these perpetrators?" Batman questions, face neutral, but his voice held pure badly concealed rage. 

"They got arrested."

"And is the Captain alright?"

"Yes, he is out of danger, the doctors said he might wake up soon." Bolt leaves after that. The League comes across several of Cap's siblings. There's Voltage, he had a blue version of Cap's costume, he's extremely talkative, will make over a dozen questions per minute, he seemed like the fanboy type, quite the interesting one. 

There was also Duke, he had a green costume, and for someone who looked extremely intimidating the man barely spoke and would look like he wanted to be anywhere but there after a battle was done, he was, oddly enough, seemingly the shy type. 

Then there was Stormbreaker, he had a grey costume, he was similar to Cap, he was all over the place, excited at everything and actually smart enough to give Batman a run for his money. 

And then there was Miss Marvel, she had the exact same costume as Cap, just the female version with a skirt. And after Flash had made a joke of her name, the team had found out Miss Marvel was actually Cap's biological sister. 

And then the heroes stop appearing, it worries the League to the core, because last they heard, Cap was yet to wake up even two weeks later. Had something happened? 

And then Miss Marvel appears… with his comm. Horror fills the room as she places it on the table. She is quick to read the room and realize her mistake. 

"He woke up." She informs. That at least seems to appease them, but confusion settles in. 

"Then why-"

"Because of certain events out of his control he can no longer be Captain Marvel, at least not for now, he's asked me to tell you to save it for him, it's best if he doesn't see it for it will just remind him of what he can't do. But he promises to come back, it might take weeks, months, or more, but if you are willing to wait for him, he will come back."

"We will. But what exactly happened?"

Miss Marvel made a face. 

"I'm sorry, but that's not something I can share with you, it's a personal matter. But don't worry, we will go back to helping you in his place."

Two months later and the League had grown used to working with Cap's siblings. Batman had to admit he liked Stormbreaker, he could a bit of a headache, but he had to admit the guy was freakishly smart with technology. 

Flash and Hal found a friend in Voltage who kind of reminded them of Marvel. 

Wonder Woman was quite enjoying her relationship with Miss Marvel and Bolt, Cap was like her brother, so befriending any of his siblings was always great, but something about befriending Cap's sisters felt different. Warm. 

Bolt befriends Flash and to everyone's surprise, Aquaman, the man seems to develop a soft spot for her. 

Superman finds a friend in Duke, the man is quiet and a bit shy, but he had a love for sparing and once he warmed up to him he was easy to talk to. 

The League gets constant updates on Cap through the siblings, he was getting better, at one point, Miss Marvel calls a meeting, she had been given permission to disclose Marvel's condition after recent progress. The accident had left him with a paralysis from the waist down, he's been going to therapy, and he was quite stubborn and very adamant about it all, recently, he had managed to take several steps on his own, not for too long, but it was a massive progress from how he couldn't even move his toes before. 

The League is both relieved and horrified to learn this. And then, not even a week after, a fight with a villain leads to Miss Marvel calling lightning upon the monster attacking, she dropped from the sky, Superman barely had any time to catch her, the League is quite confused and horrified to see the teenager.

Mary isn't sure what to say, Billy was not gonna be happy. 

"We should get this to the Watchtower." Batman says as she tries to sneak away while they are too busy talking to the cleaning crew, Wonder Woman grabbing her arm before she can sneak away. Mary sighs in defeat. She sits in the meeting room.

"Bolt told us about the more vulnerable form, de-powered. Is this yours?" Superman does not sound happy. She sighs, God, Billy was gonna have an aneurysm. 

"No, I mean, yes… uh, this is actually how I usually look like, the magic makes me look older, kind of to showcase a prime form I guess? We are still working on the why." She didn't realize what she said until someone sucked in a sharp breath. 

"You are Cap's sister." Mary winced at Flash's words, it seemed like the man had definitely put two and two together. 

"How old are you?" Superman questions. He still doesn't sound happy. 

"17, I will be 18 in a few months."

"What about Cap? Is he a kid too?" 

Mary didn't answer. But she didn't need to, her silence said it all. 

"Look, I get it, you have all the right to be mad for the lies, I know you don't like the idea of children fighting monsters and what not. But we are not regular children, even if you decide to kick him out of the League you can be damn sure he will still be helping people as he always did even before joining the League. Just that this time he will be doing it without backup."

Mary made a point at jabbing that last part at them, certainly those last words would make them see how it would be logical and best to let Billy stay.

"Besides, isn't Robin 12? What about the Young Justice? Teen Titans? It would be a bit hypocritical to kick him out because of his age, you might not know this, but he can be painfully stubborn when he wants to be, and I tell you, this Captain Marvel thing is definitely something he would fight tooth and nail to keep, even before he was Captain Marvel he was already fighting to protect anyone he saw in need of help. Got his ass kicked several times, but that never stopped him."

The League didn't answer for a long moment. All of them having different opinions on the matter. It was hard to believe Cap was a kid, how old was he even? And at the same time, it explained his childish behavior and innocent persona. And this whole situation made even more horrifying the fact that someone had tried to kill a child. 

"These people Bolt spoke of before, the ones who hurt him, where are they?" Batman questions, narrowing his eyes.

"Prison. And I hope they rot there." She snaps bitterly, crossing her arms over her chest, those bastards had tried to run Freddie over several times, had harassed him left and right regardless of Victor and Rosa's endless talks with the principal. The last straw had been them pushing Darla and then dropping Billy down that window. 

She could still remember the blood, even now whenever she saw him she couldn't help but hug him, hug him if that meant it could quell the gawning horror of how close she had been from losing him after finally finding him after so long.

//////////

The League had come to the agreement that Cap would stay in the League, Miss Marvel had been right, he was one of their strongest, and it was best to have him surrounded with adults who could help him than him doing this alone. They haven't seen any of the Marvels this week, so it came as a surprise when the Zeta tube announced a name they haven't heard in a while. 

Captain Marvel. 

The team was quick to run up to the Zeta tube. And still, instead of the big man, a teenager is what met them, a teenager much younger than Miss Marvel with black hair and familiar blue eyes, he was wearing a Superman hoodie and Batman themed sweatpants alongside Flash slippers of all things possible, he was holding crutches filled with dozens of glittery stickers and looking quite disheveled. He gave them a nervous yet awfully familiar smile. 

"Hi." He greeted them. Diana was the first one to react as she walked up to him, he looked awfully young, maybe between the ages of 14 or 15, Miss Marvel had said she was the oldest of the bunch, meant anything was possible considering she was 17, but seeing it... God. 

"Can I hug you?" She questions, he never refused her hugs, but she feels like she should ask when he looks so... small. He gives her a short nod and she doesn't wait any longer, wrapping her arms around him, careful with her strenght and his crutches. She pulls back to look down at him, aside from the crutches he looked perfectly fine, but it didn't took a genius to know that a human, magic or not, wouldn't come out unscathed from a fall from a third floor.

And while it was confirmed that the fall had almost rendered him unable to walk, she knew there must have been lots of broken bones too, and a lot of blood, it's enough to make her pull him back into another hug. She's never seen him bleed nor get hurt, she had spared with him several times, using all her strength for he was one of the few people capable of taking her strength full on without breaking a sweat. 

The idea that behind all that mountain of a man was a very human very frail young boy... God, it made something in her burn over the idea of anyone hurting him, young or not, he was one of the greatest men she's ever met, loyal and noble.

A great friend, and her brother.

"Diana, I missed you too, but I would really like to breathe again, if it's not much asking." Came the muffled half amused voice as he patted her back.
 She was quick to release him.

"My apologies."

"It's alright." He assured with a smile.

After that Flash also took it to hug him, and so did Superman, and Green Lanter Lantern. Aquaman and Batman chose to pat his shoulder instead, which Billy was more than fine with, he felt weird enough as it was by being here looking as he was. He was then brought to the meeting room where he tried to not protest at Superman pulling his chair out for him.

"How are you feeling?" Batman questioned once everyone was seated.

"Fine. I'm sorry it took so long to come, I wanted to come sooner but I had a hard time getting everyone to stop hovering."

"Is that why you are wearing pajamas?"

"These aren't mine, they are my brother's, we switched clothes so they would think I was still in bed." Billy said, fighting back the heat in his face, because God, wearing pajamas with his co-worker's logos was not how he had wanted the first impression with this face to go. 

"Did you just admit to having sneaked out?" Green Lantern asked bewildered. Billy shrugged. 

"Irrelevant, I don't need a babysitter, I'm perfectly fine."

"You do realize it's well past midnight, right?"

"So? I don't have a curfew." Well, that wasnt exactly true, but Billy wasn't about to discuss the terms and conditions of his curfew.

"That's not the point, you shouldn't be outside at this hour, at least not in your current state." Flash is quick to add at the raised eyebrow he got."What if you got mugged on the way here? Not to be insensitive man, but you aren't exactly in fighting or running shape for that matter."

"What makes you think I'm defenseless right now?"

At their looks Billy rolled his eyes before bringing his hands up, rubbing them together for a moment and grinning in triumph as energy crackled, he then pulled his hands apart, just enough to show a rope of bright crackling lightning connected between his hands.

"You have your powers?" Flash asked in wonder. Billy made the lightning disappear.

"Kind of, they aren't as strong as when I'm Marvel, but they are pretty useful. So, not defenseless." He stated with a smirk.

"How old are you?" Superman asked after a moment.

"...15."

Christ.

"Are you all... how old are you all?"

"... Voltage and Duke are 15 too...."

"What about Stormbreaker and Bolt?" The League didn't felt at ease when their answer was a grimace from the Cap.

"Stormbreaker just turned 12 last week and Bolt... she's 9..."

A pin drop could be heard.

"Please tell me you are kidding." Flash's request was met with a shrug.

"Look, I know it's... not quite something easy to ignore. But it's what it's. I didn't ask for these powers, but that doesn't mean I won't use them to do good if I can. My siblings... they don't really do much hero work, except Voltage, he likes sneaking around and thinking I don't know."

Which Billy did knew, he just let Freddie think he didn't.

"But the others usually take action when it's a seriously dire situation. And we usually keep Bolt away from fights, not that that's a problem, she doesn't like violence anyways. Point is, we are not stupid, we know what we are doing. Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Robin 10 when he first started? Bolt is just a year younger. Stormbreaker is usually too busy at the Rock Of Eternity anyways, so he rarely fights. The rest of us are very much the same age as half of the Teen Titans and the Young Justice."

"Your age isn't the problem, the lies are." Superman said, Billy gave him a look.

"I didn't lie, all of you told me that I didn't have to tell you my identity if I didn't want to, so I didn't. But now that you know my age suddenly it matters? Why? Because I'm 15?"

He did had a point there.

"If we had known your age we would have been careful with the things we did and said infront of you. There are things you really shouldn't have to have been exposed to."

Like the alcohol offers, the sex talks, the R-rated game nights, and snickering at the occasional hero who flirted with him and made him look like he wanted to be anywhere but there.

"I lived in the streets for years, I have seen and heard a lot of messed up shit, doesn't faze me anymore." Billy knew that was the wrong thing to say when the League's face fell, horror on their expressions.

"It still doesn't make it okay." Superman said. Billy sighed.

"Fine, but if you won't be kicking me out, I want you to promise something, if you can't, I will leave." Because while it would rip him apart to leave the Justice League he would feel worse if things were to change.

"What is it?"

"I don't want you to keep me away from missions because of my age, nor do I want you to treat me like a child, I'm 15, not stupid nor frail. I also don't want you to protect me in battles all the time, I can hold my own and I refuse to have anyone acting as my babysitter. If you think you can't do it, then there's no reason for me to stay in a team who won't let me do anything, not even fight."

Even if he said that with a serious voice his hands were shaking on his lap. Fear of losing his friends, his family. Because whether he admitted it or not the League had become like a family to him too. He didn't think he would be able to take their rejection, the loss of respect as they all started to see him as nothing but a child to be protected instead of their equal.

He didn't want to lose any of it.

Silence reigned in the room for a while and he felt his throat close, but he refused to look down or let weakness show. He wasn't about to give them more reasons to think he had to be protected. 

"I don't have a problem with it. You have proven to be quite the capable warrior, I won't interfere in how you handle things." Wonder Woman was the first to break the silence, she was giving him a firm look, genuine truth in her words. Billy felt himself relax a bit at that.

"You are like a Wizardy Superman, I know you don't need a babysitter, if anyone here needs a babysitter at all that would be Barry and Hal." Aquaman stated.

"Hey!" Lantern and Flash protested in unison. Billy smirked.

Chapter Text

The League knows about the Marvels, they have had several encounters with one or two of them, they also knew that unlike Cap, they weren't full time heroes, they rarely made appearances, Cap never elaborated on that and had been very adamant about not wanting them in the League nor anywhere near any of the most taxing missions. 

Point is, one day, Cap is nowhere to be seen, but Bolt is there… she gets hit by magic while fighting on air, the League is horrified at the sight of a child dropping from the sky, Superman catches her, at first, the League thinks she might have been De-Aged, but her eyes say a completely different story. The group is horrified to learn a child has been fighting alongside them, in disbelief that Cap would seriously put a child in such danger. No wonder she was always so… child-like, and why he was so adamant about keeping anyone from the Marvels away, particularly Bolt. 

She refuses to answer their questions, staying stubbornly quiet, won't say her name nor anything for that matter. 

Cap ends up turning up and Darla doesn't hesitate to bolt for him, throwing her arms around his leg and apologizing. As she starts sobbing Billy is quick to kneel before her, trying to comfort her.

"Hey, hey, it's alright, I'm not mad, it wasn't your fault, you didn't do anything wrong." He assures her, seeing her on TV had been horrifying, it had been too pixeled to make out, but to those who knew about the transformation... lightning was never a good thing when in hero form. 

At least Superman had saved her, he knew the League would have questions, but his top priority had been getting to Darla and make sure she was okay. She had stopped crying now, he wiped away her tears. 

"Are you okay?" He asks at last. A short nod. "Does anything hurts?" He asks again, looking her up and down, she doesn't seem hurt, which good, he didn't knew what would he do if she was hurt, their hero form might be indestructible, their actual bodies? Not so much. 

"No, I'm unharmed." He felt relief wash over, good God thanks, his heartbeat could now start falling back into a less of a marathon beat. Now. He grabbed her shoulders, giving her a serious look. 

"Why were you there? We have told you before, if we are not there, or if there's a giant spaceship or a crazy wizard involved, you should run, not fight."

"I know, I'm sorry. I won't do it again." He gave her a look, but he could never stay mad at her, thus, he pulled her into a hug, sometimes, he almost felt regretful of having let her keep her powers, he was no one to talk on ages, but Darla was so full of innocence, so young, she saw the world with such bright colors... but her love of helping people kept him from ever actually taking her powers away. 

Plus, it was comforting to know she had an indestructible form in which she would never be harmed. A form she could use to protect herself. A form to keep her safe.

"Please don't do that ever again." He whispered, low enough to not be heard, he felt her small arms wrap around his neck.

"I won't, I'm really sorry."

"I know." But it still didn't make him feel any better. Because she could have died, he had finally found a family, a good one after so many years of disappointment, abandonment, loneliness and pain, and every single day he spent it living terrified of the idea of losing it.

The sudden clearing of a throat caught his attention, right, the League, but right now he didn't want to talk to them, not when he knew the kind of mess of a conversation that was coming, he was still shaking, still felt sick over the fact that he almost lost his sister. Right now all he wanted was to take her home and let her drag him to another tea party with snicker tea, glittery tiaras and dancing, hell, he would even let her paint his fingernails and put stickers on his Captain Marvel's cape.

Thus, he picked her up before smoothly standing up.

"I'm sorry, I know you have questions, but can we do this another day? I would really like to take her home now." He didn't really look at them, he didn't think he could deal with whatever looks they might have on them now, he had never felt more like Billy as Captain Marvel than he did now. All he wanted was to take Darla home and forget this day ever happened.

"Of course Captain." Wonder Woman was the one who spoke, and that's all he needed to turn around and leave. Darla for her side peeked from behind her brother's shoulder, waving goodbye at the League, she hoped Billy didn't get in any trouble.

Chapter Text

Billy breaks his arm, and while Marvel would be unharmed if he turned, once he switched back his arm would be in even worse shape due the transformation, so he gives the green light to his siblings, Fawcett City needs protection and the League needs Marvel for monitor duty, meetings and whatnot, he does warn them to behave, upon vote Mary would be the one to go first, she was both the eldest and the most level headed.

Needles to say, the League is caught off guard at the arrival of a complete stranger.

"Cap?" Flash is flabbergasted as the unknown woman walks in, she was unfamiliar, but she wore a very familiar red suit, just a female version of it.

"No, my name is Miss Marvel, Captain Marvel is my brother, he's indisposed for the time being, but he was very insistent on this meeting being important, so I came in his place." Mary was not surprised by the increased wariness and narrowed eyes.

"Why did he not inform us of this beforehand?" Batman questions.

"His comm broke, but he did ask me to give this to you." Mary said, pulling the letter Billy had given to her earlier, he had told her to give it to Batman, so she held it in the Gothamite's direction. 

Batman for his side snatched the letter, opening it, he immediately recognized Marvel's familiar scribbles.

"Mr. Batman, sir, I apologize beforehand for any mishaps, I'm currently in a not so ideal state. I write this to inform you that Fawcett City will be temporarily watched over by my siblings, and if you allow it, I would like to ask for them to be able to assist to the meetings in my place so they can relay the information back to me. They will also assist you and the League in my place until I can return. 

PS: They have my same powers, in a way, so they will be able to help you as I would."

Batman frowned as he finished reading, passing the letter to Superman, Diana by his side leaning over to take a peek at the letter. 

Since when did Marvel have siblings? And with his same powers? Batman didn't know how to feel about one of their heaviest hitters having multiple siblings with his same powers. How many were there? Were they as indestructible and as powerful as Marvel? He didn't like this new discovery, to think there had been many other powerful beings out there he had been unaware of... 

"How many of you are there? Is it true you share his same powers?" Batman questions.

"We are five, and our powers... it kind of depends on who it's. Like, Bolt is the fastest of the five, Duke is the strongest, Voltage is the best at flying, Stormbreaker is the best at controlling lightning and I'm the best fighter."

"How did we not know of you?" Green Lantern asks in confusion, Captain Marvel was extremely popular at Fawcett City, they would have surely known if there were multiple heroes there.

"Well... we don't really do much hero stuff, our powers come from Marvel, means he is weaker when we are all transformed, so we usually leave the hero stuff to him." She didn't mention the fact that Freddie loved sneaking around to do hero stuff on his own, half of the time ending in disaster.

"He can share his powers?" Batman asked, this was new, he did not know this, was there a limit to the amount of people he could share his powers with? Requisites? How did he even do that? Through a spell? A ritual? God, he hated magic.

"Yeah, kind of, but it's just the five of us. He can't do it anymore." The staff had broken.

"What exactly happened to him?" Wonder Woman questioned, Mary knew it wouldn't be so easy to make them not ask about the why Marvel wasn't here, especially Wonder Woman, Billy did said the woman considered Marvel a brother because of their connection to Zeus, meant she was a bit overprotective. Mary did admit she found it comforting to know her brother had people who cared about him.

Still.

She couldn't tell the truth, Captain Marvel had been smashed into buildings and thrown around like a rag doll and come out unscathed. The League would want to know how did he broke his arm.

She couldn't exactly tell them he broke it after falling down the stairs at the Rock Of Eternity during a nerf gun fight.

But she couldn't lie either, Billy told her Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman could sniff lies from miles.

Thus.

She went with a half truth.

"He broke his arm during a fight against several other magic users." Not a lie, but not truth either, she just told it out of context. It was a fight... with nerd guns... and it had been against several magic users... their siblings.

She forgot one crucial fact.

A broken arm should keep him from fights, but not meetings and other not-fight related stuff.

She knew the League was surprised at the revelation, but also confused on the reason a broken arm would keep him from coming. Shit.

"Our injuries are a bit complex. We don't get injured much, but when we do our magic kind of acts weird, he thought it would be safer to not walk around like that and risk turning someone into a frog or something."

Again, not a lie. Cut wounds on their hero forms glowed as if their insides were made of light, it made electronic devices malfunction and made energy in general crackle around them.

//////////////

The League spent a week meeting Marvel's siblings. Miss Marvel had turned out to be the apparent adult of the bunch, in a matter of speaking, she was the most mature one, she paid attention and took notes during meetings. Flash had been the one to get out of her the fact that she was Captain Marvel's older sister.

Then there was Voltage, he was... something. He had a blue suit and was quite similar to Marvel in the energetic and almost childish behavior. He had asked for their autographs first thing first. And he would make dozens of questions per minute, questioning people's powers and abilities, making several from the Justice League learn of things about themselves they had never questioned before. It didn't went unnoticed how he seemed to wield a particular favoritism with Superman.

Duke was the complete opposite, he had a green suit, and while the man was a mountain he had been quite quiet and withdrawn during their first interactions, he had eventually opened up, the man had a particular liking for sparing, seemed particular fond of monitor duty, half of the League suspected it was because he got to roam around without all eyes on him.

Stormbreaker though... he had a grey suit, that one was very... interesting, he could give Batman a run for his money when it came to anything technology related, had quite a colorful vocabulary too, he didn't pay much attention, but somehow, he always knew what was being discussed, was very observant too.

And then there was Bolt, she was a completely different issue altogether, she had a purple suit, and she could give Captain Marvel a run for his money on the cheerful department, she was always all over the place, always excited, always smiling, there was an innocence to her that no one could quite explain, and she had left very clear she did not like violence. 

It hadn't taken the League much to figure out that the bunch might not quite be related, but as Batman had said, blood didn't make a family.

They had had more than one of them at the same time in the Watchtower, they certainly acted like siblings, Miss Marvel undoubtedly the voice of reason. For some reason every one of them seemed particularly protective of Bolt, the League reasoned she might be the youngest of the bunch.

Chapter Text

Captain Marvel is cheerful, a bit childish and at times even a bit of an airhead. Or the time the Justice League was reminded of the true power of one of their heaviest hitters.

\\\\\\\\\\

The League had been fighting a beast of some kind for the past several hours, a beast that seemed to be capable of holding its ground against the League, half of the city had already been leveled, thankfully, the civilians had already been evacuated.

Marvel growled as removed himself from the crater on the ground the beast had knocked him into, he was becoming much too tired of this endless fight.

-Guys! I think it might be weak against electricity, I just hit it with lightning on its hind leg and its skin melted, like, seriously melted!- Flash's voice came from the comm, making Marvel frown, resisting the urge to hit himself on the face, of course! The one time he decided to not use his lightning a monster weak against it decided to turn up.

He stood up from the rubber with renewed determination.

-I think I can help with that. You should all stand back, this is about to get very... electrifying.- He told through the comm, grinning at his own joke, grinning even more as he heard Aquaman's huff, he could almost see the atlantean rolling his eyes at him.

-Alright, Cap, it's all yours.- Came Superman's voice. Marvel grinned before setting off, flying up to the sky, high enough to get a full picture of the creature, he grimaced at the state of the city, that was gonna take a lot of money.

He then brought his hands up, taking in a deep breath.

And then he latched onto Zeus' power, onto his connection with lightning, and he pulled on it, the sky turning an angry grey color as wind picked up, howling angrily, energy crackling wildly around him, thunder rumbling above as small sparks of lightning began splitting the skies like whiplashes of energy. His eyes lit up with blazing energy as he focused as much energy as he could on one spot, to those who might be seeing the spectacle, a figure takes form behind him, an eldritch being of golden light and glowing eyes, it looms over him like a titanic and horrifying spectre.

The beast underneath him looked up at him, snarling at him from the ground.

That's when he opened his mouth, and with a booming voice that held slivers of Zeus' own howls he called upon the lightning.

-SHAZAM!

A thunderous bolt of lightning split the skies open, striking right through him and down onto the creature, blazing light litting the whole city up as the few remaining windows explode into a million pieces of showering glass.

Billy dropped from the sky, taking in a deep breath and taking advantage of the shower of lights from the creature bursting to shout once again.

-Shazam!

Lightning strikes back, all in time for him to crash onto the ground, not as a human, but as Captain Marvel, a giant crater being left behind, the sky is rapidly clearing above him, he was shaking at the wild energy still rushing through his veins, fingers digging onto the dirt beneath him, breathing quick as he fights against the energy, he had known he could do that, Thavma had told him, but he had never had the chance to put it to test before.

God, he hadn't even known he could connect to his powers like that, like him and Thavma were merging on a whole new level. He heard footsteps, but he didn't have the strength to move now that the adrenaline was crashing, God was he exhausted, a familiar someone came by his side.

"Captain?" Wonder Woman called, she looked concerned.

"I'm fine, just resting a bit." He assured with a smile, bringing himself up into a sitting position and taking the offered hand, Wonder Woman pulled him up.

Usually, Billy would fly away and get himself to the Watchtower before the javelin, but this time around he didn't trust flying would go well with how exhausted he felt.

Thus.

He chose to ride the javelin with the rest, inevitably, he ended up falling asleep, feeling way more tired than he had anticipated. Head dropping on Wonder Woman's shoulder, Diana's only form of acknowledgment of it being moving her Lasso to her other side so it wouldn't accidentally touch him.

She had been watching him since he first sat down, he had kept nodding off, so she had moved closer to make sure he wouldn't fall on Hal's side and risk hurting the man's already broken ribs.

"I thought he didn't sleep. You know, Atlas' stamina and all that." Came Flash's voice.

"I'm quite sure a lightning of such magnitude must have drained him." Diana said, she still couldn't quite get over the feeling in the air before the lightning struck, it had been electrifying and heavy.

And the lightning... that power had been raw, crushing, even more so the gigantic silhouette of golden light looming over him. That hadn't been any of the Gods who gave him his powers, it had been powerful, yes, but it had been a much different kind of power than the one she had felt around the Gods, less wild and more raw. But just as intense.

"You did see that thing too, right? I wasn't hallucinating it, right? I mean, it didn't look like a trick of the light, I could swear it looked at me man." Flash said, that titanic thing of lightning hadn't even had eyes, but before the lightning struck, he could have sworn he had felt it stare straight at him. And the weirdest thing here was that even though it had been terrifying, he hadn't felt an ounce of fear towards it when he felt its stare.

"You felt it too?" Green Lantern questioned, he had been on top of a roof, using his ring to create a shield around them all. And he had felt that thing stare right into his eyes.

Marvel had said once that he was human, a human with the power of the Gods, Hal has never doubted that statement about him being human as much as he did now. Because that thing back there had been way too intense for him to be human.

The man was so cheerful and playful most of the time that it was easy to forget that he was one of their heaviest hitters for a reason. They hadn't even known he could summon lightning on that magnitude. He did shot lightning from his hands, and it sometimes crackled all over him, but never with such intensity.

He had practically changed the weather by summoning up the mother of lightning bolts. And that booming voice had almost echoed all over the place, as if it was coming from everywhere.

Hal has never been more grateful than he was now that the guy was on their side.

\\\\\\\\\\\\

"I have never seen something like that." Diana said as she stared at the footage Batman had pulled up, a glitched image of Captain Marvel in the sky, the silhouette looming behind him was very much clear, the image's brightness had been reduced enough for it to be a bit more clear than just a giant blob of light.

It was... it seemed to have claws, horns, and fangs. It was made of golden lightning, and it almost seemed to hang around the Captain's shoulders, more lightning wrapped around his arms and torso, giving distance to the photo the silhouette almost seemed to resemble a-

"Is that a fucking dragon?" Flash voiced the sudden collective realization. They were all sitting in the meeting room except for Captain Marvel who Green Lantern had carried to his room after he had gotten his ribs tended to at the medbay, they all had rooms in the Watchtower but they were rarely used.

Once that had been dealt with he had met with the rest at the meeting room. Batman had managed to find footage from Marvel's little stunt, or at least a half decent image considering all the electronic devices around the area had been fried, and most of the footage in the security cameras around the city had been lost.

Batman had seemed to be as interested on the lightning figure as all of them.

Because the thing had looked at them and Diana said it hadn't been one of the Gods that gave Marvel his powers. So what the hell had been that?

"Great Hera." Diana breathed out in amazement, a dragon, she remembers her mother's tales about them, about their tremendous power, some stories claimed dragons were evil and full of greed. The embodiment of chaos and untamed nature.

But some others had also claimed them to be creatures of wisdom, courage, strength, hidden knowledge and good luck.

"Are dragons real?" Hal asked to no one in particular, staring at the image, he had joked several times about Marvel being a shapeshifter, but this was a whole different thing from what he had thought. Human his ass.

"My mother used to tell me stories about them when I was little, she said that dragons were believed to be messengers of magic, all-knowing beings with phenomenal, magical capabilities, one of the most powerful creatures on Earth. They were trustworthy protectors and guides. Harbingers of good fortune. They were formidable creatures that did not take it lightly when somebody tried to take advantage of innocent and pure-souled beings. Dragons were symbolized for their goodness, but they were also symbolized for evils and sins they commited when fighting their foes. So they were considered to represent a harmonious balance between good and evil."

But she had never heard of a lightning dragon.

"Can dragons shapeshift? Like, I mean, would it be possible for them to use magic and look human?" Hal was quite aware he might come off as stupid for what he was insinuating, but he just found out dragons were very much fucking real! And that his friend might be one. Which there was admittedly nothing wrong with it, but dragons weren't something you just got over quickly!

"I'm not sure, I guess? But I doubt he is one." Diana said, Captain Marvel has never shown a speck of evilness in him, he was always so positive, always willing to give second chances, always happy to help, to listen, she's never seen him mad nor acting violent outside of battle. She didn't even think he could get mad. He didn't give her the impression of someone who was the balance of good and bad.

"But he could be one. Didn't he say once the Rock Of Eternity was a cave? Don't dragons have caves?" Flash said.

"Batman has a cave." Aquaman reminded.

"That's beyond the point." 

Chapter Text

Billy is 14 and he really doesn't want to go home, he is much too tired to use a Zeta tube let alone walk to said Zeta tube, the mission had taken over 50 hours to get done and his endless stamina seemed to have gone down the toilet, Batman giving a meeting isn't surprising, he is embarrassed but glad when Batman calls the meeting off after he faceplants on the table due exhaustion.

He sends Rosa a text that he will be sleeping at the Watchtower before going to his room, there he de-transforms and passes out. 

He wakes up feeling like he still should sleep over several hours more, but he has school and he really doesn't want to miss it today, there was a math test today. He is half asleep so he isn't quite aware that he never returned to his Captain Marvel form. So he isn't sure what the deal with the confused looks he gets is, he wishes them good morning with a half smile and while he gets answers people look at him as if he were some unknown object. 

He drags himself to the cafeteria, snatching a bagel and a red bull from the fridge before sitting down on his usual spot, he stares at the ceiling as he chews, wondering how mad would Rosa be if she knew the kind of breakfast he was having, she would definitely team up with Darla and shove a ton of food at him, he didn't really find it annoying, it was the opposite, it always filled him with warmth to know he now had people who cared about him. 

So lost in thought he was he didn't notice the attention he had on himself. Of the heroes whispering about the kid with the red hoodie, wondering who he was, if he was a new hero from the Young Justice League, or if he was one of the Robins or young heroes who never lost the mask. 

Billy for his side dawns the rest of the red bull before disposing of the can and setting out for the Zeta tubes, he would have made it had it not been for the sudden tug on his arm, he looked at the hand grabbing his own arm, an arm clad in golden scales, before looking up to be met with narrowed eyes. 

"How did you get here? You are not from the Young Justice." Aquaman's question made him frown. Of course he wasn't, what was his big idea? 

Yet, before he could answer he pulled Billy with him. 

"Doesn't matter, Batman will know what to do."

"What are you talking about?" Arthur ignores him and Billy is much too tired to argue, so he follows, Arthur leads him to the meeting room where the rest is at. Raised eyebrows come his way. 

"What's with the kid?"

"I caught him snooping around the Zeta tubes, he isn't from the Young Justice League nor is he ours." Aquaman's words took a moment to register, Billy felt ice crawl up his neck before any remaining sleep vanished, he looked down at his hand, his very small very normal hand, his arm had red, but that was the red, blue and gold jacket he was wearing, a very worn out Wonder Woman themed jacket that has definitely seen better days, with a red shirt with Cap's lightning bolt, the shirt had been a birthday gift from Rosa, her way of letting him know she was finally coming around this whole thing. 

He didn't usually wore his merchandise, but it had been her first gift to him since their argument about the whole Captain Marvel thing. So he wore it a lot. Point was. He was fucked. His attention snapped to the front when he felt a hand on his arm before he looked up at Superman. 

"Hey there son, how did- "

Billy cut him off as he raised his hand infront of the man, this was not how he had wanted this to go, but he might go sick if Superman so much as spoke to him as if he were a child. 

"Hold it. I'm not a child, well, not a random child. You know me, you all do, I didn't wanna fly back last night so I stayed here, I don't like sleeping in my other form, I always end up breaking the bed." He could see the gears turning at his last words, it was no secret how many beds he had broken, in his defense he had been still getting used to have an adults body twice his size with super strength. And then. 

"Captain?" Finally Aquaman released his arm with a confused frown on his face. 

"Yes?"

"Are you- why are you- Is this like a power saving mode?" Flash's words made him frown. Should he go along with the lie? It wasnt like he was 11 anymore and panicking over being found out and kicked out. Stargirl was 16, Robin was 12 for God's sake. Cyborg was with the League and he was 18. Just two years older than him. He wouldn't be kicked out... right? But even if he thought that panic won over logic, thus, he bullshitted his way out of this. 

"I guess you could call it that." He conceded." I forgot to change back, guess walking around half asleep isn't much smart." He said with a chuckle, wanting to appear as unfazed as possible even though his identity was right now exposed and part of him was freaking out. 

He wasn't sure what was more embarrassing, being seen like this because he had been too asleep to realize the mishap, that he was wearing his own merchandise or that he was wearing a Wonder Woman jacket, he had it since long before he was Marvel or even joined the League, it had been big enough it still fit him now, plus, Wonder Woman had always picked his interest more than the rest of the heroes, because magic and mystery islands. 

Point was, he didn't want to be caught wearing his co-workers'/friends' merchandise. Not that wearing his own made it less odd, hell, he wasn't even wearing good clothes, it was like Freddie said, wearing horrible clothes led to encounters with over a dozen people. 

The League for their side stared at the teenager, Captain Marvel, he didn't look older than 15, he had a Wonder Woman jacket, one Diana had to admit made her smile.

"You look like a child."

"I'm not a child." Billy snaps. "I take this form to walk among humans because no one would ever say "Hey, I bet that kid is Captain Marvel"."

"Good point..."

"How old is that form?"

"14, I think." Billy added the last just to sell the air that he wasn't actually a teenager, thankfully they seemed to buy it. 

Or at least most of them.

Chapter Text

Captain Marvel is six kids fused and six non-physical Gods, but Billy is the one in control, point is, it can be a bit overwhelming to deal with 11 voices in his head. His siblings and him can become separate heroes, but fused together made Captain Marvel much stronger. 

One way or another they have all interacted with the League for the control switches from time to time when no battle is going on. Mary usually fronts during meetings, taking notes and actually paying attention, sometimes Eugene is the one at the meetings, at times, he evens gives input if the development of a plan is involved. 

Pedro fronts for training and sparing half of the time for he loves showing off his strength. 

Darla fronts at times for when it's Marvel's turn at the kitchen, but even then she was the one with less time on the front for she had the habit to forget she was in the body of a grown ass adult man.

Freddie fronted for monitor duty for he liked exploring the Watchtower. 

Billy fronted during the battles and also during meetings, monitor duty, sparing/training and whatnot, but he liked to let his siblings have a go from time to time too. 

He knew the League found Captain Marvel odd, the colossal switch in behavior was never unnoticed. But when their personalities clashed that was unavoidable, Mary was level headed and mature, Freddie was a non-stop talker fanboy, Eugene was a smartass with a colorful vocabulary and an obsession with videogames and any technology within reach, Pedro was shy but loved sparing, and Darla...

Well, Darla was a bit clueless and a bit too naive at times, had the habit to forget she didn't look like a little girl but a giant man. Billy had almost had a heart attack once when she was first allowed to front around the League, Darla had honest to God tackled Wonder Woman the moment she had seen her, she had engulfed Wonder Woman in a bone crushing hug and called her pretty to her face in absolute awe. 

All of them except Darla had thought their life was over, but thank the Gods the Amazonian and Captain Marvel had developed a good relationship, seemingly good enough that the hug had gotten from the woman nothing but a good natured laugh and a pat to his shoulder before the five had shrieked at Darla to release Wonder Woman before she decided Captain Marvel was acting like a creep and chopped their head off. 

But then a meeting was called and Billy was put on the spot as he was stared at by everyone.

Then Batman spoke.

"Captain, do you know of Starboy?" Marvel frowned, what? Of course he had heard of him, he was a legend among the heroes, the hero from the future who sacrificed himself to keep the sun from exploding, there was even a statue of him at the Hall Of Justice. But what did that have to do with anything?

"Yes?" He ended up conceding, unsure what was expected of him.

"He suffered from schizophrenia, but he was still a hero, one who saved many lives." Superman's careful tone gave him the impression that he was missing something.

"I... don't understand. What are we talking about exactly?" 

"We want you to know that a hero's value isn't defined by their ailments, be it psychical or... psychological."

Billy was officially lost. Why did it felt like Batman was insinuating he had some kind of mental illness? Their supportive looks didn't help at all.

"Guys, that's nice, but uhm, I don't know what you think you know, but I'm not psychologically ill, I mean, I get nightmares sometimes, but what hero doesn't?" Billy said.

"Then would you mind explaining this?" Batman requests, pulling up a footage from the security camera at the armory, of him. And Billy knew exactly what he would see there, that had been during his last monitor duty. 

And he felt heat take over his face as he watched himself holding a batarang and having a tug war with himself over said batarang. It became worse when he began talking.

"I thought we had agreed no more batarangs.  You have like 10 of these things man."

"But not this design!" Marvel's voice became higher, eyes glowing blue as Freddie fought for control. Billy buried his face behind his hands, seeing it like this it did made him look mental.

"What design?! They are all the same!"

"They are not, this one has silver linings near the pointy ends! You are just too blind to see it, now gimmit!"

"Dude! One thing is wasting all your money on suicidal trips to Gotham to collect them from alleys and Gods knows where else, but another thing completely different is to go up and steal them from the source!"

"It's just one, he won't miss it! I wouldn't even have to do this if you had let me ask him for one!"

"He is not eBay nor are these toys to give away! This thing can actually explode!"

"You owe me this much! You dropped my Superman bullet on the sewer remember?!"

"I said I was sorry! And what does Superman even have to do with this?! They are two completely different people!"

Billy wanted the earth to swallow him and spit him into a volcano, he could hear his siblings snickering in his subconscious, none of them willing to take the reins to deal with this humiliation, traitors. 

He almost cried in joy when Batman paused the footage. That joy was short lived for now the silence was deafening.

"Captain? We are not judging, we just want to understand." Superman's voice made Billy wish he could melt on the chair.

"Have you ever heard of the term dissociative identity disorder?" Batman's words caught his attention. Oh. So that's what they thought was happening. He had to fix this before it escalated. Thus, he pushed his embarrassment down, grasping on the courage of Achilles.

"I do know what that is. But that's not why I was... uh, it's complicated." He ran a hand through his hair as he straightened up, sighing in frustration, how did he even begin explaining this?

Dude, just tell them the truth.

He scowled at Freddie's words.

Shut up, we wouldn't be in this situation if you weren't so obsessed with those things.

"So, um, initially, these powers were given to me, but I needed help to get rid of the seven deadly sins, so I shared my powers with my siblings, we won. But uh... being separate heroes meant I was weaker, their powers came from me so I guess it stood to reason it would drain me. But we soon found out that we could fuse, and in doing so the sole transformation was much stronger than the usual, stronger than even when it was just me. So we chose to keep it, or at least sometimes. Point is, theoretically speaking, there's six of us, in one body, we sometimes switch, there why I might sometimes act a bit... off, I promise we don't do that during missions."

He didn't want the League to get worried over whether he could be trusted or not during fights, his siblings and him knew better than to mess around with the switching during battles, and if one of them was mad at the other they just didn't fuse, simple as that.

He grew nervous at the growing silence, the stares...

"So... we have interacted with them before?" Flash asked, trying to remember all the times where Cap was weird, wondering if it had been Cap at all or someone else.

"Yes, sometimes, not all the time, uh, Voltage is the one who loves making questions to heroes about their powers and skills, he's always flying or floating around, will never be caught walking, same one who was fighting me for that batarang in the video. He likes collecting authentic hero stuff, but I promise he didn't take it, I didn't let him." He was quick to assure at Batman's narrowed look, he didn't want the man to think his brother was stealing their stuff left and right.

Captain Marvel was no thief.

"Miss Marvel, she's one of my sisters, she's... the responsible one I guess, I admit she's the one who pays the most attention during meetings, she even takes notes. Sometimes it's Stormbreaker, he's the one who helped Batman track those magic snakes in Gotham two months ago, uh, he likes to curse and will find a way to play videogames on any electronic device."

He knew he didn't have to elaborate on that, the League had heard Marvel curse several times. Billy usually chose to not curse in this form so as to make a point of heroes being good influences.

"There's also Duke, he's the quiet one, same one who likes to show off his strength left and right... there's also Bolt, she's... we usually don't really let her control the body, she often forgets she isn't in her short and very inoffensive looking body and tends to tackle anyone within reach, she's a hugger, not exactly a good thing when you look like this." He said pointing at his face, he didn't miss Wonder Woman's smile.

Well, at least he didn't have to worry about heart attacks anymore.

"You said you can all have separate transformations, does that mean you don't look like that?"

"... No, not really, I mean, I still look like this when it's just me, but I don't really look anywhere near similar to this in my civilian form."

"Civilian form?" Batman asked, narrowing his eyes.

Billy winced, shit, he hadn't meant to say that.

"Yeah, uh... You could say this is transformation magic, like a prime version of me? I'm not sure, but I don't really look like this, and I don't really have any powers when I'm a civilian."

"So you are human?"

"In a sense." Billy Batson was human. Captain Marvel was a demi-god. Right now, theoretically speaking, he wasn't human.

"Are your siblings here right now?" Superman's question was expected, so it didn't surprise Billy, but still...

"Yeah..."

"Can we meet them?" Again, expected request.

"Can the Watchtower take seven lightning strikes?"

The League frowned at him, Batman narrowing his eyes.

"Seven lightning strikes?"

"I have to de-transform first, so one lightning strike, and then I have to transform back and so do they, but separately, six lightning strikes. So, can the Watchtower take seven lightning strikes?"

"It can." Batman assured at last, these were news, it never occurred to him that Captain Marvel would have a completely different appearance altogether, that explained why finding the man's identity was proving impossible. Transformation magic.

Bruce seriously hated magic.

And now the man would de-transform, in the Watchtower, this was an opportunity like none other.

"Alright then, uhm, I will, uh, go to my room."

And there went Bruce's chances at seeing the man's face. The bedroom's were one of the few places in the Watchtower with no security camera.

Billy for his side was quick to leave the room, feeling a bit nervous as he made his way to his room. Once there he locked the door before taking in a deep breath.

And then.

"Shazam."

Lightning struck down, lights flickering as the transformation ended. Six children now stood around the room. Billy was quick to bring his hand up to his mouth, signaling them to not talk, he wasn't sure if Superman might be overhearing. Better safe than sorry.

Thus, one word left their mouths almost at the same time.

"Shazam!"

Six lightning bolts struck the Watchtower, lights flickering.

And now six heroes stood in the room.

Chapter Text

William Batson was born ancient Greece under the name of Thavma. He was sealed away by a most powerful wizard. Centuries later Black Adam awakens, the League cannot fight against him for he is too powerful, and because he is magic, Superman, their heaviest hitter, is useless against him. 

Zatanna informs them that Black Adam's sole rival, the one who can defeat him, it's the Champion Of Magic, but he was sealed away centuries ago by very powerful dark magic. But it's been centuries, she might be able to free him for magic tends to weaken with time. 

Batman is not on board with this plan, much less after hearing Wonder Woman's words about the man having been the God of Gods, wielding the power of Gods on his side and being the incarnation of magic itself. One of the most powerful beings in the world to not say the most powerful being of magic in existence. 

Batman is not amused, because they would get rid of Black Adam, yes. But at what cost? Releasing a potentially dangerous and unstoppable creature? 

No, they would find another way. Diana insists that the Champion had been a benevolent being, he had even worked with the Amazons. Batman refuses to take chances. Doesn't matter though, for the Champion is awoken. 

\\\\\\\\\

Somewhere in Fawcett City, lightning strikes down and glowing eyes open. 

\\\\\\\\\\\\

The Watchtower gets a report of a man that materialized after a huge lightning bolt, he was hovering on top of Fawcett City, he is clad in a red suit, white cape with golden trims, hood partially covering his face, gold bracers and swashbuckling boots with a bright gold lightning bolt on his chest.

Zatanna and every single magic user in the world recognizes the obliterating presence that explodes throughout the world, sending shivers down their spines and making their hairs stand on end, it's like a howl of unfathomable and all crushing magic. Her voice is faint as she speaks: 

The Champion Of Magic has arisen.  

The imposing and terrifying man dissapears shortly after that, not giving the League time to even break out of their shock to hunt him down. He is not seen again until a week later when Black Adam emerges demanding for him to show up. 

He beats the man to a pulp and when Black Adam dissapears so does the Champion, it takes the League over three months before they are able to intercept the sneaky man. So far, he didn't seem dangerous, enough footage of him has been spread, he was always energetic, always eager to help, always smiling as if he was genuinely happy by just being there.

And still, he wasn't as active as someone with his kind of power would be expected to be, even more so considering Zatanna's words of him having been sealed for centuries, one would think he would be curious enough about the modern world that he would be seen left and right.

But he wasn't.

He was rarely seen, and even though the man had his face completely exposed for the world to see Batman couldn't find him anywhere on the world, face recognition didn't work on him, as if he didn't exist. Zatanna had warned them to be careful with him, to not attack or piss him off in any way, would be a dozen times better if they didn't approach him at all, even Diana was very adamant on them being careful with how they dealt with this man.

Captain Marvel.

That's how he had named himself.

He was finally intercepted by the invisible javelin as he was levitating in the air above the clouds, he was staring boredly at the sky while throwing and catching a ball of lightning. He suddenly straightens, narrowing his eyes as he turns around, staring straight at the javelin, ball of lightning exploding into a small firework of crackling energy as he crushes it between his fingers.

"I don't know who or what you are, but you have five seconds to show yourself before I make you." He warned, he had read enough about modern times to know about invisible things.

Still.

He wasn't quite prepared for a javelin to materialize, nor for the Justice League to be the ones behind the glass. He's seen dozens of videos of them, heroes who had saved thousands of lifes throughout the years.

"We mean you no harm."  Superman assures.

"Then why were you sneaking around?"

"We were hoping to talk to you. If it's possible."

Marvel gives them a long look before smiling, all static in the air disapearing completely.

"Sure."

///////////

Captain Marvel joined the Justice League not long after. The League had first offered him to join to keep an eye on him, Zatanna had said he had been sealed for centuries, and that adding the fact that he might be able to take down Superman if it came to it... it was best to make sure he was on their side. 

His awakening alongside his battle with Black Adam and title of "God of Gods" had led them to believe the man would be arrogant, intimidating even and flat out terrifying. But as it turns out, all their anxieties and fears were quick to fade as he turned out to be quite a goofball, he was always smiling, always happy, genuinely happy. Flash and Green Lantern had been quick to take a liking to the man, who for all intents and purposes had the same sense of humor as them.

Who would have said that the guy who had everyone initially terrified would turn out to be a harmless overgrown puppy?

Zatanna didn't visit the Watchtower as much as she used to, and so far she had refused to come face to face with Captain Marvel.

Captain Marvel was quite the reliable teammate, he had the attention span of a fish when it came to meetings, but he never complained about monitor duty, he was never late to anything either. But he did have a thing about long hours. He would never take missions that would take more than a day to be completed, would excuse himself out of meetings in the aftermath of particularly long battles.

No one was quite sure what the reason behind it was, and there was also the fact of how he could disappear completely, no face recognition could find him when Captain Marvel was nowhere to be found. As if he disappeared. 

///////////////

Billy possesses formidable mystical powers. He has the capacity to manipulate and command magical energies, and possesses a deep understanding of the supernatural. He likes to roam around, he had used magic to mimic the clothing he had seen kids his age wear while watching TV on the other side of the glass outside a store. So he now wore a red hoodie, blue jeans and sneakers. He likes to spend hours at libraries soaking in all the information possible, understanding how the modern world works and learning to speak English without the use of magical translator. 

Due to the immense accumulation of magic he developed throughout the centuries he spent sealed he now must remain within the confines of the Rock of Eternity until it regulates. Billy and Thavma can only venture outside the Rock of Eternity for a maximum of 24 hours at a time for they are tethered to the Rock of Eternity.

Not returning to the Rock could cause massive fluctuations of magic, rupturing veils and bringing magical creatures into the world, making magic across the world fail and make their powers go haywire.

Captain Marvel thought he had it all under control.

Until he gets knocked out during a mission that had taken longer than it should have.

Chapter Text

That night Diana and Steve Trevor spent together in 1984 left her with a gift. A gift to remind her of the wonderful second chance she got with him, even if short lived. A baby.

Orion.

A beautiful child of dark hair and bright blue eyes.

He was the second male who was ever allowed in Themyschira, Diana lived in London, but she took him back to Themyschira regularly so he could get to know his roots and spend time with his grandmother and all his aunts. The Amazons loved him, he was the second child to ever be on the island, the first one in centuries.

Even if some of them had had their reservations about him for being male, it hadn't taken long for them all to soften up to him and his cute dimples. He would always be in someone's arms, always getting spoiled and fussed over.

Themyschira's little star.

When Orion was 4 his babysitter, a good friend of Diana, took him to the bank with her, there, several masked men took over the bank, many people were killed, the babysitter was one of them, Orion was one of the many children who were kidnapped, and one of the many children who was never found.

Diana looked for him all over the world, but she never found him.

Meanwhile, in Fawcett City, one night C.C. Batson and his wife; Marilyn came across a toddler at a car wreck, the cops were never able to find his parents nor any family. So the couple ended up adopting him, he was mute at first, wouldn't speak to people, and in the absence of a name he was re-named: William Joseph Batson. 

He lived a happy life for a whole year, when Billy was 5 he lost his parents, his uncle taking his inheritance before throwing him into the system, claiming that he wouldn't look after a child who wasn't even related to him.

Billy went from one foster home to the other, always worse than the previous one, at the age of 7 he fell through the cracks and began living in the streets. At the age of 10 he became the Champion Of Magic, and because of this, he also found out who his biological mother was.

Diana.

Wonder Woman.

Zeus told him.

And while he did found it a bit odd to have his literal grandfather in his head, he had been busier freaking out over the Wonder Woman being his mother. 

He never approached her though, terrified of the potential rejection, he had no idea if she had abandoned him, or if he had been kidnapped, or if he had gotten lost, he had no idea how he ended up in Fawcett City to begin with.

Reason he never approached her, afraid to find out the truth, and even if she hadn't abandoned him, why would she want him now? He was a street rat, it was embarrassing to even think he was related to the Wonder Woman.

And still, fate had other plans for he ended up joining the Justice League several months later.

He had tried to avoid Wonder Woman at first, but she had been quite determined to spend time around him, he guessed it was inevitable when he had the power of Greek Gods, one of which was her own father. Avoiding her hadn't worked.

With time he stopped attempting to avoid her and became attached to her, it was weird when she began calling him brother. But he didn't mind, he liked hanging around her, hiding who he was became easier, or at least he liked thinking that.

He managed to hide it for two years straight.

Became a bit harder after she revealed that she had had a son, Orion, who had been kidnapped and she never managed to find. Knowing she hadn't abandoned him had lifted an enormous weight he had never noticed off his chest. The pain in her voice, the sorrow in her face... it had almost made him reveal himself right then right there.

But he hadn't.

Because as stated before, why would she want a street rat? The fear of rejection had kept him quiet regardless of Solomon and Zeus' words.

And he never was as grateful about the Wizard deleting William Batson's existence from the internet as he was when the Justice League decided to attempt to find him.

No records, pictures or news about him would ever be found for the Wizard had deleted it all. A form to protect him from the cops and CPS. After all, you couldn't hunt down a child who didn't exist.

He had still kept himself from going around as Billy without cover, not wanting to risk it with the League hunting any speck of information they could get about him, yeah, he wasn't on the age one born in 1984 would be, but Wonder Woman herself had said his growth had been very slow, there was no telling how old he might be now if he was still alive.

Five months later after the reveal and he thought he was safe.

He should have known the League wouldn't give up with that much ease, much less when it came to a missing child, even less if said child was from one of their teammates. 

And then shit hit the fan.

\\\\\\\\\\\\

The Justice League wasn't ignorant of the knowledge about Orion.

Wonder Woman's son.

She had told them about him when the knowledge of Batman's children first came to light and the man admitted to have hidden their existence so as to protect them.

When they first found out about it, many of them had tried and failed to search for the boy, Batman had spent a month trying to find anything that could lead him to find the boy, but for a big event as that of a bank getting robbed and the children from the hostages being kidnapped, there had been few news about that. Way too little information.

And he hadn't been successful. 

Flash had spent a week methodically running all over the world, searching for anyone who might resemble the boy in the picture Diana had shown them. But he had also been unsuccessful.

Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Hawkwoman and Green Lantern had also tried with their own methods to see if any information about that event could be found, but it was way too suspiciously vague. Batman's words of a darker motive being behind it all growing stronger.

Superman had tried to use his journalism connections to figure out how come such an alarming event got so little attention at the time, he had even spoken with the few children who had been found, interviewed them and showed them pictures. But no one was able to recognize the boy.

The League had spent three months in total attempting to find a single clue on the boy, but no one was successful. 

And then Oracle had sent Batman an image from a security camera in Fawcett City.

Of a child no older than 10 sitting outside an ice cream shop, eating a giant banana split by himself.

A child Bruce had hunted down and gotten to speak with, had managed to get a strand of hair.

And as life would have it.

It was him.

Orion.

But the child had dropped from the face of the Earth, the League had combed the whole city, but the child was gone.

Diana had been devastated, but also had felt renewed hope, because her son was alive.

What did shatter her was to find that her son was apparently living in the streets, and that he was 12 but that in the picture he looked like he was barely 10. He was so small and thin for his age due the malnourishment that it destroyed her completely.

She thought she would never see him again.

And then came the second footage.

A security camera caught sight of the boy, at Fawcett City, the boy went into an alley, and not even a second later the footage glitched, but even as it glitched it was still able to catch a much too familiar face coming back out of the alley.

"Captain Marvel?" Diana voiced out, confused. Captain Marvel had been acting weird for a while now, more distant, he almost seemed to be on edge, and it could be her imagination.

But he's been avoiding her since their search of Orion at Fawcett City, would barely look her in the eye at all. 

And now this... did he know where Orion was? Was that the reason he had been acting so weird? Had he found him? Was he hiding him? But why would he do that? It didn't make sense. None of this did. But there was no possible explanation for it when the time was so short, he must have seen Orion in the alley. He must have recognized him, there was no way Marvel would ignore a kid walking into an alley. But then why hadn't he said anything?

She's always had a soft spot for him, there was something about him that made her want to protect him, to have him close, like a connection she couldn't quite explain. He was like a brother to her, spending time with him made her feel at ease. Even if he could be quite immature at times, she wouldn't hesitate to trust him with her life.

So why hadn't he said anything if he saw Orion?

He knew how important her son was to her, how much she missed him, how much it pained her to know he was out there, alone. She couldn't understand why he would hide this.

"What's with the long faces?" Captain Marvel's sudden curious voice caught the room's attention. Diana felt sudden anger swell up, pain, as she shot up from her chair as she stalked up to the man she thought she could trust, her brother.

"You! I considered you a brother!" He took several steps back from her to keep distance between them, confusion washing over his face as he brought his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, hey, what did I do?"

"You know where Orion is, don't you?" Diana said, pinning him down with a glare as a wall behind halted his retreat. He might be taller than her, but Diana has never been one to let size deter her when it came to confronting others.

She expected a lot of things from the accusation.

However, she didn't expect him to grow pale and freeze at her words. And she almost felt the burning urge to put the Lasso around him and order the truth out of him, that if the sudden unadulterated terror hadn't taken over his eyes, he turned his eyes away from her, and for a moment, it seemed as if he wanted to completely disappear from the room, trying to make himself as small as possible. 

"Why would you think that?" Was what he asked, still refusing to look at her.

"What else am I suppose to think from that?" Diana stated as she pointed at the screen, Marvel threw a look at it, watching the kid go in, and him come out...

And Billy has never felt so terrified in his life, because no, this wasn't suppose to be how things unraveled, he knew he shouldn't have gone around as Billy, being Billy was way too risky. At this point he didn't even know what was stopping him from telling the truth.

Somehow, the League had found out he was homeless and that his DNA, was, in fact, Orion's. Diana had made quite clear her desire to find him, she felt guilt over his current condition, that she had somehow failed him, that she should have looked better. Reason he had been unable to speak with her since the League searched Fawcett City.

The guilt didn't let him even look at her, he wasn't even sure what was he so scared of, because he did wish to end this whole thing, he wanted to hug her and never let go, to apologize for the lies, to be able to spend time around her, not as Captain Marvel, but as Billy. He wanted her to stay by his side at night, to learn from more than just history books about Steve Trevor, to have her walk him to school, to go to the park together, things kids would do with their mothers.

But he was much too afraid of it. What if she didn't want him because he was Captain Marvel? What if it made their relationship awkward? What if he was kicked out of the League? What if he was kicked out and banned from being Captain Marvel? He didn't know what he would do if he lost it all.

But he had the feeling that even if he didn't speak, he would lose it all. And to be honest? Having her looking at him with such anger... such betrayal.

He couldn't take it.

Thus.

He fled.

Because he was a coward, he ran for the Zeta tubes, and while he used Mercury's speed, he had never felt so much like Billy Batson in this body as he did at the moment. Like a scared little kid running away from peer pressure.

"Marvel!"

Flash's voice was the last thing he heard before the Zeta tube aided his pathetic escape.

And once at Fawcett he didn't hesitate to step out of the Zeta tube.

"Shazam!"

Thunder roared above before lightning struck down, stripping his powers away, leaving him small and powerless, he bolted out of the alley, running for the one place no one would ever find him.

The Rock Of Eternity. 

He didn't even notice when he got there, all he knew is that once he was there he dropped on his knees, vision blurring and throat burning, a sob catching at the back of his throat, another sob, and another one followed after that, and before he knew it tears were streaming down his face, his wails echoing down the lone and dark halls of the place.

He had officially lost everything. There was no way the League would want him now after such incriminating move as that of escaping after the accusation.

And the realization of how alone he was made him cry harder, it felt like he could no longer remember how to stop crying, because he was alone, truly alone, and it felt like the world would swallow him all up, like it was eating him away.

And so he cried.

Chapter Text

Thavma is a creature of legends, Living Lightning, the incarnation of magic itself, sentient raw power that could level an entire planet. It was a taboo among magic users to even whisper its name. It was the God of magic, God of Gods. A golden dragon of lightning.

William Batson is a 12 year old immortal who was born in ancient Greece. He can no longer age. He is seen the world change throughout the years. Has lived all over the world to not attract attention, rarely doing Captain Marvel stuff, stopped doing it for the government began chasing him. He used Thavma to act as his guardian to keep the CPS off his back. He used to move around a lot until he ended up at Fawcett City, the place was magical enough no one questioned why a teenager didn't ser yo age. 

He got a job at Whiz radio, goes under the name of Whiz kid. Also lives in an apartment. He made friends with Freddie and his siblings. The Vasquez liked him and he got to learn things Marvel couldn't teach him, Victor taught him how to drive, and Rosa taught him how to make food last longer without magic. He had sleepovers at their house and most of the time had dinner with them, Rosa even gave him food to take home with him even though he knew how to cook. It made him feel as if he had a family after so long.

Then a villain with no brain ruins it all.

The thing about Captain Marvel was that Billy only kept patches of his memories regarding what he did. Billy is rendered mute by a curse and he can't hear Thavma or the Gods, he knows they are there, the fact that he hadn't turned to dust left it clear.

But he can't hear them.

It becomes a run against time as he fails to lift the curse, his magic doesn't work and all the spells he tries explode, he needs help, but Thavma is the one with the comm, de-transforming makes it disappear with him, he did it so as to avoid the League tracing it back to Billy. He can't remember either where the Zeta tubes might be at. He must retrieve his voice, spending too much time without transforming usually led to Thavma's magic becoming an infernal itch under his skin, but by not transforming it would eventually lead to the magic burning its way out, literally speaking.

He cannot die, if he dies like this he won't be able to contain the explosion of Thavma's magic. Nothing will. The Rock Of Eternity stabilizes his magic, but that's just temporary. He MUST transform. He can't travel to any of the cities where the League members are at for he can't leave the Rock, he is become tethered to it in an attempt to have an outlet to release the growing magic.

So he goes with a desperated plan.

Cause a big enough disturbance that the League sees itself forced to show up because Captain Marvel won't.

Thus, he got to work, he had to make this credible, but also be careful to not hurt people nor destroy anything. He had to be loud, but careful. So he carried out his plan at the beach, hopefully Aquaman wouldn't drown him, his only comfort was that the League didn't kill people.

That's how Billy found himself at the bay, exploding the deck with fireworks, throwing water balloons at people and shooting them with a paint gun, vegetable colorant to make sure no one got blinded or hurt in any way by the paint. He set off the confetti bombs near the street, making sure to cause as much of a ruckus as possible.

All the while he had made sure to even put on a "villainy" costume, he had bought several costumes at a costume store and had mixed them up, he had a Superman shirt with Aquaman pants, a Batman cape, Flash's cowl and Wonder Woman's boots. Nothing better to get their attention than to attack people wearing Justice League merchandise.

So busy he was he didn't notice the incoming figure until he found himself yanked up, gun dropping as he found himself suspended upside down, a giant green hand holding his legs.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Green Lantern's words made him glare at the man, still, no time for that. He had to get them to call Zatanna, Constantine, Dr. Fate, anyone to get rid of this damn curse before half of the planet paid the price of a brainless idiot who casted a curse on the person that should not go mute. EVER. 

Thus, the second Green Lantern put him on the ground the second he quickly pulled out the note he had spent writing the day before, holding it out to the one person who would understand enough about magic to understand his dilemma.

Wonder Woman.

She narrowed her eyes at him, Billy gave her a pleading look.

The woman took it, opening the letter.

"I need your help, I only did this to call you all, I didn't hurt anyone, I made sure of it. I called you here because I need your help, I was recently rendered mute by a curse, I have very powerful magic inside me, I must release it from time to time so it doesn't accumulate, but I can only do it through a spell. I can't do it if I'm mute, the magic will explode if it keeps accumulating. I wouldn't have done this, but it's not just my life that's in danger, thousands could die if the magic explodes."

As Wonder Woman finished reading the letter out loud she turned to look at the boy, she couldn't see his face, but it was clear by his eyes that this was no regular boy. But to have such powerful magic?

"If you wanted to see us why didn't you contact Captain Marvel?" Batman questioned, narrowing his eyes. The boy scowled before holding out another note, as if he had expected the question.

Diana took it.

"I couldn't find him, and this is an issue that cannot wait." She read out loud. She frowned, Marvel had been missing for several days now, hadn't even shown up for their last meeting. And now this...

"Alright, so, uh, we get Constantine on this?"

"Absolutely not, you will go straight to Zatanna and ask her to meet us at the Watchtower." Batman stated, Constantine might be quite the formidable one, but the man was also not quite trustworthy, Batman would rather first reach out to someone he at least could trust to not try or hide anything regarding this boy who apparently had strong enough magic to kill thousands.

How did Captain Marvel not tell them about this? Didn't the man once said he could feel magic? Wouldn't have he noticed this kid had such strong magic? Something about this whole thing didn't quite made sense. And the kid... something told Batman he was hiding something.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\

The kid was taken to a roof, apparently, he couldn't leave the city, so the League had had to choose a roof instead of the Watchtower, he had refused to take the Flash cowl off though, the League wasn't quite sure what to make of his attire. Batman had given him a notepad with a pen that he had pulled from his utility belt so he could communicate with them.

He was sitting at the edge of the roof doodling on the notepad, he had refused to elaborate on the reason he couldn't leave the city, all he had said was that there was something in the city currently helping him keep the magic inside him at bay, leaving would only trigger it.

"So, you got a name? It would be really nice to have something to call you by instead of "the kid"." Green Lantern said suddenly, the boy looked up at him, odd enough, those piercing blue eyes reminded the League of someone, but they couldn't quite explain who.

The kid then looked back down and wrote something on the notepad before holding it up for them to see.

"Billy."

"William? That's a fine name." Wonder Woman's words got her a shake of the head before he was writing down on the notepad, he then turned it towards them with a stubborn look.

"Not William, it sounds too formal. Call me Billy."

"Billy it's then."

He smiled at her, little dimples making her feel like she was having a familiar deja vu. But why? She did not know this child, all the children she knew were her colleague's kids, and this one was certainly not one of them.

The sudden sound of a door opening caught their attention, all the heroes turned to the metallic door that gave path to the roof, Zatanna and Flash walking through it, the other end showing a room instead of the stairs.

"Zatanna." Batman gave as a form of greeting. Door closing behind her and Flash.

"Batman. I heard something about a curse?" She asked, glancing at the kid wearing a mixed up attire of the Justice League, and still, she froze as she caught sight of his aura. It was like nothing she has ever seen, an incandescent gold, potent and powerful. Something even more intense sizzling underneath with an obliterating might. She's only ever seen such raw power on leylines.

But leylines weren't living beings.

Also.

If this was a leyline Captain Marvel would have been like a hound dog around him, the League wouldn't have even known he existed, even despite his clear absence Zatanna felt nervous over being here as it was. Because while the League seemed to ignore it or not quite understand who Captain Marvel was.

Zatanna did.

And the last thing she wanted was to get on the bad side of the Champion Of Magic.

But he was absent for whatever reason, and this child could not be left ignored, not if what Flash had told her was true. A boy with magic that accumulated. She had never heard of such a thing.

"Zatanna? Is everything alright?" Superman questions, successfully breaking Zatanna out of her thoughts.

"Yes, I'm fine." She assures, carefully approaching the boy, he looked quite harmless, but the more she approached him the more she could feel the stinging magic, the crushing pressure surrounding him, it made her hairs stand on end, a little voice at the back of her head screaming for retreat.

That this boy was dangerous.

"May I? I need to see what we are working with." She tells as he halts before the boy, she needs to figure out what kind of curse he has, for that she must check his magic signature.

He gives her a short nod.

And so Zatanna brings her hands forward. A purple light emanating from her hands as she held them over his neck, using her own magic to study his. 

And it was much more intense than previously thought, it was like she was dipping her fingertips into a giant bottomless well of pure raw magic, wild and overwhelming. Gold and bright. It pushed at her violently.

Suddenly, the boy's eyes lit up and Zatanna sucked in a sharp breath, jerking back with a hiss as electricity lit up all over his whole body, lightning striking down, Superman yanking Zatanna back in time for the lightning bolt to miss her by inches.

And still, those last seconds of her touching the boy, she had heard it, a deep low growl that sent shivers down her spine and reverberated through her very magic core. The image of blindgly fiery golden eyes piercing her very soul screaming danger.

For a moment, a sense of absolute and unadulterated terror filled her, her legs growing so weak Superman's hands clasping her arms became the only thing keeping her up as she stared at the child, the child who's eyes were still glowing and staring deep into her soul.

A sneer on his face.

Suddenly, the glowing and electricity around his body disappeared and he dropped forward, a green cushion courtesy of Green Lantern softening his fall to the ground by Aquaman and Wonder Woman's feet. And just like a rubber band Zatanna's fear snapped out of existence same as the thick atmosphere, leaving her only shaking as she tried to compose herself.

"Are you alright?" Superman asks after a moment as she waves his hands away, trusting her legs a bit more to support her.

"I'm fine."

"What the hell was that?" Flash asked, he wasn't the only one nervous, they had all felt it, the crushing weight in the air, almost asphyxiating, making their hairs stand on end and their instincts scream one sole word.

Danger.

"I don't know. I have never felt anything like that, that magic inside him... it almost felt as if it were protecting him, not in a subconscious act of his... but more like a sentient magic kind of thing." Even if she said that she still couldn't believe it herself, for such raw power to be sentient. She had never felt something like that.

"Hold it. Sentient? As in the magic inside him is alive?" Green Lantern asked.

"I have never seen something like that. It was angry, and it kept pushing me away, I... it felt like I was just dipping nothing but my fingertips into a giant bottomless well of pure raw magic, whatever that magic inside him is. It's dangerous."

"So you are saying we should think this over before breaking the curse?"

"No, I'm saying we should break the curse as soon as possible, if that amount of magic were to explode, it would take the whole planet with it. But I can't break the curse if I don't know how it works, and I won't know how it works if his magic won't let me in."

The League frowned, looking at the unconscious child who Diana was now holding in her arms.

Who was this child? And how did Marvel never told them such magic user existed in Fawcett City?

/////////////

Billy woke up with a groan, his head felt foggy and his muscles were sore, he felt as if he had been ran over by a train. The first thing he noticed was the familiar feeling of a mattress underneath him, weird, he didn't remember going to bed, nor his bed feeling this comfortable.

"Billy?"

He frowned, that wasn't Freddie, nor Eugene, nor Pedro, not even Victor. Who was it then?

"Son, can you hear me?" Son? Who had he heard speak like that before...? He opened his eyes, wincing at the sudden light, blinking rapidly to get rid of the sting. 

He was met with a familiar face.

Superman.

The memories rushed back and he shot up, looking around frantically before his eyes fell on Zatanna, very much alive and unharmed. He sighed in relief, thank God, if she got charred by lightning because of Thavma's current state he would feel so terrible once this whole thing ended.

"Take this." He turned to look at Superman who was offering him a glass of water. He took it with a grateful smile, the lukewarm liquid helped soothe his sore throat. All his muscles felt sore, nothing to be surprised at, he was used to that at this point. Throughout the centuries there had been certain events that had led to Thavma making his presence as known as possible while Billy was still Billy and couldn't call upon him.

It always left him feeling like a train had run him over, Thavma usually did it if his life was in danger, considering their current state Billy understood why he would attack Zatanna.

Once he was done he gave the glass to Superman. He looked around, noticing that they were in what looked like a motel room, the League were wearing civilian clothes, but their masks were still on (or not seeing that some didn't wear masks). But the point stood. He wondered how they managed to not call attention to themselves nor make anyone call the cops on a group of adults carrying around a "child".

"Here." Wonder Woman passed him the notepad and pen. He took it with a grateful nod.

"William Joseph Batson." Batman's sudden words made him flinch, surprise seizing him before he was reaching up to touch his face. 

The cowl was gone.

He glared at the gothamite. 

"All the information I found about you was seemingly created 20 years ago, and before that there's several pictures of you that date back to as early as 1789, your current papers claim you are 12 years old, but there's no records of you, no parents, no birth certificate, not even a DNA match. Your only guardian is a man by the name of C.M. who only seems to appear when your rent is due. So, who are you exactly?"

Billy didn't answer, of course Batman wouldn't hesitate to take his cowl off and look him up. Thavma called him paranoid. And shit should he have asked Eugene to make him better papers than the ones he, Solomon and Thavma had come up with 20 years ago.

"Your magic is sentient. And it can explode the planet with it... how come did Captain Marvel never told the League about this? You claim he couldn't be found, but I'm quite sure he would have come to you the second he felt the curse upon you. So why didn't he?" Billy had the feeling Zatanna was getting a very wrong idea here, all of them were by the looks of it.

They were looking at him as if he were suddenly the bad guy here.

Shit. He couldn't let them think he was using them to break some kind of curse he's been put into since ages ago because he was a threat. Should he just tell them? But Thavma had been insistent on the League not knowing, and Billy couldn't agree more, while he would have liked to meet them he also had wanted to avoid them.

Because if there was one thing he did know was that adults were weird.

And that Batman had a severe problem adopting parentless kids. Mainly dark haired, blue eyed kids.

He did like Batman, but he was not gonna let him adopt him nor anyone for that matter, he had worked hard to achieve his current independence, he didn't need an adult telling him what to do and coddling him. He could take care of himself just fine.

Plus.

It would be a cold day in hell before he were to leave Fawcett City.

"Billy?"

Superman's sudden voice made him realize he had gotten lost in thought, and that an answer was still being expected from him. Would it be enough to twist some of the truth? He couldn't tell them about his relationship with Thavma, the Wizard had told him to never trust a soul with this.

And he knew the reason, he long learnt that way too many power hungry psychos wouldn't hesitate to come after him if they were to know about his connection with Thavma.

All of them coveting the Champion's power.

He knew it was hypocritical to think that when the Vasquez, Freddie and the others knew.

But as Thavma had said, none of them was at risk of being mind controlled like the Justice League, so it was safe for them to know.

Or at least safer than the League knowing.

Thus.

He would lie for as long as he had to.

He wrote down a bit of truth on the notepad before turning it towards the heroes.

"Captain Marvel can't help me right now. He knows about me, he's the one who's been helping me. He's C.M., he poses as my dad so as to keep people from paying too much attention to me. He didn't tell you about me because I have always been perfectly fine, there was no reason for you to know about me. The less people know about me the safer it's for everyone."

All of it was true, in a sense, he just didn't mention the fact where Captain Marvel had been helping him for several centuries now.

He could tell from a mile that the League didn't quite agree with his words, and that several of them were mad Marvel had kept something like this from them, he could understand their anger.

He would want to know if there was a ticking bomb capable of wiping the whole planet out too. That wasn't something people could just ignore.

But they had no idea who he was or how dangerous Captain Marvel had it. 

"It's not that he didn't trust you. But a lot of creatures have the habit to either try to kill me, eat me or mess with things they shouldn't. If you were mind controlled or a villain were to read your mind, they would know about me. That wouldn't go over well."

Again, another half lie, Captain Marvel was the one the creatures tried to eat, kill or steal the powers of. The few who had come after Billy had ended up dead, Thavma was serious about not letting enemies know about him.

"I still don't see how come he is not here. You say he can't help, but why can't he help? He's the Champion Of Magic, there's nothing regarding magic he can't handle. This curse would be easy peasy for him to destroy, and even so, you are practically a ticking bomb right now, he wouldn't just ignore it."

Zatanna's words made Billy groan internally, why couldn't they just stop making questions? Ah. Fuck it. Things couldn't get any worse anyways.

Thus.

He grabbed the pen and wrote down on his notepad, he had to start small, careful, he knew it could be a bit confusing at first for people who didn't understood magic.

The League watched him write in silence.

He then turned the notepad to them.

"I didn't lie, Captain Marvel cannot help me. I don't know how much he told you about what he is or how his powers work. But he exists in a completely different realm than ours, Zatanna uses magic, she knows who he is and she can tell you that I don't lie."

"Zatanna?"

"You spend a lot of time around him, are you seriously telling me you aren't aware of who he truly is?" Zatanna asked at the looks she was given, they couldn't seriously be that oblivious, right? But it would explain why they always felt the need to call her, Constantine or Dr. Fate for magic cases when they literally had the God of Magic with them.

"Well... he is the Champion Of Magic or something, that's like an important title or something..." It wasn't until Flash said that that the League realized none of them had ever bothered to listen to Marvel's words when it came to magic outside a magic related threat.

"Or something? You serious?" Zatanna didn't know if to hit someone or scream, how the hell did they survive this long without seriously pissing off the Champion Of Magic was beyond her. "It's not just a title, he's the guardian of the Rock Of Eternity, the literal center of reality, a focal point of all the magic on Earth. It's prison to ungodly monsters and powerful ancient artifacts. He can literally decide who has magic and who doesn’t, didn't you ever wonder why every single magic user in the League seems to avoid him? No one wants to risk pissing him off and having him cancelling their magic."

Or at least that was her reason to avoid him, and she knew Constantine also avoided him for that fact even if the man would never be caught dead admitting said fact. Dr. Fate... she couldn't be sure.

"The Champion Of Magic watches over the thousands leylines spread across the world, and he is the one who deals with anything magic related aside from the fights, means dozens and dozens of meetings with the hundreds of magical creatures that inhabit the Earth, that if you don't add the whole political and law side of it all."

"He's the God of Gods." Diana exclaimed in realization, stories her mother had told her of as a child coming back to her. How did she not see the connection sooner? He had the power of Gods and magic. An honorable man who fought for justice. She should have known.

"Yes. That's one of his names."

"God of Gods?" Batman repeated, he was cursing having never looked deeper into Captain Marvel's involvement with magic, that he let his damn hatred for magic keep him from doing a proper research on who the man was.

And now...

Zatanna's words made him realize how much he had underestimated the man, if he had that kind of power, to be able to decide who had magic and who didn't... He would need to update his archive, and start from scratch on his previous plan to neutralize the Captain.

He didn't even think the man might be able to be neutralized.

"My mother used to tell me stories about them when I was young. She said they were the protectors of all magic in the world, their powers came from the Gods, Solomon's wisdom, Heracles' strength, Atlas' stamina, Zeus' lightning, Achilles' courage and Mercury's speed. She said that they were Living Lightning, the incarnation of magic itself, set upon the world to do the Gods' bidding."

"When you say Living Lightning, are we talking about a metaphor here? And why do you keep saying 'they'?" Green Lantern questioned.

"It's not a metaphor, Living Lightning is... not human, it's just sentient raw power that resides in a completely different plane from us... and the why she keeps repeating the 'they' it's because there's been dozens of Champions Of Magic throughout the centuries, gender, age, race, it varies a lot." It wasn't until Zatanna said that that a thought occurred to her, she glanced at the kid, the power she had felt before alongside the lightning...

She didn't seem to be the only one to come to the conclusion for she heard someone suck in a sharp breath.

"Holy shit."

Zatanna wasn't sure how did the Champion Of Magic went from his... original form to a human looking person, she used to think shapeshifting.

Now that she was staring at the kid she had several doubts about that. But the reminder of that asphyxiating presence kept her from disregarding the possibility completely.

"Marvel?" Superman's word got the kid honest to God smacking his forehead, this before shaking his head and writing down on the notepad before turning it to them.

"No, you are right on the Living Lightning being sentient raw power, but think of him as a spell, for him to be able to be here he needs a host, a human host, I am that host. I have been his host for several centuries now, I have maintained the same appearance I had when I was first chosen by the Wizard. I cannot hear him nor transform right now, but he is still here. If I don't transform for too long his magic will burn me from the inside out as it starts accumulating. I am currently tethered to the Rock Of Eternity, it helps drain some of the pented up magic, but it's not a permanent fix. My magic won't work either, that's why I needed outside help."

Billy got several looks that told him he was definitely not believed. He sighed, scribbling down on the notepad before showing them.

"Flash once tripped mid putting his costume on and crashed on a wall half naked infront of the Justice League. He was wearing Lightning McQueen underwear." 

Flash screeched as he read that.

Billy smirked as he watched the Flash go through all the stages of grief as he realized a child knew such embarrassing event about him.

"You were spying on us?! How did the guy not tell us a friggin 12 year old was spying on us?!"

"We don't share the same memories, so it wasn't technically spying. I only remember snippets of what he does. Though it's always the most useless of things, I don't know where the Zeta tubes are at nor anything that might have helped me reach you quicker."

"If this is true, what was that with the lightning? Was that him?" Batman questioned.

Billy frowned before writing down on the notepad.

"He didn't meant to attack Zatanna, but right now, for some reason, we can't communicate. If he attacked her it means he can't see nor hear what I do as he usually does. He doesn't know it was her, all he knew is that foreign magic invaded his space, he might have thought I was being attacked or that someone was trying to tap into his magic, neither of which are good, so he retaliated. It's not his fault, he's just protecting us."

Billy made a point at putting emphasis on the last part, Marvel wasn't attacking on purpose, he was just protecting himself and Billy by the only methods he could right now.

"He took control of your body, couldn't he recognize us when he did?" Zatanna asked, she knew what she felt, he had been the one staring her down, and while she would give anything to not have to be here after what she felt and saw... she couldn't ignore this. The planet itself was on the line because some ignorant fool messed with the wrong person.

The boy shook his head, writing down on his notepad, a boy she could still not believe was the avatar of the Champion Of Magic. He held the notepad in their direction.

"He wasn't controlling my body, he was just angry enough that he subconsciously intensified his presence within me to chase you away."

"Can he control your body? I mean, does this work like possession?" Flash asked, he was still having trouble understanding this whole thing. This child was centuries old, and Captain Marvel was possessing him? But there was so much more in there he couldn't quite understand...

"It's not possession, he isn't a spirit nor a ghost. Think of it as the situation between Jason Blood and Etrigan, but less cursed. I'm not sure about the control thing, he's let me control his body a few times so I can fly around, so maybe he can also control my body too, but he's never done it nor mentioned it before. So I wouldn't know."

"He can't get rid of the curse from the inside?" Zatanna asked, she wasn't sure how was she even suppose to help here, if this kid was the Champion's host... his previous attack had been a warning.

If she tried to use her magic on him again he might do something worse.

The kid shook his head at her words, writing down on his notepad.

"He can't use magic when I am me, the only way for him to do that is if he comes close enough to the surface, but he will only do that if he feels we are in danger. And my own magic isn't responding. I was hoping that the curse would be removed before his magic started growing unstable. The longer I go without summoning him, the more the magic on this world will become unstable."

"Unstable how?"

"Magical creatures will start appearing as they realize the Champion's presence has been gone for too long, they will see it as a chance to wreck havoc for there's no one to stop them. The monsters at the Rock might also break free, and with nowhere to go they will cause damage to the Rock, if the Rock is damaged magic users will start having trouble with their magic, I would really like for that to not happen. If their magic fails there will be no one to get rid of the curse, means I will die and so will everyone, think of it as a nuclear bomb going off, but much, much worse."

Christ.

This was much worse than the League had first thought, this kid... and Marvel, how the hell had none of them ever paid enough attention to learn something? They had been so blinded by the guy's personality that they had never quite stepped back to access the kind of power he might have.

And now...

Chapter Text

The Justice League never thought it would come the day were someone would actually manage to capture them all, a man by the name of Morbius Tetch.

He had taken all their weapons when unconscious and incapacitated them all, had locked them behind a barrier that burnt like acid upon contact.

Captain Marvel was the only one absent from the "cell". Instead, he was across the room, hanging from chains, glowing golden symbols littering the chains and shackles holding him in place, symbols Diana recognized to be magic.

The man was still and quiet enough with his head bowed, it was eerie to see him so quiet and still, as if he were unconscious, the League didn't even know he could be knocked out.

"You are quite the problematic bunch, but no worries, I have prepared for all of you, all so I can do this in peace." Morbius said as he approached Marvel with the Lasso. Diana isn't sure what he intends, but she still snarls at the man.

"If you touch him with that." She warns, fire rushing through her veins at the idea of anyone abusing the power of Hestia. The man ignores her as he fastened the Lasso around Marvel's neck, making Diana growl. "How dare you put that on him?!"

"I have questions, and I fear cooperation might not be given." Is all the man gives as an explanation.

"You have no right using that!" Diana snarled, red flashing in her vision, she's never used the Lasso of truth on innocents, much less on her friends, she would never do such a thing as that as abusing her power by violating her friends' trust.

And now this man had the nerve to dare and think he could use it on her brother? Marvel was one of her best friends, her brother who could wield Zeus' lightning, he had a noble heart and an outstanding goodness in general about him that made Diana feel nauseous with more reason on the idea of him being subjected to the atrocity of spilling the secrets he's never told anyone about.

Marvel was a very friendly man, but he always kept everyone at arm lengths, never revealing anything personal, this shouldn't be how they potentially ended up knowing things about him.

Because she had no doubt that this Morbius Tetch would exploit the Lasso to force Marvel to speak of things not even them might know.

"Wakey, wakey Captain." Morbius called, ignoring Wonder Woman as he patted Marvel's cheek. The man groaned before he began stirring, looking up at the mad scientist. "So glad you could join us." Cheered Morbius, to which Marvel ignored him, glancing at the Lasso for a moment before glancing at the League.

"That's not nice." Marvel said as he noticed the Kryptonite engraved shackles clasped shut around Superman's arms, the man was sitting by the wall leaning against Batman and looking very sick, Batman... he was in every chain and shackle imaginable, Marvel was quite sure the man wouldn't be able to stand up if he tried.

Flash also had shackles around his ankles, same kind he's seen people use on meta-humans. Green Lantern's ring had that dark color it got whenever it ran out of power... Aquaman was also wrapped in lots of chains and shackles. Same as Wonder Woman, it made him seethe to see them like that.

"So, when are you starting your grand evil monologue?" Marvel questioned as he looked back at the man, he tried to not feel nervous over the Lasso tied around his throat, he had to be careful with what he said.

"Glad to see you haven't lost your sense of humor." Morbius said, the Lasso tightened around his throat, making him swallow hard. "My boss won't be coming just yet, we had a deal, I capture you all, and I get to make you a few questions, questions you are gonna answer of course, how's that sound?"

So the guy wasn't the one behind all of this, great. Who was it then? Sivanna? Another bizarre team up between Sivanna and Luthor? But then why focus on him when Superman was literally across the room? Something didn't make sense here.

"I'm sorry, I don't give interviews to crazy villains." He told at last.

"Well, this is not up for debate, for as you can see you will have no other choice but to answer." The man said as a statement of fact. Marvel glared at him. "How did you get your powers?"

Marvel frowned, clenching his jaw as he felt the fire blaze around his throat.

"I asked you a question and I demand you to answer, how did you get your powers?" The man ordered, lasso burning his skin, tightening until it felt as if his skin were about to split open. Marvel bit back a groan as he curled his fingers into fists. While Billy would be completely safe as long as the man didn't ask anything that would lead to the host issue....

He cursed as his mouth moved against his will.

"I was born with them." He gritted out, feeling as the pressure around his throat lessened, it wasn't a lie, he was Living Lightning, he was created with the power of Gods at the Rock Of Eternity. He was literal sentient raw power.

"Those are lies, if you were born with them how come did you took so long to make an appearance? Where were you when Steppenwolf attacked?" Morbius demanded, anger in his eyes, Marvel resisted the urge to roll his eyes, lies? Didn't the man himself was using the literal lasso of truth to make sure he couldn't lie?

Still.

"It was not my time yet." He didn't bother to withhold that information, he didn't got to decide when was his time to arise once again in the mortal world and when was time to leave, the Wizard was.

"What does that mean?" Morbius asked, Marvel didn't answer, bitting his tongue until he tasted blood. "What does it mean?!"

Marvel growled internally as the words slipped out.

"Means I wasn't on this plane of existence just yet."  He gritted out, glaring at the floor as he bit his tongue so as to not elaborate more.

"Where were you if not here? What were you doing? How come did you not come sooner?" The man demanded, Marvel scowled.

"At the Rock Of Eternity, dormant, I didn't come sooner because I wasn't needed."

"Not needed? That's bullshit and we both know it. Magic shit happens left and right, aren't you suppose to be the big boss of magic? I would have thought anything magic related would by logic be your problem."

"There's more than enough powerful wizards, magician, exorcist and whatnot to counterattack those who seek to do harm. I wasn't needed." He told as a statement of fact, or at least that's what he felt like the Wizard had seen it as, Zatanna, Constantine, Jason Blood, Dr. Fate, all of them were abnormally powerful and skilled when it came to magic.

The world had been saved several times by them, fights for the world only those involved in the situation would ever know of, and Captain Marvel, he knew everything about all those fights, he knew about the sacrifices, the deaths and their determination.

Reason he held so much respect towards them, even if Zatanna didn't paid him much mind for she was nervous around him, or how much of a pain Constantine and Dr. Fate were, and Jason Blood kept to himself so... point was. It was a shame how the world would never know how many times those people had saved them, but as Billy liked to say.

Acknowledgement is irrelevant, while it's nice to get recognition, it didn't define whether you were a hero or not, you didn't fight for the world to get praises and recognition, you did it to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.

"Say, what's the Rock Of Eternity?" The man's sudden question caught his attention.

"None of your business." He spat immediately, wincing as the lasso tightened impossibly tighter around his throat, heat blazing.

"Now I am much more curious, what's the Rock Of Eternity? What does it do? Is it the source of your power? Can I find it? Tell me." Ordered the man sharply, Marvel glared hatefully at him, clenching his jaw tightly.

But not even that stopped the words from slipping out.

"It's... the center of reality, a focal point of all the magic on Earth. It's prison to ungodly monsters and powerful ancient artifacts. I am its guardian... no, you cannot enter it, no one can, only the guardian can enter it." He made a point at withholding the fact that he could bring people to the Rock Of Eternity, that was the only way anyone could enter it.

"If no one but you has access to it, why does it need a guardian in the first place?"

Marvel glared at the man, on one side, his job as the guardian wasn't a secret, the magic community knew everything, and the Justice League would know too, but they always got weird whenever he tried talking to them about magic, and they always brushed away his "Have Champion duties" as an excuse of his to escape, which he did admit he had used as an excuse to escape some activities and situations, but not all of them had been empty excuses. Diana might know some of it all things considered though.

Point is, while it's not a secret, he doesn't want to answer the dude.

But that's easier said than done.

"Being its guardian doesn't mean my job consists solely on protecting the Rock and what's inside it. I can decide who has magic and who doesn’t, means I have to keep an eye out for particularly unhinged people who might have gotten a hang of magic and take their magic away before they can use it to do something as unhinged as them."

Like that guy who had wanted to destroy the planet by opening a portal to a completely different dimension of thousands of demons that could teletransport and regenerate just because he was angry that his wife never stopped loving his best friend. He would never understand how could people put thousands in danger over such a small issue that could definitely be resolved in a dozen different ways that didn't involve dooming the whole planet.

"I watch over the thousands leylines spread across the world, and I must deal with anything magic related aside from the fights, means dozens and dozens of meetings with the hundreds of magical creatures that inhabit the Earth, I have to make sure they are not up to something if the magic energy around their area spikes, and I have to make sure they are safe and that they haven't become some lab rat for the humans or a sacrifice for occultism and whatnot. That if you don't add the whole political and law side of it all, which let me tell you is an amazing way to get a migraine. Have you ever tried talking to a fae who is hell bent on stealing your name? Or a satyr hell bent on scamming you even though you very much saw him break that magical vase while looking you straight in the eye? Do you have any idea how fast unicorns can run? They are not happy horned horses that shoot rainbows, those things are huge, terrifying, brutal and won't hesitate to rip your face off if you don't use food to buy your own safety around them."

He still remembered very much how it had felt to have a unicorn horn rip through his arm. He had learnt to throw the Skittles first, ask questions later.

The man stared at him, he looked like he wasn't sure if his leg was being pulled or not.

"Sure..."

"Hey man, I'm not lying, everyone with magic who has half a brain knows who I am and what I do, you can literally ask anyone."

The man narrowed his eyes at him, Marvel wasn't quite sure what to do when the man scoffed, took the lasso off of him, turned around and left. But he did snicker once the door shut, well, at least that gave him some time to breathe.

"What do unicorns eat?" Flash's sudden question caught his attention and he turned to look at him, that's when he realized the odd looks, guilt? What for?

Still.

He smirked.

"Skittles."

"Seriously?"

"Well, in theory, they eat Ambrosia, but someone I know told me Skittles were the closest thing to it, I wasn't very hopeful on that working, have to admit I was kinda surprised when I didn't end up impaled again." Who would have said a 5 year old would be the one to finally help him approach the unicorns for the first time since he first came into existence? Not even Shazam had been able to approach them.

"Again?! What do you mean again?!" Half screeched Flash. Marvel frowned at him.

"I was impaled before, though if you ask me that's much better than being bitten or kicked. Do not recommend their bites, the hallucinations are on a whole new level, feels like walking into a nightmare. But hey, at least they don't try to kill me anymore."

"Dude."

"I thought you were lying when you said you had to do champion stuff. You know, an excuse to run off." Green Lantern said, feeling a bit uncomfortable over this new discovery, he didn't understand magic that well, but he didn't need to to get an idea of how he might have underestimated Captain Marvel's job, how they all might have incredibly underestimated the guy.

His words had left clear that he did more important stuff than they had first realized. And that maybe those crazy stories about unicorns, dragons and faes he told them about were actually true.

"Sometimes it's true, sometimes it's not." Marvel conceded.

"Was it true what you told him? Can you give and take magic?" Batman questioned. And Marvel could tell from a mile away that the man was very much remembering all their fights against magic users. Could feel the question, the judgement and the suspicion like a thick blanket.

"... Yes... But I don't really do it much, I haven't given magic to anyone in centuries, those who wield magic were born with magical cores, I have nothing to do with that. And I don't take anyone's magic unless there's definitely no other way out of it, however they use it, I won't take it away. I know it doesn't sound great, to be able to take away that which helps others hurt and even kill dozens and not do it, but... magic is complicated, it's not just a skill, people are born with it, it's in their aura, in their core, taking their magic is like tearing off a literal piece of them, some kill themselves because they can't handle the feeling it leaves behind, and some others lose their minds as they become so hell bent on filling the bleeding gap left behind that they would do just about anything to get it back... a few have survived, but it's still not the same... so no, I won't apologize for not taking the magic of those who use it to harm others, they might be evil, but that doesn't mean they deserve to live in eternal torture."

He made a point at holding Batman's gaze, if he knew the man as well as he thought, he wouldn't judge his reasoning, Batman might not be a fan of magic, but he was also not a fan of torture.

"Question, if you can give magic, could it be possible to make Superman immune to magic?"

"No, I can't give magic to anyone at random, not everyone was born with the ability to handle magic, I can only give it to those who have strong cores, giving it to anyone random without checking first could lead to the person's death. Superman's core is strong, but because he is naturally vulnerable against it he cannot wield it. Giving him magic would just kill him."

"... Say, could I wield magic?" Of course Flash would ask that. Marvel smirked.

"No, sorry." The speedster deflated. "Aquaman could though, and Wonder Woman... and Batman."

That last one got several dropped jaws. Yeah, he knew the feeling, he had had the same reaction when he had first scanned the League's auras to check who could and who couldn't wield magic, just in case they ever needed a plan B.

Aquaman could, he already commanded the oceans and had very much a dormant magical core, all he would need to do was tap it and the man would very much make Poseidon have something to gossip about.

Wonder Woman was Zeus' daughter, she also had a magical core, hell, she could wield lightning if she wanted to, he had wanted to bring this up to her, but Zeus had told him not to, to let her find out her own potential on her own. Why the hell couldn't he just tell her was beyond him.

And Batman... that one had left him frozen in place, it was hilarious and ironic how the man who hated magic above all had the perfect core to wield it.

"Dude that's so not fair." Marvel shrugs. He didn't make the rules. Suddenly, the door opens, revealing Morbius Tetch, he had a very alarming grin that sent shivers down Marvel's spine.

"You know, I called a friend of mine, and what a surprise did I get when I told him I had you.... do you know what he told me?"

"That you should seriously consider changing hair saloons?" He questioned, grinning at the scowl the man gave him.

"Funny, let's see if you can keep up that sense of humor once I have your mortal form under a sword." The man's words froze Marvel, what? The man grinned. "So it's true then? That this form is not your own but just an illusion? What is it? Is it magic? How do you break the enchantment?"

Those words sent confusion across the League and rage across Marvel's face, the man's usual jovial face switching into one of pure unadulterated rage, eyes litting up a fiery white, it made the League's hairs stand on end, the atmosphere in the room growing almost electrifying. 

And still.

"How dare you use my weapon against my brother?!" Wonder Woman was the first to snap out of the shock as she noticed the man having the nerve to hold her sword against Marvel's chest, slamming herself against the barrier with a snarl. 

Her anger just intensified as the man once again fastened the Lasso around his neck. 

"Tell me Champion. How do you break the enchantment?" The man demanded, the Lasso glowing brightly, Marvel groaned, squeezing his eyes shut tightly, but he didn't answer, instead, he clenched his jaw tightly. 

Diana felt sick at the sight, because no, she's never used her weapon on her friends, she would never use it, much less like this, such vile hands should never have to abuse the power of Hestia. 

"Answer me!" Morbius demanded. Marvel cursed as the fire blazed across his throat, vision flashing white before his mouth was moving against his will. 

"With... a word." He gritted out. The words burnt his tongue, and even though the pressure around his throat lessened, it didn't fill him with a sliver of peace at all. He could feel Billy stirring up, alarm pooling in his chest, no, he couldn't let this man nor anyone for that matter see him, Billy was just starting to get used to this modern world, he even had made friends. 

And now... He couldn't let this man get his hands on him, he couldn't let him become a target. 

"What's the word?" The man asked, voice demanding, Marvel growled as fire seized his throat once again, the Lasso tightening around his throat until it felt like it might snap his trachea. His fingers curled into fists as fire rushes through his veins. He bit his tongue until he tasted copper. He couldn't answer. He couldn't-  "I order you to tell me the word that needs to be said to break the enchantment!"

Marvel forced himself to meet the man's eyes, a fire he hasn't felt in centuries curling at the pit of his stomach as he leaned forward, lightning pulsating raw beneath his skin, threatening to burn the flesh off his bones, thunder rumbling above, lightning crackling in his mouth as he spoke, his own glowing eyes reflecting on the man's black eyes.

"You can order all you wish, I would rather chew my own tongue off before I were to let him be seen by the likes of you." He spat, voice hard as steel.

"The word Champion, what is the word?" Marvel bit back a groan as the fire began spreading all around his neck, it felt like he might go insane with the heat. But he refused to give in. He wouldn't give in. He had to protect Billy. The League would never understand his situation nor would Billy be able to carry on with the sliver of normalcy he had. The lasso tightened impossibly tighter around his throat, making him choke on air, he could hear Flash and Wonder Woman's voices, but he couldn't for the life of him grasp their words.

All he knew is that there was anger in their voices.

And God, his throat was gonna be burnt off.

It felt like an eternal hell of heat before it disappeared altogether, he looked up at the man, not quite sure when had he dropped his head.

"Anything you wanna say?"

"Go... to hell." Marvel did an amazing job at never swearing in this form, both because Billy insisted on setting an example, and also because he still didn't quite understand some terms.

But he felt like this one fit just right with the situation.

"You won't talk? Alright, I can-" The man's voice cut off as a buzzing sound filled the room. He took out a phone from his pocket before glaring at it and then at Marvel. He yanked the lasso off of him before stalking out of the room, allowing Marvel to take a breath, he was shaking, he could feel the sweat trickling down the back of his neck and the throb of his tongue where he had bitten until it bled. But he hadn't transformed. Billy was safe.

"Cap? You alright there man?" Flash's nervous voice caught his attention and he turned to look at the group in the cage. Worried looks is what met him, he tried to smile, but it came more like a grimace.

"I'm fine..." He dropped his head, his neck burnt, and he couldn't hear the Gods nor Billy, all he could do was feel their emotions, he could feel Billy and Solomon's anxiety, Zeus' and Hercules' wrath, Mercury, Achilles and Atlas' restlessness... something was so not right here.

He didn't even think there was someone capable of restraining him. It has been centuries since someone was able to put him out of his game, and now... now they knew of Billy, if they got to him they would easily kill him. He couldn't allow that.

"You said him." Batman's sudden odd words made him frown, he couldn't help but look at the man.

"What..?"

"When he asked you to drop the enchantment, you said him, that you would never let him be seen. Who's him?" Leave it to Batman to notice that slip up. He scowled, chosing to look away, he knew he couldn't lie and say that he was talking in third person, Billy would whack him on the head before he was to ever let him speak in third person.

That's for stuck up jerks. He would say.

Point is, he never spoke in third person, so why would he suddenly do it now? No one would believe him.

So, not answering was best.

"You do are aware that you are what they were after, right? And that they have seemingly figured out your weakness, a weakness that can be exploited by using Wonder Woman's lasso of truth." Batman stated, he ignored how much it irked at him that a villain had figured out Marvel's weakness before he did.

"So? Telling you won't magically free us from this mess." Marvel told, glaring at the wall, he hated feeling so exposed, they nor anyone for that matter was suppose to know about Billy. The less people knew the safer he would be.

"No, but I have the feeling that with how bad things are going, we might find out anyways, wouldn't it be better if it came from you rather than having to hear it because you were forced into saying it?" Green Lantern said, yeah, he was being forced to say it anyways, it sucked in general, that this was how they found out about an apparently sensitive issue regarding the man and not because he opened up to them on his own volition.

But at least telling them now would be his choice, not something forced out of him by the Lasso Of Truth.

Marvel didn't answer, he didn't even look at them.

And then.

"Living Lightning is an intense and potent spell wielded and crafted by the Council of Wizards using the power of Gods. It can be summoned by the chosen Champion of Magic via a magic word. It then takes the form of a lightning bolt that, when it meets the Champion, transforms them into their greatest potential and imbues them with tremendous physical and magical power. It usually exists in a completely different realm from the living, for it to be able to access this plane safely it needs a host, a human host."

He finally turned to look at the League.

"I am Living Lightning, and him is the host. By saying the word we switch, when he is him I reside within his mind, kind of like sitting at the backseat of a car while he does as he pleases. When I am me, he sits at the backseat."

"Like possession?" Green Lantern questions. Marvel grimaced at the comparison. 

"Yes and no. When I am me he cannot take control of this body but he can see and hear everything I do, and when he is himself... I can also see and hear everything he does, but I cannot take control of his body. We are two separate beings, but in a sense we are also the same. I'm... his heart influences heavily on how I behave, my moral compass you would say, that's why finding someone who can wield this magic is hard, most humans wouldn't be able to resist abusing that kind of power, and as I said, not all humans are a good moral compass."

He didn't mention that Black Adam was the result of a choice gone wrong, he didn't felt like explaining that now, nor ever for that matter.

"But the Wizard said this one was pure of heart." He smirked at the last statement, even more so as he felt Billy scratching at the back of his head, displeasure pooling in his chest. 

"Pure of heart?"

"He's never liked that description, he claims no one has an entirely pure heart, which I guess does make sense, sort of. Still, regardless of it, if I switch back into him he is nothing but a human, more resistant and gifted than a regular human, but still human, he can't do magic though we can lend him some of our magic but... let's say he has a tendency to make everything explode and get himself injured one way or another."

Which was ironic considering it's been decades since Billy became his host, and the boy couldn't for the life of him keep himself from slamming face first on a building for using Mercury's speed or exploding his phone for trying to use Zeus' lightning to charge it like Marvel usually did. 

"Question, if this is like a possession, couldn't you, you know, leave, like the ghosts and spirits in the movies do, abandon the body. You know, to break this barrier?" Flash's words made Marvel stiffen.

"No. He's... not really from this time, he's from the 18 century, right now, he's still as young as he was when he was first chosen, and while we can switch back and forth, if I were to leave him time might catch up with him, I'm not sure if it would be an instant reaction or if it would take time, either way, I can't nor will I risk it." He was not about to risk killing Billy, there had to be another way to get out of here.

Suddenly, the man re-entered the room, prompting Marvel to shut up, this time, the man came with a smirk as he went over, he was holding a weird looking knife that felt strangely familiar. Solomon's alarm and realization blasted like a rocket through him, but he couldn't for the life of him hear the God.

"I have spoken with my boss, he will be arriving soon, and he's instructed me to do this, I wanted to do this the easy way, but seeing that you refuse to cooperate... I guess we will have to go for the hard way. Shame, because there's 90% chances it might do some damage. I really didn't want to stain my hands with innocent blood."

"Is that why you captured the League?"

"Hey now, we have no actual necessity for them, but my boss knew one way or another they would try to ruin our plans for you. So, I took them out of the equation too. And either so, heroes are not innocent, dozens have died because of them. We will bring a new order to this world, and you will help us."

Marvel frowned at that.

"What makes you think I would help you?"

Didn't the man just admit that it could bring damage...? Did he expect to torture him into agreeing to work with him? What kind of plan was that?

"Wait, you didn't think I was talking about you, right?" The condescending tone made his hairs stand on end. "No, the one who's gonna suffer will be your host."

"You can't touch him." He told as a statement of fact. He was an impenetrable barrier, and even if he was hurt, Billy wouldn't feel it nor would he be injured either. The magic protected him from harm.

"Yeah, I was told your injuries and whatnot cannot transmit to him, but this knife was specifically made for you. Means it can very much reach the connection between you two, any damage you sustain by it can pass to him." 

Marvel froze at those words, gaze fixated on the knife, he's seen that knife before, but where? And Solomon wouldn't stop pounding with alarm. Little could faze the God Of Wisdom. So what was he missing?

And still, the idea of Billy coming to harm... it made rage seize him. Energy crackling all over his skin as fire pooled on his chest. Shackles around his wrist burning as he pulled on them until skin split open, but not even that stopped him, thunder roaring outside as he felt energy crackle around him. 

"If you touch him..." His warning came out like an electrifying hiss of absolute darkness and ice, a storm brewing behind his eyes as the lights above flickered, air growing electrifying. The man took a step back as fear flashed across his face.

"Almost forgot how territorial the all righteous champion was." The sudden new voice caught the attention of the room, Marvel stiffened, suddenly, Solomon's alarm and that oddly familiar knife slapping him on the face as realization hit.

A man walked into the room, looking just like last time. But that was impossible, he was suppose to be dead.

"Surprised to see me?"

He didn't answer, throat closing as he held the man's gaze.

"You might be wondering how am I alive after so long. Well, the answer's quite boring. Remember this?" The man said, pulling a much too familiar talisman from his pocket. His throat closed even more, blood rushing like a river of ice through his veins. 

He knew that talisman. 

It reminded him of blood and screams. Of tight walls and fire pressing down on him, scratching at his magic and slicing it open, drawing from it. Pulling and pulling even when it felt like it might snap. Until he was left screaming until his voice went raw. No. 

"Turns out it also gave me immortality. Amazing, right?" The man said, putting the talisman too close to his face. Marvel didn't answer, he couldn't answer, he was frozen, something gawning at the pit of his stomach. 

Terror. 

That's what he was feeling.

A terror like nothing he's ever felt. Not even the Courage of Achilles could seize it and push it back.

"It still works just the same, you know? So, what's it gonna be? I doubt you would want for the boy to die, right?"

Those words set a stone in his stomach. What...?

"Oh Yeah, I know all that there's to know about the Wizard's latest champion. William Joseph Batson. Orphaned at the age of 4, thrown to the streets at the age of 7, given the champion mantle at the age of 10. Stopped aging at 12. And he currently seems to be entertaining the idea of living with Rosa and Victor Vasquez who seem quite fond of taking in kids no one else wants. Would be quite a shame if something were to happen to them, don't you think?"

Billy's panic and terror explode deep within him, threatening to merge with his own, but he shoved it down, rage blazing up with something much darker underneath, fire rushing through his veins as he held the man's gaze with pure hatred.

"I will kill you." He promised lowly, thunder splitting the skies outside, the window near him exploding into a million pieces of glass, lights flickering as the heat spread across his chest. His magic burnt beneath his skin, threatening to melt the flesh off his bones, the hatred and rage overpowering the fear like nothing he's ever felt.

And for a moment, that's all he can feel, blistering and cold claws that dig inside him, making red flash in his vision, his magic twisting like a raging storm that was only barely contained within his skin. The man before him seems to grow nervous, fear flashing in his gaze, but he can care less for the cold has taken over.

"Shazam."

Lightning howls down, striking him, and while he switches his and Billy's minds merge, the lightning having scorched the shackles, Billy's body is small, but he still pounces at the man, rage burning deep within, he dodges the talisman, his magic is leaking, skin burning, he has to end this quick before Billy's body suffered too much backlash.

He uses Mercury speed to dodge the man's attempts at hitting him with the magic from the talisman, dodging them before slamming into him from behind, sending a shockwave of electricity through the man's body. He snatches the talisman from the man.

"Give that to me!" The man snarls, failing to get up as his skin starts to brittle. Marvel glares at him, watching as the man's skin rapidly brittles, turning into dust completely.

He stares at it for a moment before looking down at the talisman and crushing it between his fingers, a ball of lightning explodes on his hand, turning it to ashes. He would never be sealed again, he was no one's weapon. He was-

"Cap?" The voice sounded like a far away echo, he turned towards it, right, the League... He walked up to the barrier, vision blurring as he brought his hand up, his hand where the skin was splitting open, golden light and electricity seeping out... that was so not good. Still. He had to at least break the barrier and at most break the shackles of one of them so the rest could be set free.

He used his lightning to break the barrier before going up to Batman, his hands were shaking and God was it starting to burn like hell, he was running out of time.

"Free the rest." That's all he managed to say as he broke Batman's shackles, like a rubber band snapping he retreated, minds colliding as his magic shut off.

The world went black.

The last thing he felt were strong yet gentle hands grabbing him.

Chapter Text

Watching a 12 year old boy with glowing eyes, several glowing cracks all over his skin and electricity crackling all over his body beat the crap out of a villain was definitely not something the League had seen coming.

And while his movements had left clear that was Marvel, after the villains turned to dust the League hadn't been so sure on what even was happening. His whole body language was off, as if the slightest of movements was causing him tremendous agony, and his skin was seriously splitting open. 

But once he fred Batman he had collapsed, like a switch being turned off, the glowing and electricity disappeared completely, the previous cracks on his skin being replaced by lightning scars. 

Once Batman had fred them all he had been the one to pick up the child, William, if that guy's words had been something to go by. When Marvel said he had a human host, the League hadn't been sure what to expect, but a child had certainly not been it.

Even if said child was an immortal from the 18 century.

But God he looked so small, with black hair and such a baby face. He was wearing a red hoodie, sneakers and Justice League themed sweatpants. 

What were they even suppose to do in this situation? He was a kid, but he was technically older than Superman himself. Had he seen all their battles? That guy's words at least said the kid couldn't be hurt nor feel Marvel's pain and injuries.

Speaking of which, Batman had taken the knife with him, he was not gonna let it fall on the wrong hands.

Point was, what to do about the kid?

\\\\\\\\\\\

Billy woke up to a monstrous headache, the last thing he remembered was heat, and then nothing.

"Thavma." He groaned, realizing that Marvel must have taken control of his body as Billy. He knew he wouldn't have done so unless he deemed it strictly necessary, and while it didn't hurt it always left him with a horrible headache.

"Kid?" A man's voice surprised him. Kid? Victor didn't call him kid nor did Tawky, was it Marvel? God, had he taken that problematic form again?

"Thavma, we have talked about this, not materializing at home. I just bought that TV and if you explode it again I'm eating all your ice cream." He mumbled, rolling on the bed, had his bed always been this soft? 

"What...?"

"Don't what me. I'm so stealing Captain Marvel's body next time, you know, in the name of fairness."

"What?"

Okay, that high pitched partially horrified shriek was definitely not Thavma. Billy's eyes shot open and he quickly sat up, ignoring the piercing throb it brought from his head.

The Justice League was in the room.

A white room that looked very much like a medical bay.

Their faces were between confused and mortified.

And still one sole word slipped out.

"Holey moly." His whisper was loud in the quiet room, and it seemed to be enough to break the spell.

"William-"

"Billy." He cut off, wincing instantly as he realized he just cut off Superman. The man though just smiled. 

"Billy... how are you feeling?" Superman asked, none of them was quite sure on what to expect. Batman had said the kid was perfectly fine. But he had been unconscious for two whole days. The League had kept watch over Fawcett City just in case since the Captain seemed to be currently very much indisposed.

That was another thing, the idea that a child was the one who seemed to wield the power to decide whether Captain Marvel rose or not was a bit hard to process. The man was one of their heaviest hitters, much more powerful than they usually realized.

But ultimately a child was the one who controlled such immense power.

Was that why the man was always so cheerful and at times even childish? He did said his behavior was influenced by the host. A human child.

"I'm fine." The kid assured, giving them a very familiar smile, looking at him closely, he looked like a small version of Captain Marvel. Same dark hair, same blue eyes, same dimpled smile. It would make sense if his appearance was also influenced by the host's. God were their lives strange.

"What about...?" Superman wasn't sure how was he even suppose to ask. The kid smirked with a knowing look.

"Thavma? He's fine."

"Thavma..?"

"Marvel in Greek. I think it sounds much cooler than 'Marvel'." The kid, Billy, stated with a grin. "How long was I out?"

"Two days, is that usually normal?"

"Sometimes, you picked up the ashes of the talisman, right?" The boy asked, leveling Batman with a look that definitely knew the answer to his question already. "You should have Superman throwing them into the sun, just to be safe. Thavma won't react well if he knows you have kept them. Trust me, you don't want to have him knowing you kept them. And he will know." Billy told as he removed the IV from his arm.

"What was that talisman?" Diana asked, she had never seen Captain Marvel so... agitated. More like terrified, he had been shaking.

The boy scowled, crossing his arms over his chest and looking deep in thought before seemingly coming to a conclusion.

"It's an ancient talisman made with seriously strong magic, it's... it invades the host's soul and severs our connection. It was originally made by the Wizard to seal Black Adam away, but I trusted the wrong people and they stole it."

Something Billy would never forgive himself for, he had been trusted to keep it safe, and he had let someone steal it, even if Thavma didn't blame him, he did, he blamed himself, and he will forever do so, because his friend had suffered way more than Billy could ever make up for. 

"Thavma was the one who was sealed away. The man who used it modified it enough so he could harness his magic without him actually being able to do anything about it, he exploited his magic and did horrible things with them, it took me five years to get it back."

Five years that were still very much fresh in his mind, the worst five years of his life.

"He spent five years locked in that thing, awake, having his magic drained from him and having to watch people die by the hand of an asshole who was abusing his magic. I know of your love to come up with plans to neutralize the League, but that won't neutralize him, that's just a torture device to make him your slave. So, you can see why he might become aggressive towards you if he knows you have even a tiny little piece of it."

The kid held Batman's gaze as he spoke, giving the man a cold look as he held his hand out.

"You can keep the knife, but not the remnants of the talisman."

Chapter Text

The first time Billy did it, it had been because he had had no other choice, and because Freddy had made a very good point.

Captain Marvel had had monitor duty, but because Billy had broken his leg in a way too unlucky misstep on the stairs, he couldn't transform, Captain Marvel might not have a broken leg, but he had learnt the hard way that when he transformed back into Billy, his injury would be twice as worse as it had previously been.

So no transformation for him, Rosa had been quite insistent on that, had taken it to stand at the door and watch him. But he couldn't just skip monitor duty without warning someone. But he couldn't warn the League without giving away his not-adult voice either.

That's when Freddy had jumped in with a very bad idea, that he, as Voltage, took over monitor duty in his place, Billy knew he had offered it more as an opportunity for him to finally get to see the Watchtower. And while he had known it was a terrible idea.

He had agreed.

Captain Marvel did monitor duty alone, so that wouldn't be an issue, so, Billy had given his brother the password for guests and sent him on his merry way.

He hadn't been able to sleep that night.

But Freddy had come back, had assured him he had left before the next hero to tale over for him came, had left an apology note as Billy had instructed and everything. Everything went without a hitch.

The second time it happened it wasn't even a month later, Billy had a very important test the next day, and so as to not risk sleeping in the middle of the test, Mary had agreed to go to monitor duty for him as Miss Marvel.

And much like Freddy, she had left before the next hero arrived, also went without a hitch.

The third time it was Pedro, then Eugene, and Darla. Before he knew it he began taking turns with his siblings, the League never brought it up, so he thought he was on the clear, his siblings did amazing at avoiding the cameras, and Eugene used his technopathy to manipulate the footage into not showing him completely.

All so the League would never suspect.

He should have known better than to trust his luck. 

Five months later shit hit the fan.

~

"Billy!"

Billy woke up startled at the shout of his name, Freddy was by his side looking worried, he frowned, biting back a yawn.

"Freddy? What's wrong?"

"Something's wrong. Darla hasn't come back from the Watchtower, so Eugene went up to look for her, but that was half an hour ago, and now both of them are missing."

Shit. That wasn't good, he was quick to leave the bed, a spark of panic taking root, he should have known better than to send them up to the Watchtower, he got too comfortable and now... no, he had to be reasonable, even if the League found them they would surely refrain from being flat out hostile, I mean, Darla and Eugene had similar costumes as him, they-

The costumes wouldn't fucking matter, what was he thinking? His number one public enemy had the exact same costume as him! He had to get to the Watchtower!

~

"There's nothing on them." Batman said, he had ran scans using face recognition on both of their intruders over ten times now, and nothing. Not even an identification despite the fact that both of them had their whole face exposed.

As if they didn't exist.

Both of them had been quiet, had refused to answer, the first one to be caught had been the dark skinned woman with the purple suit, Superman had been the one to come face to face with her at the Zeta tubes, she hadn't even fought back as he had subdued her.

He had called the rest of the League then, informing them of the intruder who somehow didn't trip the alarms. Then not even half an hour later the second one had appeared.

An Asian man with a grayish suit, he, much like the woman, hadn't put much of a fight aside from several attempts to dodge them and a few panicked whispers Superman had managed to pick up before he had been subdued.

The curious thing about the two aside from their nonexistent hostile behavior was how their costumes seemed to resemble Captain Marvel's.

But Black Adam had taught them that the similarities in costumes didn't meant there was a relation between them.

Both of them were in handcuffs in the interrogation room, the League stood on the other side of the mirror, watching them, neither of them looked hostile, but appearances could be deceiving.

The woman seemed anxious as she kept swinging her legs back and forth on the chair she sat at, gaze wandering around. The man on the other side was slumped over the table in the most carefree act there ever was, as if he were 100% sure that there was no danger whatsoever around him even though he was in a secret base with the Justice League.

"I should use the Lasso of truth on them. At this rate we will never get answers on how did the both of them get in here." Wonder Woman stated, stalking towards the door, no one moved to stop her.

The group watched her enter the room, the woman snapped her attention towards her, giving Wonder Woman a nervous wave as a greeting while the man straightened up, leaning closer to the woman as if to shield her as he regarded the Amazon with wariness.

He leveled her with a glare when she unhooked the Lasso from her hip, Wonder Woman didn't waver as she brought it up.

"Who are you? And how did you get in here? This is your last chance to answer willingly before I make you." Diana demanded. He hesitated, glaring even more before glancing at the Lasso and sighing in defeat.

"... I'm Stormbreaker, and this is my sister, Bolt, I came here to look for her because she was taking way too long to come back. If you want to argue with anyone on why we are here, you should ask Bi-uh, Captain Marvel."

"What does the Captain has to do with anything?" Diana questioned, confused, how did these two know the Captain?

"He's our brother." The woman, Bolt, answered without missing a beat.

Silence.

"What?"

"Captain Marvel is our older brother. He was the one who gave us the guest password so we could step in his place for monitor duty when he couldn't but it was too late to warn you, that way none of your schedules gets ruined." Bolt told as a statement of fact.

Diana narrowed her eyes at them.

Stormbreaker rolled his eyes, bringing his handcuffed hands up, holding them out to her.

"You can use your lasso, I'm not lying." And Diana did just that, wrapping her lasso around his wrists.

"Who are you and why are you here?" She asked again. He sighed.

"I am Stormbreaker, Captain Marvel's brother. I came here to see why was my sister not back yet."

"And why was she here? Why did he not come here himself?" Wonder Woman demanded, still not quite believing his words even though she was using the Lasso of truth on him. But Marvel and her were closer than he was with most, he was like a brother to her, so how come he never mentioned having siblings? Not even when she told him about her own siblings? She had thought he trusted her.

"She took over monitor duty because Captain Marvel got food poisoning, in retrospective, I did tell him that that shrimp looked funny. He didn't come here himself because he was sleeping and none of us really wanted to wake him up."

"So, let me get this straight, he's been letting strangers come into the Watchtower, without our knowledge, just because he didn't want to pick up his comm and give us a warning?" Batman questioned as he came to stand at the door, a glare set on his face.

"Hey, the first time we did it it was as a last minute decision after he broke his leg for not looking where he was walking, the rest of it was just honestly us just switching, I mean, we all have his same powers, so theoretically speaking it was Captain Marvel on duty, just not Captain Marvel."

"You have his same powers?"

"Kind of? I mean, Bolt's faster than the rest of us and I'm the best at controlling lightning, but Captain Marvel's still the strongest of us all in every ground. Though he doesn't have technopathy as I do, which seriously drives him up the walls even though he claims it doesn't bother him." Stormbreaker finished with a proud grin.

"How many are you? How come did we not know of you?" Flash asked as he peeked from the doorway.

"Six counting Marvel. He does most of the hero work, and Voltage likes to sneak behind his back thinking none of us know, but we know, we just let him think we don't. I like more to spend time at the Rock Of Eternity in the doors' room, since no one seems to see how we should seriously know what the hell is behind those doors, like, there was a fucking world of giant octopuses in one of them! I would have liked to know there was a door leading to giant octopuses in the same place I sometimes sleep at!"

He hasn't slept at the Rock Of Eternity ever since.

"Bolt here isn't allowed out without supervision because she's the youngest and doesn't like to fight, Miss Marvel is busy with college, and Duke pays to not have to speak to people outside the family even though he's the most intimidating looking of us all. We usually don't go into any fights because our powers come from Marvel, if we are all transformed, he is weaker, like, Duke could fold him like a lawn chair when he is transformed, but to be fair Duke can fold half of us like lawn chairs when not transformed if he wanted."

"What do you mean 'transformed'?" Green Lantern asked, the whole League was inside the interrogation room at this point.

"...This is not how we usually look like, this is just magic transformation to enhance our bodies to a somewhat ultimate prime version of ourselves, we are way more scrawnier than this, boy would I pay to have these muscles on a daily basis." Stormbreaker said with a grieving look before seeming to realize what he just said. "Oh shit. Don't tell Marvel I told you that."

"Don't tell Marvel what?" Captain Marvel's sudden voice caught the room's attention, he stood at the door, leaning against the door frame and giving Stormbreaker a suspicious look.

Faster than Flash could even see it coming, Bolt shot up from her chair, handcuffs snapping as she did.

"Billy!" Was her excited shout as she slammed right into the Captain who stumbled back in surprise. Her arms engulfing him into a hug he didn't seem in the slightest bothered about.

And it took the League a full minute to realize something.

Billy.

She had called Captain Marvel 'Billy'. Captain Marvel's name was Billy. And that was way too much of a normal name compared to what they had expected.

It was almost anticlimactic.

"Bolt, names." Stormbreaker stressed, she pulled back from Marvel with an apologetic look.

"Right, sorry."

"That's fine, there's like a dozen Billies out there." Marvel assured, giving Batman a smirk, the man might be the greatest detective in the world, but he would never think to count those below the ages of 20 when looking for Captain Marvel's secret identity.

Plus, Billy was just a nickname, William was an even more popular name in Fawcett City. He was safe. Or at least he hoped so, with Batman one never knew.

"You can let him go, neither of them are a threat. I promise, except this one, she's a hugger." Marvel told in amusement, Bolt was still very much hugging him. Diana removed the Lasso of truth from Stormbreaker's wrists, the man in question pulling on the handcuffs which broke as if made of nothing but cheap material. 

"You could have gotten free anytime? Why didn't you just run off?" Aquaman asked in confusion.

"Because someone said that if we were caught, to not fight you." Stormbreaker said, giving his brother a look, though Eugene kind of understood Billy's point, he didn't particularly felt like getting his ass handed out to him by the Justice League.

Even if it would be cool to fight them. 

"Speaking of which. Marvel, you can't just let into the Watchtower whoever you want, this is suppose to be a secret installation, and there's very sensitive information about the League in here." Batman said.

"I know, but I trust them with my life, none of them mean you any harm, in fact, I'm pretty sure Voltage would die for Superman." Billy added that last bit as a petty way of getting back at Freddy, if he hadn't dared him to eat that shrimp last night he wouldn't have ended up all miserable in bed holding a bucket.

So, payback.

He snickered at Superman's alarmed look.

"But if it bothers you that much, I will ask them to stop coming when I can't. Though sometimes I might not be able to warn you, so I might ask one of them to come warn you." Because broken bones were a bitch. 

"That won't be necessary, I guess we can work something out. You should bring the rest, it would be beneficial to at least know the faces of those who enter the Watchtower. " Batman stated, on one side, he didn't like the idea of strangers coming into the Watchtower, related to Marvel or not.

But on the other hand, meeting them also helped him put face to them, five heroes he hadn't even known existed until a few hours ago, five heroes sharing the exact same powers as one of their heaviest hitters. Batman couldn't just ignore that.

And there was also the thing with the 'transformation'. He would need to see how much he could get out from one of them regarding that information, Marvel might not talk, but one of his siblings was bound to. Five people that could give little bits that he could later fit together to have more data.

"I might be able to bring some of them, but I don't think Duke will be on board, he gets anxious around strangers."

"Just get Bolt to ask him, we both know he would dance in public with the confidence of a professional dancer if she so much as asked him." Stormbreaker said, smirking at the thought of Pedro dancing in public, no one could say no to Darla, even Billy had eventually fell prey of her puppy eyes.

Still.

Pedro had gained some confidence since he became a hero, but he was still too anxious, Eugene knew he was working on it.

So, asking him to come to the Watchtower was just another test for his limits, he had assured them he would tell them if a situation got too much for him.

Chapter Text

Captain Marvel has no daemon.

Or that's what people believe.

That's because no one would ever entertain to think past the norm.

People had daemons, animals who represented their souls, giving shape to their true nature, no one but those close to them could touch them, touching someone else's daemon was considered a great taboo.

Even heroes and villains kept their hands to themselves, letting their own daemons be the ones facing against their foe's daemon.

But there were several people who didn't seem to follow the norm, as the Justice League was formed several heroes without a daemon made appearance.

Martian Manhunter came from Mars, in Mars having one's soul taking shape and roaming around was not possible.

Wonder Woman was a demigod, in Themyschira, daemons were not something known until Steve Trevor first appeared.

Hawkwoman came from Thanagar, a planet with no daemons.

And then there was Captain Marvel, no one was quite sure what the man was, but the lack of daemon left quite clear that human, he wasn't.

But again, being human didn't seem to be the requisite to have a daemon, Superman had said he had grown without a daemon until he turned 5, and then Hope had appeared.

There were some rumors that his daemon was that strange tiger who appeared around him at times, people had claimed it could talk, and that at times, it even took the shape of a bipedal tiger with a suit. It wouldn't be unheard of that a daemon could separate from their person for great distances.

But in doing so a great cost would be paid, severing ties with a daemon was something people didn't even dare to whisper about, the pain was unbearable. The Captain didn't have the characteristic wrongness that set other daemons off when it came to someone who had severed ties with their daemon.

The tiger rumor wasn't take much serious around the League for several reasons.

One: the tiger, Tawky Tawny, lived at the zoo sometimes.

Two: it would act like a regular tiger.

Three: it was a male tiger.

Four: the tiger had let itself be petted by a very distressed child Captain Marvel had saved once from a fire.

Five: it could still shapeshift.

And six: the tiger had fought alongside Captain Marvel several times, and despite its injuries the Captain has never even twitched at it.

So no, the tiger being his daemon was not something the League believed despite the rumors.

Their theories were that he just didn't have one.

Captain Marvel was an odd one, from the moment he had joined he had been cheerful, friendly and very much open to interacting with others, but as friendly as he was, he kept everyone at arm length, he was the only one who's identity was still unknown.

It was as if he dropped from the face of the Earth once he was done with his hero duties. 

No person has ever been seen wandering around without a daemon.

It was as if he didn't exist.

But never in a thousand years would the League have expected the truth behind it all to be what it was.

And the League wasn't even there when it happened, it all came revealed to them and the entire world through a news' footage of Captain Marvel fighting Black Adam.

Black Adam had done the one thing no villain had ever managed, something the League hadn't even thought was possible.

Harm him.

Black Adam had run a sword right through Captain Marvel's stomach on LIVE TV, pinned him right against a building.

But no blood came out.

Instead, a much too familiar thing came out when he tore the sword out from his stomach.

Golden dust.

A dust only seen when a daemon was killed.

Or mutilated.

Black Adam had seemed quite surprised of it, and Captain Marvel had taken advantage of that to knock him out before bolting off. 

The footage had spread like wildfire across the news, forums and whatnot. Even some scientists were shooting questions, of how was it possible for him to have human form, how he was able to do what he did, how fascinating it would be to study him. Others wondered about who was behind the hero.

But most of the citizens had shared their worries on forums, of where he was, if he was alright.

After the initial shock the League had gone to Fawcett City, but Captain Marvel was nowhere to be found, and his comm seemed to have vanished for Batman couldn't track it. 

The League had questions, dozens of them, but right now their main focus was finding their friend and making sure he was alright. The League had searched for him in their hero costumes and in their civilian clothes, had searched all the hospitals in Fawcett City and nearby cities, because if there was something everyone knew, is that if the daemon was hurt.

So would be its person.

But there were no reports of someone coming in with a gaping wound on their stomach.

It was as if he had vanished.

Which had led several of them to believe the worst, as proven from past deranged people, a daemon could be killed without killing the person first.

But the League wanted to believe that he was still alive, that they didn't just watch on LIVE TV as one of their friends was killed and none of them was there to help him.

And then the tiger appeared.

~

Thavma cursed as he crashed through the portal that led him to the Rock Of Eternity, groaning as he landed on the hard floor, pain exploding on his abdomen, he could feel Billy's agony seeping through, could hear his cries, arms wrapping around himself as he curled in on himself, fingers digging into his ribs as he squeezed his eyes shut.

By the Gods did this hurt. It felt like a dozen knives were slicing each one of his organs open, white blazing pain radiating from his stomach, threatening to drive him mad, not even in a thousands years would have he ever expected Black Adam to find that damned sword. The only thing in existence that could cut through his skin.

This was not suppose to happen, the Wizard had sworn that that sword had been destroyed way before his next chosen one was born, Billy, so how come did Black Adam had it? 

Now it felt like his insides were on fire, like his stomach was being torn open from the inside out, and he could hear Billy's screams now, much more clearer, the connection between them strenghtening as a whimper caught at the back of his throat.

That was not good, he couldn't let Billy break the transformation, if they were separated the boy would be subjected to the actual bad part of this, this way at least he could keep the boy from having to suffer physical reactions that would kill him before the magic healed him. This way he could at least hope for the magic to heal them.

But that was easier said than done, if his past lives had taught him something, it was that a wound of this caliber took hours to heal, and that it was an infernal wait. But this wound was way worse than anything he's ever gotten, much less superficial. And it seriously felt like the pain would drive him mad, no matter how much he curled or writhed the pain would just not subside.

A pained moan left him, breathing uneven as he fought against the urge to scream. He heard something, but the pain was too much for him to focus past the fact that he wanted nothing more but to scream, Billy's presence becoming way too close to the surface, the boy's pained whimpers now freely leaving their body.

He can feel the tears streaming down his face, can feel his body shaking, was this how it felt like to die slowly? Billy's fear tangled with him, merging their emotions into one, and suddenly.

Fear was all he could feel, loneliness, pain, panic, he was gonna die, he was gonna die and he would never get to tell the Vasquez that he did want to try living with them, he would never be able to apologize to Freddy for pushing him at the park and calling him an idiot, he would never get to give his sister the present he got her for her birthday, he was gonna die and no one would ever be the wiser, Freddy would think he bailed, Mary would think he abandoned her, he didn't want to die here, he didn't want to die yet.

The sudden hand on his shoulder made him flinch, it was a light touch, it didn't burnt as the villains' usual touch felt nor did it make him feel like shuddering as the civilians' touch felt, it felt more familiar, safe, but he couldn't recognize it past the white flames of maddening pain that were eating his stomach.

He could hear a voice, muddled, so far away... it was asking something, what? What what? What was it asking? He didn't knew, but it was insistent, a word he managed to understand past the muddled mess.

Billy.

Only one person who knew Billy could enter the Rock Of Eternity uninvited.

Tawky Tawny.

He didn't knew what the tiger wanted, but he knew that he could help stop the fire, or at least he hoped it. 

And so with the last glimmers of strength he had left, a whisper went past his lips.

"Shazam."

Lightning struck down and the world went black.

~

Tawky Tawny had watched Billy from the moment the Wizard's mark activated, the moment his daemon went from a regular one to one that could only shapeshift into youngling versions of every magical creature that was ever to exist, leading Thavma to having to maintain a feydragon form constantly so he could easily hide in the pocket of Billy's hoodie so no one would see it.

He watched him from the shadows, keeping demons, faes and whatever other inhuman creature that could sense the mark of the Wizard on him from reaching the child. He had watched him lose his parents, his home, watched him survive the streets and become an independent and strong willed child who fought to protect those who couldn't protect themselves, even if he himself wasn't strong enough, he never ignored those in need of help.

Even when he had nothing, he gave what little he had, Tawky had grown to respect and admire the boy with the pure heart, had been quite eager to see in what kind of man he became.

He hadn't expected the child to become Captain Marvel at the ripe age of 10, he had thought that the Wizard would wait until he came of age as he had done with the others in the past, but the arrival of Black Adam had led the plans to arise much too sooner.

He became the child's familiar, teaching him about magic and how to control his powers, about the Champion Of Magic's duties, he taught him all that there was to know about who he now was seeing that the Wizard hadn't thought wise to give the kid some insight about his title as the Champion Of Magic.

Point was.

He watched over him, and because he was his familiar he was connected to him, not as strong as a daemon was, but he was connected to him, he had made the bond to keep track of when he was in danger.

So when he felt the stabbing pain shot through his stomach he hadn't hesitated to flee from the zoo, nap forgotten as he bolted through the roofs, going towards where the bond was pulling him. He ended up at the Rock Of Eternity.

He had found Captain Marvel curled on the ground, breathing uneven and whimpering. That's when he had seen the golden dust seeping from the long gash on his back, and his stomach. Sword sized.

It had taken him a while to get him to drop the transformation, he didn't knew how to treat daemons, daemons weren't magic and he had never quite managed to understand their workings. But he could help Billy.

Or at least get someone to help him.

He knew it was a bad idea, but he wasn't gonna stand back and watch the kid suffer if he could help him.

So, once Billy called on the magic word, Tawky hadn't wasted time to pick the child up, placing Thavma on the boy's stomach, there was only one place where the boy would be safe and quickly tended to.

The Watchtower.

He would deal with Billy's anger later, right now he had to make sure he didn't die.

Thus, he opened a portal to the Watchtower.

Chapter Text

Captain Marvel has been missing for over a week.

Or well, not missing, but something about him had changed, he didn't set foot on the Watchtower anymore nor did he join them in fights.

Then Oracle sent Batman a glitched footage from a security camera in Fawcett City that she had managed to find after days of endless search through the many security cameras that had been anywhere near where he had fought with Black Adam.

But the footage had done nothing but open the door to dozen of questions and no answers.

There was no audio, and it wasn't that long nor great quality, there wasn't even that much light, but Captain Marvel could be seen standing in a crater in the middle of the street, he seemed to be talking.

With a child.

A little boy that couldn't be older than 12.

The footage had been taken over a week ago, same amount of time Captain Marvel hasn't been seen, he had missed the meeting from that day, all he had said was that he was busy, he would check in occasionally through the comm, but he hasn't come to the Watchtower, and his voice always sounded... off.

This footage didn't help at all.

In the footage, the child seemed quite agitated as he passed around and ruffled his hair in apparent frustration despite Marvel's apparent attempts to calm him down. He seemed... off... Captain Marvel was known for being an expert at dealing with upset children, but right now he looked... off. No smile, no carefree behavior to put the child at ease.

He looked all things but relaxed, in fact, he seemed almost as freaked out as the child himself. Red and blue lights flashed on a nearby window and the boy quickly looked behind him with a frantic look, he then did the oddest thing possible.

He snatched Marvel's cape and yanked it, forcing the hero to follow him, both of them disappearing into an alley.

"This one is from two days ago." Batman said, pulling up another footage, this one was clearer, it was from a library, the child's face was clearly visible on this one, dark hair and blue eyes, he was holding a stuffed tiger between his arms and wearing a red hoodie, he sat on the ground surrounded by several open books. He looked sickly pale, dark bags under his eyes.

Also. 

He wasn't alone.

He was with a man, and while his face was covered with a medical mask and he was wearing civilian clothes his size alone left quite clear who it was.

Captain Marvel.

And God was it strange to see him in civilian clothes, a bit amusing that he was wearing a Justice League themed jacket.

He was seemingly looking through the books from the higher shelves, and much like the child, his skin looked a bit too pale, same dark bags under his eyes.

This one had audio, an audio Oracle had enhanced to be able to be picked up even if spoken in whispers.

"I think I found something." The boy called, holding a book up, prompting Marvel to kneel by his side, taking the book and reading for a moment.

"Seems right, but we are forgetting something. See this right here?" He pointed at something in the book. "It's a spell for two humans. I'm not human, it won't work."

"Couldn't we adjust it or something? You said before spells can be adjusted to fit the criteria of the user." The boy said, making the League frown, why were they talking about a spell? Who was this boy? Marvel shook his head.

"Not this spell." 

"But-"

"No, we can't risk it." The boy to the general confusion of the room gave Marvel a look before scoffing.

"Well, it's not like we have been having any luck lately anyways. Have you seen me lately? I feel like shit all the time and we can't even leave the damn Rock for too long." His words did nothing but confuse the League even more. Marvel frowned at the boy, bringing his hand up to touch the boy's forehead.

"I think Tawky was right, our time limit is decreasing. I think we should head back to the Rock for today. We can come back tomorrow." The boy scoffed again, swatting the hand away.

"I'm fine, I can still pull another hour." The kid stated as he stood up, stumbling in the process, Marvel grabbed his arms to steady him. 

"Absolutely not. You know perfectly well the risk we are put under if we test the time limit. And I am not having this discussion again."

"We are never gonna fix this at this rate. We have five hours. Five hours of freedom before we have to go back to that stupid Rock. Nothing can get done in five hours." Marvel didn't answer, he seemed to be thinking about something before seeming to come to a decision.

"... Maybe we should call Zatanna."

"Hell no! We are not bringing the League into this." The kid snapped, glaring at Marvel. The kid's outburst surprised the League. At this point their words left clear something related to magic must have happened, and their time was running short. But what? And why was he hiding it from them?

"Billy, we are running out of options here, it's just a matter of time before we can't leave the Rock Of Eternity at all, I might be fine with it, but you won't, humans need food and water to survive."

Rock Of Eternity? Leave? Survive? Five hours? Freedom? What the hell was going on? And who was the kid? Looked closer he did had an odd resemblance to Marvel...

Was this kid related to him?

"So what? We call them, and then what are we gonna do? Have you met yourself lately? You are a completely different person from what Captain Marvel is. Batman will notice it the second he sees you and I don't even wanna know what he might try."

What was that suppose to mean? What was happening?

"I can act."

The boy, Billy, developed a deadpaned look on his face as he brought his hands up to rest on the Captain's shoulders.

"Thavma, no offense, but even your smiles look like you are in pain. You can't fake anything to save your life, and we both know that regardless of what I say you won't be able to act right around them right now."

"Of course I can."

"No, you can't. And because you can't, we won't be calling them. What are you even gonna say about our relationship? You do realize that if they help they will eventually ask why one of us disappeared. Right?"

Disappear...? The League was getting a headache as the dozen of questions kept building up the longer their conversation went on.

"We can worry about that later. Right now we should be focusing on the problem at hand, I don't think I can keep this form for any longer, and we both know that if that happens..."

"Shit's gonna blow?"

"Exactly."

"But it's just your arm, right? Or has it grown?"

The League was officially lost on what was happening, even more so as Marvel tugged at the sleeve of his jacket, pulling it up to reveal lightning-like scars, but more than scars it looked like cracks, a soft golden glow coming from them, it spread all over his forearm, bruises surrounding the cracks.

"What the hell is that?" Flash asked to no one in particular.

"Has it gone past your elbow?" The boy asked in concern. Marvel shook his head, pulling the sleeve back down.

"No, I'm fine, as long as I don't use magic it will take a while for it to spread. But I still think we should call the League, I know why you don't want to do it. But the Wizard isn't answering and I can't hear any of the Gods, human libraries might not have the right spell for this. And the longer we spend like this the worse it will get, we have better chances at this if Zatanna helps, or Dr. Fate, or Constantine, but I would rather not go to either of those two if I can help it." 

"And I'm the unreasonable one? You don't want Constantine and I don't want the Justice League. Constantine at least wouldn't tell the League anything."

"I am not letting the magic of a man who's been in hell touch me nor you when we are like this."

"You are being way too paranoid."

"I won't apologize for not wanting to risk his magic clashing with ours. I'm doing this for him too, you should know by now what happens if the magic that comes into contact with ours has the slightest sliver of danger. As much of a pain as he is I will no t risk destroying his magic."

"... You are right... But I still refuse to call the Justice League."

Chapter Text

Marvel has the power of Gods, he is the Champion of Magic, his death could bring about the total collapse of Magic itself, a man by the name of Morbius Tetch somehow manages to capture the League, he has Wonder Woman's lasso and Captain Marvel bound with magical shackles that wouldn't hold for long. 

"You are quite the problematic one, but no worries, I have prepared for this." Morbius approaches Marvel with the Lasso. Diana isn't sure what he intends, but she still snarls at the man.

"If you touch him with that." She warns, fire rushing through her veins. The man ignores her as he fastened the Lasso around Marvel's neck, making Diana growl. "How dare you use the power of the Gods like that?!"

The man ignored her.

"Now, I believe I have read enough about the Champion to know, that this form is not your own. How do you break the enchantment?"

Those words sent confusion across the League and rage across Marvel's face, the man's usual jovial face switching into one of pure unadulterated rage, eyes litting up a fiery white, it made the League's hairs stand on end, the atmosphere in the room growing almost electrifying, suddenly, the man looked very, very terrifying.

And still.

"How dare you use my weapon against my brother?!" Wonder Woman was the first to snap out of the shock, slamming herself against the barrier with a snarl. 

"Tell me Champion. How do you break the enchantment?" The man demanded, the Lasso glowing brightly, Marvel groaned, squeezing his eyes shut tightly, but he didn't answer, instead, he clenched his jaw tightly. 

Diana felt sick at the sight, because no, she's never used her weapon on her friends, she would never use it, much less like this, such vile hands should never have to abuse the power of Hestia. 

"Answer me!" Morbius demanded. Marvel cursed as the fire blazed across his throat, vision flashing white before his mouth was moving against his will. 

"With... a word." He gritted out. The words burnt his tongue, and even though the pressure around his throat lessened, it didn't fill him with a sliver of peace at all. He could feel Billy stirring up, alarm pooling in his chest, no, he couldn't let this man nor anyone for that matter see him, Billy was just starting to get used to this modern world, he even had made friends. 

And now... He couldn't let this man get his hands on him, he couldn't let him become a target. 

"What's the word?" The man asked, voice demanding, Marvel growled as fire seized his throat once again, the Lasso tightening around his throat until it felt like it might snap his trachea. His fingers curled into fists as fire rushes through his veins. He bit his tongue until he tasted copper. He couldn't answer. He couldn't-  "I order you to tell me the word that needs to be said to break the enchantment!"

Marvel forced himself to meet the man's eyes, a fire he hasn't felt in centuries curling at the pit of his stomach as he leaned forward, lightning pulsating raw beneath his skin, threatening to burn the flesh off his bones, thunder rumbling above, lightning crackling in his mouth as he spoke, his own glowing eyes reflecting on the man's black eyes.

"You can order all you wish, but I would rather chew my own tongue off before I were to let him be seen by the likes of you." He spat, voice hard as steel.

"The word Champion, what is the word?" Marvel bit back a groan as the fire began spreading all around his neck, it felt like he might go insane with the heat. But he refused to give in. He wouldn't give in. He had to protect Billy. The League would never understand his situation nor would Billy be able to carry on with the sliver of normalcy he had. The lasso tightened impossibly tighter around his throat, making him choke on air, he could hear Flash and Wonder Woman's voices, but he couldn't for the life of him grasp their words.

All he knew is that there was anger in their voices.

And God, his throat was gonna be burnt off.

It felt like an eternal hell of heat before it disappeared altogether, leaving him feeling incredibly exhausted and like he had a cloud stuffed in his head, he looked up at the man, not quite sure when had he dropped his head.

"Anything you wanna say?"

"Go... to hell." Marvel did an amazing job at never swearing in this form, both because Billy insisted on Captain Marvel needing to set an example for children, and also because he still didn't quite understand some terms.

But he felt like this one fit just right with the situation.

"You won't talk?" The man's voice held a dangerous undertone, this before releasing the Lasso and leaving the room without another word, allowing Marvel to take a breath, he was shaking, he could feel the sweat trickling down the back of his neck and the throb of his tongue where he had bitten until it bled. But he hadn't transformed. 

"Cap? You alright there man?" Flash's nervous voice caught his attention and he turned to look at the group in the cage, a blueish barrier keeping them in. All of them in shackles, Flash's legs held shackles, tight around his ankles, Lantern's ring had that dark color it got whenever it ran out of power, Superman had what looked like Kryptonite engraved shackles, and Wonder Woman's wrists held magically bound shackles. 

Aquaman and Batman had shackles too, but he couldn't tell if there was anything else in those, not that he doubted it, Aquaman held super strength and while Batman might be human the man could break out of anywhere with just about anything. 

Still. 

He forced himself to smile, though it felt more like a grimace. 

"I'm fine."

"I have never seen someone resist the Lasso like that." Diana sounded both amazed and a bit confused. Marvel shrugged, or at least he tried to.

"What did he meant by that form not being your own?" Of course Batman would catch on that. Marvel didn't answer, he's always done the impossible to keep the League from learning of the extent of his words regarding being Living Lightning. He didn't think that would go over well... 

But Solomon kept scratching at the back of his head, something about this whole thing smelt wrong. Something was gonna happen. What did this man even want with him? Why insist on getting to Billy? The only reason anyone with a crazy mind has ever wanted Billy was for- oh. The puzzle came together and he felt his throat close.

"Marvel?"

He turned to look at the group who sported from concerned and confused looks to suspicious and lost. 

"Care to explain what is going on? What "host" did he meant?" Batman did not look happy with what the man knew to be certainly magic related. Marvel didn't answer, turning to look away from them. 

God, of all possible things... But if things had come to this... He dropped his head with a defeated sigh. Not looking at them as he spoke things he would have never wanted them to know, not because of lack of trust, but because he's never been comfortable with people knowing of his hosts, of the idea of being left vulnerable and people going after his hosts.

"I told you before, I am Living Lightning, I'm... I exist in a completely different realm from the living, for me to be able to access this plane safely I need a host, a human host. By saying... a word... we switch, when he is him I reside within his mind, kind of like sitting at the backseat of a car while he does as he pleases. When I am me he sits at the backseat."

"Like possession?" Green Lantern questions. Marvel grimaced at the comparison. 

"Yes and no. When I am me he cannot take control of this body but he can see and hear everything I do, and when he is himself... I can also see and hear everything he does, but I cannot take control of his body. We are two separate beings, but in a sense we are also the same. I'm... his heart influences heavily on how I behave, my moral compass you would say, that's why finding someone who can wield this magic is hard, most humans wouldn't be able to resist abusing that kind of power, and as I said, not all humans are a good moral compass."

He didn't mention that Black Adam was the result of a choice gone wrong, he didn't felt like explaining that now, nor ever for that matter.

"But the Wizard said this one was pure of heart." He smirked at the last statement, even more so as he felt Billy scratching at the back of his head, displeasure pooling in his chest. 

"Pure of heart?"

"He's never liked that description, he claims no one has an entirely pure heart, which I guess does make sense, sort of. Still, regardless of it, if I switch back into him he is nothing but a human, more resistant and gifted than a regular human, but still human, he can't do magic though we can lend him some of our magic but... let's say he has a tendency to make everything explode and get himself injured one way or another."

Which was ironic considering it's been centuries since Billy became his host, and the boy couldn't for the life of him keep himself from slamming face first on a building for using Mercury's speed or exploding his phone for trying to use Zeus' lightning to charge it like Marvel usually did. 

"Question, if this is like a possession, couldn't you, you know, leave, like the ghosts and spirits in the movies do, abandon the body. You know, to break this barrier?" Flash's words made Marvel frown.

"I can't do that, it's... not how it works, I mean, I have peeked through the veil several times, but that's usually been when he is the one walking around, I cannot do it like this, that would be like trying to leave my own body."

The man re-entered the room, prompting Marvel to shut up, this time, the man came with a smirk as he went over and snatched the Lasso from the ground.

"I wanted to do this the easy way, but seeing that you refuse to cooperate... I guess we will have to go for the hard way. Shame, because there's 90% chances it might do some damage. I really didn't want to stain my hands with innocent blood."

"Is that why you captured the League?"

"Hey now, I have no actual necessity for them, but I knew one way or another they would try to ruin my plans for you. So, I took them out of the equation too. And either so, heroes are no innocent, dozens have died because of them. I will bring a new order to this world, and you will help me."

Marvel frowned at that.

"What makes you think I would help you?"

Didn't the man just admit that it could bring damage...? 

"Wait, you didn't think I was talking about you, right?" The condescending tone made his hairs stand on end. "No, the one who's gonna suffer will be your host."

Marvel froze at that. And then rage overtook him. Energy crackling all over his skin as fire pooled on his chest. Shackles around his wrist burning as he pulled on them until skin split open, but not even that stopped him, thunder roaring outside as he felt energy crackle around him. 

"If you touch him, I will burn you from the inside out until you are begging for death." His voice came out like an electrifying hiss of absolute darkness and ice, a storm brewing behind his eyes as the lights above flickered, air growing electrifying. The man took a step back as fear flashed across his face, this before quickly composing himself.  

"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you useless once you go back to his subconscious? I could easily keep his mouth shut and you would be unable to do anything about it unless you were to burn your way out of him, and we both know you won't do that."

Marvel glared at the man, even more so as this one put the Lasso back around his neck.

"So, feeling like talking now? What word must be said to undo the transformation?"

Marvel didn't answer, clenching his jaw with all the might he could muster even as the blistering heat blazed around his throat, he squeezed his eyes shut, tried to focus on anything but the man's insistent demands and the growing and nearly maddening fire on his throat. He prayed, counted, cursed and did just about anything to keep himself from giving in.

And still, he failed.

He almost screamed as the damned word slipped out through gritted teeth.

"Shazam!"

Thunder howled above before a colossal thunderbolt crashed right through the ceiling, windows exploding, and Marvel felt the magic strip him away and push him into the backseat. 

Billy for his side glared as he looked up at the man from his new position on the floor, the shackles having decimated upon the lightning. 

"I have to admit this is quite unexpected. I didn't think the Wizard would put the Living Lightning in a child."

Billy glared at the man and taking advantage of the man suddenly letting his guard down he shot up, slamming right into the man, prompting this one to crash on the ground upon impact, Billy might not come out much, but he was still very much faster and stronger than average, his body still very reminiscent of how it had been before Shazam put them to sleep. 

As the man crashed on the ground he took that chance to snatch the Lasso from him, yelping as a hand grabbed his ankle, yanking it and sending him to the ground.

"Shaz-!" The words were cut off as a hand came from behind, blocking his mouth, he bit the hand, hard. But the man was wearing thick gloves, making it impossible to pierce skin and sending a shrill of panic in his stomach. He kicked and writhed in the hold as the man forced him to stand, fingernails digging into the man's forearm as hard as he could, but not even that got the man to release him.

"You better get your filthy hands off of him, if you hurt him." Wonder Woman threatened, a storm of pure rage in her eyes. Morbius laughed.

"I have no intentions of harming him. He's a crucial part in what I intend to do." Billy glowered at the man's words, he didn't need to be a genius to know what he wanted from him, he wanted the same as Black Adam, Sivanna and pretty much half of the magic users around the planet.

The Champion's magic.

If he could just free his mouth, reach the stupid barrier and touch it he might be able to break it with the lightning bolt of the transformation.

He stopped fighting as an idea hit.

A bad idea.

But there was no time, he was free from those stupid shackles, this was their chance and he couldn't waste it because he was afraid of a little pain.

Guys? Plan B. Was all he said, and he didn't need to elaborate for he knew Thavma and the others had understood.

Plan B was a pain, mainly for Billy and Thavma, but infallible as a last resort solution to get themselves some time to neutralize the threat and escape.

Because a big mistake people made it was that he was defenseless without his voice.

Captain Marvel and Billy Batson weren't defenseless in any way when Billy was the one in danger and unable to transform.

He had six Gods and Living Lightning in his head, defenseless he was not.

Thunder roared above and he felt heat rush through his veins as the magic inside him lit up, Thavma's presence becoming unmistakable as he became the armor between Billy and the raw power of six Gods, a hot and buzzing weight that sizzles beneath his skin. Electricity crackling all over his body as Zeus' lightning came to life, prompting the man to release him, lightning striking before him as he spun around, forcing Morbius to jump back.

"What the-!"

"I might be a kid, but I'm still the avatar of the Gods, transformed or not, dipshit." Was all he said, voice laced with the echo of seven voices, lightbulb above them exploding into a rain of million of glimmering shards.

His legs moved, Mercury's speed rushing like a dozen needless through his legs, Atlas' strength making his muscles burn as he slammed his shoulder into the man's stomach, sending him crashing right into the wall.

The man didn't move.

Good, because Billy hated fighting like this when all he wanted was for his insides to stop burning.

Still.

He needed to free the Justice League, he could be miserable later.

Billy stumbled forward, Atlas' strength alongside Thavma's presence making his muscles feel as if they were about to be torn apart, way too heavy, locked, focus. Focus.

He turned around, fighting to move his legs which felt like dozen of weights were holding them down, Mercury's speed retreated, being replaced by Atlas' stamina, giving him the boost to finally move, each step felt like thundering fireworks ripping his insides apart.

He could use the power of the Gods as Billy, but such power always came with a cost, agony. Because his body was in no way capable of withstanding the raw power of Gods, Thavma was like an inside armor that kept his body from exploding whenever he used the power of the Gods.

But it was still agonizing. And he knew it was flat out exhausting for Thavma to contain all that power. Solomon said he might be able to use it once he became an adult, meant his core would be mature enough to handle the overflowing power. An absolute pain considering he didn't age a single day while he was frozen by the Wizard.

His muscles were screaming with each step he took, but he needed to do this, once he cut his connection with the power he would faint, he couldn't faint without freeing the Justice League.

"Stand... back." Even speaking was an obliterating effort in the flashing whites of his vision. He was quite sure someone was talking, but his ears were ringing too much for him to be able to pick up something. He brought his hands up and using Atlas and Zeus' powers he touched the barrier, the second he touched it the second it explode into a show of light.

White danced in his vision, he could feel the taste of copper in his mouth, his head felt like it might explode, not yet. He grabbed the hands of the closest person, snapping the shackles, he had to at least free one so the rest could be saved.

And once the shackles snapped the second he cut his connection with the Gods' powers, the weight and fire disappearing like a rubberband snapping, making the world go black.

God was he fried.

Chapter Text

Marvel has the power of Gods, he is the Champion of Magic, his death could bring about the total collapse of Magic itself, a man by the name of Morbius Tetch somehow manages to capture the League, he has Wonder Woman's lasso and Captain Marvel bound with magical shackles that wouldn't hold for long. 

"You are quite the problematic one, but no worries, I have prepared for this." Morbius approaches Marvel with the Lasso. Diana isn't sure what he intends, but she still snarls at the man.

"If you touch him with that." She warns, fire rushing through her veins. The man ignores her as he fastened the Lasso around Marvel's neck, making Diana growl. "How dare you use the power of the Gods like that?!"

The man ignored her.

"Now, I believe I have read enough about the Champion to know, that this form is not your own. How do you break the enchantment?"

Those words sent confusion across the League and rage across Marvel's face, the man's usual jovial face switching into one of pure unadulterated rage, eyes litting up a fiery white, it made the League's hairs stand on end, the atmosphere in the room growing almost electrifying, suddenly, the man looked very, very terrifying.

And still.

"How dare you use my weapon against my brother?!" Wonder Woman was the first to snap out of the shock, slamming herself against the barrier with a snarl. 

"Tell me Champion. How do you break the enchantment?" The man demanded, the Lasso glowing brightly, Marvel groaned, squeezing his eyes shut tightly, but he didn't answer, instead, he clenched his jaw tightly. 

Diana felt sick at the sight, because no, she's never used her weapon on her friends, she would never use it, much less like this, such vile hands should never have to abuse the power of Hestia. 

"Answer me!" Morbius demanded. Marvel cursed as the fire blazed across his throat, vision flashing white before his mouth was moving against his will. 

"With... a word." He gritted out. The words burnt his tongue, and even though the pressure around his throat lessened, it didn't fill him with a sliver of peace at all. He could feel Billy stirring up, alarm pooling in his chest, no, he couldn't let this man nor anyone for that matter see him, Billy was just starting to get used to this modern world, he even had made friends. 

And now... He couldn't let this man get his hands on him, he couldn't let him become a target. 

"What's the word?" The man asked, voice demanding, Marvel growled as fire seized his throat once again, the Lasso tightening around his throat until it felt like it might snap his trachea. His fingers curled into fists as fire rushes through his veins. He bit his tongue until he tasted copper. He couldn't answer. He couldn't-  "I order you to tell me the word that needs to be said to break the enchantment!"

Marvel forced himself to meet the man's eyes, a fire he hasn't felt in centuries curling at the pit of his stomach as he leaned forward, lightning pulsating raw beneath his skin, threatening to burn the flesh off his bones, thunder rumbling above, lightning crackling in his mouth as he spoke, his own glowing eyes reflecting on the man's black eyes.

"You can order all you wish, but I would rather chew my own tongue off before I were to let him be seen by the likes of you." He spat, voice hard as steel.

"The word Champion, what is the word?" Marvel bit back a groan as the fire began spreading all around his neck, it felt like he might go insane with the heat. But he refused to give in. He wouldn't give in. He had to protect Billy. The League would never understand his situation nor would Billy be able to carry on with the sliver of normalcy he had. The lasso tightened impossibly tighter around his throat, making him choke on air, he could hear Flash and Wonder Woman's voices, but he couldn't for the life of him grasp their words.

All he knew is that there was anger in their voices.

And God, his throat was gonna be burnt off.

It felt like an eternal hell of heat before it disappeared altogether, leaving him feeling incredibly exhausted and like he had a cloud stuffed in his head, he looked up at the man, not quite sure when had he dropped his head.

"Anything you wanna say?"

"Go... to hell." Marvel did an amazing job at never swearing in this form, both because Billy insisted on Captain Marvel needing to set an example for children, and also because he still didn't quite understand some terms.

But he felt like this one fit just right with the situation.

"You won't talk?" The man's voice held a dangerous undertone, this before releasing the Lasso and leaving the room without another word, allowing Marvel to take a breath, he was shaking, he could feel the sweat trickling down the back of his neck and the throb of his tongue where he had bitten until it bled. But he hadn't transformed. 

"Cap? You alright there man?" Flash's nervous voice caught his attention and he turned to look at the group in the cage, a blueish barrier keeping them in. All of them in shackles, Flash's legs held shackles, tight around his ankles, Lantern's ring had that dark color it got whenever it ran out of power, Superman had what looked like Kryptonite engraved shackles, and Wonder Woman's wrists held magically bound shackles. 

Aquaman and Batman had shackles too, but he couldn't tell if there was anything else in those, not that he doubted it, Aquaman held super strength and while Batman might be human the man could break out of anywhere with just about anything. 

Still. 

He forced himself to smile, though it felt more like a grimace. 

"I'm fine."

"I have never seen someone resist the Lasso like that." Diana sounded both amazed and a bit confused. Marvel shrugged, or at least he tried to.

"What did he meant by that form not being your own?" Of course Batman would catch on that. Marvel didn't answer, he's always done the impossible to keep the League from learning of the extent of his words regarding being Living Lightning. He didn't think that would go over well... 

But Solomon kept scratching at the back of his head, something about this whole thing smelt wrong. Something was gonna happen. What did this man even want with him? Why insist on getting to Billy? The only reason anyone with a crazy mind has ever wanted Billy was for- oh. The puzzle came together and he felt his throat close.

"Marvel?"

He turned to look at the group who sported from concerned and confused looks to suspicious and lost. 

"Care to explain what is going on? What "host" did he meant?" Batman did not look happy with what the man knew to be certainly magic related. Marvel didn't answer, turning to look away from them. 

God, of all possible things... But if things had come to this... He dropped his head with a defeated sigh. Not looking at them as he spoke things he would have never wanted them to know, not because of lack of trust, but because he's never been comfortable with people knowing of his hosts, of the idea of being left vulnerable and people going after his hosts.

"I told you before, I am Living Lightning, I'm... I exist in a completely different realm from the living, for me to be able to access this plane safely I need a host, a human host. By saying... a word... we switch, when he is him I reside within his mind, kind of like sitting at the backseat of a car while he does as he pleases. When I am me he sits at the backseat."

"Like possession?" Green Lantern questions. Marvel grimaced at the comparison. 

"Yes and no. When I am me he cannot take control of this body but he can see and hear everything I do, and when he is himself... I can also see and hear everything he does, but I cannot take control of his body. We are two separate beings, but in a sense we are also the same. I'm... his heart influences heavily on how I behave, my moral compass you would say, that's why finding someone who can wield this magic is hard, most humans wouldn't be able to resist abusing that kind of power, and as I said, not all humans are a good moral compass."

He didn't mention that Black Adam was the result of a choice gone wrong, he didn't felt like explaining that now, nor ever for that matter.

"But the Wizard said this one was pure of heart." He smirked at the last statement, even more so as he felt Billy scratching at the back of his head, displeasure pooling in his chest. 

"Pure of heart?"

"He's never liked that description, he claims no one has an entirely pure heart, which I guess does make sense, sort of. Still, regardless of it, if I switch back into him he is nothing but a human, more resistant and gifted than a regular human, but still human, he can't do magic though we can lend him some of our magic but... let's say he has a tendency to make everything explode and get himself injured one way or another."

Which was ironic considering it's been centuries since Billy became his host, and the boy couldn't for the life of him keep himself from slamming face first on a building for using Mercury's speed or exploding his phone for trying to use Zeus' lightning to charge it like Marvel usually did. 

"Question, if this is like a possession, couldn't you, you know, leave, like the ghosts and spirits in the movies do, abandon the body. You know, to break this barrier?" Flash's words made Marvel frown.

"I can't do that, it's... not how it works, I mean, I have peeked through the veil several times, but that's usually been when he is the one walking around, I cannot do it like this, that would be like trying to leave my own body."

The man re-entered the room, prompting Marvel to shut up, this time, the man came with a smirk as he went over and snatched the Lasso from the ground.

"I wanted to do this the easy way, but seeing that you refuse to cooperate... I guess we will have to go for the hard way. Shame, because there's 90% chances it might do some damage. I really didn't want to stain my hands with innocent blood."

"Is that why you captured the League?"

"Hey now, I have no actual necessity for them, but I knew one way or another they would try to ruin my plans for you. So, I took them out of the equation too. And either so, heroes are no innocent, dozens have died because of them. I will bring a new order to this world, and you will help me."

Marvel frowned at that.

"What makes you think I would help you?"

Didn't the man just admit that it could bring damage...? 

"Wait, you didn't think I was talking about you, right?" The condescending tone made his hairs stand on end. "No, the one who's gonna suffer will be your host."

Marvel froze at that. And then rage overtook him. Energy crackling all over his skin as fire pooled on his chest. Shackles around his wrist burning as he pulled on them until skin split open, but not even that stopped him, thunder roaring outside as he felt energy crackle around him. 

"If you touch him, I will burn you from the inside out until you are begging for death." His voice came out like an electrifying hiss of absolute darkness and ice, a storm brewing behind his eyes as the lights above flickered, air growing electrifying. The man took a step back as fear flashed across his face, this before quickly composing himself.  

"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you useless once you go back to his subconscious? I could easily keep his mouth shut and you would be unable to do anything about it unless you were to burn your way out of him, and we both know you won't do that."

Marvel glared at the man, even more so as this one put the Lasso back around his neck.

"So, feeling like talking now? What word must be said to undo the transformation?"

Marvel didn't answer, clenching his jaw with all the might he could muster even as the blistering heat blazed around his throat, he squeezed his eyes shut, tried to focus on anything but the man's insistent demands and the growing and nearly maddening fire on his throat. He prayed, counted, cursed and did just about anything to keep himself from giving in.

And still, he failed.

He almost screamed as the damned word slipped out through gritted teeth.

"Shazam!"

Thunder howled above before a colossal thunderbolt crashed right through the ceiling, windows exploding, and Marvel felt the magic strip him away and push him into the backseat. 

Billy for his side glared as he looked up at the man from his new position on the floor, the shackles having decimated upon the lightning. 

"I have to admit this is quite unexpected. I didn't think the Wizard would put the Living Lightning in a child."

Billy glared at the man and taking advantage of the man suddenly letting his guard down he shot up, slamming right into the man, prompting this one to crash on the ground upon impact, Billy might not come out much, but he was still very much faster and stronger than average, his body still very reminiscent of how it had been before Shazam put them to sleep. 

As the man crashed on the ground he took that chance to snatch the Lasso from him, yelping as a hand grabbed his ankle, yanking it and sending him to the ground.

"Shaz-!" The words were cut off as a hand came from behind, blocking his mouth, he bit the hand, hard. 

"You little-!"
 
Billy sprung up, bolting for the barrier, if he could touch it he might be able to break it with the lightning bolt of the transformation.

All his plans came to an abrupt halt as he felt something sharp latch onto his leg, and before he could see what it was an explosion of pain seized his whole body, sending him crashing down to the ground as the world turned black.

~

Billy woke up to the odd mixture of his back laying on hard floor and his head on what couldn't be anything but someone's lap, and a tight pressure around his neck. He groaned as he fought past the horrible headache.

"It's alright, you are safe." It took him a moment to put name to that voice.

Wonder Woman.

His eyes shot open as the memories rushed back, and he found himself staring up at Wonder Woman, his head was laying on her lap, and she looked between relieved and concerned. He quickly sat up, hands shooting up to his neck.

"Sh-" His tongue twisted before he could even finish the word, heat blasting across his neck making him choke on air and break into a coughing fit. A hand touched his back and he cursed at the tears that stung his eyes, what the hell was happening?

"Don't bother trying, I have cursed that collar so you won't be able to say any spell, that includes summoning your little friend." Morbius' voice made Billy glare up at the man with all the hatred he could muster. "Have fun, I have some things to prepare."

And with that the man was gone, Billy scowled even more before tugging at the collar, feeling anger burn through his veins as he did, but the thing was tight enough it wouldn't budge no matter how hard he tugged.

"It won't work, we tried to take it off several times, and it doesn't seem to have buttons or something to remove it through the regular method." Batman's voice caught his attention, he dropped his hands with a huff. Great, he should have screamed it the second he got the chance, and now...

Now he was locked with the Justice League, the Justice League which was giving him several kinds of looks; curiosity, concern, worry, anger, doubt, even more concern.

He shifted, feeling uncomfortable with the attention.

"How old are you?" Flash's voice made him glare at the man, he knew he looked like a teenager, but he was way older than any of them put together.

"Old enough to be the great grandfather of several great grandfathers. Magic just makes my growth be extremely ralentized, that if we don't count the years I spent sealed away for healing purposes, but if you wish to know, Thavma says I'm currently stepping on my 15."

"Thavma?"

"Marvel."

"Marvel's name is Thavma?"

"No, that's just Marvel in Greek, but I felt like that sounded cooler than 'Marvel'. Point is, I'm not a child, so, do please keep your kid gloves to yourself." Not the nicest thing to say to the same people he looked up to, yes, but he didn't felt like being regarded as a poor child who got caught in the crossfire of a too dangerous world.

He went up to the barrier, touching it, it was electric, the crackling and the mild burn upon contact left it clear, but ever since Marvel... electricity didn't really bother him.

"What are you thinking?" Batman questioned after a moment.

"I'm thinking on the how I could probably destroy this stupid barrier if I could call the lightning."

"That's possible?"

"It's, nothing can stop the lightning from reaching me once I call it, this barrier won't be the exception." Billy told as a statement of fact, frowning at Solomon's increasing erratic whispers, and Thavma's. It took him a moment to realize that they were arguing, Solomon and Thavma never argued. The whispers grew and grew, high, like nails dragging on a steel surface. He winced, God, what were they fighting about? Seriously? Right now?

"Are you alright?" Flash asked as he noticed the teen's grimace. The boy waved him off, his frown deepening more and more by the second as he glared at the wall.

And then the weirdest thing the League's ever seen happened.

"Shut up! Both of you shut up! I don't need a damn migraine right now because you can't fucking communicate without tearing at each other!" He snapped at the air before scowling. "I don't care who started it, I'm ending it and I say shut up, both of you, how many times do I have to tell you that if you want to scream at each other to do it quietly? I can't even hear myself think!"

The League stared at the fumming teenager who just glared even more at the wall.

Billy for his side glared at the wall.

I believe I have a way for us to solve our situation-

"He has a stupid idea it what he has!"

Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you the one who didn't listen when I told you something was off about this mission?

"You say that about half the missions!"

And I was right every single time! Or have you forgotten about the minotaurs? The spell that wizard in the fifth dimension casted which cracked the multiverse?

"I fixed them all! Nothing was wrong for I knew what was happening all along!"

Sure! Because-

"Solomon, Thavma, I swear to the Gods that if you two keep screaming at each other like fucking banshees I will personally remind you what it feels like to fuck around and find out." Billy cut off, he could already feel a headache coming.

"Billy-"

"I don't wanna hear it. You are friggin Gods, stop fighting over stupid shit and give me a solution before this dude finds out something to fuck us all up. Solomon, you said you had an idea?"

"He has no idea, he has a suicidal plan is what he has."

It's not suicidal you dimwit.

"Technically, it's, you are insane for even suggesting such a thing." Atlas' sudden voice joined the argument. Billy sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Well, I don't see any of you coming up with a plan."

"That's beyond the point!"

"Alright that's enough!" Billy snapped, seriously, of all possible days they had to choose today to argue? Couldn't they see the situation they were all in? "Atlas, please don't add wood into the fire. Thavma, shut up, I'm serious, of all possible days this is the last one you should be tearing at each other's faces, figuratively speaking that is. You can kill each other later, again, figuratively speaking. Right now, I really would love to get out of here, so, if you could very much put your sudden urge to fight each other aside and let Solomon talk that would seriously make my day."

Silence met him.

"Good. Solomon?"

Meanwhile, the League stared with several expressions on their faces as the teenager talked to the wall. Though the names and words left quite clear he wasn't insane, that he could apparently talk to the Gods... inside his head? Marvel did had the habit to space out a lot and make faces as if he were listening to something.

Still.

It was a bit off putting, and a bit amusing to hear him ordering to shut up to literal Gods, or the apparent fact that Marvel was fighting with the God of Wisdom? It was hard to imagine he would argue with someone, he was always so cheerful...

The League watched as the kid frowned at the wall, seeming listening to something, surprise flashing across his face before doubt and anxiety took root.

"Are you sure that's gonna work?" Whatever the hell he was being told sure had the kid looking like a bag of nerves. "If you say so..."

He finally turned to look at the group of staring heroes.

"So, um, Solomon has an idea but..." He glanced at Wonder Woman with a hesitant look, and Diana had the feeling that whatever the idea was she was somehow involved.

"What is it?"

"If I were to carry out this idea, would you promise to return what's been given once we are free?" Diana frowned at the cryptic words, why did she have the feeling something big was about to happen?

"What would I be giving back?" She questions a bit unsure.

"The Living Lightning."

Silence.

"What?"

"I cannot speak the word, but you can, you are the daughter of Zeus, means you can wield the Living Lightning without exploding or being corrupted by the power. Solomon believes it's the safest bet at freedom right now, but... I need you to promise to give it back once we are free, I'm... I'm not really from this time, if the magic is away from me for too long Thavma says time will catch up with me and I will turn to dust..." Billy didn't really wanna die like that, he knew he was thousands of years old, but it felt like for the first time in centuries he was actually starting to live.

He didn't want to lose that.

This idea in general rubbed him wrong, he didn't want to be separated from Thavma, the idea alone made him feel claustrophobic, like he might be losing half of himself.

"I... " Diana for her side was speechless, she hadn't even known that what was being requested of her was possible. To wield the kind of power Marvel had... her father's lightning. She had no idea what to do with that. But she could also see that this was a very hard request for the boy, he looked terribly anguished, like he was being asked to give away his most treasured possession. 

She could understand, if he's been the champion all these centuries... she couldn't imagine how awful it was for him to have to lose half of himself.

But he was still asking, because he trusted her, and the idea that Marvel would trust her to such extent as that as allowing her to wield his power...

"I give you my word, I will return him to you once we are free." She sworn solemnly. He stared at her eyes for a long moment before his shoulders relaxed.

"Alright, so, uhm, usually it would take a more different approach than this, but since you are the daughter of one of my patrons you already have the means to make it easier." He told, touching the barrier before holding his other hand out. "All you have to do is take my hand, touch the barrier and say the word, you heard Thavma say it, right? 

Diana nodded, taking the boy's hand before touching the barrier with her free hand.

"The rest of you should stand back, and close your eyes, just to be safe." 

The League did just that. 

"Alright, whenever you are ready." Diana said, wanting to give the boy time to prepare for what was to come, she had the feeling this was harder from him.

He took in a deep breath before stilling himself .

"Alright, do it."

Diana nodded, and taking in a deep breath she spoke the word she had heard Marvel speak before.

"Shazam!"

The lightning bolt came howling down within seconds, striking them and the barrier. Diana felt the surge of obliterating power, seizing her insides like a ravenous wave, wild and overwhelming, dozens of voices filling in. And at the same time it felt like the warmest hug, familiar and obliterating, for a moment she saw six giant figures of absolute light, enveloped in a golden light of pure electricity, and for a moment, she was able to feel the pure and obliterating raw power emanating from it all. 

As the light died down, the barrier was revealed to have disappeared, Wonder Woman stood there, unchanged, though her costume was now white rimmed with gold, a white cape flounding behind her with more gold trims, golden boots and a glowing lightning bolt on her chest. Eyes glowing gold.

Chapter Text

If someone asked Billy, he would blame it all on the fact that he hadn't slept in over 47 hours, in summer! And for once it weren't Justice League matters but Champion Of Magic matters.

He had spent 47 hours straight busting his ass trying to seal back together several cracks on a completely different dimension after a spell gone terribly wrong. Had had to hunt down one by one the people who got caught in the whole mess and return them back to their rightful dimensions.

And then, when he finally got to crash on his bed, (more like Freddy's he didn't trust going up the ladder to his bed without risking falling and smashing his face on it), after Rosa made him take a shower and eat a meal worth for three people, he had never found a bed to be as comfortable and warm as at that moment, he had fallen asleep within seconds. 

Point was, he was exhausted, so when the comm started beeping after what felt like not even an hour after he fell asleep, he didn't even register that he wasn't Captain Marvel and that the Justice League would be on the other end of the call. All he wanted was for the damn beeping to stop, thus.

He rolled on the bed, patting around under the bed until he felt the box where he kept the comm, he snatched it before bringing it up to his ear, answering the call.

"What?" He snaps, a bit more hostile than intended, but he didn't care if he came out as rude, he hasn't slept in days and he wanted nothing more but to sleep! Freddy and Mary had even volunteered to keep an eye out as Voltage and Miss Marvel as they had been doing these past days! 

Silence came from the other end.

And then.

"Captain Marvel?" Batman's voice was suspicious, what for? Was the man deaf? Who did he expect when he called him? Again, he was too tired for this.

"Who else am I gonna be? The easter bunny?" He heard someone choke in the background. 

"Excuse me?"

Right, that was rude, but he wasn't in his best of moods right now, he hadn't slept in 47 hours, had almost gotten chewed up by a giant octopus and his magic was completely drained, and on top of it all he had a monstrous headache, so forgive him if he wasn't in his right mind right now to be polite.

"What do you want Batman?" He asked instead, ignoring the man's question, a little voice at the back of his head whispered to him about how he was playing with fire, but he ignored it.

"We need to talk, today." Batman's voice told him it was something serious, and he failed at biting back a groan, he just wanted to sleep, was that too much to ask?

"Can't it wait? I just got home and I haven't slept in 47 hours." He asked, he was having a hard time keeping himself focused, sleep was threatening to take him back.

"I thought you didn't sleep." Flash's sudden voice made him wonder if he was on speaker. He didn't answer, gathering the efforts on remembering how speaking worked, Christ was he tired.

"Last I checked sleep was big on the human guide. Captain Marvel doesn't sleep, I do, would be amazing if Atlas' stamina passed on to this body too." Had Billy been at the Watchtower he would have seen how everyone's eyebrows raised up so high they almost went past their hairline.

"'This body?'" He heard Green Lantern ask in the background, what was he sounding so mortified for? He was tired... so tired...

"Is it urgent or is it not? If not, it can wait." He was leaving no room for argument, had he been in his right mind he would have winced at his stubborn voice.

"Billy! You better not be talking on the phone! Don't make me go over there!" Rosa's sudden voice from downstairs made him frown, it wasn't as if he were awake because he wanted, he just wanted to sleep.

The silence on the other end of the call flew over his head as he rolled on the bed before sitting up and dragging a hand down his face, the pulsating headache increasing at the change in position, he rubbed his temple, biting back a groan, irritated and giving up on pushing the sleep off, he fell back on his back with a defeated sigh.

"Look, if it's urgent, like, seriously urgent and the League needs Captain Marvel I can get someone who has the exact same powers as me to go to the Watchtower, she's a better fighter than me, though don't let her know I said that."

People should seriously not let Billy speak with the League when he was more asleep than awake. He never told the League about his family for the single fact that he didn't want to put them at risk by letting them be dragged into bigger fights that could seriously harm them.

And he would be damned if he was to lose the family that he had waited for for so long, one that made him feel genuinely safe and happy. One where he didn't have to flinch, hide food or keep the door locked for.

He didn't want to lose them.

"We-"

"We are fine, it's not urgent Captain, we can wait, do please rest." Diana cut off whatever Batman was about to say, her voice gentle, and when the call finally cut he sighed, God finally.

He let himself be dragged back into the world of sleep.

~

The League hadn't seen Captain Marvel for almost two days, last he told them was that he had to tend to some "Champion Of Magic matters" before going silent.

He had told them to not worry about Fawcett City, but the League had still kept an eye out, just in case.

And because the crime rate seemed to not be escalating it had caught their interest, that's when the League had sighted them.

Five different heroes, all of them different from each other, even their costumes had a different color, but all of them shared the exact same lightning bolt on the chest as Captain Marvel.

There was one of them, a woman, who's costume was also red, but with a skirt, as if it were a female version of Captain Marvel. All of them seemed to share Captain Marvel's powers with the slight difference that each one of them seemed to lean more into one of the abilities.

The purple one was the fastest, the green one the strongest, the grey one leaned more towards lightning, the blue one was seemingly the most agile and the red one the best fighter and also seemingly the brain of the group.

The League had been unable to catch any of them, all the heroes being impossible to catch in the act. Would disappear before the League got to the scene.

Talking with Captain Marvel became imperative, because the man had never mentioned there being other heroes at Fawcett City, much less heroes who shared his same powers.

Still.

Calling him to request a meeting hadn't gone according to plan.

For one, the person on the other end of the line sounded much too young to be Captain Marvel, but he had confirmed being Captain Marvel, even if he sounded more snappish and irritated than the Captain has ever done.

But again, he did said he hadn't slept in the last 47 hours, which made them learn he could apparently very much sleep, that comment about 'this body' did put several of them in a bit of a 'what the fuck' mode.

The shout in the background was what had surprised them. Billy.

Captain Marvel's name was Billy. Billy.

He didn't even comment on that, as if his identity hadn't just been compromised, though to be fair there were a dozen Billy's in the world, and it could always be a nickname for William, or Bill.

Didn't meant the League didn't notice Batman writing that down on the notepad he pulled from God knows where.

And because things couldn't get weirder the Captain went on and straight up offered to send someone to the Watchtower with his same powers, an apparent woman he claimed to be a better fighter than him.

It made the League's thoughts go straight for the woman in the red costume. Batman narrowed his eyes, and Wonder Woman didn't need to see his face to know very much that her friend had just realized that Captain Marvel's current exhausted state seemed to have completely disappeared his filter.

So she cut Batman off before he could think to take advantage of Captain Marvel's current state.

She got it, he wanted answers, so did she, but this was not the way to do it.

Once the call cut off silence reigned in the room.

And then.

"He doesn't have a 'Billy' face." Flash was the one who broke the silence.

~

15 hours.

That's how long Billy slept for.

And while he woke up feeling more refreshed than he had in a while, he also woke up to the horrible realization that he had snapped at Batman, answered his comm as Billy, that Rosa had shouted his name, and that he had admitted that there was someone with his same powers.

He hadn't wanted to go to the Watchtower until Freddy came up with an idea, bullshitting their way out of trouble was seemingly a shared trait between them at this point.

So, he would lie to the League's face, not the first time that would happen, but if it helped him keep his identity away from them, well, consequences in the long run be damned.

Thus.

He arrived at the Watchtower feeling quite confident with his bag of bullshit. Once he stepped into the meeting room all the attention fell on him, he didn't let it bother him as he went over to his designated chair, he felt like he could take on the world, nothing would break his confidence.

Not even the suspicion and wariness in their gaze.

"I apologize for my attitude last we spoke." Were his greeting words, giving them a sheepish look to sell it, not that that was a lie, he did felt bad about having snapped at Batman and how he hadn't bothered to hide how irritated he had been throughout the whole call.

"No problem dude. It was amusing to find out even the Big Red Cheese can get moody." Flash stated with a grin. Marvel blushed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, still, sorry. Why were you calling anyways?"

"Why did you sound like a child in the call?" Superman questioned suddenly, tilting his head to the side and giving him a suspicious look.

Billy didn't panic, he was prepared for that question.

"That's... complicated." He had to sell his bullshit, and for that he had to put on an act, Eugene said it would be suspicious if he gave the information without hesitation when Captain Marvel was known to be much too secretive.

"How so? And who was that woman in the background shouting at you?" Aquaman asked this time, gaze burrowing him into him, as if he could see right through his lies.

Again. He didn't panic, a master at bullshitting didn't panic.

Thus.

He sighed in defeat, bullshitting train here he comes.

"I'm not Captain Marvel all the time, when I'm not, I need a cover, this cover implies taking the form of a child, the magic to keep that form is a bit tricky, so I can't use any of my powers while I'm like that, means I'm partially human like that too. The woman in the background is a Wizard who agreed to act as my guardian, I can't exactly risk having CPS snatching me off the streets because I look like a child."

He was proud at how much living in the streets had helped him master the ability to lie without hesitation. As stated before, bullshitting his way out of trouble was a talent he wasn't ashamed to admit he had.

He didn't even cover at the narrowed looks. If he believed it to be the truth so would they.

"Why a kid though?" Green Lantern asked in confusion. Marvel smirked.

"Well, you wouldn't really look at a child in the streets and say: I bet that kid is Captain Marvel."

"Fair point."

"Can I see it?" Wonder Woman asked giving him a hopeful look, Billy winced internally, of course she would want to see it, Diana was the exact same woman who stole all of her co-workers children. Figuratively speaking that was, even the Robin with the murderous stare seemed to respect her.

Still.

No, he couldn't let her see it, he knew Batman wouldn't hesitate to scan his face within seconds, and then all the lies would crumble down.

Time for the other train of bullshit, and half truths. If his siblings' words were something to go for he had a feeling he knew what the meeting was for.

"Sorry, but no, giving my identity away, fake as it's, would also put others' identities at risk."

"The heroes with the lightning bolts?" Batman questioned, though more than a question it felt like a statement of fact.

"... Yeah." Marvel admitted, avoiding their gazes, the guilt he felt was real, he hadn't meant to lie to them over that matter, but he had also done it to protect his siblings, something he seriously didn't regret at all.

"Who are they?" Superman asked, curious but not wanting to sound pushy.

"They are humans, their powers come from me so they don't really go doing hero stuff much, only when I can't, that way my powers aren't affected much." Billy made a point at wording the explanation in a way that insinuated that unlike him, his siblings didn't shapeshift into a child.

And he also made a point at not giving Superman a straight answer, he was not gonna tell them they were his siblings. That risked too much, it was bad enough he had to tell them he took the form of a child. At least the age of said form wasn't asked.

"Their powers come from you? How so?" Of course Batman would want all the details, thank the Gods Billy was prepared for every possible question.

"I shared my powers with them."

"You can do that?" Superman asked in surprise.

"Yeah, but it's a bit of a tricky thing to do, the more people I share my powers with, the weaker I am when they are powered up, that's why they usually stay away from hero stuff. Unless it's Voltage, he likes sneaking around and thinking I don't know of his little escapades. Which I do, I just let him think I don't."

Because something his siblings didn't knew it was that he could feel when they transformed, be it as Billy or as Captain Marvel, he always felt it, goosebumps and a feeling he couldn't quite pinpoint but that let him know. 

"How many are there?" Batman asks, keeping the demanding tone shoved down, because how did he not know this sooner? Captain Marvel was one of their heaviest hitters, he could take Superman down, and now all of a sudden he said he could share his powers? That did not put him at ease at all. Had the man hid it on purpose? 

Now more than ever was he cursing not knowing his identity, he seriously hated how it always felt like walking blind around Captain Marvel. Even with the new knowledge of his name being Billy it was nothing.

In Fawcett City Billy and William were very popular names, even if he were to track down children with Captain Marvel's characteristics no one assured him he looked exactly the same, what if he changed his hair color and eye color with magic? What age should he even narrow it down to? 

"There's five of them." Captain Marvel's sudden voice caught his attention. "The one in blue is Voltage, he's the most agile, the one in red is Miss Marvel, she's the best fighter, the green one is Duke, he's the strongest, the grey one is Stormbreaker, he's the best at controlling lightning and has technopathy, which we have no idea whatsoever on how did he got it, and the purple one is Bolt, she's the fastest, and a pacifist, so she rarely goes out at all."

He finished, counting his fingers to make sure he didn't repeat someone.

"Why didn't you mention them before?"

In hindsight, Billy should have listened to Eugene, of course they would ask about why did he not mention them. But he had expected them to imagine an answer to it, like, Batman hid the Robins because he had wanted to protect them.

Much like he had wanted to protect his siblings. But the Robins were heroes and worked under Batman's guidance or alongside him. They didn't have the complication of his family.

He sighed.

Fuck it, he was gonna be honest in this part, in case someone got a future idea.

"Because I don't want them in the Justice League, our missions sometimes are too far from regular crimes, I won't have them putting their lives at risk."

Because he would never forgive himself if something happened to them, he trusted his siblings, and he cared about them, more than he could have ever thought possible.

And because of that he wasn't willing to lose them so easily.

He was not gonna lose his family, not this one, never again would he lose his family. And if he had to draw a line between the Justice League and his siblings, then so be it.

Chapter Text

Stargirl was 22, and married.

The Justice League had even gone to her wedding, she had married a civilian, heroes getting married to civilians wasn't odd, it was more normal than some people thought, but Batman had still done an extreme research on his background, because the Justice League watched Stargirl grow, he would be damned if he didn't run a background check on the guy that none of them had known about until she gave them the wedding invitation.

His name was William Joseph Batson, 21, orphaned at the age of 4 after a tomb collapsed on his parents, his uncle stole his inheritance before throwing him into the foster care system, he was in 15 different foster homes before disappearing from the system at the age of 7, he was caught several times throughout the years for minor thievery and trespassing, but he never made it to the assigned new foster homes, and at times, he didn't even made it to the police station at all.

He was eventually caught at the age of 12 after he tried hacking into a police's car's computer to search for the address of his twin sister's foster parents.

This time around, as fate would have it, the foster home he was assigned to was the same one where his twin sister, Mary, was at.

The Vasquez.

From that moment on he didn't step out of line again, he had average grades with a minor comment from the teachers on his habit to come in late to classes or flat out skip them, the only reason he never repeated a grade was because he always made up for the lost time. 

He now had a job as a night security guard at the museum in Fawcett City.

Point was, as average as the man looked, he had looked at them throughout the whole event as if he knew who they were, like he had some kind of inside joke only Stargirl seemed to get.

When questioned, all she had done was smirk and walk off, same as he had done.

It drove them all up the walls.

~

Courtney and Billy had been dating since they were teenagers, had done amazing at hiding their relationship from the Justice League, that had been Courtney's father's condition.

To behave in public so as to not spread rumors regarding Stargirl's relationship with Captain Marvel.

But now that both of them were adults and married... Billy thought it was very much about time he told the League his identity, he grew up to not resemble Captain Marvel at all, so it didn't surprise him that the League didn't recognize him.

Which had led him to finding it hilarious and not wanting them to find out because he flat out told them, where was the fun in that?

Thus, he had made a point at staring at them during his wedding, giving them knowing looks and making double meaning comments regarding their hero personas. Had loved watching them struggling to figure out who he was and if he was meaning something more behind his comments.

Courtney had swatted him on the arm playfully, but she hadn't asked him to stop, in fact, she had agreed to join him into messing with the League.

Had even suggested taking it to another level, as in he sometimes would be found walking around the Watchtower as Billy, he loved having Superman panicking over how civilians shouldn't be there, and watching Batman's scowl harden whenever he saw him because he had no idea how Billy kept walking into the Watchtower without tripping the alarms.

Stargirl had gotten the habit to flirt with him as Captain Marvel when both of them knew someone was close, it was hilarious to watch people break their neck and act all scandalized, because oh my God Stargirl is flirting with not-her-husband. His wife seemed to relinquish in the horror of people, at times he almost forgot she could be as chaotic as him. One of the many reasons he had fallen for her.

Their little game went on for five months, of Stargirl flirting with Captain Marvel, Billy walking around the Watchtower and getting pitiful looks sent his way and the Justice League giving Captain Marvel judging looks, Superman had even tried to talk him into how wrong what he was doing was.

He found it hilarious how no one seemed to connect the dots, he might have not grown to look like Marvel, he was less of a mountain and more slim, he still had muscles, but not enough to make him look intimidating at all, and while he was tall he wasn't as tall as Marvel, granted, most people weren't as tall as Marvel, dude was seven feet tall. 

Blue eyes weren't uncommon, but anyone would think they would notice the similarities in the way he talked and moved.

But no.

Not even Batman seemed to connect the dots.

He thought he would have to tell them right on their faces who he was, but he didn't have to.

He threw himself under the bus all on his own.

In all fairness he had sneaked into the Watchtower as Billy to be less attention catching, had even dressed in dark clothes to go unnoticed which admittedly on the outside he should have known made him look like a thief, all he had intended for was to retrieve an amulet from his room that Tawky Tawny had asked him to hold onto for him until his return from wherever was it that he was taking a trip to.

He had managed to sneak into Captain Marvel's room, get the amulet and step out of the room before something latched around his wrist and pulled him backwards, forcing him to drop the amulet, instinct won over logic and he spun around, sending lightning crackling through- oh shit.

He winced as the lightning struck Wonder Woman's hands, she was Zeus' daughter, it wouldn't harm her, but it did make her release the Lasso in surprise and take a step back.

And he would have apologized, if something hadn't grabbed his torso, sweeping him off his feet as he was brought up to hang upside down in the air, a glowing green hand grabbing him, imprisoning his arms against his sides. Wonderful.

"Was that friggin lightning? How the hell did he got in here?" Flash asked as he ran past him, snatching the amulet from the floor and halting right beside Superman. Because of fucking course the whole Justice League would be at the Watchtower the same day he decided to sneak in unnoticed. In all fairness, he did look like a criminal, even had his face covered, Courtney had told him how much of a bad idea it was.

He should have come as Captain Marvel as she had suggested, would have gotten him less attention than this.

"I know this looks bad, but I'm not a thief, I mean, I did steal a pen from the meeting room last week, but Hal steals them everyday like he's preparing to build a fort based solely of pens." He defended, for a full minute stares are all he got.

And then.

"Captain?" Diana was giving him an indecipherable look, like she wasn't sure of her own words, right, they didn't know.

"Yes, sorry about the lightning, wasn't expecting to be yanked, totally understand the why, should have come as Captain Marvel, in my defense, I didn't want to be roped into cleaning the kitchen, yes Barry, I'm looking at you, just because I would sell myself for food doesn't mean you get to use that against me every time you don't want to do something, that's not fair, we both know I'm weak for food."

He was quite glad his ranting seemed to be proof enough to make Green Lantern return him back to the ground, he did not, though, liked to be regarded with odd looks.

"Why do you look so... small?"

Flash's words made him scowl and cross his arms over his chest.

"I'm not small, I'm much taller than you right now, this is how I usually look like... without all the magic powering me up." He explained lamely.

"You have lightning? Doesn't that count as being powered up? What even is being powered up?" Aquaman asks with a confused frown.

"Transformation magic, makes me look bigger and much more different than how I usually look like, when I'm not Captain Marvel I'm 100% human, though I can still use some magic." Billy explained, he could feel Batman's gaze burrowing into him.

"You never said anything about transformation magic." Wonder Woman said, Billy winced.

"That's because I didn't deem it smart to reveal something that could expose my identity."

"And yet you walk in here in all your civilian glory dressing like a thief?" Hal asked raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms over his chest.

"Hey! I was trying to be one with the shadows!" Billy felt the need to defend himself, he had been going for a ninja look, even if Courtney said he looked like a burglar.

"Dude, you look like a thief." Flash states, Billy looks down at himself, yup, he definitely didn't look like a ninja, he should have at most looked in the mirror before leaving the house. He was quite sure Courtney didn't insist on stopping him as revenge for him having eaten the last of the ice cream, even if she said it didn't bother her. He was definitely gonna buy he a whole tub of ice cream for her alone after this.

"I guess I do." He conceded at last before glancing at Flash and holding his hand out. "Can I have that back? Tawky's gonna kill me if I lose it." Or well, not kill him, his friend was too nice for that, but he would give him the judging and very much disappointed look without a doubt.

Tawky Tawny's disappointed look was as intense as Batman's glare.

Still.

Flash handed it to him and he was quick to shove it in his pocket, good, at least he could now be sure he hadn't lost it in the middle of a fight or that he forgot where he put it.

"So... does this means we can know who you are?"

"Flash!" Superman berated, giving the speedster a look. Barry raised his hands in surrender.

"What? Just asking, no pressure."

Billy bit back a smirk. Finally, the moment he had been waiting for his entire life.

"What are you talking about? You already know who I am." He told, had he not been wearing a mask the League would have seen his shit eating grin, amusement dancing in his voice, he felt even more amused at the looks on their faces.

"What?"

"No, we don't." Green Lantern refuted.

No one, not even Batman, was prepared for what happened next.

He took the mask off.

"You know, I'm quite wounded, and here I thought we had something special. All of you threatened me after the wedding and all." Billy said with a grin, very much remembering how each and every single one of the League members had very subtly threatened him to be very nice with Courtney, and that they would know if he wasn't.

And that he would regret it.

He had found it hilarious, though he would never admit that Wonder Woman's threat had kept him awake at night for several weeks.

"You!" Flash gasped, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You said I looked like a firefighter in spandex and put a firefighter hat on me!" Barry accused, remembering the man's words regarding The Flash, "don't you ever think that the Flash looks like a firefighter in spandex?" He had said.

Barry had wanted to scream, had wanted to punch him when during one of his apparitions at the Watchtower he had the nerve to put a firefighter hat on him while he slept. Because Flash definitely didn't hit civilians. 

Marvel grinned, as it it all were a stupid game where he won the prize.

"You threatened to throw me into the Speed Force, which I could, theoretically speaking get out of, but still, I'm petty." Billy excused, grinning even more as he watched the League slowly fall into utter chaos and betrayed looks.

No doubt remembering all the things he did to them, like telling Clark how he should write about Superman wearing his underwear over the costume, or when he poured mustard on Green Lantern's arm while looking him straight in the eye, asking him if he liked mustard, because yellow.

He had also faked twisting his ankle during a false alarm at the Watchtower he himself had triggered and then proceeded to force Aquaman into carrying him to safety while very loudly complaining about his ankle.

He had swung Wonder Woman's sword around after finding it leaning against the wall at the kitchen, admittedly her snatching it from him and her murderous glare had given him nightmares for a week, but it had been totally worth it, he had wanted to swing that sword around since he first joined the League.

Batman, that man might have not slept right these past months wondering how did a man with an average IQ kept sneaking into the most guarded place in the world without tripping the alarms.

"So that's how you didn't trip the alarms." Batman realized out loud, he sounded like he got the closure of his life.

Billy snickered.

Suddenly, Green Lantern gasped.

"You are 21!" Hal screeched in sudden realization, a realization that seemed to hit the rest like a collective button being switched. Well fuck, this was inevitable.

"You were 15! We let a 15 year old into the League!" Superman said, passing around and looking like he was about to pass out. 

"I don't see the issue, Robin was 10 when he started beating the shit out of criminals, something I have to admit is fucking hardcore."

The collective gasp made him frown, Green Lantern pointed at him with a scandalized look.

"That's illegal!"

"What? Swearing? You do realize I'm an adult, right?"

"Captain Marvel doesn't swear!" Flash said scandalized.

"Heroes must set an example, I'm a civilian right now, I can swear like a sailor if I want."

"No! You can't!" 

Flash refuted, Billy held his gaze, grinned, and then.

"Fuck."

Flash shrieked, shaking Wonder Woman who looked quite amused with the whole situation.

"Diana do something! He's rebelling!"

"I'm adult."

"Doesn't matter!"

"I'm married!"

.

.
.
.
.
.

"Oh my God! Stargirl and Captain Marvel are married!"

Billy face palmed.

Chapter Text

The League was in a meeting, their annual meeting where nominating new heroes for the League was the main focus.

Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, Flash, Hawkwoman, Martian Manhunter, Cyborg, Green Arrow, Black Canary and Zatanna were all sitting in the meeting room, each one of them was entitled to nominate one canditate.

The canditates would then have to go through several tests, a background check Batman himself would run, several interviews and a period of probation before being given actual access to the Watchtower at all.

So far the candidates were Supergirl, Booster Gold, Red Tornado and Arsenal.

"Wonder Woman? Have someone in mind?" Superman questioned, against popular belief most of the time some of them didn't nominate heroes, because while expanding was a great advantage for when big foes came, it was also a disadvantage for as Batman said, too much personnel led to blind spots, someone could easily infiltrate them and they wouldn't even know it because they have too much people to keep track of.

"I do, I have studied him and I feel like he would be a fine addition to our team." Diana said, surprising the rest, Wonder Woman rarely nominated anyone.

"Who?"

"He calls himself Captain Marvel."

Zatanna who had been quiet all meeting choked on the water she had been drinking, coughing as she set the glass down. Aquaman at her side patted her back awkwardly.

"Something the matter with Wonder Woman's suggestion?" Batman asked as Zatanna stopped coughing and straightened back up, he had been looking into Captain Marvel too, the man kept himself to his city, and his identity was something he seriously had trouble getting a hang of.

It was as if the man dropped from the face of the Earth when not doing hero work. He had similar powers to Superman, strength, speed, stamina, invulnerability and flight.

But he could also seemingly control lightning.

Aside from that he didn't had much on the man, something that irked him to no end.

"You can't ask him to join." Zatanna said, the League couldn't even begin to understand what Captain Marvel was capable of, who he was and what he was. With how the League was there was no doubt one of them was bound to offend the Champion.

And God would Zatanna not want to know what would happen if someone pissed him off. There was a reason Constantine, Dr. Fate and her did great at staying as far away from Fawcett City as possible, Constantine might be a jerk, but even he drew the line at risking infuriating the same man that could wipe any trace of magic within them faster than any of them could think.

"Why not? I spent a week at Fawcett City as a civilian, watching him, he seems to know what he's doing, a bit immature, but even the citizens seems to like him quite a lot, he was very friendly and was willing to help anyone with anything, I even saw him playing a game of ball with some kids that called him over."

Diana didn't mention the fact that the second he had looked at her he had seemed to just know who she was, but all he had done was give her a charming smile before going back to his game of kicking the ball around with a group of kids.

"You went to Fawcett City?" Zatanna looked beyond horrified by that idea. It did nothing but confuse the League, Zatanna was their main magic user, she rarely was affected by anything, as if she had seen way too many things in life to be bothered by much, which no one would doubt.

So what did this Captain Marvel had that got her freaking out so much?

"Zatanna, does this Captain Marvel is someone we should watch out for?" Batman questioned, narrowing his eyes at the woman.

"No, in a sense, but also yes."

"Is he a threat?" Hawkwoman asked.

"Yes and no."

"What does that mean? Is he, or is he not dangerous?"

Zatanna dragged her hand down her face, how to explain that in a sense, Captain Marvel was no threat in the sense he meant no danger for the innocent, but he could also be a threat if provoked? But who knows what could even set him off? So it was safer to not approach him at all.

But she had to at least explain it to them in case the League misunderstood and tried to attack him or something just as worse.

Thus, hoping he wouldn't somehow overhear her and chose to tear her limbs apart for sharing information about him, she spoke.

"... In the magic community he's known by several names, Living Lightning, the Champion Of Magic, God of Gods, the Mightiest of Mortals, he who controls all the magic in the world, he can give magic out same as he can take it away, he's the guardian of the Rock Of Eternity, a place where the Sins are imprisoned at alongside several other creatures that could wipe out reality itself. It's said that his powers come from a connection he has with Gods, he's... not someone you really would want to offend."

Silence.

And more silence.

"Wait, if he's all that powerful, how come did we not know of him until last year?" Flash asked suddenly, the guy sounded unnerving, control all magic? As in he could outdo Dr. Fate, Zatanna and Constantine in magic? But Zatanna was scary powerful, so were Dr. Fate and Constantine.

The idea that Captain Marvel might be a dozen times more powerful than those three put together did sound a bit intimidating. He could give magic? To normal people or was there a requisite for that? Could he drain anyone's magic or was it something else with an entirely different meaning?

"He comes and goes in between times, sometimes it can take centuries before he's seen again, he always returns with a different appearance, woman, man, doesn't matter, some people believe he's reborn every now and then, but because of who he is, he's generally human and by extension untraceable until the magic deems him ready. So it stands to reason you didn't knew of him."

She didn't mention the fact where several children throughout history had been killed under the belief that they were the next Champion Of Magic, some magic users could be deranged enough to crave for the Champion's power, which she in a sense understood, who wouldn't want limitless magic?

But she would never actually want his power, being the Champion Of Magic was more than just being powerful, there was so much to watch out for and deal with, she would go mad if she had to give up her life for that kind of responsibility. 

Point was, children were killed, even babies, so many innocents. Because some people were stupid and seriously believed the Champion Of Magic would be easily traceable when in his most vulnerable stage.

At least this one was an adult.

"Haven't you ever spoken to him?" 

"Of course not, I mean, you just don't go into his territory, Fawcett City is a place that bleeds magic, several leylines spread all over the place, going there would be suicidal for anyone who does magic and has half a brain. I would preferably like to keep my magic."

"I have magic with me, he didn't seem bothered in the slightest, and he certainly recognized me, he just carried on playing with the children." Diana said, she knew better than anyone how people could exaggerate some stories, and something about this Captain Marvel... she wasn't sure of the reason, but she didn't felt like she should fear him, he hadn't felt dangerous nor like someone hiding their true self.

He had looked genuinely happy by the simple fact of getting to kick a ball around with a bunch of kids.

Zatanna for her side didn't have an answer for that, the Champion had seen Wonder Woman and hadn't done a thing? Was it because she was the daughter of one of the most powerful Gods in the Greek pantheon, or had it been something else? No. She couldn't risk it, she was not gonna lose her magic because the League chose to not listen to her.

"If you insist, fine, but I refuse to be anywhere near him when you bring him here." She stated, they were all insane, she just told them what he was capable of and who he was, and they still wanted to approach him.

For the world's mightiest heroes the League could be quite rash sometimes. Even when the master strategist/Batman was in there.

~

The world didn't end.

Five months later since the League recruited Captain Marvel and Zatanna was surprised Flash nor Green Lantern had provoked the end of the world, God knows those two could make even Batman want to break his code of no killing.

She had avoided the Watchtower when she first heard Captain Marvel would be given access to it, as in he had become an official member.

She felt like she might have a heart attack whenever she stepped into the Watchtower with him there too, she avoided him, but God could she feel the crushing presence, his magic was intense, obliterating, it made her want to run off to the hills and never look back.

Even Constantine had looked startled when he first stepped into the Watchtower with the Champion Of Magic in it too, had cursed before proceeding to act like nothing was wrong.

Zatanna admired his willpower.

Dr. Fate had stepped into the Watchtower and the second he had the second he had teleported back out in the biggest show of "NOPE" there ever was.

Not that Zatanna could blame him.

~

☆Meanwhile, somewhere in Fawcett City☆

"I am the mighty Zatanna and I command you demon to go back to the shadows where you came from!" A 12 year old boy dressed in black voiced as he stood on top of a bed, blankets tied around the bedframe to act as a barrier, a magician's hat on top of his head. At his side stood a little girl dressed in a trench coat much too big for her, a candy stick on her mouth.

"Never! I must have thy treasure! Even if it means ending the world!" Screeched another 12 year old boy, greenish makeup smeared all over his face and hands, the crutch at his side had several red ribbons tied on it.

"Over my dead body! You blasted thing!" The girl stated, faking some sort of accent that she didn't quite seem to get the hang of, she shrieked when the blankets were grasped, a gurgling sound coming from the boy with the painted face.

"Feel the power of my magic!" The boy with the magic hat announced, pouring a whole bag of glitter on top of the other boy who's face morphed into one of absolute horror, eliciting a snicker from the girl.

The door opened.

"Billy, Freddy, Darla, we have talked about this, no glitter in the house." Rosa said from the door, but even if she said that she couldn't help but smile in amusement at the sight.

"But glitter is the only weapon against this zombie demon dog." Darla stated as if that were the whole truth of the world, all the while pointing at Freddy with both of her hands in a showing motion.

"Why do I always have to be the zombie dog? I wanted to be Constatine for once." Freddy protested, ruffling his hair and watching with a pang of grief how the silver glitter landed on his bedsheets, sweet Jesus would that glitter graduate with him.

"It's not our fault you suck at rock, paper, scissors." Billy told, snickering as he got off the bed.

"Exactly, it's not our fault." Darla agreed, grabbing Billy's hand and letting him help her off the bed.

Freddy grumbled.

Chapter Text

Stargirl is married, this is a known fact among the League, she was, after all, one of the few underage heroes to grow around the Watchtower instead of being placed with the Young Justice, the League had known her since she was 15, had watched her grown into a strong willed woman, she was still as energetic and stubborn as when she was a kid, but she was less rash and much more level headed.

Point was, the League knew she was married, to who? No one knew, she liked to hide him, had even threatened to bedazzle Batman's costume if he or his children tried to look into him.

All the League knew were two things.

He was a civilian.

His name was Billy.

It kind of made sense she would want to protect him and have him separated from hero matters, those who were married to civilians understood the sentiment, so no one pushed.

But then the big leak happened, someone infiltrated the Watchtower and stole the files of each and every single hero in the Justice League, something that led the Watchtower into becoming a refuge of sorts for every hero's civilian related ones, nothing had been filtrated to the public yet, but it was best to be safe than sorry.

Oracle had managed to destroy the files that had been stolen before they could be accessed to, putting an end to what could have been one of the most catastrophics events to the Justice League, and the infiltrator had been caught.

Most heroes had taken their relatives back home by now, so the Watchtower was relatively quiet.

Aside from the unfamiliar man at the meeting room with a cast on his arm, he was spinning in Captain Marvel's swivel chair, he had dark hair and blue eyes, wore a red shirt with what looked like a Wonder Woman jacket, ripped jeans and honest to God obnoxiously yellow crocs with Batman themed socks.

Flash had no idea what to do, who the hell was even this guy? How did he even got into the meeting room? This place was off limits, as in only the main members of the League had access to it. 

He seemed to finally take notice of Flash for he stopped spinning abruptly, giving Barry a huge grin that was bizarrely familiar, but he couldn't quite pinpoint from where.

"Lightning McQueen!" He called merrily, standing up, boy was he taller than Barry expected. The greeting made Flash make a face though, even more so considering that that's what half of the League had been calling him since he tripped mid changing into his costume and crashed face first on a wall, while in his underwear, Lightning McQueen underwear.

 He had burnt that underwear once he got home.

That was over a week ago.

"Who are you with?" He chose to ask instead, no civilian should be at the Watchtower at this point, though Alfred and Ma Kent were still in the kitchen on a cooking spree both of them refused to be pulled away from. Because apparently frozen food wasn't acceptable for the League and they wouldn't leave until they had stacked the fridge with tupperwares of food.

Point was, he didn't hear of someone else that wasn't a hero still being at the Watchtower.

The man gave him a smile, amused and mischievous, as if he were in some sort of joke Flash could never dream of imagining. It irked at him.

"Alright, keep your secrets." He ended up conceding, because if he was here that meant someone from the main members knew him and might have put him in here. No use arguing.

Still.

"But you can't be here, Batman's on the fritz right now." The man nodded, as if he totally understood everything about the world, who the hell was this guy? 

Still, Flash was quite glad he got the man to follow him, it did make him anxious to have the man walking behind him as quiet as death, he felt his hairs stand on end, shivers running down his spine

But whenever he looked over his shoulder he would see the guy walking with a bounce in his step, would grin at him with a smile that showed too much teeth for Barry's comfort, like a Cheshire cat mocking him, he could swear his eyes were glowing for seconds, but it was so quick he wondered if he was imagining things.

"Would you at least tell me your name?" Barry asked, refusing to let a civilian intimidate him. He looked back as silence met him, the guy's grin grew impossibly bigger, was this how it looked like for Batman when he came face to face with Joker?

"Wouldn't you like to know, weather boy?"

His eyes lit up an angry red.

Flash yelped, tripping on his own feet and falling flat on his face before quickly sitting up and turning around, but when he did, the man was nowhere to be found.

"What the fuck?"

"What's wrong?"

If someone asked him, Barry never thought he could scream as high as he did at that moment, because the fucking guy was crouching by his side, giving him the most confused and innocent look in history and tilting his head to the side with a frown.

Reflexes won over logic, using his speed he locked the man into a headlock, the man who didn't even struggle or fight back, no, he just became incredibly boneless in his hold.

"Flash!" The familiar shout made him look up, his heart was beating so fast he was quite sure it might have developed a flat lined speed. There, a few feets infront of him, stood Stargirl with her arms crossed over her chest and a frown plastered on her face, an alarmed Superman coming to a halt behind her alongside equally alarmed League members; Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Hawkwoman.

"Hi!" The man greeted with a cheerful voice, waving up at the group of heroes and making Flash grimace.

"Flash, that's my husband you are suffocating." Stargirl's words got the room freezing.

"What?" Flash asked at last, voice nothing but a whisper, of course it was general knowledge that Stargirl was married, to a civilian, a normal person, something this guy clearly wasn't!

"Batman said to bring our loved ones for extra protection, remember?" Stargirl stated, she was finding it quite hard to not smile or show her amusement as she watched her husband sporting the most innocent look ever seen.

But she knew him well enough to recognize when that innocent look was nothing but a mask to hide his true intentions. Which for what she could see from Flash's terrified look and Superman's words of Flash's heartbeat having disappeared... He must have been torturing the speedster.

Understandable, she knew he wouldn't miss the chance to mess with the League when he was like that, he had grown to resemble nothing from his Captain Marvel persona, he was less of a mountain and more of a bit taller than average and quite slim, he had muscles, but not enough to make him look as intimidating as Marvel, but to be fair no one could compete with Marvel's intimidating appearance.

Point was, Courtney knew that ever since he became an adult he had been entertaining the idea of telling the League his identity, just not straight to their face, because it wouldn't be as fun, reason she had keep him hidden from the League, to make sure Batman wouldn't figure it out the boring way. It wasn't until now that he had had a chance to make a move, and that because he broke his arm last night after falling off the tree in the backyard.

Broken bones meant he couldn't transform into Captain Marvel, and while he could still protect himself with the little magic he had as Billy, he had insisted on coming to the Watchtower to keep watch over the people in there, he might not be able to help as Captain Marvel, but he could still help as Billy Batson.

"Husband?!" Flash's shout caught her attention, he looked mortified, and Courtney mildly wondered what had Billy done to freak out the speedster so much.

"Yes, now let him go. He can be a bit of a pain, but he is harmless." Stargirl said, Flash didn't seem so sure, but he still released the man who swiftly stood up, grinning as if he were having the time of his life.

"You said he was normal, a civilian!" Flash accused, springing up to his feet and looking a bit too pale, Courtney considered telling a bit of the truth for the man's sake.

But then she remembered he ate the last slice of the pie Darla had given to her.

"Of course he is, what are you talking about?" She questioned instead, putting on her best clueless face, growing around people who could sniff lies from miles (coughThebigthreecough) had made her become a master of lies.

"His eyes were glowing red!" Flash cries, moving his arms up and down at top speed in his state of despair.

Stargirl frowned, so did her husband.

"Flash... he's 100% human with no powers or superabilities." Courtney made a point at speaking slowly, giving her most pitiful look at the speedster, as if she were trying to appease someone who was clearly not thinking straight.

"I know what I saw!"

"Dude, one moment we were walking, and the next I was being held into a headlock for no apparent reason." Billy said, giving Flash his best kicked puppy look, as if he were totally the victim here.

He bit back a smirk as Flash faltered, looking like he might actually protest.

"When was the last time you slept?" Stargirl asked, raising an eyebrow at the speedster, Barry faltered even more, he was now looking genuinely hesitant, as if he were starting to doubt what he thought he knew.

"Come friend, it's been a long week." Wonder Woman said, grabbing Flash's arm and gently pulling him with her, leading him towards the Zeta tubes.

As Flash follows Wonder Woman, he can't help but glance back at the group, his gaze settling on Stargirl's husband who stands behind her, looking over her shoulder, as their gaze meet, he can swear the man's eyes glow, this time, a bright gold, the Cheshire smile making his hairs stand on end.

But as he blinks, the man's face is back to normal.

Was it seriously sleep deprivation...?

~

The second time the League comes across Stargirl's husband it's not even a week later, Batman had called a meeting to discuss the infiltrator issue, upon entering the meeting room, the first ones to arrive; Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman, found the man sitting in Captain Marvel's chair, still wearing the cast and looking quite comfortable.

"How did you get in here?" Batman didn't waste a moment to question, narrowing his eyes at the man, even if Stargirl had brought him, he would have gotten the alert that a guest had ingressed into the Watchtower, and in any case that he had sneaked in by himself, he would have triggered the alarms.

So why did neither of the two happened? How did he get past the security scans? No one could get past Oracle or Tim's security. Much less the latest updates made to it. So how did this man manage it? 

In fact, how did he even got into the meeting room? No one but the main members had access to it, so how?

Bruce had ran a background check on him after Flash's words, sleep deprivation or not he hadn't wanted to risk it. But this man, William Joseph Batson, aside from a difficult and traumatic childhood, had nothing that stood out, he had an average IQ, had a job as a night security guard at a museum in Fawcett City and lived in a fairly decent neighborhood.

There was nothing about him that stood out, so how then, did an apparently normal man, manage to get into one of the safest installations in the world, undetected?

The man gave them a cheerful smile, where had he seen that smile before?

"Hi! It's so nice to see you guys." William greeted them, not moving from the chair he was slumped over, legs propped up on the armrest, he was wearing obnoxiously yellow crocs, and Superman themed socks. Clark had no idea what to think of that.

"You are not suppose to be here." Wonder Woman said, frowning, it could be her imagination, but she could swear she could smell ozone in the air, a familiar scent that she came to associate with Captain Marvel, but her brother in question was nowhere on sight, he had said he had other matters to attend to and that he would be unavailable for a few weeks.

So how was it that she could smell him?

"I know, but I was bored, felt like my mind was gonna drive me nuts." William said, giving the group an amused smile, as if he were having some inside joke with himself.

"You can't just infiltrate a high security facility because you are bored." Superman said in disapproval, frowning, the man didn't have any weapons on him that he could see, something that did make him do a double take was the honest to God newspaper the man had stuffed in his cast.

And Clark had one question. How? 

From this angle, he could see the front page, Clark Kent appeared at the front page. But what made Superman falter was the fact that someone had drawn on his face, drawn a huge mustache, unibrow, darkened all his teeth making him look like he had no teeth whatsoever and even stuck a sticker of a glittery crown on top of his head with the word "Yassified" written on his forehead, what did that even mean?!

He wasn't just insulted, but also horrified, and even a bit hurt, who had done such a mean thing?

"When there's a will, there's a way." Was all Billy stated, giving Superman a bright smile, he almost felt bad at the man's kicked puppy look, he had certainly seen Billy and Courtney's artwork.

He hadn't been sure if Superman would use his X-ray vision to check him for weapons, but considering how everyone was so anxious since that guy infiltrated the Watchtower... he had shoved the newspaper into his cast, of course magic had been involved, and a bit of stubbornness.

Because boy was he determined to make the best of this time while his arm healed.

That meant torturing the League, and his beloved wife was more than eager to play along, don't get him wrong, he didn't had anything against the League, they were his friends, almost like another family to him.

But because he liked them, he wanted to mess with them, see how far he could go with this, see if any of them would be able to figure anything out, so far, he had his bets on Batman and Wonder Woman, maybe Martian Manhunter.

"Either so, you shouldn't be here." Batman stated, voice hard, Billy grinned, he could tell from a mile Bruce was certainly not happy with how he managed to sneak past security.

"Alright." He ended up conceding, springing up from his chair, poking at his magic just enough to slip the newspaper out of his cast with the ease of a cartoon character, he bit back the chuckle at the big three's widened eyes, he handed the newspaper to Superman, pulling a pen from his pocket.

And he did one thing he never dared to do as Captain Marvel in fear of coming off as unprofessional.

"Would it be possible for me to get an autograph from you three?" He made a point at staring straight into Superman's eyes, an innocent look on his face as he showed the front page of the terribly drawn on Clark Kent.

He didn't miss Diana's smirk of amusement as she caught sight of the picture. Superman couldn't react, Billy was suppose to be a civilian, he didn't knew Clark Kent and Superman were the same person, so the man couldn't exactly say anything.

"Sure." Wonder Woman conceded, taking the pen from William and signing her name on the front page, biting back her urge to grin the more she looked at the picture of unibrow Clark with a crown stuck on his head.

"Did you alter this picture?" Superman couldn't help but ask as he either way also put his signature on the front page, he would never deny anything to civilians.

"Yes."

"Why?" Superman couldn't help but ask as he gave Batman the pen, he should have realized how weird it was that Bruce took the pen at all, the only people he ever gave the occasional autograph to, were children.

So he should have suspected something, he couldn't help but frown as he watched Batman put his autograph on Clark Kent's shirt, in a font that almost made it seem as if he was seriously wearing a shirt with the name 'Batman' printed on it.

He didn't miss the slight quirk on the man's mouth, and he's spent enough time around him to notice it, and to know that Batman was finding it amusing. The audacity. 

"Because Clark Kent has no shame. Everyone knows Lois Lane is with you, but it's no secret he still seems to think he has a chance with her, that's not nice, much less because he claims to be friends with you, if he were your friend he wouldn't be trying to get Lois to notice him, you don't flirt with your friend's girlfriend, it's called bro code, and general decency, and respect."

Billy put his all into looking as disgusted as possible, as if he genuinely thought Clark Kent was being a jerk, even if he knew Clark Kent and Superman were the same person, and that Lois Lane was married to Clark Kent, they even had two kids.

But right now Billy was a civilian, he had to act like he knew only what the public knew.

He wished he could take a picture of Superman's horrified look, he almost felt bad.

Almost.

"You are right on that, it's quite a disrespectful thing on his part." Diana's words were unexpected, she seemed amused, and Billy couldn't fight back the grin as he saw Superman look at her with a betrayed look.

Superman who couldn't help but think one thing.

Who needed enemies with friends like these?

~

The third time William Joseph Batson was sighted, it was two days later, he was walking down one of the hallways, controlling a remote control Batmobile the size of a cat that he drove masterfully.

He drove it into the kitchen where Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Flash and Green Lantern were at.

"Sup Lightning McQueen." Was the greeting he gave as he walked past Flash who choked on his muffin. Green Lantern snickering.

"In what world do I look like a talking car?" Flash protested, throwing the man a look, looked better, he didn't seem as demonic as he remembered, nothing about him gave off dangerous vibes, and he wondered what had even made him think the guy was anything but normal...

The guy, William, turned to look at him with a smirk. Something about that smirk reminded him of someone...

"You are red and have a lightning bolt, also the speed." The man told as a statement of fact, Barry huffed.

"So does Captain Marvel."

"He's got a cape." William said, as if that somehow explained anything and everything.

"How do you keep getting in here?" Aquaman asked as he watched the man make the little Batmobile circle the couch, taking violent turns at the last minute.

"Say Aquaman, how can you breathe underwater and on the surface? I mean, I know you are half human, half atlantean, but like, does that mean you have two lungs and gills? But how does your body knows which one to use? What happens to your lungs when you are underwater? Your gills when you are on the surface? Could you do competitive swimming? Could you alternate fast enough between both types of breathing, or would you drown mid swimming?"

Arthur didn't answer, he opened his mouth, and then closed it again, the king looked like he was slowly descending down a rabbit hole of endless questions he had never questioned about himself ntil now.

Those in the kitchen saw the exact moment the atlantean stepped into an existential crisis. Horror washing over his face as he kept mouthing to himself something along the lines of 'what if...? and buts'

"Excuse me." Was all Aquaman said before he hurriedly made his way out of the kitchen.

William glanced at the king before turning to look at them with a confused if not a bit worried look.

"Did I offend him?" Billy did not, in fact, felt worried, he was barely concealing his urge to laugh, but he couldn't, he still had two more left, and maybe a third if he played his cards right.

"Nah, don't worry about it." Hal said, waving the other man's worries off. Though he did admit he was now wondering the same regarding Aquaman's breathing skills, how did that even work?

"So... Yellow is Green Lantern's weakness, right?" Hal did not like the tone used to ask that, William looked innocent enough, curious even, but something about his voice made his hairs stand on end, his stomach twisting with a bad feeling. But what?

"Yeah..." Hal answered slowly, giving the other man a suspicious look, but William turned away, putting his attention back on the little Batmobile, Hal was definitely not jealous, because that Batmobile had been a limited toy of which only 20 were made, it had every feature Batman's Batmobile had. It could shoot little paintballs and reach a speed high enough to run on top of water. It could even be modified to become the Batwing!

Hal had wanted it when it came out, but the thing had costed more than what he made in a whole year, how the hell did the guy got it when he was quite sure Batman had said he worked as a night guard in a museum?

"Does that mean it affects you even when out of costume? Can you eat corn? Bananas? Cheese? Would you be weakened if someone threw a lemon at you? What about minions? Can you watch that movie or do you pass out if you do? What about Fluttershy? Could you be taken down by My Little Pony? What about gold? It's theoretically speaking yellow, would you be rendered useless if a Leprechaun villain who threw gold attacked the world? Don't you think it's ironic how yellow weakens you but green is your strength? But Superman gets his strength from yellow and is weak against a green rock? Are you weak against the sun? How does Superman feels working with a giant talking glowing dude in green? Do you think he sometimes mistakes you for Kryptonite and tries to incinerate you before recognizing you?"

The more he spoke the more Hal Jordan found himself being blown away by the sheer number of questions.

Questions that he never even made to himself, how far could his weakness to yellow go? Did Superman really saw him as Kryptonite? How many times had he been close to being incinerated and he never knew of it?

He didn't need sleep, he needed answers.

"Superman!" He called, bolting out of the kitchen, feeling like all he had ever known was a lie.

Billy for his side, grinned, this before quickly wiping the smile off his face and putting up his most heartbroken look, turning fully to face Flash and Martian Manhunter. 

"Did I say something wrong? Why do they keep ignoring my questions and just leaving the room?" He asked sadly.

"Ignore them, they are weirdos." Flash said, in all truth? He had a feeling this guy wasn't as innocent as he wanted to convey, something about him kept making Barry feel fidgety. William frowned before shrugging and going back to his little Batmobile, Barry was definitely not jealous.

Instead, he turned to look at J'onzz who hadn't said a word since Stargirl's very unnerving husband stepped into the kitchen. He leaned towards the Martian.

"Hey, can you look into his mind? Like, can't you feel it too? There's something definitely not right about this guy." He whispered.

"I do feel something off about him, but it's not right to go into other people's minds without their consent." Martian Manhunter stated, he did feel something off with the man, his words and movements seemed too... at ease, like a predator luring its prey into a false sense of safety.

But he didn't like going into people's heads without permission, it was rude.

"What if he's a spy or something? Don't you think it's weird how he keeps sneaking into the Watchtower?" Flash's words did made sense, and J'onzz hated to admit he was right.

"Right." He sighed in defeat, but as he focused, he came face to face with an odd mind, he couldn't hear a single thing, but there was no wall like Batman's mind.

What he did got was a flash of something, seven glowing eyes hiding behind several layers of varying lights and colors, they kept slipping, disappearing, like flickering lights, their presence was crushing, dangerous.

It made his instincts reel, even more so when the seven set of eyes stared right back at him, his blood ran cold, and the sudden overwhelming feeling of staring at something that should never be stared at threatened to suffocate him.

The breath caught in his throat and J'onzz found himself cutting the link, taking several steps back as cold sweat trickled down his spine.

"Dude, you alright?" Flash asked concerned, his answer was J'onzz phasing through the floor and disappearing altogether. What the hell?

"Where did the Martian go?" Barry did not squeak as he looked up and was met with William, when did he cross the room and came to stand infront of him? 

"I'm not sure..." Flash answered, he was officially creeped out, even more so when the guy gave him a sly smirk, eyes darkening.

Suddenly, the air grew heavy, lights flickering as the air became almost literally electrifying, the man smiled, a Cheshire cat smile with too much teeth, eyes glowing a piercing silver as he stares right at him, through his very soul.

"And then there was one." His voice seemed to almost be laced with an echo.

Barry ran.

~

Diana had heard the rumors of Stargirl's husband, a troublemaker who wasn't as normal as he looked, had several members on edge, sent up to hills some others, Green Arrow had even ended up taking a sabbatical to 'evolve' after being called 'Hawkeye's doppelganger', she had no idea who that was.

But it had seemed to hit the man hard.

Point was, something weird was happening, Stargirl kept insisting he was normal, that he was 100% human and with no powers.

Well.

Wonder Woman was about to see how true that was, she and two of the few people the man hadn't targeted yet.

Hawkwoman and Black Canary.

He was in the cafeteria, the cast was gone at this point, he looked harmless enough, but she knew better than to underestimate someone based on ages or appearance. She learnt this the moment she found out that the person who could match her in sword fighting was a 100% human child.

He wasn't a child anymore, but the point stood, Damian Wayne had taught her better than to let appearances deceive you.

Still.

He seemed, for once, to not be stalking anyone, the group waited, he stood up, and as he stepped into the hall, Diana snatched him, wrapping her Lasso around him and imprisoning his arms against his sides, he stumbled forward before catching himself.

"Hi." Was all he said, giving them a nervous smile.

"Who are you and what are your intentions?" Hawkwoman demanded as she stalked forward, snatching a fistful of the man's shirt and pointing at him with her maze. For his credit, he didn't even flinch.

"I'm William Joseph Batson, but you can call me Billy, preferably, William sounds like an old man's name." Hawkwoman narrowed her eyes, from up close, the guy was awfully familiar, in a way, she couldn't explain it.

"What are you?"

"... Husband, brother, friend, son, a man of pettiness..." Billy knew he was playing with fire, Hawkwoman could easily smash his face with her maze if he pushed his luck.

But as he said, he was a man of pettiness. And as his wife and most of his siblings said, he also walked the thin line between courage and stupidity.

"That's not what she meant and we both know it. You keep popping up here undetected." Black Canary said, the man grinned.

"Bet it drives Batman bats." Billy has never been good at keeping his mouth shut, the Lasso tightened around him, and as it was bound to happen.

His magic reacted to the one from the Lasso.

Sparks crackling around it like a short circuited wire, sizzling and fading once it reached Diana's hands, as the daughter of Zeus, electricity didn't affect her, in fact, she could, theoretically speaking, control lightning if she wanted.

Something he seriously wished he could share with her, because who the hell wouldn't want to know they could control lightning? But Zeus was all mysterious and cryptic and kept telling him not to, to let her find out her own potential at her own pace. Why couldn't he just flat out tell her?

Point was, the little lightning show got the atmosphere to grow so quiet he almost felt like danger was lurking in the horizon.

And then, because Shayera was Shayera, she brought her maze up and pushed it against his chest without hesitation, her maze usually made magic don't work at all.

But with him, it always made it go into the fritz, in a way.

He didn't expect his magic to react as strongly as it did to the maze when he was in his mortal form.

The sparks reminiscent of a short circuit lit up, sparks flying everywhere as electricity crackled all over the maze and all over his body, he very much felt Thavma's presence come incredibly close to the surface, and for a moment, it almost felt as if the maze were threatening to pull his Captain Marvel form to the surface without so much as him having to call on the word. Christ was this thing stronger than he ever gave it credit for, he hadn't even known something could draw his form out like this.

"Transformation magic, right?" Hawkwoman said with a triumphant grin as she pulled the maze back, her face told him that nope.

It was neither Batman or Wonder Woman who figured it out first.

Hawkwoman was.

And boy did he now owed Darla 50 dollars and a whole tub of strawberry ice cream.

Still.

He grinned.

"I have to admit I expected Bruce or Diana to be the ones to figure it out first." He conceded at last.

"Marvel." Wonder Woman said as realization hit, the ozone smell, the way the Lasso reacted to him, the glowing eyes, Martian Manhunter's words of the several eyes in his mind. How did she not see it sooner? Her mother had told her lots of stories of the Champion Of Magic when she was a child.

It was this what had led her to know that he might not be as old as he claimed, the Champion Of Magic was a mantle given to a human 'pure of heart', there the reason he was called the Mightiest of Mortals. Also what had led her to be one of the few people who didn't shut down his talks about magic.

This had led her to be aware of how he had, in fact, the six Gods in his head, Gods that spoke to him, same Gods J'onzz had probably seen, she knew for Marvel's words that the Gods had the bad habit to terrorize the occasional person who tried to get into Marvel's mind.

She also had known he had a less powered form, he had told her once in a passing comment, something she had kept to herself and hadn't told a soul.

Not even Batman.

But it could have never occurred to her he would look so... Not quite like him. She wasn't sure what she had expected, but this was certainly not it.

He was still tall, but he didn't tower over people, she was quite sure he was her same height if not a bit shorter, and he was quite skinny, barely had any muscle on him, he had the same blue eyes and same dark hair, and while his features were similar they weren't the same, if people were to put attention to him, he would be more of a possible relative to Marvel than Marvel himself.

"Surprise?" He said, giving them the fakest innocent smile there ever was as Diana removed the Lasso off him.

"You are demonic, you know that, right? I heard from Iris that Barry's been sleeping clutching a crucifix." Black Canary told, having a hard time processing that this skinny and boyish guy was the mountain of sunshine better known as Captain Marvel.

He grinned at her, looking anything but innocent, eyes glowing a fiery red, and yeah, she could definitely see why Flash was so freaked out.

"That's what he gets for eating my ice cream."

"Since when can your eyes glow red?" Dinah can't help but ask, she was quite sure last she checked his eyes could glow white, but only when he was seriously pissed, which was a rare occurrence.

"Oh, that's generally because Achilles peeks through the veil, it's hilarious to watch people freak out at it." When Billy first realized he could do that he had used those eyes to keep the bullies away from him while he lived in the streets.

"And here I thought Batman was the diabolical one." 

"Wait, aren't you like 21?" Black Canary said suddenly, he winced.

"So..?"

The three women's gaze sharpened, making him feel like danger was lurking in the horizon, but this time, thicker and closer.

"You were 15."

"Double surprise?" He said, laughing nervously, boy was he in danger.

"You were 15." The three said with more conviction, something in their gazes made him gulp.

This was the exact reason he didn't dare to mess with them.

Wonder Woman took a step forward.

He bolted.

"William Joseph Batson come back here!"

That's how half of the Watchtower saw Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman and Black Canary chasing after the local nightmare who was skipping it like he was being chased by the devil himself while apologizing very loudly.

Chapter Text

"The hell is this place?" Green Lantern asked to no one in particular as he sat up, after fighting off several dozens of spaceships from entering the Earth, their ship had been too damaged to make it back to Earth without blowing to bits even with Superman's help, and Hal's ring had been out of juice, meant he couldn't take it back to Earth either.

Last he remembered Captain Marvel had said something about having an idea before proceeding to exit the ship, then a bright light came from somewhere alongside a yank and he knew no more.

"Are those doors?" Came Flash's voice, Hal glanced at where he was looking.

Yup.

Those were doors, thousands of doors floating all over what looked like a massive room with no end, or more like a kind of cave. Each door wielded its own design, and a lot of them held several notes stuck to them.

Paint world. Do not enter. Headaches ahead.

Cartoon world. Hilarious. Safe.

Glowing people. Do not eat their food. It's made with diamonds no matter how edible it looks.

Danger. Beware of the spider dog

Everyone. SAFE. Fairy land

Nightmare fuel (M- Mature). Possibly toxic. Do not enter.

And across the room Captain Marvel stood at, stretching his arms over his head and looking like he had gotten hit by a bus.

"Marvel?" Batman called, gaze roaming around, what was this place? It looked like a cave, but something about the air felt abnormal.

The man in question glanced at him as he dropped his arms to his sides, relief washing over his face as he smiled.

"You are awake. Good. Was worried for a second there."

"Where are we?" Superman asked, he couldn't hear a thing aside from the endless bizarre sounds coming from the other side of the doors. Floating doors that didn't seem to connect anywhere.

"Yeah, about that..." He scratched his head and gave them a sheepish look. "I kind of panicked, I was meaning to get us to Earth, but I might have miscalculated a bit, I have never done this spell before with more than one person, nor with many other locations. So, uh, we are at the Rock Of Eternity which theoretically speaking has no actual location. It exists in a completely different plane, kind of."

"So we are locked here?!" Flash's cried in horror.

"What? Of course not, this is literally where I spend half of my time, we just go through the door to our world and that's it." Marvel said in amusement.

"One of these doors?" Hawkwoman questioned, how the hell did he even knew which door was it?

"No, the door to our world isn't here." The Captain told as a statement of fact. 

"Then what's up with these doors?" Aquaman asked as he glanced at a nearby door, it was obnoxiously yellow, almost neon, the paint was scrapped off at the edges and several bits of the door itself were missing, chains were wrapped around it and a giant sign hung on it.

DANGER. ACID RAIN. ACID CREATURES. ACID AIR. DO NOT ENTER. 

"Most doors are an opening to a different world, or a location somewhere on Earth." Marvel said, remembering Eugene's theories based on the doors he had explored so far.

"A different world? As in another planet?" Batman asked, had Marvel always had something like that? How many doors were there? How did they work? 

"Uh... I'm not sure, the Wizard didn't exactly leave a manual, there's a lot of stuff here that I have no idea what they do or what are they for." Eugene was still mapping out the Rock Of Eternity. And there were dozens of things none of them understood, like the burning violin.

"But you have gone through some of them, right? Isn't that what the notes are for?" Wonder Woman questions, curious about where did the doors led to, there were dozens of them.

"Kind of..." Billy wasn't exactly lying, he did went through a door.

The one that led to the closet at home.

"Come on." He said as he started walking, he needed to get them out of here as fast as possible, the last thing he wanted was for the League to cross with his siblings.

He had made a point at keeping both teams separated, he trusted the League, but he was much too paranoid, if the League found out about them some of them might want for his siblings to get involved in Justice League fights.

Fights he didn't want them to be involved in.

The Justice League fought in space, at times, against threats that could kill them, like fucking Darkseid or Brainiac. He knew he was being selfish, and an hypocrite, his siblings knew how to protect themselves, they would be furious if they knew how he thought of them, would think he was thinking less of them or that they couldn't protect themselves.

But truth was that he was terrified of losing them, the Vasquez were the best thing to ever happen to him, this family... it was the first family he had since his parents died, a place where it felt warm and safe, and he didn't want to lose that for anything in the world.

Thus.

Keeping them from the League was his safest bet at protecting them.

Flash's sudden intake of breath alongside someone else's whistle caught his attention, making him realize that they had reached the main room, where the actual less creepy room was at.

His siblings and him had decorated the statues from the Sins to look as stupid and hilarious as possible. There was the giant flat screen on the wall, the couches, the lamps, the arcade game, the Christmas lights and several other things that made the whole place look a whole lot more homey than it had previously been.

He wasn't proud to remember several of those things had been bought with the money he had theoretically speaking stolen when he was first testing out his powers.

"Dude, you got your own batcave?" Flash asked in amazement, were those fucking thrones across the room? 

"Capcave." Green Lantern whispered in equal amazement.

"Are those thrones?" Aquaman asked curiously, there were, in fact, seven thrones of stone across the room, a giant lightning bolt very reminiscent of the one in Captain Marvel's chest was painted on the wall above the thrones.

"Yeah. The Wizard said those were his brothers and sisters'. We should get going, there's a door that opens to an abandoned warehouse in Fawcett City." He really needed to get the League moving before-

Too late.

He heard the sound of scrapping rock and saw the statue moving, opening the door to the library.

And Pedro walked out holding several books, thank God he was at least in his Champion form. Small mercies. He froze as he caught sight of the League, this before slowly glancing at Billy.

"Dude."

"In all fairness, I did said it was unwise to just learn how to teleport stuff back to the Rock Of Eternity." Billy defended, he had told Eugene and Freddy that they should seriously work on different destinations for the teleportation spells.

Pedro gave him a judgemental look.

"That's literally what I told you!" Pedro snapped, feeling annoyed, he had told his siblings over a thousand times that they should really expand their teleportation skills.

But they all said it wasn't high on priorities, that since the Sins and them were the only ones who came here it wasn't really that important. 

And now the friggin Justice League was here! Oh my God the fucking Justice League was here.

"Say, you forgot didn't you?" His brother's confused look gave him his answer, he sighed. "I told you that we needed to find another door because the warehouse from the other one got demolished last week and the one at the subway needs to be checked since it's been on the fritz. Means currently, our only door to our world is literally the one in the closet at home."

"Oh."

Billy Batson was totally not freaking out.

"I will go make a temporal one." Pedro offered up in defeat, seeing that he wasn't about to ask Billy to do it, he was not staying with the League and there was no way in hell the League was staying here unsupervised. "I think the docks should be safe enough, there won't be much people around to freak out over the Justice League appearing."

He stated, he was proud at how well he did at keeping a straight face as he walked past the League, he went over to the door with the sign Darla had taped to it. Home Closet written with glitter pens and encased in a heart.

Rosa would not be happy with him walking down the stairs in this form, they weren't generally allowed in the house in these forms, a lot of stuff usually ended up broken.

Stairs included. More like Billy broke them and they all got banned from walking in adult form in the house.

He grabbed the doorknob, twisting it around, edges glowing gold as he pushed the door open, he was quick to step through it and close the door behind him, he had heard enough from Billy to know the League was seriously curious about his secret identity, and considering Batman...

Well, Pedro wouldn't put it past the man to figure out Captain Marvel's secret identity based solely on a bed.

He was quick to leave the room, he needed to make that door.

~

"Who was that?" Flash was the first one to break the silence as he stared at the closed door.

Home Closet.

As in Captain Marvel's home. His home was on the other side of that door.

"... My brother..." Billy would have lied.

If it wasn't for the little detail where he hated denying his family, it made him feel all kinds of wrong, he loved them all dearly, they were his family. At times, he still had a hard time believing they were real, that he truly had found a family, a real family.

"You have a brother?" Green Lantern asked in surprise, Marvel had never mentioned having a brother, much less one who clearly wasn't remotely normal, the guy had been wearing a similar costume as Marvel's, just that his had been an incredibly dark green.

"Yeah... His name's Duke... You can sit down if you want." Billy was desperately hoping to not answer any more questions regarding Pedro, and that his brother would seriously be quick.

Superman, Martian Manhunter and Aquaman sat down.

The rest stood.

"How come we have never heard of him? He's in the hero business, isn't he? His costume." Hawkwoman said, Billy winced inwardly.

"He usually stays here, and he generally takes care of mild crimes, or just helping people around." 

"Does he have similar powers as yours?" Of course Batman would ask that.

"We have the exact same powers, but his are less stronger than mine, he does have enough strength to match me, though he can sometimes fold me like a lawn chair, it depends." None of them were still 100% sure on their powers, Eugene had several theories regarding how could Pedro match him sometimes and other times flat out outstrenght him.

Their running theory was that their powers were connected to him, if they were all transformed Billy was weaker.

Unknown to Billy, the Justice League was staring at him with mortified looks, because Captain Marvel was capable of subduing Superman, and turns out his brother could subdue him? How strong was that guy to achieve such a feat?

"Why haven't you ever nominated him to join the League? I mean, we could always use more muscle." Green Lantern's words got him Captain Marvel's attention, for a flashing moment his gaze hardening, making several from the League flinch.

But as quick as it was there as quick as it was gone.

"No, he's not joining the League." Billy stated firmly, leaving no room for argument. He was gonna be damned if he was to let any of his siblings anywhere near League business.

Call him selfish, but even if the world was ending he would rather sacrifice himself than let his siblings be anywhere such danger. He will not lose them.

"Our missions have the habit to be big, big enough that someone could die if the cards aren't played right, I don't care how strong he is, I won't have him risking his life like that." None of them.

The League couldn't judge him for that, Batman kept the Robins from Justice League matters for a reason, the Young Justice was even kept from the biggest fights.

"Alright, we understand." Wonder Woman was the one who spoke, her voice gentle but reassuring, she was the closest to Marvel, meant she knew things no one else did.

Like the fact that while she couldn't be sure of it, he had just recently gotten a family, she could understand he would want to protect them and keep them as far away from danger as possible.

The sudden sound of a door slamming open somewhere, water rushing followed right behind by a wet splat. Then coughing and a door being slammed shut.

"It's fine." Marvel told as the League got into a fighting stance.

Not long after a man appeared, wearing a grayish version of Marvel's costume, he was soaking from head to toe, glowing algae covering him, and a small glowing pink... thing... was swimming inside a jar with water. He froze, stared at the League for a full minute before proceeding to give Marvel the biggest judgemental look ever seen before walking over to the Home Closet door, opening it and stepping through it. Not before pointing at Marvel with the hand holding the jar.

"You are so dead when I finish studying this motherfucker."

"What did I do?"

"You said that the things at the fucking place with the glowing algae was safe, newsflash, these motherfuckers tried to fucking eat my face off."

"They were perfectly fine when I went, maybe they just didn't like you." Billy couldn't resist to say, Eugene gave him an unamused look before snatching the algae off his head and throwing it at him, Billy dodged it masterfully, snickering at his brother's annoyed look.

"I hope from the bottom of my heart, that you stub your toe, jerk." And with that he was gone.

"You seem to get along quite well." Batman said, staring at the shut door. "How many are there?"

"... 2 sisters and 3 brothers... That was Stormbreaker, he usually spends his time mapping out the Rock Of Eternity, and the Room of Doors." Billy conceded, what was the point of hiding it? The world seemed to be mocking him, who was next? Freddy?

No.

Worst.

It was Darla.

In her regular form. For miracles of above he wasn't about to question she was wearing that Flash jacket with the hood acting as the cawl Billy had gotten her for her birthday.

She, much like Pedro and Eugene, froze at the sight of the League. 

But unlike Pedro or Eugene. She didn't escape.

No, the second her gaze fell on Flash the second she met Billy's eyes and he had a very bad feeling over the sudden innocence in her eyes.

"Can I ask for Flash's autograph?" Her tone alone told him that this wasn't a request.

It was a bribery.

For what? He had no idea nor did he want to find out. He sighed in defeat, he loved his sister, but man could she be downright evil sometimes.

"Of course she can!" Flash answered for him, looking quite joyful, Billy could tell from a mile away the dozen of theories running through every League member's head.

Darla grinned at Flash before stepping through the door and closing it behind her, wiping out her unicorn notepad from her hoodie's pocket and a glitter pen, Billy had the sudden feeling of having been tricked. 

She went over to Flash who knelt down for her, Darla handed him the pen and notepad.

"Can I have three? One for me and one for my brothers? Freddy and Billy really like you."

The only reason Billy didn't choke was because it would have been suspicious, and because theoretically speaking, his name was William and Freddy's was Frederick.

But it would be a cold day in hell before any of them acknowledged said fact.

"Sure." Flash was more than happy to give the adorable little girl the three autographs. She was giving him such a serious look, like the whole situation was a serious event for her. He wanted to squish her in his arms. Was she related to Cap?  "There."

"Thanks."

And with that she gave Captain Marvel what the League saw as nothing but a shit eating grin before walking back to the door and disappearing through it.

"She's not my daughter." Billy felt the urgent need to say, knowing fully well that would be the League's first guess.

And since he couldn't say she was his sister...

"She's my niece." Was what he came up with instead.

He almost heard Heaven singing when a door materialized, Pedro poking his head through it, several feathers stuck on his hair.

"Fair warning. The seagulls at these docks are demons, I have no proof, but I have no doubts either." He told seriously, brushing the feathers off his hair as he stepped into the Rock Of Eternity.

Billy almost hugged Pedro.

Almost.

Finally.

Chapter Text

Captain Marvel hasn't been seen or heard of for over two weeks.

So the League tracks his comm down.

This leads them to an abandoned building, but the comm nor Cap are nowhere to be found, that until Wonder Woman finds a door with weird sigil drawn on it she recognizes as magic.

She opens the door.

But instead of a normal room or a bathroom, what stands on the other side is... It looks like a giant cave with horrible statues painted over and decorated with silly string, bows and glitter.

There's a lot of Christmas lights and lamps, a giant flat screen on the wall and a few couches alongside several other things that make the place look as if someone lived in there.

"The signal's coming from there." Batman states, being the first one to make a move to step through the door and into the weird place, the others follow right behind, Flash closing the door behind him.

The League roams their gaze around the place, high on alert.

'What the hell is this place?" Hawkwoman asks to no one in particular as she looks around, the place looked like it had initially been creepy, it still looked creepy.

"LAIR." Green Lantern said in amusement as he pointed at the big letters spelling Lair that glowed on a nearby wall.

"There's a board with all the headlines about us." Aquaman said as he had approached the weird board that had dozens of newspaper's pages stuck to it, going as far as the oldest ones about rumors regarding Wonder Woman's possible apparitions and even a few articles about when people suspected but didn't knew whether Atlantis was real or not.

"I believe we have found Captain Marvel." Martian Manhunter's voice caught everyone's attention, they all turned to what the man was looking at, there were seven thrones of stone across the room, that somehow none of them had noticed. 

But what caught their attention was the familiar lightning bolt painted on the wall above the thrones.

"And I found the comm." Batman stated as he opened a drawer from one of the many nightstands, picking up the small device.

"Wait, if this is where he lives... why does he have those?" Green Lantern wonders as he points at the board of headlines and weird articles. Some of them were from when they were still going solo, and others from the Justice League.

They were even perfectly organized so each one of them had their own row. The one who had the most was Superman.

"What's with this?" Flash asked no one in particular as he picked up a notebook on the desk near the board, it had dozen of abilities written down, most of them crossed over with marker, others circled or with checkmarks. 

Batman took the notebook from him, looking through it with a sharp eye, some of them were clearly Superman's powers, some Aquaman's, Flash's, Wonder Woman's. Others sounded like something taken out of a movie.

He narrowed his eyes, looking back up at the board, why did Captain Marvel had a board of headlines and articles about them? And even this notebook?

The sudden sound of scrapping rock caught the group's attention who all spun around in time to see one of the statues moving to reveal a hall.

A hall from which a child walked out from, child who froze the second he caught sight of them.

He couldn't be older than 12, had dark hair and blue eyes, had a red hoodie, Justice League sweatpants and tiger slippers. The child, odd enough, looked familiar.

And it took the League a moment to figure out the reason.

Captain Marvel. 

He looked like Captain Marvel.

"How did you get here?" He looked positively horrified, and pale, so pale, like he might actually pass out.

"We tracked Captain Marvel's comm to an abandoned building, there was a door that led here." Wonder Woman explained, her voice gentle, she was curious on who was this child. He looked a whole lot like Captain Marvel, was he related to him?

"Oh shit the door!" Billy fought back the urge to pull at his hair, fuck he forgot to seal the damn door after using it. Mary was so gonna get judgemental for that if she found out, as if she had never left the door open!

And now the fucking Justice League was here, and he was a second from screaming and passing out, because he could tell from a mile his similarities to Captain Marvel hadn't gone unnoticed, and what the hell was he suppose to say or even do here? The League wasn't suppose to find out about his age until he was at most 18, or maybe even 15 who knows?

But certainly not when he was 12.

Adults had such a horrible habit to treat children like they were idiots and knew shit about the world, well, the Vasquez didn't treat him like he was an idiot who knew shit, but they were different. This was the Justice League.

In the worst of cases he would be kicked out for the lies, or in the less worst of cases? He would be thrown into the Young Justice, and while he didn't have anything against them he had fought really hard to show his worth, to be respected, he won his place with the Justice League fair and square. He didn't want to lose it because of his age. It wasn't fair.

"Where's Captain Marvel?" Batman's sudden voice caught his attention, Billy turned to look at him, right, fuck, the comm, quickly think of a lie.

"He's uh... busy, fighting something in a different plane of existence, he didn't have time to warn you because it was an emergency..." It wasn't a 100% lie. 

Thavma was fighting in a different plane of existence.

Inside his head.

And if he focused on it he could hear him arguing with Zeus, reason he hadn't transformed in a while, Zeus and Thavma had gotten into an argument about God knows what, and if the God of Lightning was pissed, it meant no lightning would come.

Meant he couldn't transform.

"I'm not sure when he will return, but I will make sure to tell him to go to you straight away." Billy said, really wanting the League to leave.

"Who are you?" Superman made the question Billy had been dreading.

But he was nothing if not a master at bullshitting.

"His nephew..." He was not gonna make the same mistake as with the school's guard and tell them he was his son.

The school guard still seemed to have the firm belief Billy and Freddy were Captain Marvel's sons but that because the man was a superhero and always too busy he had left them under the care of the Vasquez.

He didn't need the Justice League thinking he was Captain Marvel's son. 

"His nephew?" Billy knew that Batman was gonna run his face through facial scans, he had always wanted to know Captain Marvel's secret identity. 

Thus.

He pulled the biggest bullshit sob story in history.

"Yeah... He was my dad's twin brother, but they didn't really grow up together, I'm pretty sure he doesn't even have a birth certificate considering he was taken away by the Wizard the moment he was born."

Billy felt both bad and proud at the League's horrified looks. But he had to make up an explanation to why Batman might find C.C. Batson and Captain Marvel had the same face but C.C. Batson had no twin brother.

"The Champion Of Magic is reborn every now and then, the Wizard always takes them away the second they are born so they won't be killed or get their magic stolen. He didn't really knew he had any family until two years ago, my dad had long died by the time he was finally allowed to leave this place, he found me two years ago, we hang out a lot, but I don't really live with him anymore, I have a new family, he says it's best for me to live with people who can actually pay me attention."

The League's faces made him wonder if he had gone a bit overboard, they looked genuinely heartbroken.

Again, he wasn't 100% lying, the Champion Of Magic was reborn every now and then, the Wizard didn't really take them away, for what he had been told they were born with the Wizard's mark, but no one was really able to track it down.

The Champion was safe until the Wizard summoned it and bestowed the Living Lightning on them whenever he thought it was time. Billy became the Champion Of Magic way earlier than it was meant to be, Shazam had said so himself, but things had just called for the Champion, there was no other way.

"Can I have that back?" Billy asks, pointing at the comm Batman was still holding, quite glad when the man handed it to him, he tried to not let it bother him how incredibly small he felt around the League, he was so used to being taller than them all that suddenly barely reaching their waist wasn't exactly comforting.

"What's with the board and the notebook?" Flash asks, before God is it killing him to know what was the deal with that. The boy, Captain Marvel's nephew, glanced at the board.

"That's my brother's, he likes collecting superhero stuff, particularly Superman's." Billy said, biting back a smirk at the sudden wonder of how loud Freddy would scream if he were to know the Justice League was at the Rock Of Eternity. 

He then turned back to the League.

"The notebook's something Freddy and I came up with for Captain Marvel, he didn't really know which powers he had so we made a list with every possible option and made him test it out." Billy wasn't exactly lying, he had helped with the list, and he hadn't had a clue on which powers he had.

Even now he was still finding out new things he could do. Like creating portals to teleport through.

"Revenge test?" Green Lantern's silent question made Billy look away, right, he had written that.

"Freddy got sealed in a box for setting Marvel on fire as a 'secret fire immunity test'. Deserved it if you ask me, you just don't set people on fire without their knowledge, even if they are invulnerable." He felt the need to defend, fire couldn't hurt him as Captain Marvel, but he could still feel the heat, it was weird.

And he had been inside a box, hadn't expected to feel the heat out of nowhere. 

"Wasn't the kid who he asked me to have lunch with at his school named Freddy?" Superman's words made Billy raise his eyebrow, he had to give it to him, he hadn't expected Superman to remember Freddy. 

Freddy would certainly pass out once Billy told him that.

"Yeah, that's my brother."

Unknowingly to Billy, the League was quite aware of who Freddy Freeman was.

He had been recorded several times either arguing with Captain Marvel or talking back to him, or just walking with him, some people said the kid might be his son.

But if the child, who they really needed the name of, was right, if Freddy was his brother, then he couldn't be Marvel's kid, maybe because the kid was his nephew's brother he also saw him as another nephew. They did seem close on TV.

"What's your name?" Wonder Woman asked.

"... Billy. Billy Batson."

Chapter Text

Billy Batson has been the host of six Gods and the Living Lightning for over a century now.

And in all that time he has had to deal with lots of tantrums from the Gods, either fights and arguments between them or flat out childish stubbornness regarding stupid requests Billy refused to carry out.

Like sacrificing animals or doing extremely questionable things.

But never had he ever had to deal with a tantrum from The big two.

Zeus.

And Thavma.

Thavma and Zeus had their moments, as all people who had been living together for centuries did, but this time it had gotten out of control, the two deities had gotten into an argument about God knows what, and because of this argument, Billy had been unable to transform.

Because if the God of Lightning was pissed with the same being who was summoned by lightning, then no lightning would come.

Hence, no transformation.

Billy has been keeping the League out of his hair by sending them texts, telling them Captain Marvel was too busy for fights, meetings and watch duty.

But then a months hits by.

And Zeus and Thavma are still very much at each other's throats.

He can't for the life of him understand what had set them off nor how to fix it, the other five Gods seemed to know what was it all about but refused to enlighten him.

Still.

He tried to give them some time, hoping that this wouldn't be like Atlas and Mercury's fight from 1990, that had been a most terrible year, Billy usually didn't have any enhanced ability unless the Gods let him borrow a sliver of the power.

That year Mercury and Atlas had been so over each other's throats that he would gain speed and strength at random intervals, had crashed face first into a building more than once and broke over a dozen things in his apartment because of them.

And that not mentioning the sleepless nights due Atlas' stamina.

At the end it was all solved because Thavma, as the usual mediator, managed to get them to make peace.

But this time there was no mediator.

And he had no idea how to get them to stop fighting when he didn't even know the why were they fighting in the first place.

He didn't even want to know what Thavma and Zeus could make leak through him. Though considering how terrible the weather had been he could make a guess on Zeus' side.

He had promised himself to wait it out before he did something stupid.

But then the trees attacked.

~

"What the hell?"

Those were Billy's first words as he stared down at himself, he had called down the lightning despite Solomon's warnings against it, but he had wanted to join the fight against the army of humanoid trees, they were magic and Superman was currently the League's only heaviest hitter.

Captain Marvel was needed.

But for some unknown reason, he didn't transform into Captain Marvel, Thavma didn't even switch with him.

He had the outfit and all.

But he wasn't an adult.

Nor was he watching things through a window.

And he had the addition of what felt like a mask covering his face. A mask stuck to his skin. And something inside his chest felt... tight. Even the voices had gone silent. It made his hairs stand on end, who would have said such silence in his mind would feel more alarming than relieving?

Still.

He hadn't had much time to think things through, the League needed help, people, and so he had joined the fight, he had watched Thavma do it enough times to know how it worked, he did notice the surprised and confused looks he got from the Justice League, but he didn't paid them much attention as he took down enemies, the more he fought, the more that tightness in his chest grew, making it hard to breathe.

He ended up opening a portal and getting rid of the humanoid trees by throwing them into the sun.

That simple spell left him feeling like he had run a marathon and then drained his magic before doing another marathon. As the portal closed he dropped on the ground as his legs became too weak to support him, sitting in the middle of chaos surrounded by some corpses from the trees, dry leaves and 'blood' that looked suspiciously a whole lot like sap.

"Jesus." He whispered as his vision swam, and God, was it him or was the air growing extremely thin? He was quite sure the world wasn't moving, he shook his head, but that just made everything sway harder.

Red boots came to a halt infront of him and he looked up, fuck, Wonder Woman stood infront of him, behind her half of the League was giving him strange looks.

Had he been feeling less like shit, he would have lied, but right now all he wanted was to curl up in bed and disappear, his ears were ringing and he was quite sure he was shaking, cold sweat trickling down his neck.

And still, he forced his best smile.

"I'm fun sized now." Were his words as he gave them a peace sign.

He then proceeded to topple back as he passed out.

~

The League's first thought upon seeing the child appear out of nowhere, fighting and showing off similar powers as Captain Marvel, was that the kid was related to the man in question.

"I'm fun sized now."

Those words though alongside his smile and childish behavior despite the situation left quite clear who it was.

He was Captain Marvel.

Unfortunately, the League has dealt with their fair share of weird stuff, one of them being getting de-aged.

So Captain Marvel looking like he couldn't be older than 12 wasn't as mind blowing as it should, a bit odd that this version of him wore a red mask with gold trims though.

But again, weirder things had happened.

What was strange, was the fact that he had fainted, and that he was burning. He had been taken back to the Watchtower, the test results that came back were normal, reason Batman had called Zatanna over.

Zatanna who has been frowning for the past several minutes.

"What's wrong with him?" Wonder Woman asks, breaking the silence.

"I'm not sure, he shouldn't have even been able to get like this, a de-aging spell shouldn't be able to affect him. But somehow, it did, his body... there's a reason the Champion Of Magic only appears once it's old enough, that kind of magic isn't compatible with a child's body, it's much too strong, think of it as a bottle trying to contain a nuclear bomb, the more he uses it the more unstable it will grow."

Zatanna could do nothing but wonder what the hell had possessed Marvel to think it was wise to fight in this state.

"Is his life in danger?" Batman questions.

"As long as he doesn't use his magic he will be fine. But if he keeps using it his magic might end up killing him, and trust me when I tell you it won't just be him, we are all fucked if he dies."

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"He's the Champion Of Magic. If he dies, you are looking at the beginning of over a million different apocalypses unleashing, if he dies, it will leave the worst power vacuum in magical history. And with no magic in the world to sustain veils, spells and whatnot, monsters, spirits and demons of all kinds will flood the Earth... it would be hell on Earth."

Zatanna's words made more than one from the League freeze.

None of them had ever given actual thought to what Marvel meant with being the Champion Of Magic, or how the magic users from the League seemed to either avoid him or treat him as if he were much too important to risk offending.

The sudden sound of a groan caught their attention, the group glanced at the child, he frowned in his sleep.

"Captain?" Superman called. He frowned even more, rolling on the bed and giving them his back.

"Five more minutes." Was the answer he got, reminding Clark all too much of Jon. He even waved him off. 

"I'm afraid that's not possible." Superman stated, because his life was in danger, and with it the whole planet. It was of utmost importance to know what had happened. Zatanna said this magic shouldn't have worked on him.

And if he was as powerful as she made him out to be...

It meant someone out there was strong enough to attack Captain Marvel and cause actual damage.

Still.

He wasn't quite prepared to have Captain Marvel sitting up in the most irritated-teenager show, even less to be subjected to a flying pillow followed right behind by a threat.

"Freddy, I will bury you alive." That threat was accompanied by the intense glare of a teenager who saw as an unforgivable sin of the world to be disturbed from his sleep. 

So shocked Clark was he didn't even catch the pillow as it hit his face and dropped on the floor. 

And for a hot second, the whole League almost believed that what they had infront of them, was a real teenager and not a centuries old man.

But as quick as it was there as quick as it was gone as realization seemed to dawn on him.

"Sorry." The change in his mood was mind blowing as he went from irritated teenager to a completely sheepish one in a split second.

"Marvel?" Zatanna called after a moment of awkward silence. He glanced at her with a curious look. "Do you know why you are in that form?"

He didn't answer, he was glaring at his hand.

"I think I do." He then looked up at the group, he seemed rather determined. "Look, I know this is gonna sound weird, but it's been a month and I'm honestly fed up with them. I'm Marvel, but I'm not Marvel, I'm more like a host, to the Living Lightning, Marvel is the Living Lightning. Understand so far?"

"Wait, hold it. Slow down, host what?"

"Host. Marvel and I are like Etrigan and Jason Blood, in a sense, in this scenario, I'm Jason Blood, and he is Etrigan, but without the demon part, he's more like sentient raw power. I have been his host for over a century now."

"A century?" Billy scowled at the looks he was being given.

"I'm frozen in the age I became his host." He was not a child, he was old enough to be their great grandfather. "Point is, I shouldn't be looking like this, we switch through a word, but we didn't this time and I'm 100% sure it has to do with the fact that Zeus and him have been at each other's throats for the past month."

"My father...?" Wonder Woman asked with a frown, what in the name of Hera could her father be fighting with Marvel over? 

"Yes, I don't know why, the others know, but no one will tell me shit which is seriously annoying because I'm the one who has to hear their screams and deal with their powers leaking all over the place. Though I can't hear them anymore now, which is admittedly freaky." 

"So this..." Zatanna made a motion with her hand at him. "Is it all because Gods are fighting?"

"Yes, Living Lightning is a potent spell laced with the power of the Gods, it becomes unstable if there's conflict between them, it doesn't happen often, much less with Thavma involved, he's usually the mediator, means the transformation hasn't ever really been messed up with."

He hadn't even known it could be messed up with.

"Thavma?"

"Marvel in Greek, I thought it sounded cooler than Marvel. Case in point, as long as Zeus and him keep on fighting Captain Marvel will be out of comission."

"You said before you didn't knew why were they fighting?" 

"No... they usually fight over who's power is more useful, or who did what, even over who is my favorite, stupid things if you ask me. But as I said, Thavma's never been a part of it. He usually ignores everyone else or tries to get them to stop fighting."

He was usually the voice of reason. So Billy couldn't for the life of him understand what had set him off.

"Can the Watchtower stand lightning?" He asked, he needed to de-transform, he thanked the heavens above he had been wearing a different hoodie from his usual one, so he could still cover his face.

But he really needed to see if the voices would return if he called off the transformation.

"Lightning?"

"Yes, I need to see if calling the transformation off will make me able to hear their voices again. Maybe you can use your magic to zap them or something?" He asked the last as he looked at Zatanna who looked at him as if he had gone insane.

"You expect me to 'zap' the Champion Of Magic?"

"It will be fun." He stated, grinning at her. Zatanna stared mortified at him.

"It won't."

"He's harmless! Think of it as saving the world. And an innocent. Me. Zeus is lightning and Thavma is magic, what if their fight makes me disappear? Or what if there's a giant thunderstorm that whips up a whole ass tornado of lightning?"

Billy knew he was being overdramatic, but to be fair Mercury and Atlas' fight had made him very creative on imagining the kind of horrors he might have to live through because of Gods. 

Zatanna sighed in defeat.

"Fine."

Chapter Text

Captain Marvel comes from an alternate dimension, one where instead of Captain Marvel, Kid Marvel was the one who existed, a hero who first appeared during an invasion of tree monsters, he protected the city for three years, even if some people didn't quite agree to it, saying that a child shouldn't be endangering himself, others refusing to trust a child with their lives.

When he was 13, a new hero arose, Starlight, a hero who ended up turning out to be a villain hellbent on getting rid of Kid Marvel, and for this he first got people to love him by creating scenarios where he would save the day.

All while he fought Kid Marvel behind the scenes, he then came up with the perfect scenario of recording his death and make people believe Kid Marvel had killed him.

He revealed to the world Kid Marvel's identity. 

William Joseph Batson.

Because of this Billy was forced to hide his foster family, wanting to protect them from villains and civilians alike who wanted to harm them one way or another. 

He was hated and hunted down, got shot and insulted. People threw things at him and attacked him whenever he was within reach, but he never stopped helping people. 

Until his family was found and subsequently murdered.

A villain hung them all up in the trees at the park.

He searched the whole city after coming to an empty house, he froze as he came to an brupt halt at the park where a crowd was gathered at, he flew up to each and every one of them, his parents, his siblings, shaking them and calling their names, but no answer came, their skin was cold, no pulse.

The crowd whispered to each other.

Should have known this was bound to happen.

Everywhere he goes, death follows.

Karma always gets back at you.

Rotten child.

Well deserved.

The whispers are too much, he covers his ears, magic litting up inside him as his breathing starts coming in short gasps, tears blurring his vision.

He screamed.

A giant lightning bolt struck down, forcing people to jerk back and run, screams of fear filling the air, but even over the screams, the lightning could be heard wailing, the magic in the city shifted, the world screamed.

A fissure opened somewhere in the multiverse.

When the lightning died down, Kid Marvel was nowhere to be seen.

~

Somewhere in the multiverse, another fissure opened in the middle of a small city by the name of Fawcett City, it would be days later where it would run on the news the report of the biggest thunderstorm ever recorded in history.

For some miracle, the thunderstorm didn't brought casualties with it, left no damage whatsoever in the city despite the near apocalyptic thunderstorm that the city was subjected to for two days straight where the skies had wailed, wind blowing dangerously and rain pouring down.

Some people claimed to have sighted a figure hovering in the skies. There were even blurred pictures spread all over the internet.

A week later Captain Marvel made his first appearance.

Theories arose regarding the thunderstorm and his strange apparition, but he never confirmed anything, the people eventually stopped asking, quickly growing attached to the overly energetic and joyful hero who seemed eager to help and befriend anyone within reach.

He could be found helping at soup kitchens, playing with the children at the park, hanging around hospitals or just giving away blankets and food to the homeless.

It wasn't until a year later that the Justice League came into the picture. Having studied him from afar and come to the conclusion that he would be a good fit for the League.

He became one of their heaviest hitters, cheerful and friendly as he was, he had shown to be one of the few, to not say the only one, capable of going against Superman and actually managing to subdue him, something that put him under Batman's obsessive watch.

The fact that the bat couldn't for the life of him find the man's secret identity or a weakness for that matter didn't particularly help his paranoia.

It wasn't until he had been with them for over two years, that the League learnt something about him that left them with more questions than answers.

~

Flash had been wanting to ask this question since Captain Marvel first joined the Justice League, but he had felt like that might be a question he had more chances at getting a real answer or even an answer at all if he first established some trust between him and Marvel.

As time went on he forgot about the question, two years and he finally was reminded of it by Wally, he had gone on a trip with his friends to Fawcett City where they actually heard some rumors regarding Captain Marvel.

Thus, Wally had asked him if they were true.

That's when Barry decided to ask the question, Marvel might keep people at arm lengths despite his friendliness and open persona, but this didn't seem like a question that would make the man lie, at least he didn't see it like that.

He had been fidgeting more than usual throughout the whole meeting, desperated for it to end at once so he could ask what was eating him inside.

Captain Marvel, as usual, was spacing out, he was frowning in thought as he seemingly stared right through Batman who just ignored the man.

That wasn't new, Captain Marvel's had the habit to space out since he first joined, he spaced out sometimes, sometimes he seemed to be listening to something, other times he flat out looked like someone who was struggling to remember something.

But since it didn't affect his work and he somehow always knew word by word what Batman was talking about even if he had seemingly been staring into space, no one questioned it.

Still.

As the meeting ended he was quick to stand up and speed up to the man, unable to wait any longer.

"Hey Cap." He greeted as he came to lean against the table, waving his hand infront of the man for good measure. Marvel blinked a few times before glancing at him with a smile, he could never guess how could a man who was in all the sense of the word spacing out not get spooked over someone appearing out of nowhere anywhere near him.

"Yes?"

"Question, is this you?" Flash said, pulling out his phone to show the man the picture, he had even spent several hours searching through the internet, Fawcett's forums, old ones related to Captain Marvel and the thunderstorm from three years ago.

It had taken him two hours exactly to find a decent picture, Captain Marvel's popularity was almost as widespread as Superman's, which made it almost impossible to find an specific thing without knowing the right hashtags or whatever to look them under.

Captain Marvel frowned at the screen, tilting his head to the side. Some from the League who's curiosity got perked at Flash's words peeked at the screen where a picture was at, it was seemingly nighttime, the only light on the picture being from the clouds as lightning branched over the sky, inside the biggest lightning a mildly humanoid figure was at.

"So? Is it you?" Flash asked curiously, Marvel frowned even more, and for a moment, Barry could swear he saw the man's eyes flash with a gold hue.

"Where's that from?"

"Three years ago, you know, that big ass thunderstorm in Fawcett City? Some people believe it was the biggest thunderstorm ever recorded in history, weird thing is that there was no damage, no deaths, not even injuries, in fact, some of the homeless people who were sick or hurt odd enough healed overnight."

Marvel stared at him with a blank look.

"So?"

"You appeared a week later." Flash said, now feeling a bit awkward, Marvel was looking at him as if he had no clue where this was going.

"You think that was me doing all that?"

"Was it not?" Now it was Marvel's turn to look uncomfortable.

"...I don't know." That was not the answer Flash was expecting.

"You don't know?"

"I don't know, I mean, a lot of people used to ask me that too when I first started, but I didn't have an answer for them then either. Much like I don't have it now. I'm sorry."

"How can you not know if it's you or not?" Wonder Woman asked before she could stop herself, because Marvel's answer made no sense.

Marvel for his side didn't answer, to be honest? Billy had hoped for the League to never bring that up, because he remembered nothing from that week and back. All he remembers was waking up at the Rock Of Eternity, that was his first memory, he woke up in pain, had been unable to move for God knows how long as he laid there on the ground, shaking and crying over something he had absolutely no idea.

All he had known was that he had had the overwhelming sense of having lost something important, the fire in his chest had been all consuming.

It faded away, eventually, leaving nothing but a cold emptiness behind.

The Gods had filled him in on who he was.

Or at least his name, age and birthday.

Had also told him what his purpose was, and even if he even had the memories of the past Champions, he never managed to understand how come he didn't have memories of his own, he was human, shouldn't he have memories too?

But the Gods were masters at dodging his questions.

It terrified him their silence, even more so because Black Adam claimed he had been the previous Champion, but how could he still have his powers if Billy was now the new Champion?

It felt like he was missing something, what were the Gods and the Wizard hiding from him? Where were his memories? Had he done something? What were they hiding? What could be so bad that six Gods and an ancient Wizard were hellbent on keeping it from him?

He trusted the Gods and the Wizard, as ominous as them all were, he knew they genuinely cared. But then why would they keep his memories from him?

He wanted to know, but it also terrified him. Sometimes, he would hear someone make a comment about something or see something that made his head ache, made him feel like he had something at the tip of his tongue. But he could never grasp it.

Solomon warned him against reaching too deep, to ignore it. But how could he ignore the idea of getting the smallest glimpse of who he had been?

It terrified him... the idea of the League finding out that he was a blank slate until three years ago, that he might have been an incredibly horrible person.

But if he had been evil, how come had he been entrusted to be the Champion Of Magic? But look at Black Adam.

Would also explain the lightning scars that covered him from head to toe as Billy, lightning didn't hurt him, but when he had first woken up he had been burning, and the lightning scars had felt painful to the touch. 

Meant he had just gotten them.

What if the League kicked him out? It was bad enough he refused to tell them his secret identity, telling them he had no memories could become the last straw and make them kick him out, no one wanted anywhere near them someone with an unknown past.

"Marvel?" Green Lantern's sudden voice caught his attention, and he realized he had been quiet for far too long, everyone was looking at him, he looked down at his hands, wondering... should he lie?

Or should he tell the truth? But this was all he knew, the Watchtower had become like a home to him, felt less cold than the Rock Of Eternity, less empty. And the League was like a family to him, they were the only friends he had. Should he risk losing that?

"Only the true friends will stand with you during your toughest times."  He clenched his fists at the sharp stab of pain, the distorted voice speaking those words making a knot stick at the back of his throat. Who had said that? Who was that? No. Solomon had said to not look for it. No matter how much he wanted to.

But no.

He wouldn't risk losing that. He wouldn't lose his home.

Thus, he plastered on his best fake smile and looked up at the League.

"It's nothing. I've gotta go."

And with that, he was quick to stand up and leave the room.

Little did he know lies could never last forever.

Chapter Text

Billy's spent over a month as Captain Marvel, fixing a rupture in the multiverse, at times he couldn't even understand why would any of his villains want to steal his powers when the Champion Of Magic's title was such a pain.

He had to go to dozens of places, had to make sure laws were followed, keep track of the magical creatures that lived on Earth, keep track of the amount of magic users, keep watch over the leylines, keep watch over the Rock Of Eternity, travel to other dimensions and planes of existence.

The multiverse was enormous, and while not all universes had magic, those who did were more than he could ever keep count of.

He hated his job.

But he could never not help.

That's how he had found himself helping restore the balance in another dimension, a nexus event had been destroyed, and that had put that entire world into an apocalyptic stage, Solomon had once told him nexus events were definitive, something that shouldn't be changed, destroying them could alter reality itself in that world, destroy enough nexus events and the whole multiverse would collapse.

Billy hated nexus events.

Because 4 out of 5 times, they led to someone's death.

Hated the idea that saving a life could lead to the collapse of an entire world. How was that fair? This time around though, it had been more devastating than it had ever been.

He's never dealt with having to restore a nexus event, but he had several memories from his predecessors who had dealt with nexus events.

But none of them could have ever prepared him for this one.

Because it had been another hero. A kid his same age to make matters worse, restoring the nexus event would mean having to let his girlfriend's father die, a man he had respected and admired despite his apparent reservations towards him.

Billy never felt more like a villain than he did at that moment, as he watched the boy cry over the man's motionless body. The Champion Of Magic was meant to be a good guy, someone who didn't hurt people, a protector.

Then why had he felt like a villain?

He had spent over a month hoping to come up with another solution, something, anything.

But at the end, that had been the only way to prevent the whole world from dying. The Gods had insisted, before there was no way back, he had to kill the man, it was his job as the Champion to protect reality.

So he killed the man.

And as he did, he realized something. 

The Champion Of Magic was no hero.

~

The comm was beeping again, Billy noticed, it's been like that for days, or maybe weeks, who knows, he isn't left the Rock Of Eternity since coming back.

Hasn't even changed back into Billy.

What was the point? Becoming Billy wouldn't change the fact that he had killed someone. How was he even suppose to face the League? He hadn't seen them for that same reason, the Justice League saved and protected people.

They didn't kill them.

He didn't deserve to be in the League no more. He didn't care what Solomon said, killing that man, even if it had saved an entire world, had not been right. The man had been a cop, and while he wasn't a fan of cops, that month he spent watching him had let him know that the man had been a good man, he genuinely cared about people.

And he had killed him. He killed a good person.

He had never even thought about killing his villains, would never do such a thing. So why did an innocent man had deserved to die? Who made these rules? The Champion Of Magic was meant to be a protector.

Not a killer. 

That's what the Wizard had said, so why had he had to kill that man? Why was he apparently the only one who could see how that was incredibly messed up? A boy his same age would live the rest of his life thinking he hadn't been fast enough to protect someone he cared about. 

How did that made him different from a villain? From Black Adam?

Silent tears streamed down his cheeks as a sob caught at the back of his throat, fingers digging into his sides as he curled into himself, he hadn't asked for these powers, hadn't agreed to any of this, but he had tried to use them for good, had tried to do good to the world, to help those who the world would else overlook.

But at the end, he just became another monster.

Chapter Text

Constantine is someone who seems to not stand people as a default, he rarely comes to the Watchtower.

But this time around their situation had called for magic users, there were... creatures loose, creatures that for some reason were apparently going after people with magic.

Captain Marvel had said he couldn't make it to the meeting and hadn't bothered to give a reason which had Batman in quite a mood, so that had left Zatanna, Dr. Fate and Constantine. 

Constantine had come. Yes.

But he had turned up with a kid in tow, a kid that couldn't be older than 12, he was in a red hoodie, Justice League sweatpants and worn out sneakers. And he was wearing the creepiest mask ever, seemed carved out of wood and like something that could be cursed without a doubt. Lichtenberg scars on his hands and neck, and one of his arms was in a cast, a cast filled with dozens of stickers and drawings.

Interesting thing was that Zatanna and Dr. Fate seemed to almost withdraw from the kid as he walked past them with Constantine, weird, the League has only ever seen them do that with Captain Marvel, they had never managed to figure out the why. Those two were barely even seen anywhere near the man. 

Batman had asked Zatanna once about it, but she had been ominous about not being her place to tell, Dr. Fate had just disappeared without a word.

"What's with the kid?" Flash asked as the kid in question took a seat on Captain Marvel's chair without hesitation, sitting down as if he owned the place. He was quiet as death, Flash has never met a child who didn't so much as react to the Justice League.

"That's just Billy." Constantine waved off, as if that completely explained everything.

"That doesn't explain why is he here, civilians are not allowed into the Watchtower." Batman stated, there was a reason he had banned teleporting into the Watchtower, magic couldn't be tracked, he could never know if the person was coming alone or with others.

"He's not a civilian. You said that the League needed magic users, well, the kid's magic." Constantine told as a statement of fact, as if that somehow made absolute sense to him, to bring a child into a secret installation in space just because he did magic.

"The child knows magic?" Wonder Woman questioned, curious.

"Yes, the child knows magic." The child, Billy, answered as he slumped back, he looked even smaller sitting in Captain Marvel's chair. Diana couldn't help the amused smile at the sight.

"Is he like your illegitimate child?" Green Lantern questioned glancing at Constantine, he couldn't see the kid's face, but he had a tuft of dark hair, and eerily familiar blue eyes. Maybe the kid took after his mother?

He couldn't find any other reason for the kid to have been brought here if he wasn't related to Constantine.

"I have parents. He is not my dad, he's more like the cool uncle who let's me explode things. I'm his protege." The kid supplied.

"Protege? Since when do you take in proteges?" Aquaman asked, glancing at Constantine who just scoffed.

"Well, someone's ought to teach the brat to not explode everything around him by the slightest change in his mood. And since I'm the only one who doesn't give a rat's ass about who he is I was the one who got to keep the kid." Constantine made a point at glaring at Zatanna and Dr. Fate. Because seriously, what was the need of acting so bloody terrified?

So what? He was the Champion Of Magic. So what? He was a friggin child who was in serious need of learning how to control the magic inside him before he accidentally exploded the entire planet or erased everyone's magic.

Even now he still had hard time believing someone had fucking thought smart to give a kid that kind of power, children were extremely emotional, barely learning how to control their emotions. Magic was susceptible to changes in mood, even if the child in question didn't meant for it, their magic would leak at the slightest change in their mood.

Exactly what happened with Billy.

He was the vessel of six Gods and an ancient colossal spell of pure raw magic that gained sentience centuries ago. Living Lightning. A single sneeze could make lights burst and glass explode if he didn't watch it same as spooking him could get him teleporting to the other side of the planet or calling thunderstorms. 

He had gotten better at controlling his responses since Constantine began training him, but a lot of accidents still happened. He was a 12 year old who had gone through serious messed up shit, asking the kid to have a perfect control over his emotions was an impossible task for the time being and something he downright didn't expect him to do.

He just hoped the planet survived once that kid became a teenager. God knows teenagers were the worst.

"Who he is?" Batman's question caught his attention.

"Irrelevant. Didn't you have a meeting about magic people kidnappings to get to? Don't let me hold you. Just act like I'm not here." Billy said, pulling out his phone from his hoodie.

The League stared at him, at the child who could apparently explode things depending on his mood. That alongside Dr. Fate and Zatanna's bad job at attempting to not let be noticed their obvious anxiety towards the kid.

Who was this child?

Still.

The kid was right, there was a meeting for more important matters that required their attention.

Thus.

The meeting began.

Meanwhile, Billy tapped at his phone, but he was paying his full attention to the meeting, he had broke his arm last night while having a nerf gun war with his siblings at the Rock Of Eternity.

Meant he couldn't transform into Captain Marvel, Thavma had told him that he should be healed in less than a week, it was the fastest he could heal his bone without causing side effects into the outside world for using his magic without their prime form.

It was ironic, how Billy could do magic, but couldn't heal his own broken arm without risking breaking it more. And Constantine couldn't heal it for Thavma refused to let his magic come into such deep contact with his own when the man's been in hell over a dozen times. Something about dark magic and demons.

Point was, he couldn't turn into Captain Marvel.

And there were people going missing, same people the Champion Of Magic was meant to protect. He hated not being able to help, so he had harassed, bribed and extortionate Constantine into letting him come with him to the Watchtower. Had even worn a mask he found in Constantine's house to hide his face.

He didn't need people wondering how come did he have such a striking resemblance to Captain Marvel. The League might never understand.

"Billy?"

Thavma's sudden voice caught his attention. He had been another reason for him to want to come here, if he hadn't been so careless Captain Marvel would have been able to be here. He could be helping people right now. But he couldn't transform because transforming when he was injured always made the injuries worsen, as in splitting skin open worsen.

Plus.

Zeus wouldn't let him call on the lightning even if he tried to. The God could be a pain, but man could he be just as stubborn, definitely something he saw on Wonder Woman on a daily basis. That woman was terrifyingly stubborn.

Also, Rosa and Victor had made him promise he wouldn't transform. That had been their only condition if he wanted to go to Constantine's house.

If he broke that promise Rosa and Victor would certainly chew out Constantine. Meant Constantine would change the WiFi password at his house, make him clean the whole House of Mysteries and make him translate old scrolls from the Rock Of Eternity's library without Steve, Eugene or Mary's help.

That man could be downright evil when he wanted. 

Still.

He tilted his head.

"Yes?"

"Remember when I told you I would track the magic users on Earth? I'm done. And I think I have found the pattern, but I need to know how many went missing, if I am right, you should get back to the Rock Of Eternity as soon as possible, and tell your family to do the same."

That made Billy frown in confusion.

"Why?"

"Eleven of the ones who have been taken were all descendants from your predecessors."

That made him freeze. Alright. That was not comforting.

He's gotten chased enough times to know that the Champion Of Magic was quite the prize among demons and magic users. Either to eat him or steal his powers. If someone was hunting his predecessors' descendants it didn't took a genius to know what was truly being searched.

Him.

He was quick to shove his phone back into his pocket and stand up, not caring about the attention he got from that, he was quick to go up to Constantine and whisper in his ear.

"Thavma thinks he's found a possible pattern, but he needs the exact number of missing people." He told the man who nodded at him before glancing at Batman.

"Bats, how many people did you say were missing as in now?"

"Eleven."

Batman's words made Billy's blood run cold.

That definitely was no coincidence, someone knew what they were doing and they were looking for him.

"Billy. You are not descendant of any of your predecessors, the Champions rarely are, makes them harder to track. They won't find you with ease, but you need to get your family and yourself back to the Rock where you will be safe." This time it was Achilles who spoke to him, he resisted the urge to scoff.

"Since when have you ever seen me run away? People need our help. I will text Freddy to get everyone to the Rock, but I'm not leaving."

"Billy."

Billy wisely tuned Thavma and the Gods out as he quickly sent Freddy a message, a bit difficult typing with one hand.

"Who's Thavma and what possible pattern does he mean?" Superman's question made Billy snap to attention, everyone was now looking at him.

Shit. Of course Superman would fucking eavesdrop, not that he could blame him, it was already suspicious enough that Constantine had brought in an outsider.

"All the people who have gone missing are descendants from past Champions." He didn't miss Constantine straightening in his seat nor did he miss the alarm in Zatanna's face and Dr. Fate's sudden stiffness. 

"Is he sure about that?" Constantine asked despite knowing the answer. 

"Yes, he is sure." He stated, giving Constantine his most 'duh' voice. The man ignored him, standing up and grabbing his good arm.

"We are leaving."

"I'm not leaving, those people have gone missing because of me. You can't expect me to just hide like a coward!" He snapped, yanking his arm free and glaring up at the man who glared back up at him.

"We are not having this discussion kid. If you are the target, and they get you in your current state, we are all fucked."

Billy glowered, lights flickering as anger sparked.

"Don't patronize me John Constantine. I can handle myself just fine, even without him. And I am not leaving." He told firmly, his voice leaving no room for argument as he held the man's gaze, he might not have the same intimidating appearance as Captain Marvel, but that's never stopped him from standing his ground for what he believed was right.

And he wasn't about to start now.

Constantine for his side sighed in defeat as he ran his fingers through his hair, he looked up at the ceiling, wondering not for the first time If this was his punishment for all the bad things he had ever done. To have to deal with the very stubborn and very bleeding heart Champion Of Magic.

This kid was gonna be the death of him. 

"Fine." He conceded at last, it wasn't like the kid was weak, even if he didn't summon the Living Lightning he was a very dangerous foe, and if worst came to worst, Thavma and the Gods wouldn't hesitate to defend their Champion.

Constantine had read about it before, and he hoped to never live to see the wrath of the Living Lightning. 

"Wait, hold it, what the hell is happening? Descendants from Champions? What Champions? The kid's the target? And who the hell is Thavma?" Flash asked, voicing the questions in the room and also wondering who the hell was this kid at all.

The kid in question huffed before stalking back to Captain Marvel's chair and slumping down on it, arms crossed over his chest. He looked royally annoyed, his face couldn't be seen, but the League was quite sure he was scowling.

"You tell them about the Champions. You know the drill better than I do." The boy waved his hand towards the three magic users in the room.

"You sure?" Zatanna's question got her a shrug from the kid.

"The Champion Of Magic is a being of legends, Living Lightning, the incarnation of magic itself, sentient raw power that could level an entire planet. It's... usually a taboo among magic users to even whisper its name." Zatanna did her best at avoiding looking at Billy as she spoke.

She knew it was stupid to fear a child who had never done a thing to her, in fact, in the few interactions she's ever had with him he had seemed like a sweet kid who liked helping people and was curious about magic.

But she couldn't help it, his magic was crushing, an aura that demanded respect and authority, such obliterating power she always felt like she was a second away from passing out.

She could never understand how could Constantine stand his presence. And that was just Billy. Captain  Marvel was a whole different story, as cheerful and harmless as the man was, his aura was absolutely asphyxiating. And the League because of their lack of magic couldn't even understand that Dr. Fate and her didn't just bail on them because.

None of them even knew that Captain Marvel was more than just another magic user. She's seen and heard them shut him out whenever he tried to talk about magic. A lot of magic users would kill to have the Champion Of Magic talking their ear off about magic. But she couldn't even be in the same room as him without feeling like her magic might literally shatter.

She hated it.

Because she did want to befriend him, would like helping into training Billy too, but how could she help training him when she couldn't even be in the same room as him without feeling like she might pass out? Even now it was proving a feat.

"Some refer to him as the God of all Magic, God of Gods, the Mightiest of Mortals. A golden dragon of lightning. Living Lightning is in theory an intense and potent spell wielded and crafted by the Council of Wizards eons ago using the power of Gods, a being meant to protect the balance of magic and reality itself." Dr. Fate followed Zatanna's explanation, speaking such things out loud felt seven levels of wrong.

But if the literal Champion Of Magic said it was fine, then it was fine. Didn't make it feel any less wrong. The Champion Of Magic was a being of unfathomable magic who could annihilate the world if he desired to, he who made magic keep on flowing. Even Nabu knew better than to risk getting on his bad side regardless of how goofy this incarnation of him was this time around.

But he guessed that's what happened when the most powerful magical force in existence got tethered to a child. 

Billy was a good kid, strong too, frighteningly so. Nabu grieved not being able to help him, not everyone could say they got to mentor the Champion Of Magic. Plus, like he said, Billy was a good kid.

But Christ was it impossible to be around him without his magic going on the fritz.

"The Champion Of Magic is the guardian of the Rock Of Eternity, the center of reality and a focal point of all magic. It's prison to ungodly monsters and powerful ancient artifacts. He can decide who has magic and who doesn’t, watches over the thousands leylines spread across the world and makes sure the multiverse stays intact."

"You forgot the part where he also has to deal with anything magic related aside from the fights, means dozens and dozens of meetings with the hundreds of magical creatures that inhabit the Earth, he has to make sure they are not up to something if the magic energy around their area spikes, and he has to make sure they are safe and that they haven't become some lab rat for the humans or a sacrifice for occultism and whatnot."

Billy ignored Constantine, Zatanna and Dr. Fate's looks. What? He could talk shit about himself if he wanted. Being the Champion Of Magic wasn't all flowers and rainbows. It was a pain in the ass and he wanted people to know it.

Plus. It worked to make the League look less like Constantine, Zatanna and Dr. Fate didn't just dump on them the knowledge that there was an unstoppable apocalyptic creature of magic roaming around.

"That if you don't add the whole political and law side of it all, which let me tell you is an amazing way to get a migraine. Have you ever tried talking to a fae who is hell bent on stealing your name? Or a satyr hell bent on scamming you even though you very much saw him break that magical vase while looking you straight in the eye?"

And it had been a cheap magical vase to make matters worse!

"Do you have any idea how fast unicorns can run? They are not happy horned horses that shoot rainbows out of their asses, those things are huge, terrifying, brutal and won't hesitate to rip your face off if you don't use food to buy your own safety around them. And don't even get me started on the fucking kitsunes, the audacity to try and steal my spiritual energy right on my face. And God, did you know that nexus events can be extremely stupid? Like, imagine having to travel across the whole fucking plane of existence to make someone drop a fucking magic cube so he won't escape from the same supposedly good guys who almost fucked up a perfectly fine timeline?"

He might have overdone it, because the League was now looking at him as if he had grown another head.

"And this... person... how is he related to you?" Green Lantern sounded nervous as he asked that.

Billy sighed.

Fuck this.

"Living Lightning usually exists in a completely different plane of existence from the living, for it to be able to access this plane safely it needs a host, this host is the Champion Of Magic. He's the only one who can summon the Living Lightning via a magic word. It then takes the form of a lightning bolt that, when it meets the Champion, transforms them into their greatest potential and imbues them with tremendous physical and magical power."

At their looks he resisted the urge to pull at his hair. Why did he even talk to begin with? At least he had a mask, it wasn't like he could be found if the League got all sensitive about this whole thing. It wasn't like he was 100% Captain Marvel. Just 50%.

Thavma was the other 50%.

"Thavma is Living Lightning. He lives inside me, think of Jason Blood and Etrigan, I'm Jason Blood in this scenario, and he is Etrigan, but without the demon part. When I am me he cannot take control of this body but he can see and hear everything I do, and when he is himself... I can also see and hear everything he does, but I cannot take control of his body. We are two separate beings, but in a sense, we are also the same. I'm... I was told my heart influences heavily on how he behaves, that that's the reason why the Champions are humans, to serve as a moral compass and a link to this plane."

"You said this... Thavma, believes you are the target?" 

"Yes. Believe it or not a lot of people and things would kill to either steal my powers or eat me, I have a glamour spell to hide my magic, but sometimes someone will catch a glimpse of me and make comparisons between us and just know. Plus, there's the scars, not many humans have been struck by lightning and survived, present company excluded." He told, waving at Flash to make a point.

He knew Flash didn't have scars, his healing factor made sure of that. But Billy had been struck by divine lightning, the lichtenberg scars were like a fingerprint from Living Lightning, spreading over most of his skin. It had taken him a while to get used to them.

At least his face didn't have them.

"Comparisons with who?" Aquaman's question made him do a double take. "You said people make comparisons 'between us', who's 'us'?"

Billy stared at him for a full minute before throwing Constantine a look.

"Don't look at me kid. You are the one who wanted to come despite the risks."

Traitor. Billy turned back to the League and sighed in defeat.

"Wonder Woman, what does Thavma mean?" The amazonian gave him a confused look, as if she hadn't expected that question.

"... It's a Greek word that stands for 'Marvel'..?" She seemed rather confused, but that didn't last long for sudden realization dawned on her face. "Captain Marvel is Thavma."

She seemed like she was having an epiphany.

"Yes. He's Living Lightning, and before y'all start hyperventilating, remember, I'm Jason Blood, and he's Etrigan, we are not the same person even though we theoretically speaking share the same body." He told as a statement of fact, straightening up on the chair.

He gave the League a moment for them to have their mental breakdown.

"How old are you?" Superman asked, he looked pale, no doubt probably remembering when he beat the crap out of Captain Marvel while on red kryptonite. Or when Darkseid almost tore his leg off.

"Does it matter? I'm not Captain Marvel, Thavma is."

That wasn't 100% the truth, but who cared? Thavma did the fighting and Billy took on the other stuff, in a way. It was a shared job anyways.

"Question, why are you here? I mean, if you are the target, why don't you like... switch?" Green Lantern made an awkward motion with his hands, but to be fair? How was he suppose to react in this situation? Nothing weird he's ever experienced had prepared him for this.

Was Marvel looking at them through the kid's eyes right now? He had apparently told the kid about the people that were taken. And holy Christ was that whole thing about the Champion Of Magic something to focus on another day.

"Can't. Broke my arm last night, can't switch with these kind of injuries for it tends to make them worse." He told, waving his all drawn over cast with dozen of glitter stickers in the air for more emphasis. "Thavma said that it should be healed in less than a week, it's the fastest he can heal the bone without causing side effects into the outside world for using his magic without our prime form."

"Can't someone else heal it?"

"No. Zatanna and Dr. Fate don't have the resistance to handle coming into contact with our magic. Constantine does, but Thavma won't let his magic come anywhere near ours, and they are the only three magic users here that I trust, I won't let anyone else try use their magic on me." He told, leaving no room for argument on the last bit.

When he had the kind of power he had, trusting magic users was hard, there was another one he trusted, one who could handle his magic like Constantine, but he was from another universe, and he couldn't travel through the multiverse as Billy to look for the guy.

He didn't have the control for that just yet.

"It doesn't matter, I can handle myself just fine, I have my magic, now, can we get this over with?" 

"What do you have in mind?" Constantine questioned.

"I will be the bait of course."

"Absolutely not." Superman interjected. 

"Absolutely yes. We need to know who's taking these people and where they are."

"But not by putting you at risk. What if something goes wrong?"

"Did you miss the part where I said I had magic? If it makes you feel better, I have six Gods and an ancient being of lightning who won't hesitate to lash out through me if they think my life's in danger."

"That still doesn't make it okay."

"He's right." Batman's voice caught the room's attention. "We have to find out where are the victims at."

"You can't be serious. We can't let him be taken, we don't know who is behind this and what their intentions are." Superman said, giving Batman a disapproving look, he couldn't be seriously thinking about sending a child up to play bait.

Much less when said child was, theoretically speaking, also part of their team, something he would seriously need to speak with Marvel about. Because a child? Why a child? He couldn't see his face, but Clark was quite sure the kid was close to Jon's age.

"All things considered, there's two options for their intentions, only two people ever have when it comes to the Champion Of Magic, either they want my powers, or they want to eat me."

"Can your powers be stolen?" Of course Batman would be interested in that kind of knowledge. Billy shook his head.

"No, but people think it's possible. After Black Adam Thavma and the Gods have gotten the habit to make people who summon them against their will burn from the inside out."

He didn't miss the League's faces at his words. What did they expect? Marvel might be friendly and goofy, but underneath all that, Thavma was still the Gods' creation sent to protect the balance of things in their place.

And having Black Adam going rogue had hit him hard.

Meant he was less forgiving of people attempting to use his power for evil. He would stop them on the spot.

Even if that meant killing them.

Chapter Text

Captain Marvel was prompt to zoning out at the most random of times for no apparent reason whatsoever, this has been a known fact among the League since he first joined.

But since it has never gotten in the way, no one really paid it any mind.

Until it did.

The League had broken into a warehouse where several hostages had been kept at, all of them loved ones from several politicians from different cities, Captain Marvel had been supposed to get the still living hostages out once fred.

He hadn't.

He had froze and completely zoned out, Green Lantern got the hostages out, so no one really got hurt, but it still left the fact that Captain Marvel had put the hostages in danger.

He hadn't said a word throughout the whole flight back to the Watchtower, had looked more tense than usual even, but he hadn't attempted to make an escape when Batman asked for a meeting.

He sat through the whole meeting in complete silence, still looking stiff, in fact, he seemed to be growing even more tense by every passing moment.

Meanwhile, Billy was currently having a very difficult time grasping a single word from what Batman was saying, his head was pounding with vengeance, jaw clenched and fists so tight it hurt.

But not even that could make him focus past the pain.

That damn pain that had begun when he had seen that woman at the warehouse.

One of the hostages who didn't make it.

She had been hanging from her wrists, barefoot, a pool of blood beneath her, drip dripdrip.

A woman hangs by her throat from a tree, barefoot, blood dripping beneath her from the gaping wound on her stomach. Empty brown eyes stare back right at him.

"Captain Marvel!" Batman's sharp voice caught his attention, he glanced at the man, he could see his mouth moving, but the words felt like water slipping through his fingers. His head was pounding much too loud to focus on anything but the fact that it felt as if his skull was splitting open.

The more he thought about the woman, the more the distorted flashes of a similar woman kept popping up, making his throat close, he felt like he might go sick.

Billy, you must stop. You won't like what you will find. 

Solomon's whispers did nothing but make him think even more about the woman, he wanted to know who she was, she was important, he didn't knew how so, but she was important. Batman was glaring at him now, he noticed.

Billy stop.

This time Achilles was the one who spoke, his voice almost pleading, pitiful. It irritated him, who was this woman? Why did it felt like his soul might tear apart the longer he tried focusing on her? His skin was burning, he didn't had them in this form, and still, the lichtenberg scars had never burnt as intense as now.

He could almost peek over the knotted threads, get past the stained glass, he could almost grasp the woman's face.

The sudden hand on his shoulder made him flinch, something deep inside him snapped with violence, hot and dark and unforgivable. His hand snatching the wrist in a bone crushing grip, for a moment, all he saw was red, his magic howling like a furious storm wanting out. Electricity leaking out.

Billy. 

Zeus' booming voice rattled his insides, making him stiffen, someone else was talking, like an echo.

Cease the use of your powers child. You are in no danger, but you might put in danger those around you.

Zeus' voice was firm, but also gentle, and it took him more than he was willing to admit to break through the sudden fog of darkness that had enveloped him.

He wasn't quite prepared to be met with the fact that the wrist he was holding in a bone crushing grip was none other's than Wonder Woman's. She didn't seem bothered at all, not even with the electricity crackling all over her arm, though that one might be related to how she was the daughter of the God of Lightning. 

Meant it shouldn't surprise him if she was immune to electricity.

Still.

The moment he realised what he was doing, the second he was quick to release her arm, cursing at himself, shit, shit, what the hell had he been doing? Had he seriously attacked Wonder Woman? Did he break her wrist? Bruise? What if it had been someone else? Shit. Shit.

"I'm sorry." Why did he do that? Why did he attack her? How did he even not realize she was the one by his side? Fuck. Fuck. It never even occurred to him this would happen around the League. He had had several 'dark' moments before, usually at the Rock Of Eternity. 

One moment his head would be pounding.

And the next thing he knew he was inside a door from the Room of Doors, soaking in goo and other questionable stuff and with his heart racing and a gawning sinkhole in his chest.

A gawning sinkhole that never stopped growing. Never stopped feeling ever biting freezing.

It was one of the many things that terrified him to no end. It made him feel like there was something dark inside him, forever waiting for a moment of weakness so it could sink its claws into him.

And sometimes, he feared that the claws would one day not let go.

That the Gods' voices might not be enough to keep him afloat.

And he didn't even knew why.

The worst? Black Adam liked looking at him as if he knew something he didn't, as if waiting for something.

It terrified him.

~

To Diana, Captain Marvel was like a brother to her, he had her father's powers coursing through his veins. She grew to care a lot about him, and she trusted him with her life.

It was because she trusted him with her life that she didn't even twitch when he grabbed her wrist when she touched him, he had been zoning out too much, more than usual, and he didn't even seem aware of it, it was like he couldn't control it at all.

So before Batman decided to do something stupid, like going up to him and punching him, because he apparently didn't learn anything from punching Superman that one time. She decided to go up to him herself and hope to get his attention.

She hadn't expected him to flinch at her touch, much less the bone crushing grip on her wrist, his eyes were glowing between gold and silver.

"It's fine." She stated with a firm voice, giving the team a warning look. For them to stand back. 

The lights above flickered, electricity crackling all over her arm, but it did nothing but tickle her, he was staring at her, but his eyes were pretty much unseeing, like he wasn't quite there. 

And still.

The storm was there in his gaze, crushing and unforgiving, tormented and filled with a hatred like nothing she ever thought him capable of wielding.

Danger was what it spelt.

She tried to appease him, not quite sure where his mind might be at, but wanting him to know he was safe.

He did seem to react at last, the glow from his eyes fading completely alongside the storm, for a moment, he stared at her arm.

And then he withdrew his arm as if she were on fire, looking positively horrified. 

"I'm sorry."

He looked a bit pale if not a bit haunted.

"It's alright." She tried to assure, he shook his head, he seemed like he wanted to protest but kept himself from it. 

"Marvel?"

Batman called, voice hard. He was fighting the urge to grit his teeth, he's never been more hateful of his inability to find anything on the man than he was now, because he had practically attacked Wonder Woman with no provocation whatsoever. And even without moving, the air had felt heavy. Heavy enough he had been quite sure, that had he tried it, walking would have been near impossible.

He hadn't even know Captain Marvel could cause such effect in people. Which made him wonder how many things was the man hiding. And made him resent the fact that he couldn't find a single weakness in the man.

Marvel looked at him.

"Explain." He demanded, not bothering to be polite at all, because the man had already tested his patience today by putting those civilians in danger.

And now this?

He could ask Martian Manhunter to get into his head, if it was possible, but J'onn had long told him Marvel's mind was inaccessible for him.

Marvel didn't answer, all he did was look down.

For a long moment, he didn't answer.

And then.

"Do you remember what I told you when you first asked me if I wanted to tell you who I was? About not having a secret identity even though I was theoretically speaking human? I wasn't really lying, I don't have a secret identity."

Because he didn't even know his last name. The Gods were so tight lipped about things regarding his past it both infuriated him and terrified him. Made him feel like he might not like what he might find. Even if the urge to know who he was sometimes became almost downright insane.

"Truth is... I woke up at the Rock Of Eternity three years ago and that's it. I don't remember anything from before that, I didn't even knew my name. Sometimes, someone will say or do something that reminds me of something, but I can never really remember what exactly it reminds me of. Other times..."

He didn't want them to know this part, a part that never failed to make him fear going to sleep or even leaving the Rock Of Eternity, he has been Captain Marvel for three years, and in all that time, he's never left the Rock Of Eternity as Billy.

Terrified of what could happen if he went dark while in that form, he still had magic as Billy, Captain Marvel doing horrible things could be seen as someone controlling him. Superman could even attempt to take him out alongside the League.

If Billy did horrible things, he would be permanently tagged as a villain, even if he was 15, villains could be any age now days. 

And the last thing he wanted was having the League seeing him as a villain, something to be contained and locked somewhere where he could never see the light again.

But he couldn't lie. Not after attacking Wonder Woman. He couldn't run anymore.

"Other times I can see things... like distorted images... if I focus on them for far too long... I don't know what happens, it's like I black out, and when I wake up, I'm at the Room of Doors fighting my way out of whatever door I might have gone through. I know this isn't exactly the explanation you wanted, but I can't really give you something not even I know."

He never looked up as he spoke, he didn't think he could bear to look at their faces right now, afraid of what he might find there. Would he be kicked out? He had just flat out told them he had black outs that led him to finding himself in situations he had no idea how he even got in.

They saw what he did to Wonder Woman, which alright, he didn't hurt her, but what if Zeus hadn't managed to break him out? What if next time he did that to a less invulnerable League member?

Or worse. To a civilian?

That sudden thought filled him with horror, because if these episodes could happen outside the Rock Of Eternity, what assured him he wouldn't hurt an innocent?

"Why didn't you say anything before? I mean, do you at least know your name now?" Flash was the first one to break the silence, three years ago? Christ, how did the guy even manage to put on a smile on a daily basis? Barry couldn't imagine himself being able to act like Cap did when he had absolutely no idea who he was, if he had family, if anyone was looking for him.

How did he even got by without anything to aid him? Did he seriously spend 24/7 as Captain Marvel? Barry had joked with Hal about that, but it never occurred to him that that might actually be the case.

"I do know my name, Solomon told me. And I didn't tell you because I didn't really see it relevant."

"We could have helped you find your way back home." Wonder Woman stated as a matter of fact, if he had no memories, who was to say there weren't people looking for him? Marvel shook his head.

"I looked everywhere, and I'm 100% sure I might not even be from here."

"Here? Like an alien?" Green Lantern questioned in confusion, it was no secret Superman had once thought Marvel to be kryptonian.

"No. I'm human."

"A time traveler then?" Flash asked, there were several heroes from the future in the League.

"No. Or at least I don't think so, remember the Room of Doors I mentioned? It's a place at the Rock Of Eternity with thousands of doors that lead to different places, like dimensions or something, when I first woke up at the Rock Of Eternity, I was in that room."

"You think you might be from another dimension?" Batman questioned, thousands of doors leading to different dimensions? How did Marvel never mention something like that before? Were those doors locked? Or could anyone go in, or come out?

"Maybe, would explain why I don't seem to exist here, and why Black Adam still has his powers even though that shouldn't be possible."

At their looks he elaborated.

"Living Lightning is a potent spell, it can't be split in equal parts nor taken by force without risking destroying it, or at least that's how Solomon said it was. My point is, he has powers, but so do I, he's said so himself, there shouldn't be two of us, not even him seems to know how is that possible."

Batman narrowed his eyes at that, if Marvel was right, if he was from another dimension... it would explain why he couldn't find anything on the man even though this one didn't even wore a mask, but if he was right.

Then what was he doing here? If he woke up at this Room of Doors with no memories, had he come on his own volition or had there been another person behind this? What for? With what purpose did he come or was he sent here? Or had it all been an accident?

But what if it wasn't?

"Maybe Black Adam is the reason." Martian Manhunter's voice caught everyone's attention.

"Black Adam?"

"You said so yourself, his powers cannot be split or taken by force, he's a very dangerous foe, and Zatanna's said before that the Champion Of Magic is the one who controls all the magic in the world, that in killing him, it might cause an enormous power vacuum. Maybe that's why you were brought here, a world where the Champion Of Magic has gone rogue, maybe whoever brought you here did it with the intention of you stopping him."

"But wouldn't that mean another world has lost its Champion Of Magic?" Hawkwoman stated, how was that even fair? To Captain Marvel and the people he might have left behind? He didn't even remember any of that. Had it even been something he had had a choice over? Hadn't Diana said once that the Champion Of Magic was bound to the Gods' will or something of the sorts?

Had he been brought here against his will and so he wouldn't attempt to go back his memories had been erased? You couldn't go back to something you didn't knew existed.

"It's not as simple as that, there shouldn't be two Champions Of Magic, there's dozens of other worlds, but the Champion Of Magic is just one, after all, magic is connected throughout the multiverse, there's no need for more than one."

"Who told you that? The same Gods who apparently know who you are but won't tell you anything?" Hawkwoman asked, Marvel didn't answer.

"What's the first thing you remember? You said you woke up at this Room of Doors?" Wonder Woman questioned, on one side, she knew that the life of the Champion Of Magic was a cruel one, chained to the will of Gods, but on the other hand?

He was her brother, she didn't care with what high purpose had the Gods sent him here or what. It was wrong and cruel to take his memories. They were literally manipulating him by keeping everything from him and just telling him what they deemed useful for them.

"I... I'm not sure... The first few times were a blur, I don't even know for how long was I there for. All I remember is that it felt as if I were burning from the inside out." Billy refused to say how much of a mess he had been, crying and shaking, feeling like the pain in his chest might just kill him.

He didn't like thinking about that feeling, how it had felt like... it made his throat close and his head hurt.

"You were injured?" Batman asked, Captain Marvel has been thrown into buildings and hit with giant laser beams, and never had he ever come out with a single scratch. Not even a grimace.

"...Kind of..." He looked down at his hand on reflex, even if in this form he didn't had them. As Billy Batson, he was covered in lichtenberg scars from head to toe, but as Captain Marvel, his skin was completely free of them.

He could never make sense of that, lightning didn't hurt him, but somehow, it had done once, was that the reason he ended up here? Had someone sent him or had he come here? 

"Kind of? Were you or were you not injured?"

"Does it matter? I have made peace with it, I'm fine with how things are now. Sometimes there are things better left unknown. I apologize for what happened, I will make sure it doesn't happen again." Billy said, he didn't want to talk about this anymore, it was starting to make him feel sick. If they wanted to bench him so be it, but he didn't want to talk about this anymore. He shouldn't have said anything to begin with.

The silence that stretched in the room made him feel nauseous, he didn't meet their gaze, not wanting them to see the fat lie on his face.

Because who was he kidding? He hadn't made peace with anything, he wasn't fine with anything, he wanted to know even if that meant having to feel like he might die from the pain.

Because he hated not knowing, hated feeling like he had forgotten something important. 

Something that should have never been forgotten.

Chapter Text

Zeus' last child wasn't Diana. It was one he planned on the last minute, a child who would be the Living Lightning's ultimate corporeal form. After Teth Adam's transgressions he decided that passing on the Living Lightning around was no longer a safe method. So he had a child with a human.

A child which he imbued with the Living Lightning's mark, sealed inside him until the time was right for the Champion Of Magic to resurface once again, a child that would never grow old, a child who's heart would never fall for the Sins Of Humanity.

This child was called Thavma, he had first hoped to give him to the Amazonians, Diana had still been a child at the time, so he had seen it fit for them to be together. Themyschira was safe, away from any of the creatures that would try and prey on halfbloods.

But not even the child's immortal blood had exempted him from the Amazonian's rule.

No men on the island.

So Zeus had taken him to his second option. Humans. Hercules had turned out alright, and humans had been the ones to raise him. Most halfbloods grew with their human parents.

So he had hopes Thavma would turn out alright too. The child had been a toddler upon creation, so it had been difficult to find the right parents for him, and even more difficult to get said parents to keep the child and not give him up expecting his biological parents to turn up.

These humans were Marilyn and C.C. Batson.

The child who was once Thavma.

Became William Joseph Batson.

And with one last blessing Zeus left the Living Lightning with the human couple to raise, as long as the child grew unaware of what he was, he would be safe.

~

Billy's known since he had use of reason that something wasn't right about him, for starters, he didn't age.

He had stopped aging at the age of 12.

But since he lived at Fawcett City, many people didn't really turn to look his way, magic had always been thick in the air, making many people age slowly. Even if it wasn't as intense as with him.

He was born in 1739, or at least that's what his parents had deduced from the age he had looked like.

His growth had been random, sometimes he would grow several inches within weeks, and then he wouldn't grow at all in years, around 1939, he had stopped aging.

His parents had died after a tomb collapsed on them in 1750, leaving him with his uncle Ebenezer who had stolen his inheritance, claiming that he deserved it more than a freak no one knows where it came from. He had been thrown into the system, though he didn't last there much, no one particularly wanted to keep around a child that didn't seem to age.

Much less one that made lights explode, ruined whatever tech that came close to him and saw things no one else could.

In 2002, he decided to leave his last foster home and jump to the streets, in 2005 he got a job at Whiz radio, even got himself an apartment, the owner of the building was a 50 year old man who never lost his 25 year old appearance, so he was more than understanding of his situation.

Didn't make questions and kept the CPS off his back.

In 2017 he was running from some bullies, got himself into the subway, that's when his life took a turn. He met a Wizard who called himself Shazam, a Wizard who bestowed upon him powers he had no clue how to use, filled his head with several voices he could never shut off.

All so as to fight a man who seemed hellbent on killing him despite Billy having never met him in his life. Halfblood, he had called him. Had been enraged that a halfblood was trying to steal what was rightfully his.

And while the Gods had refused to give him answers, he had found them himself.

That was the last straw of what little peace he had managed to get in his life.

Like a dam collapsing, creatures began turning up at random, wanting to kill him, had forced him to leave his apartment and even his job, not wanting to put others in danger. It didn't matter where he went, he couldn't even sleep without something trying to eat him.

Only the Rock Of Eternity seemed to be safe ground, but who wanted to live a life hiding?

Then a manticore turned up at the Vasquez, he had let Freddy talk him into joining them for dinner, should have known better than to stay in the same place for more than an hour.

Their house was destroyed, and while no one got hurt, while Rosa and Victor assured him that it was alright, it had opened his eyes.

That's when he decided to become Captain Marvel full time and leave his life as Billy Batson behind, because as Captain Marvel, the monsters never tried to approach him.

Being Billy Batson was no longer safe.

In 2021, he joined the Justice League.

Things were fine, he even got to sleep in a bed at the Watchtower instead of the old mattress he had dragged to the Rock Of Eternity. Monsters couldn't reach the Watchtower in space.

He never turned back into Billy though. Afraid of the monsters that might come after him if he did.

He never told the League his secret identity, what for? Billy Batson was no more, being Billy Batson never brought good things with it. 

He still hung around Freddy and the others as Captain Marvel, magic did wonders, once he mastered it he could change his costume into normal clothes, and he wore a mask to hide his face. 

People did give him weird looks for hanging around children, some even got their kids to ignore him, he understood, and he had Freddy and the others to play with, but it stung, to not be able to play with others. He couldn't even go to school anymore.

 He never quite managed to figure out who his parents were, if he was a halfblood, which God or Goddess was his parent? None of the Gods in his head wanted to talk to him whenever he asked, which led him to believe they knew.

The first time he realized they knew but wouldn't tell him he had spent over a week without transforming or leaving the Rock Of Eternity for that matter, angry and refusing to listen to any of their excuses, as Billy, their voices couldn't be heard, so he shut them out.

Because how could they hide it from him? With what purpose? He got it from the library at the Rock Of Eternity, Gods never stayed around any of their halfblood kids, by doing so, they could become human, if a God became human the world would go out of balance.

But that didn't meant a few visits couldn't be made, to at least let him know who he was and why everything hated him and wanted to eat him.

But that would never happen. He knew that much.

Halfbloods were on their own, some survived, some didn't, monsters ate them or killed them, something about pent up resentment towards the Gods or because they just liked the taste of their meat. Once the halfblood knew what they were, the monsters would sense it, and they would come for them.

Explained the increase in monster activity since he found out what he was.

Sometimes, he felt jealous of Diana, she was a halfblood too, but nothing ever came after her, because she wasn't a child anymore, her magic wasn't leaking all over the place screaming to be found anymore. 

But he would never grow, the Champion Of Magic was cursed to be an eternal child, Solomon had told him that much. He would always be hunted, always forced to hide, to never be Billy Batson again.

He had made peace with that, or at least he liked to think that. Once he joined the League, he never went back to the Rock Of Eternity, never became Billy Batson again.

Because who wanted to be a child, when everything hated him and wanted to kill him? When everyone he cared about got hurt because of it?

But then someone got their hands on the one thing that could end him, how? He had no idea. But they had it, the only thing in existence that could take down Captain Marvel. 

Eternium.

~

The League has watched Captain Marvel been thrown into buildings, hit by laser beams and plummeted by Superman on red kryptonite, all the while always coming out of it all unscathed, not a single scratch on him, not even a grimace.

Maybe that's why they had grown way too comfortable with the fact that he couldn't be hurt by anything, minus Batman, though to be fair Batman was never at ease when he didn't knew how to take down someone, be it villain or hero.

Point was, the League was so used to him coming out unscathed of things, that none of them could have ever imagined he could be hurt.

And that when it happened, none of them was even there to stop it, it came to them on the live footage of Captain Marvel fighting Black Adam, it was an habit some of them had grown with time, of watching each other fighting their rogues, just in case things went South.

Captain Marvel was one of their heaviest hitters, but that's never stopped the League from keeping an eye out for each other.

Point was, it was on that exact live footage from the news where the League watched Black Adam pull out a sword out of thin air, a sword that glowed blue.

A sword that he ran right through Marvel's stomach, and the sword instead of shattering as all things did whenever someone tried to stab the man, it pierced his skin, went right through, pinning him against a building.

Black Adam hadn't even gotten to do more than that as a giant bolt of lightning struck down, footage glitching and the power all across Fawcett City cutting off.

When the power came back on, Captain Marvel was gone and so was the sword, Black Adam unconscious on the ground with severe burn marks all over his skin.

The footage had spread like wildfire across the news, forums and whatnot. Dozens of citizens sharing their worries on forums, of where he was, if he was alright. Others were even scouting the city, looking for their hero.

After the initial shock, the League had gone to Fawcett City, but Captain Marvel was nowhere to be found, and his comm seemed to have vanished for Batman couldn't track it. 

The League had searched for him in their hero costumes and in their civilian clothes, had searched all the hospitals in Fawcett City and nearby cities, they might not know his secret identity, but they could definitely still connect dots if the right person appeared. 

But there were no reports of someone coming in with a gaping wound on their stomach.

It was as if he had vanished.

Which led several of them to believe the worst. Had they just watched their friend get killed?

"He's not dead." Zatanna stated through her comm as she heard Flash curse not for the first time in the last few hours.

"How can you know?"

"Trust me, if he was dead, we wouldn't be having this conversation." She told, she was proud at how well she was doing, her hands were no longer shaking as bad as when she had first felt that whiplash through her magic. As she saw the Champion Of Magic be stabbed.

For a moment, it had felt as if all her magic had abandoned her. Constantine and Dr. Fate might have not joined the League in the search, but she knew both men were also tracking the whole planet with their magic in search for Captain Marvel.

Because right now, they were dealing with a time bomb. A very dangerous time bomb.

"What is that even suppose to mean?" Green Lantern's voice came through the comm, pulling her out of her thoughts. For a moment, she considered not answering, at times, it blew her mind how little did the League know about Marvel, who they truly had by their side. She was 100% sure they didn't even know he could do magic and that that's why his lightning could affect Superman so strongly.

But all things considered, she didn't think hiding information was wise. 

"He is the guardian of all magic, if he dies, he would leave behind the worst power vacuum in magical history, enough to kickstart over a million different apocalypses. With no magic in the world to sustain veils, spells and whatnot, monsters, spirits and demons of all kinds would flood the earth, and with no magic to send them back... it would be hell on Earth."

There was a reason he was invulnerable, a reason for nothing on Earth to be able to hurt him, even magic had to be strong enough to blow half the planet to cause him actual damage. So what the hell had been that sword?

"Wait, magic?" Superman's voice confirmed Zatanna's thoughts. They seriously had no idea, and she wasn't sure whether to find that sad or what.

"Yes, magic. The Champion Of Magic to be more precise, Living Lightning, God Of Gods, Mightiest Of Mortals, he's got lots of names in the magic community." She told absently as she stared at the entrance of a seemingly abandoned subway, she wasn't sure why, but something about it felt weird.

"He can do magic?" Flash's bewildered voice caught her attention, though she kept staring at the subway.

"Yes, don't ask me how come he's never used it before, I have no idea." For all she knew he kept his magic as a last resort thing because of how powerful it was.

Her attention turned to the chimera engulfed in magic to hide itself from regular eyes, chimera that went right into the subway. She narrowed her eyes, a beeping sound caught her attention and she pulled her phone out, a text from Constantine.

"Z, he's right infront of you, just a few steps away."

And that's all she needed for confirmation.

"Guys, I think I found him."

~

Billy had barely made it to the Rock Of Eternity, crying out as he crashed on the ground, pain exploding on his abdomen, arms wrapping around himself as he curled in on himself, fingers digging into his ribs as he squeezed his eyes shut.

By the Gods did this hurt. It felt like a dozen knives were slicing each one of his organs open, white blazing pain radiating from his stomach, threatening to drive him mad, not even in a thousands years would have he ever expected Black Adam to find that damned sword. The only thing in existence that could cut through his skin.

This was not suppose to happen, when the Wizard told him about that sword he had sworn to him that that sword had been destroyed, Zeus and Solomon had said so too, so how come did Black Adam had it? He had barely managed to bring it with him, was just a few feets away, the glow alone making him incredibly nauseous. 

It felt like his insides were on fire, like his stomach was being torn open from the inside out, it felt worse than when that manticore pierced his stomach with its tail. A whimper caught at the back of his throat as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Why wasn't he healing? He always healed as Billy, surely even this form had a healing factor? But this wound was way worse than anything he's ever gotten, much less superficial than what that manticore had done. And it seriously felt like the pain would drive him mad, no matter how much he curled or writhed the pain would just not subside.

A pained moan left him, breathing uneven as he fought against the urge to scream. He heard something, but the pain was too much for him to focus past the fact that he wanted nothing more but to scream, the pained whimpers now freely leaving their body.

He could feel the tears streaming down his face, could feel his body shaking, was this how it felt like to die slowly? That thought alone sent cold terror straight into his chest, and suddenly.

Fear was all he could feel, loneliness, pain, resentment anger, panic, because he was gonna die.

He was gonna die and he would never get to tell the Vasquez that he did want to try living with them despite his permanent Captain Marvel form, he would never be able to apologize to Freddy for pushing him at the park and calling him an idiot for joking about his ageless dilemma, he was gonna die and no one would ever be the wiser, Freddy would think he bailed, that he was a jerk, he didn't want to die here, he didn't want to die yet. 

Why did this happen to him? What did he ever do wrong to deserve this kind of curse? Why was this how things ended? Hadn't he been good enough? Hadn't he obeyed the Gods? Why was he being punished this way? Why did he always end up alone? Why was it always like this?

The sudden acid punctures on his arm got him snapping to attention, ceiling spinning, but even past the spinning he managed to make out the face of a... chimera.

He slammed his fist on the lion's face, freeing his arm before shooting up to his feet and taking flight, fuck, fuck fuck, what the hell was a chimera doing at the Rock Of Eternity? The animal's roar echoed down the hall, he cursed, acid blazing in his stomach, light leaking out, electricity crackling, leaving behind a trail of golden... something...

The pain was maddening, white flames of absolute agony, floor swaying beneath his feet, ears ringing, he barely made it to the throne room, he needed to get to the library, somewhere where nothing could get to him. How did that manticore got in even? Had he forgotten to seal the damn door after using it again?

How was this even happening? He was still in his Champion form, monsters shouldn't be coming after him, this wasn't suppose to happen, none of this! Why was this happening? He tripped on his own feet, crashing on the ground and crying out as a bomb of unforgiving fire exploded on his stomach.

He curled inwardly, clutching his stomach, why, why was this happening? He looked behind him, several monsters stepping into the room. His vision blurred, more tears streaming down, no, he didn't want it to end like this, he didn't want to die. Not here. Not yet. He didn't want to die.

The manticores growled.

The minotaur pounced.

"No!"

And as fear overtook him, something snapped inside. 

The Living Lightning woke up.

Chapter Text

Thavma has never been one to interfere in Billy's fights as Captain Marvel, even in this particular one he had tried to trust him and let him do his thing, but when Darkseid grabbed his leg, when he felt the skin being torn, heard Billy's pained cry, he couldn't help it. 

He lost control as the memories of one of his past hosts being slaughtered by Darkseid resurfaced. This time around he wouldn't be as condecendent. He wouldn't let history repeat itself.
 
Thus. 
 
He exploded, leveling his surroundings with raw magic as rage burnt his blood, his powers having no restraint as he used the Gods' powers without the usual inhibition in fear of killing or causing severe damage to his foes.

Not this time. Darkseid had taught him that he was the kind of villain who had to be killed, he was merciless and he wouldn't hesitate to kill the Justice League. He would tear their limbs from their bodies without hesitation, one, by, one. Rip them apart before they could so much as touch him.

He fred himself from the man's hold, giving a violent spin and kicking him straight in the face, sending him crashing into a building, the aftershock of his kick making the wind pick up like the echo of a sonic bomb.

Adrenaline rushed through his veins with the might of a supernova. Red anger obliterating his senses.

"You will not harm this one." He sentenced in a hissing whisper. Thavma's voice mixing with Captain Marvel's as the windows exploded and thunder roared above, energy crackling all over.

Darkseid removed himself from the building, shooting his laser beams towards him.

Thavma smacked them, diverging their path towards him and ignoring the burn in his hand, he lunged for the man, his fist connecting with his face, magic crackling upon impact as Darkseid was smashed into the ground.

The man attempted to stop him, but Thavma tore his arm straight out of his socket before he could so much as touch him, blood splashing on his face. 

"Should have done this last time." Thavma sentenced, his voice vast and terrible. 

And then, he shoved his hands right into Darkseid's chest, fingers closing around the man's heart, his magic buzzed with deafening rage, like a river of unforgiving lava rushing through his veins, threatening to burn the world to ashes.

He crushed Darkseid from the inside out. Magic obliterating his insides and burning through each and every atom in his being. Tearing each and every single cell of his body apart, he heard Darkseid's gurgling screams, saw the blood pooling out of his mouth, his nose, his eyes, even his ears as the lightning he sent right through the man made his insides explode, every organ, every molecule, to the last bit of his rotten existence.

The Champion Of Magic was meant to be a protector, keep the balance, Billy Batson was the heart, the one who dealt with many fights.

Thavma was the one who took over when it meant dealing with the dark side of what the title of being the Champion Of Magic brought.

Because sometimes, to keep balance, sacrifices must be made, and to protect the world, bad choices had to be made.

Killing Darkseid was one of those bad choices.

A necessary evil.

And as the man turned to dust, as the adrenaline died down, Thavma knew something as he stood up, as he met the Justice League's gazes, he might have potentially saved thousands of lives, the Justice League's included, but to them that was not it.

To them.

Captain Marvel had crossed a line.

Chapter Text

When Zatanna went down to the subway, she hadn't expected to find a hoard of monsters down there, several manticores, chimeras, minotaurs, gargoyles, there was even a nuckelavee and a harpy.

Dozens of magical runes littered the walls and a door near the abandoned bathrooms, glowing runes that oozed such a strong magic she wondered how had she not felt it from the streets.

The magic leaking from the wide open bathroom door was the strongest, intense, almost overwhelming, it leaked like a titanic bottomless well of raw magic, ancient, asphyxiating. No wonder the magical creatures were flooding this place.

And even from her spot near the stairs she could see that that door didn't led to a bathroom, but to what looked like a giant cave.

When the League arrived, fighting their way past the monsters had been complicated, it wasn't until she stepped inside the cave that she realized what it was.
 
The Rock Of Eternity. 

Wonder Woman sucked in a sharp breath.

"What is it?"

"This magic... I haven't felt it since..." Diana didn't finish her sentence, she was staring at the cave, there was no doubt, this overflowing magic, it belonged to an incredibly powerful halfblood. She hadn't felt this kind of magic since Poseidon's last child, Percy.

And that had been over a century ago. It was the kind of intense magic that leaked from a halfblood from one of the big three, but not just any halfblood, one who hasn't even come of age. Halfbloods had a ton of magic within them, something that tended to call monsters for it leaked. Like an overflowing glass.

As the halfblood grew, the magic started to settle, it made monsters unable to track them down. When Diana first learnt of the Gods' lack of care for their children she had been enraged, and hurt, because it explained her father's lack of visits.

She had been even more enraged when she first met her father, speaking to her as if he hadn't ignored her for centuries. A very popular habit amongst Gods she eventually found out.

Se had been furious, because how could they let them to die such horrible deaths and then turn up if they miraculously survived to act like nothing was wrong?

But this didn't make sense, how was this magic here? It was a halfblood's magic. And unlike anything she had ever felt, it made her feel incredibly agitated, a fear that wasn't her own. But how or even why?

Thunder roared from somewhere in the cave, a deafening thunderclap that sent shivers down the League's spines and made Zatanna take a step back before dropping to her knees, hand clutching her chest at the sudden whiplash of obliterating magic that crushed her to the ground.

"Zatanna?" Batman called as he crouched by her side, the woman was shaking, breathing uneven.

"Marvel." Zatanna rasped out, it felt as if her magic was screaming. Christ what the hell was happening? What the hell had Black Adam done to him? Was this how it felt like for Champion Of Magic to die? "Go, I will be fine."

The League was quick to do as told, going into the cave that turned out to be a giant place with lots of rooms, the group followed the sound of thunder, which didn't last long, but Superman led them to where he could hear the rapid heartbeat and the buzzing.

In doing so also following the trail of goldan light... which the League was starting to heavily suspect might be Captain Marvel's blood.

The group ended up in a giant room with six thrones of stone, a familiar lightning bolt painted on the wall above the thrones, blood was splashed all over the place, severed limbs, guts and unrecognizable piles of charred animanoid things.

And in the center of the room, Captain Marvel stood at.

But what made the group halt was the how he looked like.

He was soaking in blood from head to toe, hair matted and sticking to his forehead. What once were human eyes were now plain striking gold, silver flames flowing by the edges of his eyes. His hands wielding golden claws that dripped with blood, crackled with electricity and glowed with an incandescent brightness that promised searing heat and pain. 

Electricity was crackling all over his body, lichtenberg-like marks glowing all over his skin, gold pooled beneath his feet from the gaping wound on his stomach, light leaking out, his face completely devoid of any emotion whatsoever.

He stood with an aggressive stance, to his full height, it did nothing but make him look like the most intimidating living being to ever cross path with them. Like a thing of nightmares.

"Captain?" Diana is the one who speaks, the one who dares to break the silence and take a tentative step forward, careful. His attention immediately goes to her, head tilting to the side with those inhuman eyes that threaten death upon those who dare to move just a bit too quick.

Glazed and showing no recognition at all.

"Captain Marvel." She repeats his full name now, or at least the name she knows, her voice gentle but sure, hoping that calling his name might get some recognition, that odd agitation is still there, making her magic ache and her stomach burn.

His shoulders square up, electricity crackling loudly on his fingertips, eyes growing incredibly cold as he took a step forward, the ground almost seeming to quake beneath their feets.

It made several from the League take a step back out of instinct. 

For the first time since knowing the man, adding up Zatanna's revelation, the League was suddenly very aware of how incredibly powerful and dangerous Captain Marvel was.

"It's okay, it's okay. See? I'm not getting close. No one is getting close, I promise." Diana assured, taking a step back and keeping her hands up, her body relaxed. She didn't want to fight him, much less when he was bleeding out, how was he even still standing?

And still.

That did nothing to lessen the aggression exuding from him. And she was definitely sure of it, the overflowing magic leaking all over the place was definitely from a halfblood.

And it was coming from him.

Captain Marvel was a halfblood. And while it explained several things, it still didn't explain a thing either. Because this kind of overflowing magic could only come from a child. But Marvel was no child. It didn't make any sense.

And this kind of amount was just found in the magic from one of the big three.

But Hades had no children, Poseidon's last child was Percy and he was no longer a child. Zeus' last kid had been Diana herself.

So how? Why? Who? And why did it felt like electricity itself was crawling beneath her skin?

"I know things got out of hand. That you might be in a lot of pain right now, but I promise you it's okay now. No one is going to hurt you, we mean you no harm, you are our friend, we just want to help you. Please let us help you." She plead, she could see it, the tremors wrecking through Marvel's body. How he looked like the only thing keeping him up and conscious was the sheer force of not trusting anything nor anyone around him.

He tilted his head to the side, narrowing his eyes, as if listening intently to something.

And then, just like that, his shoulders dropped, odd claws glitching out of existence and eyes reverting back to those of a human as a flash of recognition crossed his face.

"Captain?"

The man met Wonder Woman's gaze, and then he crumbled. Diana barely had any time to catch him.

And just like that, all the tension in the room disappeared.

~

Captain Marvel had been brought to the Watchtower, which had been easier than tending to his wound, because the suit literally didn't come off nor could be cut through. His skin couldn't even be reached enough to attempt to sew the wound shut, and while needles couldn't pierce his skin Batman had created a needle that could. 

He had gotten Flash and Superman to search the Rock Of Eternity (as Zatanna had called it), the sword had been found, and after getting Zatanna, Dr. Fate and Constantine to check it to make sure it wasn't cursed or something. Batman had gotten Superman to help him break a chip off of it thin enough to serve as a needle.

It had taken several hours, Zatanna, Dr. Fate, Constatine, Wonder Woman, Superman and Martian Manhunter for Batman to be able to so much as sew the wound shut. And even then, the wound don't quite seal shut, light was still oozing out, electricity crackling around the wound, but at least he had stopped bleeding that golden liquid.

And Zatanna, Dr. Fate and Constantine had said their magic had stopped feeling weird. So at least there was that.

Now the League was sitting at the meeting room, feeling exhausted and still much too tense.

"What was it with all those things?" Flash's voice broke the silence, and no one needed to be a mind reader to know what he meant, most of them had the same question, why had all those monsters showed up?

But this time, Zatanna had no answer.

"You said before that he's the guardian of magic." Wonder Woman said, glancing at Zatanna, she still couldn't for the life of her understand what she had felt, the overflowing magic had disappeared, but she could remember it, it had come from him, a magic only felt in halfblood children.

And it made no sense. Because Captain Marvel was no child, he did act like a child sometimes, but so did Flash and Green Lantern. 

"In the magic community he's known by several names, Living Lightning, the Champion Of Magic, God of Gods, the Mightiest of Mortals... he who controls all the magic in the world, he can give magic out same as he can take it away, he's the guardian of the Rock Of Eternity, a place where the Sins are imprisoned at alongside several other creatures that could wipe out reality itself. It's said that his powers come from a connection he has with Gods."

Zatanna tried to not speak much of it, even if it was something that could be found in the right books, it still felt wrong to tell the League things Marvel hadn't told them.

Silence.

And more silence.

"If he's all that powerful, how come did we not know of him until just a few years ago even though he claims to be immortal?" Aquaman asked suddenly, frowning, the guy sounded unnerving, control all magic? As in he could outdo Dr. Fate, Zatanna and Constantine in magic? But Zatanna was frighteningly powerful, so were Dr. Fate and Constantine.

The idea that Captain Marvel might be a dozen times more powerful than those three put together did sound a bit intimidating, even more so the idea that he could apparently just snap his fingers and render magic users useless. 

And the fact that he could give magic. How did that even work? Could he give it to normal people or was there a requisite for that? Could he drain anyone's magic or was it something else with an entirely different meaning? How come had the man never used it before? Was that why he always appeared out of nowhere when anything magic related was going on?

But wouldn't that be something to tell the League? One of Batman's interviews consisted of asking potential members about their powers, so why had he not mentioned that he could do magic?

"The Champion Of Magic... in the past, he used to come and go in between times, he always came back with a different appearance, woman, man, didn't matter, he was believed to be a human imbued with the power of the Gods, chosen to carry out their will and protect the balance. But after Black Adam..."

Black Adam was someone Zatanna didn't like thinking about, nor any magic user with half a brain for that matter, a Champion Of Magic gone rogue was definitely something that kept many awake at night.

"There was no Champion Of Magic for centuries, magic around the world weakened, many leylines practically dried up, people believed that the Gods had given their back to humanity, chosing to rid the world of magic as punishment for what the last human to be gifted with their powers had done. But then magic started coming back... I'm not 100% sure of how true it's but... there were rumors that this time around, the Gods had created their own Champion instead of choosing another human. Something about a halfblood."

That caught Wonder Woman's attention.

"Halfblood?" Superman repeated, confusion evident in his voice.

"Halfbloods is the term used to refer to those who are born from humans and Gods." Diana explained, she's never told the League about that, she never saw the point, plus, after chewing her father out for almost an hour she had managed to get him to create a safe place for halfbloods, a place where they would be safe from the creatures who wanted to eat them until they were old enough for their magic to settle.

A place where they would finally not have to live in fear.

Point was, she never spoke to the League about that.

"But if he's a halfblood, how come I can't tell from who does he come from? I felt his magic at the Rock Of Eternity, it was strong, the kind of strong I have only ever sensed from Poseidon, Hades and Zeus, but I know all their children, and he's certainly not one of them. Also... That kind of magic... That generally comes from children, that's why the monsters were there, a halfblood's magic tends to call monsters while they are still much too young, they were after him."

"But he is not a child."

"I know. But that's what I felt." It didn't matter how hard Diana tried, she couldn't for the life of her remember a single face that could illuminate her on who Captain Marvel was.

Hades didn't have children.

Poseidon had several, but the youngest one was already very much a young adult, and he was certainly not Marvel.

And Zeus... Diana was the last of his children, he had told her so. But Captain Marvel was definitely the son of one of those three. 

The reminder of his control over lightning led her back to Zeus. Could it be? But her father would have told her. What difference would it make? She had dozens of siblings and she already considered Marvel a brother. So that couldn't be... right?

"He controls lightning, right? And he does have dark hair and blue eyes." Green Lantern said, looking at Wonder Woman, his words insinuating what the whole room was beginning to entertain.

Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel had similar skills, she was the only one aside from Superman who could take his punches.

So in a sense, it did made more sense for him to be a demi-god instead of a full human as he claimed at times. But that still left the question regarding Wonder Woman's words about his magic. Captain Marvel was a grown man, or at least he looked like one.

But if he did magic... What if he could somehow alter his appearance? Hadn't he said once something about his 'other form'? God there were so many questions.

~

"He can't stay, child or not. I can't change the rules, not for him, not for anyone." A woman was talking, her hair blonde, blue eyes, she wore a silver armor, her voice was stern, leaving no room for argument, but as she met his gaze, her face softened.

"At least let her meet him." A man was talking, strong arms cradled him, his head resting against a golden armor. His voice is strong, like a thunderstorm, but it made him feel safe, like sunlight.

"What for? Didn't you say yourself that she was to not know of what she was for as long as she was still a child? That she would not meet any of them for the time being? She's never even seen another child before, she will want to keep him. And I can't allow it."

"Please, just for a few minutes."

"What makes this one so special?"

"He's Living Lightning." Surprise and recognition flashed across the woman's face, her hand going up to her mouth, for a moment, her resolve seemed to falter. 

"Him? But I thought... Since when?"

"Not long after she woke up. I think he must have reacted to her... You see now why I want him to grow by her side?"

"I understand. But I still can't do anything, you know as well as I do the why." The woman said, her hand reaching out to caress his cheek, her touch was soft, comforting, and he couldn't help but lean into her touch, fingers curling around her wrist in a loose hold. Sadness swam in her gaze, guilt, regret. "I'm sorry Thavma."

Chapter Text

It's been a week since the League had last seen Captain Marvel, when his villains turned up he would fight them in absolute silence and with a dark look before disappearing completely altogether, the citizens claimed something to be off about him, he was quiet, his smiles were gone and so were his jokes, something that had the city particularly... edgy. 

Though the change in his mood instead of making the citizens anxious seemed to be making them hostile, outsiders would be glared at, and even petty crimes had decreased, it seemed that while his mood had made the citizens want to protect the hero, it made the criminals fear him even more.

The League had tried several times to intercept him, even in the middle of a battle, but after their first attempt went wrong the attempts had been halted, now the citizens seemed hellbent on blaming them for their hero's state. Marvel had finished sending through a portal a giant tree-like creature when Superman had attempted to approach him.

Marvel had paled the second he saw him before bolting off.

Superman had tried to follow after him, but a woman from the crowd who had noticed the odd exchange had stood before him, glaring him down, an old man grabbing his arm, knowing full well Superman would never risk hurting a civilian. The crowd had very... eloquently demanded him to leave the Captain alone and to not step in the city again.

Green Lantern had gotten an honest to God hotdog thrown at him. Fawcett City did not like the Justice League's presence. At. All.

And the League wasn't even sure what had happened, accusing Captain Marvel of withholding information about Wonder Woman's son without actual proof had been a bit too rash. Yes. But the man hadn't even tried to defend himself, his reactions towards the accusations had left more than clear that he did, in fact, know the child.

And then he had run off.

All those things led the League to believe the worst, but there was a lot of confusion above all. Because Captain Marvel's never given reason to be doubted, he would never hurt an innocent, much less kidnap a child and hide it. Even less if said child was Diana's. He had been a bit evasive of her when he first joined, would flinch and freeze whenever she so much as spoke to him.

He had avoided her a lot, something no one was ever able to understand, and then, out of nowhere, he had warmed up to her, had become closer to her to the point where Diana began calling him her brother. The odd thing with him was that at times, he would do something and show it to her like an excited puppy, and whenever Diana praised him his face would lit up like a Christmas tree.

He seeked her out a lot, and if it wasn't for how wrong the sole thought of it felt, several people from the League would have thought the man might have had a crush on her, I mean, most of them had had a crush on her at some point. But no, his interactions with her never held that spark, it was something else that ached at the back of their heads but that none of them was able to decipher.

Still. 

The point stood, no one could find a reason for him to want to hide the child, it didn't make any sense at all. 

And then Oracle did something that threw more confusion and questions into the mix.

She had run Orion's picture of when he was 4 through an aging app, something to help them find the kid easier. So far she had gone as far as 17, but she said something had irked at her, and she had aged him more.

Up to 20.

That's when things got weird.

The face staring back had been a familiar one, one that didn't make any sense at all.

So she had sent it to Batman.

Batman who took liberties on invading Captain Marvel's bedroom in the Watchtower in search of the one thing that could either prove magic was much more complex than he had first thought (he really hated magic). 

Or that his lack of sleep was starting to get to him.

Turns out his lack of sleep had nothing to do with it.

He didn't knew how, but Orion and Captain Marvel were the same person.

DNA didn't lie.

And if he was Orion, it explained how he never managed to find the man's secret identity, why was he so... childish, because he was a literal child. Explained his attachment to Wonder Woman, the child going into the alley and Captain Marvel coming out, how he seemed to connect with ease with the Young Justice, his need to seek Wonder Woman's approval... it had all been staring him in the face.

When he had met Orion at that ice cream shop the kid had been suspicious of him, and Bruce has never been more glad that he hadn't revealed his identity to anyone but Superman and Wonder Woman.

Because that would have seriously put the kid on alert.

How did he not notice that the kid and Captain Marvel had the exact same smiles? Same eyes, same speech pattern, even the same sense of humor. So much for the greatest detective in the world. 

Still.

He had to inform the others, Diana would certainly want to know that the man she was currently angry at was actually the child she was so desperately searching for. And he thanked God that the Amazon hadn't attacked Marvel as he had expected her to do when she thought he was hiding her son from her.

~

"You sure about this?" Diana asked, even if she was holding the DNA test, even if the picture was displayed on the screen from the meeting room, even if she knew magic could do a lot of things, she could still not quite believe this.

Because how was she suppose to react to this? To know that the man she has seen as her brother, was not even a man, but a boy, her boy, her little star. And the new knowledge of it did nothing but bring a new meaning to all the interactions she's ever had with him.

His avoidance of her when he first joined, she had thought he hated her for some unknown reason, but he had never looked at her with hatred or even dislike, he just seemed to want to avoid her.

With time he stopped flinching and freezing whenever she spoke to him, stopped leaving the rooms she entered, she didn't knew when, but before she knew it, he had become her shadow, always following her around, always wanting to hang out, they would spar together, he would always lit up whenever she praised him, always showing her from the little doodles he made on the corner of his reports to the occasional display of magic.

She had found it both amusing and adorable.

Knowing that he was Orion... it squeezed her heart to remember him following her around, how happy he would get whenever she praised him, him showing off to her, the hopeful looks, the puppy eyes. It had been her boy seeking her company and approval.

And it killed her to remember how she had spoken to him last she saw him, how he had been terrified enough to run away. A fear she put there. She had scared away the same boy she had been yearning to see again for decades. Her little boy.

She had had the occasional passing thought of how much he reminded her of Steve, and at times, even of Orion, the little dimples whenever he smiled and the mischief twinkling in those blue eyes... it had been a huge reason for her heartache.

But it never occurred to her that those occasional thoughts would have had an actual reason. How close she had been to the truth without knowing.

"Oracle informed me that he was caught last night, the CPS has him in custody." Batman said, breaking the silence that had installed itself in the room. Diana turned to look at him with a glare.

"And you are telling me this now? Where is he?" She demanded as she stood up.

"Diana, you should-"

"If you are going to say that I should wait here and do this by your procedures, then don't bother. I don't need anyone's permission to take him, he's my son." Diana snapped, she was not gonna leave her son to be taken and given to who knows who, she knew how the world of men dealt with parentless children, and she wasn't gonna let her son be taken by strangers when she was perfectly capable of taking care of him.

"I was gonna say that you shouldn't be rash, he didn't tell you for a reason, if you just barge in there you might just make him run off again."

Diana halted at Batman's words, he was right, the last thing she wanted was to scare him off. She sighed.

"Fine."

~

Billy was an expert at escaping places, so sneaking out of the orphanage's room wasn't much hard, what was hard was climbing down the ladder, both because of his sore arm from the fall he had gotten the night before and because the thing had more rust than an old boat, each step he took made the ladder creak.

He hoped it didn't break, he was on the fifth floor, and the last thing he wanted was to have to transform in this place and call unwanted attention.

But as life would have it, because the universe's been hating on him lately.

The ladder broke.

His scream caught in his throat as he fell, but he never met the ground, instead, strong arms caught him, and before he could even process it he was being set on the ground, and as he spun around he was met with empty air. He frowned.

What the hell?

He looked around, but he was unable to see anything, whatever, right now he had more urgent matters to attend to.

Like leaving this place.

Thus, he disappeared through an alley.

~

Wonder Woman had agreed to not appear infront of Orion/Billy Batson out of nowhere, had agreed to go see him the normal way, tomorrow morning.

But because of history, Batman had sent two League members to watch him in case he tried to escape, which Batman was certain he would do. And there was also the fact that because he was Captain Marvel, it was important too to keep watch over him, just in case.

Superman and Martian Manhunter had been the ones sent to keep watch over him.

And as Batman had said, he had sneaked out, and it took all of Clark's self control to not swoop in and grab him, because the sight of a child going down a ladder that was definitely bound to give in wasn't comforting at all.

As expected, the ladder gave in, Superman didn't even think it twice to bolt towards him, catching him before he hit the ground, Batman had said to not engage with him in case he tried to hide somewhere unreachable, to just follow him.

So Superman was quick to set him on the ground and flee off as quick as he came.

He and Martian Manhunter followed him through the night, making sure to not be seen, even if at times it felt as if the kid knew someone was following, he kept looking over his shoulder.

Clark still had a hard time believing that that small child was Captain Marvel. Same man who could easily overpower him. But this child looked so small, so frail. Even if he was theoretically speaking a demi-god, he still looked so... innofensive. 

It made Clark want to hide him away from anything that might want to harm him. 

He was also having a hard time processing that that child was Diana's son, the child the League had combed the entire planet for, a boy none of them ever managed to find.

A child who had all along been right infront of them, hiding behind the appearance of an indestructible man. 

Captain Marvel. 

~

Billy had thought to go back to the Rock Of Eternity, but the subway was way too far away, and after that fall from the ladder his arm had just begun hurting more.

The cops had given him chase, and of course he had ran, going down the emergency stairs from the building had seemed like a fine idea at the time.

Until one of the cops tripped and fell, and to not lose him, or God knows why in general, the guy had grabbed his leg, prompting him to also fall.

Down the stairs.

And because the universe hated him with a burning passion the security bars had broke, sending him crashing from the second floor into a dumpster.

He was a whole lot more durable than a regular human, but he had landed on his arm and there had been something incredibly hard in the dumpster, had felt like something had broke, but since he could move his arm just fine he didn't give it any mind.

And the cops had threatened to shove him in a detention center if he told anyone, he had bitten a chunk off one of the officer's arms, and scratched another one on the face. In his defense they had grabbed him way too violently while he was sleeping. He had just reacted on instincts at being attacked out of nowhere.

Still.

His arm hurt, he was hungry, and the stupid woman at the orphanage had taken away his backpack, leaving him with nothing, he had even been forced to shower and put on clothes that were in no way warm enough for the damn weather. Winter was a few weeks away.

He had slept in an abandoned hotel, had found the less suspicious room and hidden under the bed to get some sleep. At least whoever was following him would have a hard time finding him in a giant hotel, and no one would think of looking under all the beds.

Waking up was hell. His arm hurt even worse, but he had gotten worse, thus, he crawled out from under the bed, cursing at his stupid arm.

He brushed the dust off his clothes, making a face at the red t-shirt with Captain Marvel's lightning bolt. Children like superheroes nowdays. That's what the man who had given him the clothes had said, he didn't like wearing his own merchandise, made him feel weird, like he might come off pretentious even though no one really knew who he was.

Plus, superhero merchandise had the habit to be a bit more expensive than regular clothes. He had once found a Flash jacket in the trash, had ended up losing it during one of his short visits to the orphanage.

He sighed, rubbing at his arm with a scowl before taking a step forward. 

"Your arm alright?" 

That voice froze him on the spot, for a moment, even his breathing stopped, he knew that voice, voice he's done Olympic attempts at avoiding these past weeks.

He looked over his shoulder, hoping against hope to be wrong.

He wasn't.

Right outside the broken window, hovering in the air and looking at him. Christ those eyes were looking at him as if they knew everything about everything regarding him.

His throat closed.

Wonder Woman had found him.

And she knew all that there was to know.

Chapter Text

Captain Marvel took a bullet for Superman.

In all fairness, the bullet had been glowing green, and he had been the closest, and it had generally been an impulsive decision.

He hadn't expected for the bullet to go right through, he had been thrown into buildings, shot with laser beams and plummeted by Superman himself, nothing has ever left a single scratch on him.

How was he suppose to know a bullet would go right through? It had lodged itself right on his stomach, he hadn't even noticed it until Flash asked him what the hell was that glowing hole on his stomach. Electricity crackling all around the wound.

"Oh fuck did that bullet went right through?" Green Lantern questioned, both mortified and stupified.

"Huh." Was all Marvel said, staring down at the glowing hole, it didn't hurt per se, but it didn't felt pleasant either. It was like a pulling pressure, like when you got blood drawn. 

"Billy, use your lightning to pull it out and seal the wound." Solomon's sudden voice caught his attention.

"Maybe you should-"

Green Lantern's words were cut off as Captain Marvel raised his hand.

"I got this." He told as a statement of fact before doing as Solomon instructed, using his lightning to remove the bullet gave him the weirdest feeling ever, uncomfortable and something he definitely didn't want to deal with ever again.

The bullet was no longer glowing green, but blue. What the hell? He held it on his palm.

If he remembered right, the one thing that could harm him in this form was blue, Eternium.

But last he checked the Gods had said all of it had been long recovered centuries ago. So why was this piece here and how? 

He threw a look at the man who had shot him, a metahuman with the power to manipulate matter, he was sitting on the ground wearing metahuman handcuffs. He narrowed his eyes at him before walking up to him.

"What?" The man snapped as he met his gaze. Anger clear on his face, Marvel held the bullet between his fingers, showing it to him.

"Where did you get this?" He asked, he needed to know if someone somewhere had Eternium, and get it back to the Rock as soon as possible, Shazam would not be pleased if he were to know there was Eternium roaming around. The Wizard had left more than clear what could happen if the Champion Of Magic died through Eternium.

And Billy definitely didn't want to see that happen.

"Why the hell would I answer you?" The man spat, Billy frowned before crouching before the man, grabbing a fistful of his shirt, he felt Thavma's presence leak through, felt his power rush through his veins.

And then his mouth moved, Thavma's voice leaking.

"Tell me the truth. Where did this bullet come from?" The man's eyes glazed over, golden veins spreading under his eyes as his body slumped, Marvel's hold on his shirt being the only thing keeping him upright.

"A chick gave it to me. Said it was kryptonite." The man spoke, voice emotionless.

"Who was this woman?" Thavma demanded, voice cold.

"Don't know, didn't see her face. She was wearing a mask, but she was short, dark skin, dressed like a business woman, arrogant, had several guards with her. Gave it to me in a suitcase."

Thavma glowered, why did it felt like he had heard that somewhere? He released the man, prompting this one to face plant on the ground. He straightened back up, retreating back and finally allowing Billy to breathe.

'Dude, we have talked about this. Warnings would be awesome.' Billy thought, finally using his lightning to seal shut the wound on his stomach.

'I apologize.' Thavma's words made him roll his eyes before turning around, he winced inwardly as he was met with the League's stares. Right, they just saw Captain Marvel do something only Wonder Woman could do, and that if she was using her Lasso.

But to be fair that wasn't something he could do, it was more of Thavma's thing, to force the truth out of people...

"I should go, I need to get rid of this." Was what he chose to say, he was still holding the bullet, which was making his magic feel agitated. It wasn't a shard big enough to block his magic, but it wasn't harmless either, it had pierced his skin.

"Wait, wait, dude, you can't just leave. You got shot. You. And what the heck was all that?" Flash said, the last pointing at the snoring villain on the ground. As far as Barry knew Captain Marvel's powers didn't include forcing the truth out of people like Diana's Lasso of Truth.

And what the heck had been that disembodied voice? That hadn't sounded like him at all. And what was it with that bullet? Since when could a bullet hurt Captain Marvel? Since when could Captain Marvel be injured at all?

"As you can see, I'm perfectly fine." Billy said, pointing at his stomach where the hole had been at, now completely gone, even his suit was completely fine, as if he had never been injured. It didn't even hurt. "And that? Well, I did said I had seven people in my head, one of them can will the truth out of people."

Well, it was really six Gods and one sentient raw magic, but who was focusing on the details? Not Billy.

"What about the bullet? He said it was kryptonite." Green Lantern said, Marvel shook his head, turning the bullet on his hand before showing it to the group, it looked as if it had been made out of stone, glowing blue bits.

He didn't bother to be subtle in pulling back when Batman made an attempt to reach out for it. He didn't need to be a genius to know the man might be burning to have it, because finally something capable to take him down had appeared. And while Billy understood completely why Batman had the contingency plans.

He couldn't risk giving this to him. His plans to stop the League had been stolen once, modified so instead of subdued, the League would be killed. Captain Marvel could not be killed by Eternium, the Eternium would destroy Thavma instead of sending him back to the Rock Of Eternity as it should.

And if Living Lightning died the world would be doomed. A power vacuum that would destroy the planet and completely alter the balance of reality itself.

So no, he couldn't risk it.

"It's Eternium." He told at last, telling them wouldn't do harm, he could at most give them a half answer. "A shard of matter from the Rock Of Eternity, a big enough shard could theoretically speaking take my powers away, or kill me."

"I thought only you had access to the Rock Of Eternity. How did anyone found that?" Aquaman's question made Billy frown, because that was seriously something he was also asking himself.

"I don't know. It's true that only I have access to it but... I was told that centuries ago the Rock Of Eternity was partially destroyed by someone who wanted to rid the world of magic, the shards were recovered eventually, and the Rock was fixed, the Wizard said all the shards had been recovered, guess he was wrong."

And that wasn't comforting at all. Who had given this shard to that man? And with what purpose? Why make it pass as kryptonite? What if he hadn't jumped in the way? It wouldn't have hurt Superman, or at least he didn't think so. So how had this person been so sure he would jump? And what had stopped them from asking the guy to aim for the heart? 

Something wasn't right here.

"Billy, we should go back to the Rock, inspect it to see if there's truly no more shards missing. If someone has more of those it could be dangerous. If they shoot you..." Solomon's words made Billy sigh.

"I know."

He hated this. He glanced up at the League.

"I'm afraid I might be... indisposed for a while, I need to check the Rock and see whether it was just one or if there's a risk for there to be more eternium out there."

Because it wasn't just his life what was at stake here. The world's was.

"You need help with that?" Superman asked, Marvel shook his head.

"I'm fine, might take no longer than a week." He did have his siblings to help him search, his siblings God, the idea of any of them getting shot made him feel sick.

He really needed to deal with this.

And he really needed to find out who this woman was. 

He had a feeling that this was just the beginning of a bigger headache.

Chapter Text

Thavma has had thousands of names from the moment he was first born, he's been a woman, he's been a man, he's been a soldier, he's been a knight, a king even, same as he's been a slave, homeless, an orphan...

He's been reborn more times than he could remember at this point, at different time periods, different countries, even different universes. He had been born in a universe where a virus had condemned the planet, the sole cure being found in kids who were born with animal characteristics, first appeared at the same time as the virus.

He had been born in a universe where the world was black and white, another one where it was all cartoon characters, paint, even worlds were land or humans didn't exist.

But the worlds that had hit him the hardest, had been the worlds where he was born as William Joseph Batson.

At first, the impact had been positive, welcomed even, despite how terrible his childhoods were, there was a constant that made him feel less alone.

The Justice League.

Usually, he would always get his memories back once he turned 10, and he would always be happy, to know that no matter the universe, he would always have his friends, his family.

Until his fifth rebirth as Billy Batson.

That life had changed it all, so did the sixth and the seventh, made him terrified of the people he had once trusted. Of the Justice League.

So when the eight came around, he was terrified.

Because his three last rounds as William Joseph Batson had gone terribly wrong.

His fifth life as Billy Batson, the Earth got invaded by Darkseid and his parademons, parademons that annihilated his teammates, friends and family, parademons that tore his leg off. Parademons that destroyed the Earth and ate him alive years later. 

The sixth time, a war between the Amazons and the Atlanteans explode over the Gods knows what, the Earth paid the price and he had to sit back and watch those versions of his friends kill each other. He got forced to de-transform by the same woman he had considered a sister, and then she slaughtered him.

The seventh time, his mouth was frozen shut and lasers melted his brain for speaking out his mind over the vile dictatorship of a man he had once looked up to.

He knew that these people weren't the same, that while their faces might be the same, their hearts were not, the multiverse was filled with billions of alternate versions of people, universes were those people might not even exist at all.

But it was hard to look at their faces and not remember the first versions he met of them, those who stabbed him on the back or just killed him without hesitation...

He hadn't wanted to join this Justice League at first, afraid of it all ending like the last three times. His first memories of them having been corrupted, stained with fear and betrayal.

But he had ended up joining, because as Solomon had said, these people were strangers to him, he didn't knew them, he had known others with their same faces from other universes, not them.

At first, he had kept his distance, even after he joined them, he couldn't look at them in the face, especially Superman and Wonder Woman.

He would flinch whenever Superman or Wonder Woman touched him or came too close, it had taken him months before he was able to not feel sick whenever he watched Diana use her Lasso of Truth. To not freeze whenever Superman so much as looked at him. 

But the worst had been when Superman was put under red kryptonite's effects. And Batman had asked him to subdue him. That had been the hardest fight of his life, a fight where all his instincts had been screaming at him, not to run.

But to kill. 

The Gods within him had never burnt with as much vengeance as at that moment.

When the fight was done, he had disappeared from the scene, had spent hours at the Rock Of Eternity crying and trying to not pass out over the worst panic attack in history, it took months before he stopped waking up screaming from nightmares, memories about biting ice and red eyes.

As time went on, it became easier to deal with, the nightmares subsided as he shoved the unpleasant memories as deep into his subconscious as he could, if he couldn't remember it, it didn't happen.

Or at least that's what he liked to think.

And it worked like a gem, because he stopped flinching, stopped acting all weird around Superman and Wonder Woman, it almost felt as if the wound he never thought would heal, had begun healing. Like he could completely forget it and act as if it all had been a bad dream.

But then a villain appears and rips it back open, leaving it hemorrhaging. 

~

When the League first learnt about Captain Marvel, of what he could do, their first instinct had been to recruit him, some under the belief that Superman might have been right about him being a kryptonian.

But he hadn't been kryptonian.

And he had refused to join, but Batman was nothing if not persistent, if he wanted someone in the League, he would make it happen.

Ask Green Arrow.

Captain Marvel though, unlike Green Arrow, hadn't ended up bending the knee because someone caught his eye, the League wasn't even sure what had made him change his mind. Even less when his first months had been spent with the man avoiding some of them, or more like Superman and Wonder Woman. 

It had been odd, Superman was a favorite, among civilians and even other heroes, but Captain Marvel would disappear from a room faster than Flash himself whenever Superman or Wonder Woman stepped in. Would flinch at them and freeze.

There had been a stance where Superman had appeared in a room quietly, Captain Marvel hadn't noticed him, and when Superman spoke... That had been the first time the League had learnt that Captain Marvel's eyes could glow and that he could shoot lightning from his hands.

And that he could do magic, his lightning was magic, as proven with the burn mark he had left on Superman's arm. Something regular lightning would never do.

Or that time he honest to God chose to be sucked by a black hole rather than grab Diana's Lasso of Truth. 

Point was, he had started as a strange man, he still was, but his strange behavior towards Superman and Wonder Woman had faded with time.

Something the League was glad for, because while none of them could understand what was his deal with Superman and Wonder Woman, it had been stressing, Captain Marvel was one of their heaviest hitters, so was Superman, and something people didn't know.

So was Wonder Woman. 

Being unable to put their heaviest hitters in a team up was incredibly frustrating. Batman had tried talking to Marvel about that, Superman and Wonder Woman had tried to learn if they had ever done anything to him to get him to mistrust them so hard.

But he never gave answer.

And then, out of nowhere, the odd behavior began fading. Five years passed, and most of the League forgot about it all.

That's when the answer came.

~

Billy was 15 and very done with life, he felt embarrassed with himself, because how could he have been so stupid? He should have seen the trap, should have seen the villains hiding, he's lived over a thousand lives, he shouldn't have gotten tricked with this much ease.

His only comfort was that even the great Batman had fallen for it. Not that it was comforting that Batman himself didn't figure it out, meant whoever was behind this whole mess wasn't your regular villain.

But again, the fact that this person had known about the eternium should have been clue enough that whoever this was, it wasn't a regular rogue.

All of the League had been captured, tricked into a trap, and now all of them were hanging from their wrists in a room that looked like a giant dungeon. Their powers didn't work and whoever did this had been smart enough to steal Batman's gloves.

And the utility belt.

The room was incredibly dark, the only light coming from the green kryptonite attached to a necklace around Superman.

And the blue eternium attached to a necklace around his own neck. 

"How the hell does he, or she, knows your weakness?" Flash asks, Flash who had been attempting to phase through the shackles for the past hour, but nothing had worked.

He had given up at this point, wasting energy wasn't smart right now.

Point was.

It was unnerving that this person had managed to subdue Captain Marvel, the guy not even Batman knew how to take down. And now someone turned out to know how to take him down? There was a collar around his neck, glowing blue stones of some kind attached to it.

"Beats me. I didn't even know there was eternium here." Marvel said, Green Lantern frowned.

"Eter-what?"

"Eternium. Shards of matter from the Rock Of Eternity, someone tried destroying it once to rid the world of magic... didn't go so well. The Rock was eventually restored, but many shards were never really recovered."

"I thought you said you didn't knew there were any here." Aquaman's words got Marvel making an uncomfortable grimace before he was turning his attention to the ground.

"... I meant in this world, there's several of them... scattered throughout the multiverse. Some universes have eternium, some don't. This one doesn't."

"Wait, you can travel through the multiverse?" Flash asked, mouth agape.

"I am the Champion Of Magic."

"That explains nothing."

"It explains all. I have a lot of duties, one of them means traveling throughout the multiverse to make sure the balance isn't being disturbed. And I have been reborn in different universes, so it stands to reason I know if there are places with eternium."

"Dude that is so fricking cool."

Marvel shrugged.

"Wait, have you ever met our doubles from another universe?" Green Lantern's question, unknowingly, made Billy's stomach turn.

It's been years since he last thought about the past Justice Leagues.

Yet, before his memories decide to resurface, a door opens.

A woman walks in, she's wearing a cloak and a mask that hides her face, but something about her gaze as it settles on him... it's familiar... but he can't pin point from where. Her gaze lingers on him as she comes to stand in the center of the room.

He frowns.

"Who are you? Don't think for one second you have won." Wonder Woman sentences, the woman glares murder at her.

"I have come to make things right. And as far as I'm concerned, I won." She told the last glancing at Marvel, something no one missed.

"You won? How so?" Batman questions, narrowing his gaze at the masked woman, she kept glancing at Marvel, her rage dimmering whenever she did. Did this woman know Marvel?

"I have managed to take down the Justice League, and the Champion is still alive." Her words sent confusion through the League.

And it made Billy freeze.

What? What did she just said? What was she talking about? How did she know...? Who was this woman?

"The hell is that suppose to mean?" Hawkwoman asked, what the hell was this woman talking about? 

"It means that I won't let you hurt him again!" The woman snapped, rage in her voice as she glared at them with pure hatred. "None of you will hurt him, not this time. I will get rid of all of you before you kill him, I couldn't save him before, but I can do so now, and I will start with you two!"

She brought her hands up, lightning chains appearing around Wonder Woman and Superman, like glowing snakes that tightened around them both, latching around their throat.

"Wait!" Marvel shouted, successfully stopping the woman from crushing or doing whatever was it that she intended with Superman and Wonder Woman, she turned to look at him, surprise evident in her face.

"Why are you stopping me? After what they did to you... how can you still protect them?"

If the League was confused before, her words did nothing but officially lost them all, even Superman who was more dizzy than aware had no idea what this all was about.

What did she meant by that? They had done nothing to Marvel, none of her words were making sense.

"... Because it's not them." Billy for his side never expected to speak those words out loud with such conviction.

Because it was true. This Clark and Diana were nothing like the ones from his nightmares. This Diana would give her life for him, and this Clark never shut him up, never gave him any reason to feel like he shouldn't speak his mind around him.

"You speak of people long dead, from different universes altogether. No one is responsible for what their variants do." He told as a statement of fact, the woman's eyes grew glazed over, anguish deep in her gaze.

Ah. Billy knew those eyes. Her voice was much more mature than any version he's ever heard, but it was definitely her, and it broke his heart to see her like this.

"They are in no way connected to their variants, they are innocents, and if you are who I think you are, you know I'm right, you know that a variant doesn't define them all, they are all their own person, all of them completely different from each other."

The woman didn't answer, but he could see her hands shaking, fingers curling into fists as she bowed her head. It did nothing but confirm it, it truly was her, and that realization completely destroyed his heart. Because why? How? 

A sob broke out of her, shaky and heavy.

"It happened three times, three times." Her voice was trembling now, and he wished he could break the chains so he could wrap his arms around her. Which one was she? How was it even possible for her to remember? It didn't matter for he would always love every version of her.

His sister.

And still.

"Doesn't mean all of them deserve to be killed because of it."

And even so, it was theoretically speaking, two times, the Parademons didn't count. Superman didn't sent him to die, he had chose to do that despite the risks because he had owed it to the world. Because it was the right thing to do.

But that was beyond the point.

She finally looked up at him, all the anger and hatred was gone. Unshed tears swimming in her eyes.

"Please let them go, you are not a killer." He requested, his voice soft. His sister would never hurt an innocent, the ones he had met, the ones he had grown with, all of them had been kind, they had all had a good heart.

"No, I made a promise..." She refused, her voice determined but pained. Billy sighed, why had it come to this? How? From what Earth was she? She had died in the one Darkseid took over, was it in the one with the war between Amazons and Atlanteans? But he doubted his siblings had been spared.

And that not something he liked to think about.

And still, it didn't matter, he could get an idea of what promise she meant.

Thus. He answered.

"I know... but hurting them won't make things better, revenge won't solve anything, even less when they haven't even done anything. So please, just let them go, you came for me, right? Let's talk, or whatever is it that you want, they have nothing to do with what happened."

She didn't answer, she was now passing and grabbing at her hair, Billy made a point at completely ignoring the League's eyes, he didn't even want to know the mess this whole thing would leave.

"You know I'm right, deep down, you know that they are not to blame for anything. Variants are just versions of yourself from other Earths, they have their own lives, their families, their own view of the world, just because they look like someone or resemble them in many ways, it doesn't make them the same."

She was giving him her back now, she lowered to the ground, silence reigning in the room.

"Mary."

Speaking her name after so long felt... painful. Even more so when he remembered the last one. He watched as she hugged herself.

And then the chains gave in, turning into sand, collars dropping to the ground, he moved before anyone from the League could so much as touch her, coming up to kneel before her.

He gave Batman a look, asking them silently to leave, he would deal with this.

The look Batman gave him was enough to let him know that no matter what he did, an explanation was expected. 

Once the League had left, he reached out towards Mary, carefully removing the mask, she didn't fight him.

She was older, much older than he or his siblings ever managed to grow, none of them having ever made it past their 13.

And now here she was, in her 20's. But her haunted gaze let him know that even if she managed to get to this age, she had long been torn from the inside out.

As their gaze met, her tears broke out, a sob leaving her, and he couldn't help but pull her into a hug, her arms latching around him in a death grip.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Each one of her cries tore at Billy's heart, making him hug her tighter, he didn't knew where she was from, what she had seen.

But he didn't need to to know that she had suffered a great deal, he had enough by knowing she was his sister. His sister who was always the strongest of the two, and now... what had happened to her? It didn't matter, whatever it was, he wouldn't leave her, this time around, he would be the one protecting her.

He would be the one who would be there for her.

Chapter Text

A witch threw a curse at Captain Marvel.

And while at first it had seemed as if it hadn't worked on him, things had ended up taking a strange turn during the after battle meeting.

It began with the black haired man who materialized behind Marvel, though materialized was a strong word, it was more like a ghost kind of thing. The man had looked like he could bench press a whole mountain, his presence crushing the room, his gaze alone making the air feel almost static, seemed to leak danger, demanding respect with each step he took.

That intimidating aura had lasted nothing but a fleeting moment for the moment his gaze fell on Diana a whole new expression had washed over his face.

The League was quite sure it would be a long time before any of them managed to forget Wonder Woman's completely repulsed and annoyed face at the man gushing over her.

Man who was now sulking in the corner of the room after Wonder Woman had threatened him with her sword.

That's how the League found out Zeus, God Of Lightning and head of Olympus, was the kind of father who could almost beat drunk Batman when it came to gushing over his children.

After Zeus, another two men materialized, one with silver skin and white hair who was currently still very much chasing a golden haired guy with Wonder Woman's sword, Di■ana hadn't even hesitated to give it to the man when he asked for it. He was swinging the sword at the golden haired man, even if whenever he hit him the sword went right through.

Mercury and Hercules. Marvel had called them.

A scrawny man with golden eyes was floating above Marvel, muttering a hundred things per second in a language Superman has never heard before. Solomon, Marvel had called him.

There was also the man with red eyes who was just standing ominously by Marvel's left. Achilles.

And there was another one who's sole gaze seemed to be enough to make people look away. Atlas. He stood by Marvel's right.

But the weirdest one of all was the child.

His face wasn't visible and while he's been hiding under Marvel's cape from the moment he appeared, he was small enough to pass as a child, he even had a Captain Marvel hoodie. His little hands clutching the cape over his head, at times, a little giggle would be heard. A child's giggle.

Whenever the League's gazes ended on him, Atlas would pin them with a glare and so would Achilles. 

But how was the League suppose to ignore what was clearly a child even though Marvel had said said these were all the Gods who his powers came from? 

And he said six Gods, not seven. So who was that child?

Flash decided that he had had enough, if he died, fine, but at least he would have spoken about the elephant in the room. 

"What's with the kid?" Flash almost regretted the question as soon as it left his lips, because all of a sudden, Gods were glaring at him, Solomon had stopped muttering, piercing gold stabbing through his soul, as if he knew each and every single second of his life from the moment he was born.

Hercules and Mercury were no longer running around, both having come to a halt behind Marvel to stare at Flash like two predators preparing to tear him apart in over a thousand different ways.

Even Zeus had stopped sulking, was now glaring at him over his shoulder with a dark storm lurking behind his gaze, a storm that promised unfathomable devastation in its wake. 

Achilles and Atlas stood closer to Marvel, straightening up to their full height, oozing danger and murder intent. Marvel who had been dead silent since the child appeared, had been staring into space with his head tilted, was now staring straight into his soul, daring Flash to repeat the question.

For the first time in his life, Barry was genuinely terrified of Captain Marvel.

"What child?" Marvel asked, his voice was innocent, but he was staring at Flash as if he were daring him to repeat the question.

Barry didn't dare to speak again.

Unlike Barry though, Batman wouldn't bend the knee so easily.

"The child under your cape, who is he? You said they are all Gods who give you your powers. What powers does he give you?" Batman questioned, not even twitching under the glare of six Gods. Marvel didn't answer, frowning for a moment.

And then.

"He gives me the power to walk the Earth."

Silence.

"Come again?"

"I told you before, I'm Living Lightning."

"You do realize how that explains nothing, right?" Aquaman stated, what the hell did that even meant? Living Lightning? What? Was he made of lightning? A lightning bolt shapeshifter? What?

Marvel sighed, seeming to gather his thoughts, hands coming up to rest on the table infront of him, clasped together.

"... I cannot walk this plane of existence as I am, if I did... lots could die... so I need a host. Think of it as Jason Blood and Etrigan's relationship, kind of, we are two separate people, but in a sense, we are also the same. The host's heart influences on how I behave, serves also as a moral compass..."

"So what you are saying, or at least what I'm able to understand here, is that that child is your host?" Superman sounded like he was trying very hard to not sound judgemental, and failing miserably.

"Yes."

"He is a child." Superman stressed, Marvel scowled, anger flashing in his gaze.

"You think I don't know that? I don't get a choice on who I end up with, the Wizard does, and even he didn't want to do it. The child was born to be the Champion Of Magic, yes, but he wasn't suppose to become this now, it wasn't suppose to happen like this. But Black Adam appeared over a decade earlier than the Wizard had predicted, and no one but me could handle him, there was no other choice."

"But he is a child." Superman stressed again. "Couldn't it be anyone else? Just until he is old enough?"

"It cannot be anyone else, that's not how it works, and it wouldn't work even if it was how it worked, the child has extremely volatile magic, and he's not a particular fan of the idea of me leaving him, if I were to attempt that, I'm afraid he might level half the city trying to stop me."

Marvel had tried leaving once after his first fight with Black Adam, after he thought he had defeated the man.

Let's say Billy hadn't been happy over the idea of losing his 'new friends'.

The kid had almost ripped through the fabric of reality itself, had almost made Thavma materialize as his true self at the subway tunnels. Billy Batson was certainly the one they had been waiting for for eons. 

Eternity's heir.

A child who's magic was strong enough to match the Living Lightning.

It was one the many reasons Thavma and the Gods were so protective of him, he wasn't just their youngest host in history, but also the one, Eternity's heir, making sure the boy wasn't harmed was a top priority.

Or it had began like that, now Thavma was quite sure, that much like him, the Gods had grown attached to Billy, he wasn't just their responsibility anymore, he was their kid.

And there would be hell to pay for anyone who dared to harm him.

Meanwhile, the League's eyes widened, was the child seriously that strong? Not even Superman could take on Marvel, the man had no weakness whatsoever, he once said magic was his weakness, but Zatanna had said that the only magic capable of harming Marvel would have to be strong enough magic to level an entire city.

The idea that a child was capable of overpowering Marvel was disturbing. Even more so because if it was a child, it meant that by logic, he would only get stronger as he grew, if he was already able to overpower Marvel... who was this child?

"What about his parents? They deserve to know if their child is being endangered in such a way." Superman said, still having trouble processing the fact that a child could take down Marvel if he wanted. And Superman himself.

The League didn't miss how Superman's question got anger flashing across Marvel and the Gods' faces. Atlas bent down, phasing right through Marvel's cape where the child was at, the League wasn't quite sure what that was suppose to mean, but no one got the chance to ask for Marvel spoke.

"His parents died when he was four, and the uncle who was meant to look after him was a monster,
so we took him away, he's a thousand times better with us than he ever was with him, we don't starve him nor do we hit him." Marvel told as a statement of fact, Billy was healthier and happier than he ever was while he lived with his uncle.

He might live at the Rock Of Eternity, but Thavma and the Gods had made it look as homey as they could, he had a functional fridge filled with food, and Solomon taught him basic things children would learn at school, it wasn't perfect, but they made it work, Billy was safe and healthy.

Maybe when he was older and had a better control over his magic, Thavma would use a glamour and pose as his guardian so the kid could go to an actual school with other children, a place where he could hopefully make friends.

But for the time being, the Gods and him tried their best to raise the kid, give him as much of a normal life as they could, Thavma even put walls between their minds so Billy wouldn't see any of the fights Captain Marvel participated in, he was way too young, had suffered more than anyone so young should. The least he could do was spare him the horrors of being the Champion Of Magic for as long as he could.

"How old is he?" Wonder Woman asked, unlike her teammates, she wasn't feeling much judgemental over the fact that Marvel just admitted to have, in the eyes of the law, kidnapped a child.

She could never understand how could people harm children, let alone family children, it made her sick.

The fact that this child was connected to Marvel... it made her blood burn the idea of the boy coming in harm's way, she would destroy anyone who hurt her family.

"... Seven."

Silence.

Seeing the size of the kid and knowing he couldn't be older than 10 was one thing. Getting confirmation of how actually young he was... Christ. Also explained why Marvel was the way he was. A literal seven year old was who influenced his behavior, a child.

"Dude."

"He is unaware of the fights, he knows what I do, but he's never seen the fights through my eyes, I don't let him, and he is in no danger whatsoever of being harmed, I cannot be hurt, and even if I were, he wouldn't be affected. He's perfectly safe." Marvel assured, having the feeling that that might be one of the questions rolling through the League's heads right now.

"I still don't think it's right..." Superman said, Jon was 10 and Clark couldn't imagine his son being in the middle of a battlefield, the sole idea of it made him feel nauseous. Agitated. How was he suppose to just ignore the fact that Captain Marvel was tethered to a seven year old?

"I understand, but as I said, it can't be changed, he won't let me leave nor can I exist in this plane of existence as I am. This is the safest method."

"Are you 100% he is safe?" Batman asked, voice neutral.

"Are you seriously considering this?"

"Captain Marvel is one of our heaviest hitters. We cannot lose him without giving thought to all the facts." Batman refuted, giving Superman a look. Of course he understood how wrong things could go.

A seven year old was way too young. Damian was his youngest Robin, and even then, he had been 10 when he first started. A seven year old was something he would never even consider.

But as he told Superman, Captain Marvel was one of their heaviest hitters, he couldn't afford to lose him, he was the only one who could deal with Superman, fast and without causing any collateral damage. He was way too valuable to lose.

But he wouldn't keep him either, he couldn't, not if it meant a child would be harmed. He would never forgive himself if a child was killed because of him.

"He has six Gods and me watching his back 24/7, that if we don't add Hades and Persephone, neither is connected to him, but for some reason I can't still decipher, they have grown extremely attached to him, Persephone even calls herself his aunt. Trust me, he is safe."

Thavma still had no clue how those two even met Billy, but he wasn't about to question it, having the underworld's God's favor could one day save Billy.

So who cares if Hades and Persephone wanted to act as if Billy was their nephew? As long as he was safe Thavma could care less if every God in existence decided to adopt Billy as their nephew.

Chapter Text

It's been over a week since the odd incident, and so far, Captain Marvel hasn't given explanation to what had happened, it had been clear he had known the woman, though their relationship was still a mystery.

Her words still ran through the League, filling them all with questions, confusion, and even theories that just kept getting worse than the prior ones.

She had accused Superman and Wonder Woman of having hurt Captain Marvel. But neither Diana or Clark could think of any situation where they had hurt Marvel. The man couldn't even be hurt, if it was just Superman, it could be said that she might have been referring to when he had been on red kryptonite.

But he hadn't left a single scratch on him. And where did that left Wonder Woman? She has never even fought Marvel, she did spare with him at times, but was just it, sparing, she has never even harmed him during it.

So what had been all that about? What had 'three times' meant? The only reason the League hadn't even tried looking for her was because despite all, looking beyond her plan to kill them, her words alongside their eventual freedom had left very clearly that whatever had happened to her, she was devastated.

The League has dealt with enough of those, people who had been so hurt that their answer was to hurt others in retaliation, seeking for an escape route, but that deep down, there was a good person underneath all the rage and pain.

They just needed the right person to pull them out.

So the League left her to Marvel. Whoever she was, Marvel had called her Mary, but without a last name, they had nothing.

So all they could do was wait.

~

Billy stood outside the door from the meeting room, wondering if it was too late to just hand in his resignation letter or whatever was it that one had to do to leave the Justice League.

This past week he had spent it with Mary, had learnt about her and where she came from, as it turns out, it was his Mary from the Injustice League world. She had, for some reason, regained her memories from several of her variants.

She had taught herself magic, and she had been tracking him for several years now, unlike many others, the Champion Of Magic was only one, there were no other variants, Living Lightning was just reborn every now and then.

There would never be two of him. If he was born as Billy Batson, there would be no other Billy Batson' s across the multiverse.

He was never quite able to understand the workings of his own existence.

Point was, Mary had been looking for him, had grown stronger, all so she could protect him, for what he could gather, she felt guilty, she blamed herself for his death, she had been the one who told him to just tell Superman if he didn't agree with something, to not be afraid to speak for what was right.

She got him killed. And so she had promised herself to find him, find him and make sure he was to never be anywhere near the Justice League ever again.

It had taken Billy a lot to even get her to give up on trying to hunt for the League again, he had been unsuccessful on trying to get her to stop blaming herself over his death though.

And he had the feeling that that was a wound that would take a long, long time to heal. But that was alright, he had all the time in the world, he had taken her to his apartment seeing that she was adamant about staying on this Earth with him, and seeing that he didn't have anyone...

He was more than happy to have her.

Hanging out with her after so long had felt nice, but he couldn't ignore his duties as Captain Marvel, nor the Justice League. 

And so after a week, he had mustered up the courage to face them, or at least that's what he had thought.

Now? Now his legs wouldn't move, because if he did this, he would have to give explanations, explanations regarding things he never wanted to think about again let alone speak about.

The idea of it made him nauseous, fingers clutching his arm as he fought against the urge to turn back and bolt, to never come back here.

But he's never been one to run from his problems.

Thus, clutching onto Achilles' courage, he released his arm and pushed the doors open, he had called the meeting, he shouldn't be this nervous, he had known this was a possibility from the moment he decided to join the Justice League despite his last experiences with it.

Achilles' courage was the only reason he didn't teleport out of the Watchtower the second all eyes fell on him, deep breaths. He walked up to his designated chair, refusing to show fear as he sat down, but also failing with spectacular misery, because the second Diana reached out to touch his arm in her usual greeting gesture.

He pulled away before she could so much as touch him, so fast it took him a moment to realize something.

The fear was back. Much stronger than ever, he knew this in the fact that avoiding her touch made his throat close and his mouth go completely dry, for a moment, he could swear he felt a blistering heat slice across his throat, smelt the blood and the air cut from his lungs. 

For a moment, he was back in that place, with the Lasso burning through his skin, choking him and forcing him to speak the one word that even now, he was still unable to speak it without feeling like it might be the last time he spoke it.

A word that made him feel incredibly small, weak, open to be destroyed by anyone anywhere near him. Even now, he was still not comfortable with the idea of leaving his apartment, but he had a job and he couldn't lose it.

And as Atlas and Achilles said, he shouldn't let fear control his life. He should always walk with his head held high, he was safe, he wasn't back there anymore.

But sometimes, it was easier said than done. He didn't feel safe at all right now.

"Marvel?" Batman's voice snapped him from the dangerous path of thoughts he was falling through, though even if he looked up he still felt a bit faint. Even seeing Superman sitting across from him was making the air grow thinner. Why did he come here? Why was this happening now? He had been fine these past years, so why was it back now?

"Yes, sir?" Billy was rather proud at how leveled his voice came out compared to the inner turmoil he was going through right now. His fingers curling into fists on his lap as he fought back the urge to dig his fingernails on his arm. The Gods wouldn't be happy if he hurt himself again.

Even if pain sometimes helped him stop the bad thoughts.

"Shall we begin?" Batman asked, narrowing his eyes at Marvel, the man was sitting straight, and he looked fine, but Batman wasn't fooled, he could see how he was leaning more towards Flash, as if attempting to put distance between him and Wonder Woman.

There was also how he had reacted to her. Bruce hasn't seen that reaction in years.

Something had changed, but what? And more importantly, why?

"Oh, sure. Fire away." Marvel beckoned, it didn't went unnoticed how strained his smile looked.

"Who was that woman and what's the relationship between you two?" Batman asked the most important question, needing to know who this woman was, a woman who had managed to capture them all.

It didn't went unnoticed how Marvel seemed to tense at the question.

And still.

"Her name's Mary, she's from another Earth, she's... she was my sister when I was reborn in that Earth, I don't know how or why, but she seems to have gotten a hang of many memories from different variants of herself who were also related to me at some point, she was angry, wasn't thinking clearly, but she's fine now, she won't try anything against you or anyone for that matter again, she's not dangerous, so you don't really have to worry about her. I promise."

Billy made a point at explaining it carefully, stressing out how what they had seen hadn't been how she usually was, Mary wasn't dangerous, they didn't have to worry, she hadn't meant to do any of what she had done. She would never hurt anyone.

"She said we hurt you." Superman's words made Marvel visibly stiffen, he didn't answer, didn't even look at the kryptonian, in fact, he looked like he wanted nothing more but to bolt through the door.

"That's irrelevant. She wasn't talking about any of you anyways."

"But our variants." Wonder Woman's words were nothing but a statement of fact, she had long pieced some things together, and after Marvel avoided her touch like that, it had done nothing but strengthen her theories.

That somewhere in the multiverse, another version of her had hurt him, enough to have left a deep enough mark on him that he couldn't even stand to be in the same room as her, he couldn't even look at her. He had even let a black hole swallow him rather than trust her when he first joined.

And it made her nauseous, because what had been done to him to affect him to such extent? He was like a brother to her, she couldn't imagine herself hurting him on purpose, what for? Why?

"Variants are not the same person, blaming them all for the wrongdoings of one isn't fair nor right." Marvel stated, and even if he said that, he didn't look at Wonder Woman nor anyone for that matter.

"But she said three times. Which leads me to believe that it was the amount of times it happened."

"... The third doesn't count. I did what I had to do, and I would do it all over again, at the end, it wasn't for nothing."

At the League's looks Marvel sighed, this at least was one he could tell them about. It was one of the worst memories of all, but it wouldn't fill them with unnecessary guilt as the other two would.

And hopefully, it could make them forget completely about the other two. He was willing to relive those memories if it meant keeping the two buried.

"There's an Earth where Darkseid won."

The League froze at that. What?

"Millions died, including most of the Justice League and Young Justice."

"That's impossible. How is that even... How?" Flash looked like all he had ever known had become a lie. His skin much too pale to be healthy, which no one could blame him for, because how was it possible for Darkseid to have killed them all?

Or well, their variants, the League has met some of their variants, all of them had been formidable, close in matching their skills. So how?

"Something went wrong... somehow, Darkseid knew we were coming, he knew every part of our plan... He altered his parademons, made them half doomsday, killed most of the Justice League, some others... He used them as he saw fit."

Billy couldn't bring himself to look up, to say anything else, even now, he could remember everything as clearly as when it happened, the blood, the screams, his own pain, the overwhelming terror, the impotence and guilt that had threatened to kill him many times for years to come.

If he had been stronger he could have saved them. If he had been smarter he could have known something was off. But he didn't.

"Darkseid's reign over Earth... He destroyed everything, very few survivors were left, villains, heroes, civilians... it all stopped mattering at the end, they just became humans fighting to survive, all past grievances, forgotten. Years later it was discovered that Darkseid had begun extracting magma from the Earth's core, we learnt of new possibilities that hadn't existed before."

Like Damian being alive being true. Or finally finding Constantine.

"The survivors... we made a last attempt to save what was left of the Earth... Three other heroes and I were sent to deal with one of the machines sucking on the Earth's core..."

Billy made a very good point at avoiding names, especially that that 'other heroes' had been Batgirl, Batwoman and Superboy, he wanted to spare Batman and Superman that knowledge, it was bad enough he could at times still remember their screams. Would feel incredibly sick whenever he saw them at all. Another reason he avoided Superman's invitations to the farm, or the batfamily in general.

He couldn't deal with that. At times, he couldn't even deal with being at the Watchtower at all.

"We knew it was a suicidal mission from the start, but we didn't care, we wanted to give them as much time as possible..."

Ah... His leg was aching... His magic... His skin was on fire, he could feel the bites, the claws... focus.

"At the end it wasn't for nothing." That reminder felt like a gulp of fresh air, made him feel lighter. Because it hadn't been for nothing. "Darkseid got killed, and the Flash from that universe restarted the timeline, that time around, they won the fight."

It did stung at times to remember that the Wizard had inserted a change in that timeline.

Billy Batson and by extension Captain Marvel, never existed in that world. They forgot about him.

But they were alive. And that's all he cared about.

"Wait, wait, if I was alive, I mean, if that Flash was alive, how the hell did he not fix all that shit up the moment things started going wrong?" Flash asked, feeling like he had been punched in the face by Superman, because what the hell? Why had his other self waited years before he did anything? Millions died! Their teammates, the Young Justice! Had there been a Wally there? An Iris? Bart? Nora? How could he wait so long?

Barry didn't knew what to think about Marvel's ominous silence, he felt his hairs stand on end when the man finally looked up, he looked sick, and he had the sudden wonder on why the hell were they even making the man speak of these clearly fucked up things.

"We thought he was dead, turns out Darkseid had had him all along, chained to a treadmill that powered up the center of it all. Or at least that's what the Wizard said when I asked how was it that he had been alive."

Flash felt like he might throw up. Captain Marvel didn't look any better.

"Did he had anyone else?" Batman's question made Billy's vision swim, head bowing, no, he couldn't do this God, he couldn't do any of this. Why was he here again? Why did he come here? Why did he agree to this?

No. He had to speak, make them think so much about this no one would want to ask about the one he wanted to hide the most. Superman nor Wonder Woman deserved that guilt, so if he had to suffer through telling them the most horripilant one above all.

Then so be it.

"Martian Manhunter, Mera, Wonder Woman, Hawkman and Starfire... Darkseid altered their bodies to be half robotic, enslaved their minds... for what I heard from the Wizard, Constantine managed to use the Lasso of Truth to free Wonder Woman's mind, she fred the rest from the mind control..."

He didn't mention the fact that she had killed Jason Blood/Etrigan. They didn't need to know about any of that same as he would do the impossible to keep from Batman and Superman what had happened to their families.

"He also had Batman. Tortured him up to the point where he somehow took over his mind, turned him into his right hand, I guess he saw the chance to exploit his mind... he had Superman for a while too... but he fred him, eventually, he injected kryptonite in his blood, burnt it inside him so deep it had no cure, he lost his powers."

But not his determination, that had been Darkseid's error, to think Superman would give up just because he had lost his powers. He never gave up despite how weak he might be, even if his life might be put in danger, he never gave up.

It was one of the reasons he had looked up to him, one of the reasons he had followed him to the very end. 

The League for their side was frozen in place.

What had they just heard? The idea that Darkseid had won to such extent in another universe made them wonder if that Darkseid had just been worse than theirs of if something else had been at stake. Marvel said he had know they were coming, but that didn't explain in any way how had he managed to do what he did. 

The idea that Marvel had lived through that kind of world, a world where he died, he didn't said it, but there was no need to be a genius to know that the parademons had had something to do with his death.

And how was that even possible? How had parademons managed to kill him? It didn't make any sense.

But they weren't about to ask, they weren't going to ask anything anymore regardless of the burning curiosity. Because the man looked like he might pass out, keeping up asking was just flat out cruel and insensitive on their part.

How was he even able to be as cheerful and carefree as he was? After such horrors...

The League didn't think they might be able to look at him the same ever again.

~

Billy barely made it out of the Watchtower, he had left quickly, refused to speak or look at anyone once Batman said he didn't have to talk anymore.

And the second he stepped out of the zeta tube at the alley, the second everything crumbled completely, tears finally breaking free, he crouched on the ground, fingers clutching his hair tightly as he sobbed freely, the fire was all consuming, the memories threatening to make him go mad.

The blood, the screams, the dismembered bodies of his friends, the impotence of having been unable to save them, the guilt over escaping, it was all coming back full force, making him cry harder, electricity crackling all over his body as his breathing began growing faster, air growing thinner.

"Billy, deep breaths. You are alright." Solomon's voice made a pathetic sound stick at the back of his throat, head shaking in a no motion.

"I can't do this anymore." He sobbed weakly, thunder rumbled above as he tugged at his hair. A harsh sob catching at the back of his throat as he squeezed his eyes shut, biting his tongue until he tasted blood.

And the fire was still eating him alive, burning something deep within his chest, spreading up to his throat until he was crying louder, hysterical was more like it. He couldn't stop no matter how much he tried, like a dam collapsing. Or a burst bottle.

Because his friends had died, he had let them die, his family died, everyone he ever cared about died. 

And now that he had the Justice League back, now that he had a chance at having back their good versions after so long.

He couldn't even look at them without feeling like the world was crumbling in on him.

And so he cried, because if he didn't.

It felt like he might die.

Chapter Text

It all began because of a humanoid creature with the power to manipulate metal, it had given the Justice League a hard time.

Even more so because the creature had taken hostage several people, so the League had to be careful with their attacks, careful to not harm the people wrapped up in the wires that the creature controlled as if they were its tentacles.

Attempting to remove the tentacles just seemed to make them tighten around the hostages.

Then a woman had managed, God knows how, to break free from the tentacle of wires.

A woman Captain Marvel recognized on the spot.

Rosa.

His blood ran cold at the sight of her, a wire tentacle slamming onto him as his whole attention fell on the woman he had come to see as his mother. He crashed onto a car, but even then, he saw the exact moment as the tentacle wire grabbed at her, latching around her throat and yanking her back violently.

The sound of her strangled shout was what made it all click as red took over his vision. Red obliterating rage exploding, making his magic leak, a deafening crack of lightning whiplashed the sky above, angry grey clouds swarming the sky, covering the sun completely and filling everything with cold shadows.

Billy pounced, a rage like none other having taken over, the wind from his take off, like a sonic bomb, destroyed many windows and sent several cars flying.

He takes advantage of the man's distraction over his show of power to hit, and for the first time in a long time, he didn't bother to be nice or hold back, the force of the punch as it connected with the thing's face sent another sonic wave around upon impact, it buries the man into a crater in the middle of the street.

He rips the tentacles right off his shoulders, black blood splashing on his face as the half man creature thing screams in pain, but he doesn't care, he doesn't care about any of the niceties or hold backs he had ever done.

He yanked him up by the neck, violent enough to elicit a choked sound from him. He wants to crush him. Decimate him for touching his mother. For wanting to take away the first family he's ever had since his parents died. For trying to kill the woman who never gave up on him even when he was a jerk.

A woman who didn't give birth to him, but from the moment she saw him, had decided that he would be her son, that he was worthy of being someone's son again or being loved at all, and that she would love the hell out of him until he realized that she meant each and every single word. 

Thunder roars above, wind howling, electricity crackles all over his body, he can see his glowing eyes reflecting on the thing's own eyes as he holds him up by the throat, fingers tightening their grip around it. The fire inside him was all consuming, a rage he hadn't felt since he first found out Black Adam had been the one to kill his parents.

"Marvel."

The sudden voice alongside the sudden grip on the arm he is holding the monster up with makes him halt for a fleeting moment. He knows that voice, even if he's never heard that voice use that name without amusement in it before. He knows that voice. But from where?

He can't think right past the fire, because his mother... this bastard... this bastard. More fire pools in as his fingers tighten even more around the bastard's throats. 

He wants to kill him. He wants to rip the skin off his bones and make him beg for something sweeter than death.

The fingers on his arm tighten.

"Hey, look at me, don't do this." The voice is firm, but also pleading, the hand is now on his face, forcing him to look at it...

And he freezes at the sight he is met with. Resolution faltering.

Because Rosa is there. Rosa. She's alive. 

And she's touching him.

Even if he is covered in electricity, even if it clearly hurts her. She's touching him, determination burning in her gaze.

Like a whiplash, the electricity crackling all over his body disappears completely.

"I'm alright now. You don't have to do this, you are not a killer. Please, put him down." She requests, her voice is soft, reassuring, her thumb stroking his cheek in that comforting way that only she could make.

It makes something in his chest burn, vision blurring as all the anger disappears, giving path to a much overwhelming feeling.

He drops the monster which crashes on the ground unconscious.

Rosa's alive.

His mother is alive. He didn't lose her.

And the sudden realization of it, the relief, it's enough to make him completely forget where he is and how he looks like. He feels like he is 12 again, completely alone, afraid and angry with the world, just to find that her arms were the safest place there could ever be.

Because she would always be there, to make everything better. And she was still here. Alive.

Thus, he threw his arms around her shoulders, unable to hold back the overwhelming urge to want to make sure she was solid, that she was alive, here, with him, that he wasn't alone again because he couldn't protect the people that mattered to him the most.

He buried his face into the crook of her neck, still feeling agitated over the fact that he had almost lost her. Had almost lost the family he had finally found after many years of solitude and betrayal.

Rosa brings her hand up to the back of his head.

"I'm alright." She assures, her voice soft as she pats his head in a comforting manner.

His throat burns, tears escaping him, he's shaking, he's aware.

But he's also become aware of where he was and just who he was suppose to be right now. He is not a 15 year old right now, but a grown man, a superhero, someone who seriously shouldn't be hugging like this a civilian if he didn't want to call attention to it.

Not that that mattered. It was too late now. He knew that there was no excuse for this. But he doesn't care, right now. He wants to make sure his mother is alright and that no one will be able to recognize her. 

Thus. 

Without pulling back, he uses his magic to materialize a similar cape to his own with hood and all around her shoulders, bringing the hood up as he pulls back from her to cover her face, but for good measure, he uses his magic to materialize a mask across her face, red with golden trims.

He also throws a thundering glare towards where he heard the snap of a picture being taken, right now, he is in no mood to take people's shit, much less if it puts his family's safety at risk.

The man who took the picture flinched and steps back, camera dropping. And Billy has no shame in making the camera explode the second it touches the ground, giving the rest of the gathering crowd a glare, because as stated before.

He was in no mood to take people's shit right now nor bother putting on a fake smile.

He threw the League a look, less intense, but warning them off against following him or making future questions, this before proceeding to pick his mother up and taking off with her.

He might be a hero, but even heroes had their limits.

To him, it was his family.

And he didn't care if he came off as frightening or rude if it meant protecting them, Captain Marvel had dozens of enemies, and he would be damned if his family were to get hurt because of him.

Chapter Text

Thavma didn't switch back with Billy, even when the fight was done, even when all the parademons were either dead or had been gotten rid of by Cyborg.

He didn't switch back.

Not when the League was giving him those looks.

And he knew the reason, could be dozens, to the fact that he had killed Darkseid, the how he killed him, what he said, even the fact that his suit had switched colors completely. Instead of red with gold trims, braces and boots.

Black was what it had become, black with red trims, braces and boots. But unlike with Black Adam, the lightning bolt in his chest was still as bright, because unlike Black Adam, Thavma didn't took joy on taking a life nor was he thinking about tearing apart anyone within reach that wasn't from Khandaq.

Thavma was still the Champion Of Magic, he hadn't killed for pleasure nor had he hurt innocents, he hadn't abused the power of the Gods, Billy's heart was still as pure as it was yesterday, untouched by the Sins of Humanity.

He had done what it had to be done. The Champion Of Magic was meant to be a protector, make sure the balance was not altered. Darkseid had to be removed for he threatened to mess with that balance. 

Billy was still a child, much too young to have to carry the whole weight of the Champion's responsibilities, Shazam had said so himself, that the boy was still way too young, but Black Adam's arrival had called for the Champion.

And so Thavma had decided that for as long as he could, as long as Billy was still a child, he would be the one to deal with the ugly side of the Champion Of Magic's duties.

Like restoring nexus events that required the death of someone, or killing those who couldn't be contained nor reasoned with.

Thavma would do it, it wasn't the first time he's dealt with those issues, in fact, he was the one who dealt with the dark side of it all most of the time, the price to pay for choosing a human with a pure heart to be the Champion Of Magic meant dealing with a human who would not kill.

Teth Adam had had no trouble killing. That should have been the first sign that something wasn't right with that Champion. 

Point was.

Thavma has taken more lives than he was willing to admit, all of them a necessary evil, none of them something he was proud of either way.

But not even once had he ever been confronted for it, some of his Champions had confronted him, displeased with his actions, for staining their hands with the blood of innocents, but never had he ever had to deal with this. The Justice League, while not people he's ever interacted with directly, he could tell that their hearts were in the right place.

All of them willing to give their lives for those who couldn't protect themselves, even when the world stood against them, never had they ever given their back to it. He respected them, and he understood why Billy held them all on such high regard.

But having them staring at him as if he was in the wrong, was not pleasant, unlike Billy, he was not awkward, he didn't try to make himself small, uncomfortable by a body much too big.

He sat proud and with his chin held high, arms crossed over his chest, refusing to cower under their stares, he was older than all of them, had watched friends and family die, fought more battles than any of them could ever imagine, some won, some lost.

Point was.

He wasn't afraid nor remorseful.

That wasn't his job, his job was to keep the balance, no matter the price balance was a must.

Even if that meant changing a choice for bad or for good, take a life, it had to be corrected, if not, millions could pay the price. 

And in the long run? The whole multiverse.

~

Darkseid was dead.

Captain Marvel had killed him, and while the League didn't condone that, some of them understood that it had to be done, the man had threatened Earth twice, almost succeeded on his last invasion attempt.

But what had the League on such high alert wasn't that he was killed, it was the how and by whom.

Captain Marvel was a pacifist, all smiles and games, never hesitating to attempt and talk things out, even when he fought, it didn't took a genius to notice he had the habit to hold back.

It was all that what made his actions from back there all the more alarming. He had killed Darkseid in the most gruesome way possible, the show of power he had displayed had been overwhelming. The League knew he was powerful, he was one of their heaviest hitters for a reason, the man to call when Superman had to be subdued. 

But none of them had ever seen that kind of power. And that excluding completely how he looked right now. His suit had gone from bright red to pitch black, the golden braces, trims and boots were now red.

And his usually blue eyes were an ominous gold.

The trip back to the Watchtower had been tense, he had been dead quiet, and he looked taller than usual, something about his whole demeanor seemed to demand authority.

And there was also the issue with what Superman had said he had heard from him right after completely becoming a whole different person.

'You will not hurt this one.'

At this point, the League had an inkling feeling that this person, while it might look like him, was not Marvel. Which made the League even more anxious.

"Who are you?" Batman, of course, would never let himself be intimidated, he never backed down from a challenge, and whoever this was, he was dangerous. He practically oozed danger.

Not-Captain Marvel met his gaze, seemed to contemplate something before seeming to come to a conclusion.

"Previous Champions called me Thavma. But I believe that's not the true answer you seek, right? You wish to know what I am." 

At Batman's glare Thavma couldn't help but bite back a smirk. Of all League members, he liked Batman the most, for a human with no powers, he had one of the sharpest minds he had ever come across.

"I am Living Lightning, I reside within the Champion Of Magic, usually, as an observer, and a teacher seeing that the Wizard never bothers to enlighten them on what their duties or skills are. Generally, my job is to do what the Champion must do but won't do."

"Like killing people?" Superman asked, judgement and mistrust clear on his face. Thavma scowled.

"The Champion Of Magic is meant to be a protector, not a killer."

"Tell that to Darkseid." Aquaman's words got Thavma biting back the urge to snap.

"Darkseid threatened the balance, he had to go."

"You do realize how that sounds like something a villain would add on his monologue, right?" Flash's words got him a piercing glare, eyes flashing.

"You can't begin to understand an inch of what his job entails. He wasn't bestowed the power of six Gods and given unfathomable magic just so he could fight robots and aliens on a weekly basis. He was chosen to guard the Rock Of Eternity, the balance of reality itself. You might not understand this, but sometimes, saving or sparing a life can condemn a whole universe."

It had happened before, and each one of those failures, Thavma carried them like shackles that dragged behind him, the guilt at times was almost all consuming, because billions had died because he hadn't done what had to be done when it should have been done.

He had let his emotions talk, and he had condemned entire universes because of it.

"How so?" Wonder Woman's question got his attention, of all the League, she was the one who looked the less judgemental alongside Aquaman. "You said that saving a life or sparing one can lead to a whole universe's condemn. How can that be possible?"

She was curious, he could tell. She's always been curious about Captain Marvel's duties. The one who didn't give Billy dubious looks whenever he told them tales about his fights with monsters and demons.

Thus. He answered.

"It's not just sparing or saving a life, sometimes, even going left instead of right can be enough to unleash an anomaly. These anomalies are called nexus events, an absolute point that must happen. Break them, and their whole universe will collapse. Break enough of them, and reality as you know it, will collapse."

He made a point at keeping his voice as serious as possible, to make them understand what the Champion Of Magic had to do. That it was more than just a life at stake here. For them to truly see the bigger picture of what Captain Marvel was truly meant to do besides being just a hero.

In the schemes of it all, at the end, no matter how vile the choice was, it was a small price to pay to save millions.

"Darkseid's death was necessary, billions of lives could have been put at risk if he took over the Earth, and trust me when I tell you that fixing a nexus event is not easy, it's a race against time, take too long, and there's no going back."

"What about those who haven't done harm to anyone? Do they also have to die? Can't something be done? There has to be another way-"

"There is no other way!" Thavma cut off Superman, voice raising and lights flickering, his fist hitting the table with enough force to crack it, electricity crackling. "What part of no time can you not understand? Do you think I take joy in killing people? I don't. But it has to be done, three universes have collapsed before because I tried to do it another way, I don't care if you or the Champions themselves have a problem with it. That's my job, I do what no one else will do if it means saving billions."

He refused to let the League judge him for things beyond their comprehension, he didn't need them trying to tell him how to do his job, he didn't need anyone to tell him how to do this job. He had enough guilt as it was, he didn't need people rubbing on his face how messed up what he did was. They knew nothing of what he had to see and do.

What he had done to save billions. 

But as stated before, it was something he was willing to bear with if it meant his Champions didn't have to go through it. Specially Billy.

Had Billy seen what Thavma had done with that universe where the boy was his exact same age, a hero. He would be devastated. Even Thavma could still hear the boy's cries, hear the pleas and the apologies. To know that that child would forever blame himself for that man's death...

It made him sick. 

So no, he didn't need the League reminding him how fucked up this job was. He already felt like a villain enough.

Meanwhile, the League stared at the man who wore Captain Marvel's face, his expression was thunderous, making him look more intimidating than Captain Marvel has ever looked.

But even then, even despite his words, his gaze was nothing but that of an exhausted man who was condemned to bear a weight that would never grow old, a weight he was willingly carrying if that meant saving lives.

None of them could imagine how devastating it had to feel to watch three universes collapse entirely. How horrible and impotent it must have felt to know nothing could be done to stop it.

Had Captain Marvel ever had to deal with that? Had he ever had to kill people because there was no other way?

"Has he ever...?"

"No. But it's not unusual for a Champion to refuse to take a life, even if it means saving billions, some have done so, understood what was at stake. But some others just couldn't bear to take a life, so I did it for them, like I do for this one. But that's alright too, if the Champion were to kill without remorse or hesitation... they wouldn't be deserving of these powers...."

Like Black Adam.

"What did you meant by 'you will not harm this one'?" Superman's sudden question got Thavma narrowing his eyes, of course Superman had heard him, why did it not surprise him? 

He considered not answering, but still...

"There's been over a hundred Champions Of Magic throughout history, women, men, soldiers, royalty, slaves, doctors, knights, you name it, to the Gods, who they are and where do they come from is irrelevant as long as they are pure of heart. I remember each and every single one of them."

The League didn't comment on that, having the feeling that if they did, he wouldn't speak anymore, it was odd, that they had always wanted to know about Marvel, and that they were now being given answers by someone completely different, but also someone who knew everything.

"Darkseid's interest on Earth has existed long before any of you were even born. He came to Earth centuries ago, to what? I do not know, he killed dozens... the Champion from that time included."

Kidagash had been a kind hearted woman, had wanted nothing more but to protect her people, she believed that there was good in everyone, that with the right guidance, everyone could change. She had also been stubborn, a force to reckon.

At times, Billy reminded him of her, the fact that she had been his youngest host until Billy didn't help at all. She had been 17 years old.

He could still remember her screams, not because of the fact that she had been torn in half, but because of how her village had been burning, had screamed and tried to fight until her last breath.

Hearing Billy's cry of pain had brought back those memories. And so he might have killed Darkseid in a slightly unnecessary gruesome way.

"I swore that if he returned, I would kill him, initially, I wanted to let this one fight, it's not my place to interfere when I'm not needed, he can handle himself just fine. But I guess I got carried away... I don't regret it, I will never let him be killed."

Never again will he let another of his Champions be killed. He won't allow himself to be so weak.

Meanwhile, the League had no idea how to answer to that, Captain Marvel was one of their heaviest hitters, Superman on red kryptonite has fought him, he had hit by laser beams and thrown into buildings, nothing has ever left a single scratch.

The idea that Darkseid might have managed to kill him... it made them nauseous. Someone in the past with his same powers had been killed by Darkseid. It put a lot of things on perspective, like the fact that Captain Marvel could die.

Before, there had been that little thought that he couldn't die, I mean, he couldn't be harmed, so how would he be killed? Knowing that he could be killed...

It made them uneasy.

"The Champion is growing restless. You have the answers you wanted, so I believe it's time for me to leave." Thavma stated, he could hear Billy's protests, could feel him scratching at the back of his mind, annoyed that he had taken over without warning and was refusing to even tell him the why.

"Thavma, if you are bullying my friends again..."

He grinned at the kid's warning, it seemed like he still remembered when Thavma locked Freddy in a box and wrapped it in tape to keep him in, or when he locked the door from one of the Room of Doors with Eugene inside, in fairyland where fairies could seriously get extremely excited over visits from magic people and wouldn't stop offering food, tokens, singing and just about anything.

The kid had come back covered in pixie dust, glitter and colorful powder.

In all fairness it had been a long time since he had a Champion Of Magic who had shared his magic with his siblings. And the first time said Champions were such young kids. It was hilarious to mess with them.

Kidagash would had slapped on magic repellant talisman without hesitation if he tried to mess with her friends, said talismans didn't hurt him considering his magic was too potent to be fazed with that. But it did felt like having his hair pulled.

Billy was yet to openly explore his predecessors' memories, so he didn't knew about the talismans. And Thavma was gonna enjoy it for as long as it lasted.

Thus.

As he switched with Billy, he made one little parting gift.

~

Billy had been worried over what Thavma might be doing to the Justice League, he had lifted a wall to separate their minds, he couldn't hear or see anything.

Wall Thavma only lifted when he was doing something he didn't want Billy to see.

And still, when he was finally allowed to take back the wheel, he was completely caught off guard by the sight he got.

The Justice League was at the meeting room, pure chaos, as all their costumes had been switched.

Green Lantern as Superman.

Flash as Aquaman.

Aquaman as Hawkwoman.

Hawkwoman as Green Lantern.

Martian Manhunter as Flash.

Wonder Woman as Batman.

Superman as Martian Manhunter.

And Batman as Wonder Woman. Thavma didn't even switch that one, he straight up changed it completely back to Wonder Woman's first costume, so instead of the skirt she had switched to a few years ago, it was the even shorter one with stars.

Billy couldn't help it.

He burst out laughing.

Chapter Text

Dead.

Thavma.

Is dead.

Gone. 
 
All because the League had been too stupid and agitated to listen, how did it even come to this? How was this happening? It couldn't be happening. It couldn't be.

But the deafening silence in his head told him so, the gaping hole in his chest, it felt like something was hemorrhaging inside, his magic was wailing, and a weight like none other had clipped shut around his magic.

There were no voices, no warmth beneath his skin.

And for the first time in a long time, Billy felt cold, alone, like something inside him had gone completely empty.

Thavma was gone.

And he's been left standing in the middle of the aftermath of one of the most unnecessarily long fights ever. Alone.

Even now, he can smell the eternium in the air, acid and thick. From the laser beam Captain Marvel had been decimated by.

How did he survive? He had no idea. But there's no trace of Thavma aside from the golden blood, it's not glowing as the few times it had done in the past whenever Thavma got hurt.

No. It looks like a sick show of a bomb of melted gold having gone off, splashing it all over the place, and leaving Billy soaking in it from head to toe.

But he could feel the warmth of it. Thavma's blood might look like liquid gold, but it felt exactly like regular blood if not a bit hotter due the fact that he was literal Living Lightning. 

Or he had been.

Because he's gone now. Thavma is gone.

And he can do nothing but stand there, unable to move or even think past the fact that Thavma is gone. Gone. And the League is trying to talk to him, but he can't hear anything, can't feel anything. Thavma is gone. Gone. Gone. And he's never felt so incredibly alone as he was doing right now.

Because the Gods' voices are gone, Thavma is gone. And he feels like he might go insane with the quiet and absence of warmth.

Then anger floods in, like a switch being snapped, and he sees red, someone reaches out for him and in his rage he lashes out. He didn't want anyone touching him. He didn't want any of them acting like they worried about him, this was all their fucking fault! 

Thus, he shoots lightning right through his fingers, sending Superman crashing into a building, but he doesn't care, this is his fault! He was the one who told Thavma to take care of the laser beam! He was the one who did this!

"Do not touch me!" He snaps coldly, electricity crackling all over his body as thunder rumbled above, fire courses through his veins, spreading across his chest like a sea of all consuming lava, angry tears sliding down his cheeks.

Because Thavma is gone. His friend, his mentor, his guardian, he's gone and it was all their fault!

"This is all your fault! You killed him! You call yourselves heroes, but how could you let everything get so out of hand?!" He shouted, his anger growing and growing until all he could feel was fire, a bomb threatening to go off deep within his chest as he glared at the League with righteous fury.

"Son-"

"He told told you that something was off!" Billy cut off Superman, lightning struck right behind the kryptonian, he didn't care, he was burning like never before, a fury that was eating him from the inside out. Because Thavma was gone! And it was all their fault! "He told you to wait! Why the hell didn't you listen?! Thavma's dead because of you! You killed him! You!"

Billy pounced at Superman on that last note, red flashing in his vision as he slammed onto the man with a rage that threatened to kill him, but of course, without the Gods' favors, he was just a regular kid, with nothing but magic on his side. No strength, no speed, no stamina. Nothing. Because they were gone.

He didn't felt the pain as his fist connected with the brickwall that was the kryptonian, didn't care even if he had. Because Thavma was gone, the Gods were gone, and with them so was his connection to the Rock, he would never see Shazam again, nor Mary and Freddy from the alternate universe where they were the Champions Of Magic and had lost their Billy. He would never hear Mercury's and Heracles' arguments again nor Solomon's never-ending motivational speeches. Not even Atlas or Achilles' cryptic sense of humor. Or Zeus' stupid jokes. Or Thavma's need to mother hen him. They were all gone.

He lost the only family he had ever had.

He was alone.

And so he punched and kicked, and when someone grabbed him, even if it was a hug, he bit down on their shoulder, angry tears streaming down his face as he sobbed harshly, the electricity never stopped crackling all over his body, but the person didn't even twitch under it.

It made him cry harder, bite harder and struggle harder, they should all suffer, should feel the same all consuming pain he was feeling right now. He wanted to hurt them like they hurt him. He wanted-

"Billy."

Zeus' sudden voice froze him, like a short circuit, the lightning around him glitched, sizzled and hissed out of existence.

What..?

"Billy, child, you must calm down. We are sorry it took so long to reconnect back with you, but we never expected this to happen like it did." Zeus was talking to him.

Zeus was talking to him. Zeus was talking to him.

"Billy, Thavma can be brought back." Solomon's sudden voice and words felt like a whiplash in which he completely forgot what he was even doing, all fight disappearing completely from his body.

"What?" He asked, unsure if he had heard right.

"We made a contingency plan, after the eternium came into existence. We knew that it was a matter of time before someone managed to use it to kill the Champion. And as you know, his death would mean the devastation of the world as we know it."

Right. Shazam had said that once, and Billy should have seriously noticed how none of that had been happening, meant Thavma wasn't completely dead.

"How do I bring him back?" He asked, releasing the shoulder he had been biting, huh, he hadn't even broke skin. 

"We need several materials for the spell. And I think the Justice League is just what we need to acquire them, so please, try to calm down, I know you are mad, but we need their help." Solomon said, Billy scoffed, but he still nodded as new resolution invaded him.

"I'm fine now. Let go of me." He requested, still unsure on who was holding him. He didn't like being touched by people he didn't knew, even less by adults he didn't know, even if said adults were heroes. But these heroes got Thavma killed. He didn't like them right now.

The League were Thavma's friends, not his, though Thavma had let him switch their minds so he could interact with the Young Justice whenever he was assigned to watch over them, hadn't gone over well the first time, he kept forgetting he was an adult to them and might have acted like an absolute child on his last day around them.

Had gotten offended because he wasn't invited to their Halloween party and told them he would go trick or treating and that he wouldn't share any of his candy.

Though with time the Young Justice seemed to have grown to like him, he helped them with their homework whenever their missions took too long, and he got to participate in their game nights, were a thousand times better than the League's, there was no alcohol nor uncomfortable questions. Even Thavma enjoyed those game nights way over the ones from the League.

Point was, the Young Justice were his friends, not that they knew that, they just thought it was Marvel. And the Justice League were Thavma's friends. 

Still. Back to the point at hand.

As he stepped back, he was met with Wonder Woman's face, her gaze broken, well, at least it explained how she was able to take his electricity. All of the League looked confused, questions on their faces, but they also looked incredibly devastated. Guilty.

At least the idiots had the dignity to look guilty, good, because none of this would have happened if they had listened to Thavma.

"Who-"

Billy brought his hand up to cut any questions off.

"Name's Billy, I'm Captain Marvel's connection to this world. I have been informed that he can be brought back, he is not 100% dead, but in order to do so I need some things. And you are going to help me." Billy stated firmly, leaving no room for argument.

He would bring Thavma back no matter what.

~

The League was still struggling to process what had happened these past three hours. First that villain with the weird blue laser beams, attacking all over the place with no real target whatsoever.

Captain Marvel had said so, that something was off, but the villain had been all over the place, killing and causing as much damage as possible, it had been frustrating to not know how to stop him, that regardless of their attacks. It kept going. Nothing had worked.

That's what had led Batman to snap at Marvel at his attempts to speak to him over the comm. Then Superman had asked him to distract the villain.

That's when things went South.

Marvel had taken laser beams from Darkseid himself, had been crushed by giant robots and thrown into buildings, had been plummeted by Superman on red kryptonite. 

And all of those, he had come out unscathed, with no scratch in place. It was something that irritated Batman, to not know his weakness.

So no one expected that blue laser beam to do as it did. It had destroyed him completely. Leaving nothing but that gold... blood. And the child, a child that couldn't be older than 12. Soaked in that golden blood from head to toe and standing where Marvel had been at.

The kid had raged, had attacked Superman without hesitation, and it took them nothing but a moment to realize that whoever the kid was, he was not a regular kid. The lightning and glowing eyes said it all.

Wonder Woman had restrained him, she had no idea who the child was, but she didn't need to to know that based on his words, he had known Marvel. And so she held him, his lightning didn't harm her, neither did his bite. She let him take it out against her. Because the boy had been completely devastated. 

And then, out of nowhere, he had recuperated. And then he went up and said the strangest possible thing.

That he was Marvel's connection to this world. And that he could bring him back.

That's how the League had ended up bringing him back to the Watchtower, he had taken a shower and was now dressed in some spare clothes Batman had borrowed from Robin. They did seem to be similar ages, though this boy was a bit shorter and more scrawny.

He was sitting in Captain Marvel's chair with a notepad and a pen, he was writing on it and seemed to be deep in thought. He had been quiet throughout the whole trip.

But what had the League staring at him was the striking resemblance he had with Captain Marvel, same dark hair, same blue eyes, even the exact same glares. He looked like a little Captain Marvel, with the exception that the kid's arms, hands and neck were covered in lichtenberg scars.

"You said you were Marvel's connection to this world. What does that mean? And what do you mean you can bring him back? How do we do that?" Batman was the one who broke the silence, he wasn't about to sit here and keep quiet when one of their own just got killed and a child he had never seen before in his life claimed to be able to resurrect him.

The boy, Billy, stopped writing, looking up to met Batman's gaze, his eyes were hard, for a moment, he seemed like he wouldn't answer.

And then.

"It means what it sounds like. I am his connection to this world, a vessel, a recipient, an avatar. Call it whatever you like, he cannot walk this plane of existence as he is, it would disrupt the balance of everything as you know it. Solomon says he is not dead, at least not entirely, the Gods and the Wizard made a contingency plan in case someone ever managed to do this."

"They knew someone would explode him?" Green Lantern asked horrified.

"No, but from the moment the eternium was created, none of them was stupid enough to believe someone wouldn't find a way to use it against him. Which reminds me..." Billy turned to look at Batman with a dangerous look. "If you have collected any eternium, destroy it, you might have been lucky this time, Atlas says Eternity latched onto me on the last minute until Thavma's back, but if he dies, truly dies, trust when I tell you that what that will unleash upon the world, won't be pretty nor something anyone can stop for that matter."

The power vacuum would destroy the whole planet and rattle the entire multiverse, many things could go terribly wrong.

Batman held his gaze, Billy didn't so much as look away, he's dealt with enough adults in his life to have grown entirely desentized to the idea of feeling intimidated by them.

Plus.

Batman might be intimidating, but at the end, he was a hero, and incredibly soft with children. Billy had nothing to worry.

"Thavma?" That was what Batman chose to ask instead.

"Stands for Marvel in Greek." Was all Billy's explanation, for someone who had been centuries old and had lived thousands of lives, he had found it sad when he had first learnt that beyond Captain Marvel or Living Lightning, Thavma had had no name.

So Billy gave him one.

Because everyone deserved a name. He wasn't a weapon, a tool nor a thing. He was a person.

So he gave him a person's name.

"How can you bring him back? You said before you needed our help, how so?" Wonder Woman asked, wanting to go back to the main topic, because her brother was gone, and she couldn't bear the thought of it. If this boy could bring him back, she would do anything to make it happen.

"Solomon's told me Thavma resides within my blood, whatever that means, with the right spell, he can be brought back to life through it. But we need certain materials for that to work, specific things that represent each God that's tied to him. All their elements must be included. Three of those items must also have the energies from the big three."

"The big three?"

"Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, acts like a token if you will, so their magic keeps the spell from going wrong, the laws of magic can get extremely volatile if you try to mess with the Gods' magic. This way, the tokens will kind of serve as a sign that Olympus is aware and agrees with the ritual. A blessing that makes sure the necromancer, me in this case, doesn't resurrects a mindless evil. That the magic used stays pure and untainted."

"Alright, so how do we get these things? What do we need exactly?" Superman asks, he might not know much about magic nor be a big fan of it, but if this brought Marvel back, he would do anything he could, because the boy had been right.

He should have seriously listened to Marvel. Should have noticed something was wrong. He should have taken that laser beam, should have let Marvel be the one to attempt the sneak attack instead of being the distraction. It had all clearly been a trap.

Marvel had been the target.

And none of them had even noticed it until it was too late. What kind of friends or team were they, if they couldn't protect their own?

"We need 3 extra magic users, it's a much too big spell to do without help. I need them to help me stabilize it. And I want them to be Dr. Fate, Zatanna and Constantine." Billy told as a statement of fact, those were the only magic people he trusted to go anywhere near such sensitive spell.

The only people who wouldn't try to sabotage the spell or try to steal Thavma's magic.

"We can get Zatanna and Dr. Fate. But are you sure about Constantine?" Hawkwoman questioned, that man wasn't the most trustworthy person.

"Yes, I am sure. They are the only people with magic I will allow anywhere near this spell, they are powerful, and they won't try to sabotage the spell nor try to steal Thavma's magic." Billy's seen them through Marvel's eyes, they respected him, and while they grew nervous around Thavma at times, Billy was 100% sure they wouldn't hesitate to help him if he asked.

"Alright then, I will give them a call." Batman conceded, he wasn't about to argue with the kid, if he thought those three could be trusted with this, then so be it, plus, the idea of someone trying to steal Marvel's power didn't sound comforting at all. 

"Good, now for the ingredients." Billy picked up the notepad where he had written the list of things Solomon said would be needed for this. Materials the League could get and that would meet the requisites.

They got Thavma killed, this was the least they could do.

"For Solomon, we need an ancient book, like, seriously ancient, must have something in it that represents the air and must be of uncommon origin. He said Hawkwoman would be the answer." His words got the woman in question raising an eyebrow.

"Me?"

"Yes. Your civilization is connected to magic, your maze can disturb and repel magic. Your wings represent air. Also, he's seen the Thanagarian books you have got, he wants one with the feathers bookmarks."

"How the hell has he seen that?" Hawkwoman asks, her books were kept in her room, the few she had managed to bring with her from Thanagar, and she was quite sure no one has ever gone into her room aside from that time Diana tried to steal/borrow her maze.

So how the hell did this Solomon knew about that?

"He knows everything, he is Wisdom. He saw them when Thavma walked by your room when you were stepping out. He can see through his eyes, all of them can, they notice things he doesn't. But Solomon is the one who notices everything, and he wants that book. It's the oldest book on Earth, and it fits the requisites needed for an item that represent Solomon."

That was a disturbing piece of knowledge the League had to admit. There were six Gods watching them through Marvel.

"Fine, if that's what you need, you can have it." Hawkwoman conceded, she had many books anyways, and either so, losing a book was something she could live with if it meant Captain Marvel would be back.

The man could be a bit of a headache, but she liked him, he was one of the few people who could keep up with her while sparing, and also one of the few people she could speak with about magic.

"Good. Next one, for Heracles, an uncommon ancient armor that represents water. Aquaman comes from Atlantis, an ancient city which Poseidon's power protect." Billy said, glancing at the atlantean and narrowing his eyes. No one could tell him such ancient city didn't have thousands of ancient armors and God knows what else equally ancient.

But Heracles needed it to be an armor. So an armor had to be.

"Consider it done kid." Aquaman stated, he didn't have an issue with giving an armor up, there were dozens of them, ancient and some of them even of rare materials he was quite sure couldn't be found anywhere else.

Even his own armor came from an ancient king. 

"Great. The third ingredient is for Atlas, it must be a hard and uncommon material, metal that also represent earth. A piece from the fortress of solitude will more than enough, it's from another planet altogether and one of a kind, making it the rarest." Billy left out the fact where the main reason it was the rarest was because said planet no longer existed. Making it an even more valuable metal.

He was mad with the League, but that didn't meant he was about to bring up a whole planet's destruction because of it. That was just flat out cruel and uncalled for. Unnecessary. 

"Alright. I can do that." Superman agreed, he would give anything to bring Marvel back. He needed to apologize, to fix this since it could thankfully be fixed. "What else do we need?"

"Wonder Woman, as Zeus' daughter, you are more than qualified to put on the uncommon energy needed for him." Billy's words made Diana frown.

"How so?" Wonder Woman asked, confused, she had magic, but her magic has never seemed to be the kind of magic that could be actually used aside from those explosions of power she could unleash whenever she hit her arms together. Was that what he meant by the energy? Or was it something else?

"Zeus is a cryptic asshole, he didn't want you to be told this but for you to figure it out on your own, which I find seriously stupid, that's like expecting a bird to learn how to fly without actually bothering teaching them because 'it's in their nature they will figure it out'. Anyways, you can control lightning, surprise!"

Billy wasn't about to lie, saying that out loud felt cathartic, he had waited what felt like an eternity for Wonder Woman to figure it out or for Thavma to tell her, that anyone would notice that electricity always seemed to bend around her. 

But no one had noticed, she hadn't figured it out. And now she knew! Wonder Woman alongside Flash and Green Lantern were his favorites, they were always there for Marvel, and Wonder Woman had tried to call off the fight, too late, but at least she tried.

That was a point in her favor.

Meanwhile, Wonder Woman stared at him, and stared.

What?

"She can do what now?"

"Control lightning, most of Zeus' kids can do it, those who don't, can also do it. They just don't know it yet, because as I said, he likes being cryptic."

Billy's words just made Diana frown even more, she could control lightning? She stared at her hands, she did remember there had been some lightning on her arms when she fought against Ares.

But she had thought that had been an effect from her bracelets after using them to block Ares' magic.

And now it turns out she could control lightning? This was the Lasso of Truth all over again. Feeling like she was rediscovering how things worked.

"Don't worry, I can teach you how to use it, Zeus taught Thavma, and Thavma taught me." Billy told, giving her a thumbs up and a grin, and holy shit the kid had the exact same smile as Captain Marvel. 

Was that because he was Marvel's vessel/recipient/avatar? Was he just an adult version of the kid?

"Anyways, moving on, there's a sword that was blessed by Hades, swords represent courage. This sword will be for Achilles. Hades once told me Constatine has this sword, won it at a poker game with some demons. When you call him, ask him to bring the sword, that it's an order from the Champion Of Magic. He will be given a grimoire written by Thavma as compensation."

While Billy knew Constantine wouldn't protest against giving the sword if it was to resurrect the very being who controlled magic, he also knew how the man thought, and many magic users in general, he wanted to at least pay him back for the loss of an extremely rare item.

Paying him back could be helpful in the long run, and no one could say the Champion Of Magic abused his power over magic users. So what was more valuable than a grimoire written by the very being who's been present around magic since the beginnings of time? Same person that could bend the laws of magic and give it same as take it away?

Thavma has created spells that no one even knew of or would ever dream of creating. Spells made by his very signature, spells only he could cast and anyone who did every single step by the letter from the grimoire he had written them on.

Constantine could never claim the Champion Of Magic underpaid his help.

"The last one is Mercury, this one is trickier, but for what I have seen, I have no doubt you will be able to do it." Billy stated, looking directly at Flash.

"What do I need to do?" Flash asked, if his memory didn't fail him, he was pretty sure Mercury was the God who gave Marvel his speed, so it didn't particularly surprise him this one would fall on him.

"Lightning from the Speedforce. It's the closest thing to match his power, I have seen you use your speed to create lightnings, they come from the Speedforce, right? Do you think you could make a big one?" Billy questioned.

"Yeah, but... don't lightnings eventually fade? How are you gonna use it for a spell?" Flash asked, confused, he didn't knew much magic, but he knew science, and even Speedforce lightning disappeared.

And he couldn't imagine having to throw the lightning in the middle of the spell, he had heard Zatanna say once that those kinds of spells that required so much preparation had to be done very carefully, a single mistake could ruin the whole thing.

And Barry didn't particularly felt like being the one fucking up the possibility to bring Marvel back, even now, he still felt sick over the reminder, that his friend had died. How had they let things get so out of hand? How did they not notice that Captain Marvel was the target?

"I will need to get something from the Rock Of Eternity to trap the lightning in, I have just the thing."

"Is that all?" Batman asked, Billy nodded.

"Yes, that should be everything."

And boy did he hope they didn't take too long collecting what was needed. He was starting to feel the fatigue, he had to give it to Thavma, he never thought Eternity's magic could be this heavy. Felt like a golem was sitting on his chest.

With some hope, Thavma would be back by tomorrow.

Chapter Text

It's been over a week since Captain Marvel revealed to the League things that still got them thinking at times.

Years wanting to know more about him, and now that they did, it made them feel depressed.

Because the man was always so happy, always smiling, always willing to help anyone with anything.

To know his background was as it was... he hadn't even known his own name. Someone had just taken him from his world and thrown him into a completely different world where he had no one and had no idea who he was, for what? To get rid of Black Adam?

Whatever the reason, it didn't excuse what had been done to him, and Flash couldn't even hope to jump through the multiverse through the Speedforce because there were billions of other universes, it would take him forever to find the one universe where a Captain Marvel existed.

And that if the man had even gone with the same name, or even the same costume. He had no idea what he was suppose to look for.

It was frustrating.

But Marvel had said he was fine with it, even if it had clearly been a lie. But the last thing the League wanted to do was risk crossing a line or pushing too much.

So, they tried to act normal, go back to how things were...

And it would have worked, if Black Adam hadn't teamed up with Grodd of all possible things.

~

Billy's known from the moment he first woke up at the Rock Of Eternity, that his luck was trash.

So having Black Adam and Grodd teaming up wasn't surprising. It was very on his 'the universe hates Billy' alley.

What he didn't expect though, was for Black Adam to call him out on the fact that he wasn't from that world, how did the man even found that out? He had no idea, but Black Adam had casted a spell he didn't recognize, which weird, he knew every spell in existence.

The last thing he remembers is light engulfing him with the echoing shout of a voice that sounds a whole lot reminiscent of that of the Wizard's.

And then the world goes black.

~

Batman was the first one to wake up.

His last memories being those of Black Adam reciting something in an unknown language right after shouting about Captain Marvel not being from 'this world' and demanding him to go back to his own world.

And then the bright light had hit. God, he seriously hated magic.

He stood up, roaming his gaze around, narrowing his eyes as he realized them to be at the roof of a building. He first checked on everyone, counting heads to make sure no one was missing; Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkwoman, Martian Manhunter, Aquaman, Captain Marvel, all of them unconscious on the ground, but alive and unharmed.

Thus, he took it to walk up to the edge of the roof, the first he noticed, was that this was not Fawcett City. 

It looked like Fawcett City. But something in the very air felt wrong. In fact, the whole city looked wrong, the Fawcett City he had visited was bright, flooding with colors, noises and just something about the whole place that seemed to ooze a strange sense of warmth.

Disturbing for outsiders, not so much for its inhabitants, at least that's what he had gathered from his investigations. Zatanna had once told him it was the magic, Fawcett City had been built on top of one of the biggest leylines on the planet, making it a rich bottomless well of magic.

One of the most magical cities in the world.

To that add the fact that the Champion Of Magic lived in it. It was his presence what made grass and trees look greener, what made flowers bloom before their time, what made clean water and power run through even abandoned buildings. Why there would never pass more than a week without rain.

It was him the reason rain could cure simple diseases or injuries on the homeless and other people in general, the flu, cuts, broken bones, colds, headaches, migraines, poisoning, they would all disappear if the person stood under the rain.

Batman has studied the planet since Captain Marvel's first apparition. Those cities closest to Fawcett City also looked much more alive, greener, healthier.

Point was.

This place looked dead compared to what it should look like. Sick people, abandoned parks, chipped paint from the buildings, even the trees were incredibly dry, and so was the grass. Dead. As if it hadn't rained in a long time.

And there wasn't a single stray animal or animal in general in the city, no birds, no dogs, not even a single butterfly.

But what made realization hit was glancing at a billboard.

2015.

That wasn't right.

"I will send you straight to where you came from!"

Black Adam's words came back to him.

Ah.

He knew what this place was. Captain Marvel's original world.

"2015?" Flash was standing at his side, leaning onto the edge to look down, Batman yanked him back by the scruff.

"We should not let ourselves be seen. We do not know if we exist or not in this world nor if we pose a threat to this world." Batman states, he had been in worlds where the Justice League didn't exist, others were superpowers or heroes didn't exist but in comic books, and others were the League were the villains.

No need to raise attention to themselves.

The rest of the League was awake at this point, standing up and looking around. Except for Marvel who was still sitting on the ground and staring at God knows what with a frown. He reached out into the air, waving his hand around before frowning even more.

"Uh, buddy? You alright?" Green Lantern asked, noticing the odd behavior, he totally didn't flinch when Marvel's glowing eyes fell on him.

"Magic's dying." Was the ominous answer as he went back to waving his hand around, in fact, looked at it better, he seemed to be weaving something. Something only he could apparently see.

But again, Zatanna had once said he could see the fluctuations of magic, whatever that meant.

"Dying?" Batman asked, narrowing his eyes.

"More like agonizing, I can't explain it. I can't feel any leylines either, at least not in this city, it's like as if they had completely dried out and the magic's only coming from nature itself at this point, but even then, it's fading quickly. It's... it feels shredded? Like when you rip out something and it's left frayed?" Billy had no idea how to explain it, he has never seen anything like it.

Not even on grounds with dying magic.

The magic here... he could tell from a mile that they weren't in their world anymore, but one where magic was dying, where its source had been cut off from it, or more like torn away. Leaving it all frayed and agonizing.

The power needed to damage the magic of an entire world to this level... it was terrifying.

The planet itself was agonizing.

"What would that mean for this place?" Superman asked, he could feel it, there was an overwhelming sense of wrongness in the air. And he couldn't hear any animals around, not even the wind was blowing. The sky was grey, but there were no clouds.

And even the heartbeats he could hear were few, as if there were less than a thousand people. And the most unnerving fact was that he couldn't hear a single child in the city. But how could that be possible?

It was unsettling.

"I'm not sure. I have never seen something like this... the planet is agonizing, but it will recover, eventually... but the city... It's like the city itself is dying, magic would alter the balance if it were to disappear, but not to this extent."

Something else was killing the city, but what? 

"Billy, find the Rock Of Eternity, you must return back immediately." Solomon's sudden tense voice caught his attention, he tilted his head to the side, frowning.

"You know something about this?" He can't help but ask, at the League's looks he holds his finger up, he always tried to not answer back to any of the Gods' remarks whenever he was around the League. He knew it unsettled people to see him talking "alone".

But right now, he needed to know how come was a whole planet agonizing, an entire city dying, and he hadn't been made aware of that. Hadn't Shazam said it was his job to make sure the balance was kept? How was letting a whole planet die keeping the balance?

"You must go. That's all you need to know, the planet will be perfectly fine." Achilles interjected, he sounds cold, sharp, it made him narrow his eyes, what were they hiding from him now?

"Why?"

"Because you must." Atlas stated, leaving no room for argument, but Billy wasn't so easily persuaded.

"That's not an answer."

"Because you don't belong here! That's all you need to know." Zeus' thunderous voice snaps, anger burning in his voice, it burns so hot Billy feels it rush through his very veins. A deafening thunderclap splitting the sky above before lighting strikes on a nearby roof, Billy doesn't even flinch, unlike the League who clearly startle under the unexpected display.

"You seriously need to work on that temper. You know? Just because you are the God of Lightning it doesn't mean you get to make those tantrums."

"As if I care!" Billy rolled his eyes. And he was suppose to be the child here.

"Billy, all we do, we do it for your safety. You understand this, right?" Hercules' voice made him frown.

Of course he knew it, even if at times he hated being told what to do or having things be kept from him, he trusted the Gods, he knew that they all had his best interest at heart, they had shown many times that they cared about him, not because he was the Champion Of Magic. 

But because of just who he was.

Solomon didn't have to teach him things because he couldn't go to school. Achilles and Hercules didn't have to agree to his childish request of wanting to learn how to use a sword because he thought it would be cool, Mercury didn't have to lend him his speed as Billy Batson just so he could take big leaps at the lake and make giant splashes.

Zeus didn't have any need to let him use his lightning to do something as mundane as charge his phone. Nor Atlas let him use his stamina so he wouldn't get tired whenever he wanted to stay up late.

But all of them did, they were the closest thing to a family he would ever get.

Thus. He sighed.

"Fine, where's the door?"

"At the subway tunnels, this city is very similar to your Fawcett City. But do not fly over there, no one must see you. You cannot teleport either. Because of the state of this city, you cannot make big spells, the magic's insufficient, you must preserve your magic, we cannot risk you losing the transformation." Solomon told him, Billy nodded, finally standing up.

"Well, good news. I can take us back home. But we will have to walk there." He announced to the League, using his magic to materialize some civilian clothes based on what he's seen them wear as civilians in the past. "You should wear these, we don't want to attract attention to ourselves." He said, holding the pile of clothes out for them to take.

Using his own magic to change his costume for civilian clothes, a trick Solomon had taught him after he was expected to go undercover with Flash and Martian Manhunter. But his costume could not be removed. 

That's when he learnt he could alter his Captain Marvel's costume using magic. He still messed up sometimes, like that time he just changed the upper half, leaving him with a red and yellow shirt and Captain Marvel's lower half of the costume.

At least now he didn't mess it up, red jeans, yellow sneakers and a red long sleeved shirt with yellow cuffs.

"I know you can't really change the color, but you seriously need to work on the style, that's worse than the obnoxiously yellow shirt with the red stripes." Flash said, grabbing some clothes from the pile.  

"That shirt looked just fine." Marvel defended.

"Dude, you need glasses." Green Lantern told, shaking his head before de-transforming, the only one with his civilian clothes at hand.

Marvel snickered.

After the League had changed into civilian clothes and Marvel had put on a glamour on Hawkwoman to hide her wings, they left the roof, courtesy of the ones who could fly taking the ones who couldn't down onto the alley by the building.

The streets looked almost barren, just a few people walking around despite the fact that it seemed to be noon, there weren't even many cars. 

"This place gives me the creeps." Hawkwoman mutters as a man who walks past the group gives them a long ominous look that seems to take a bit too long on Marvel.

"You said before that the city is dying, don't you think we should try to do something?" Superman said, Marvel frowned. Yes, why did he not revisit that fact?

"It cannot be saved. Its inhabitants doomed it themselves when they chose to stab on the back the same Gods who served them." Atlas' ominous words made Billy frown. Was that resentment he was hearing from the God?

Still.

"Atlas says it cannot be saved, that its inhabitants doomed it themselves when they chose to stab on the back the same Gods who served them." He relayed.

"What is that suppose to mean?" Aquaman questioned, Marvel shrugged.

"Don't know, they won't tell me."

"You do are aware that this isn't a random world, right?" Batman asked, Grodd and Black Adam hadn't thrown them in here at random, this was Captain Marvel's home world. He was sure of it.

The agonizing magic and dying city raised many questions, had Black Adam not been the motive for Captain Marvel to come into their world? Could there have been possibly another reason? And what did he meant by stabbing Gods on the back? Was the city's dying state because of the Gods? Something was missing here. But what?

Captain Marvel halted, looking at him with a confused expression. So did the others. Had they seriously not paid attention to anything Black Adam had said? 

"This is your home world. Your city." Batman stated, Marvel stared at him, Batman stared back. "Are you sure you are fine by just leaving it to die without trying to save it?"

"They deserve no saving!" A deafening thunderclap of lightning split the sky above, several street lamps and windows across the street exploding into a million pieces, sending a few passersbys running with frightened screams.

Billy couldn't help but flinch this time, bringing his hands up on reflex to cover his ears, the booming voice from Zeus feeling way louder and infuriated than he's ever heard it before.

"Dude what the hell?" Flash whispered, his voice beyond mortified as the League stared at the glass scattered all over the sidewalk and street. 

"That wasn't me. It was-"

"Zeus." Wonder Woman finished for him, giving Marvel a narrowed look, she would recognize her father's anger anywhere. Her father was a man hard to anger, even more so to the point of having him showing that rage in the form of thunder.

But this made it two already. Two displays of raw anger, in less than an hour. Why? Last she saw him threatening to split the skies apart with his rage had been three years ago, while in Fawcett City that abnormal thunderstorm had been raging, in the middle of the Atlantic, an even worse thunderstorm had been raging.

He had been beyond furious. Talking about ungrateful scoundrels, traitors and how their actions should be paid with slow suffering, for them to see their deaths coming and know that there was nothing to be done about it.

At the time, Diana had thought he had been spilling things in the heat of the moment, everyone said things they didn't meant when angry. Her father was a good man, in his own way, he had reformed.

But this... He had shown his anger when Marvel had asked about something. And then now after Batman's words... Did he have something to do with this world's lack of magic and the city's agonizing state?

"Captain, what are the Gods saying about this city's state?" She asks, her answer is an uncomfortable look as he tries to look anywhere but at them.

"... They... don't really care, they keep insisting that I must leave immediately, and Zeus... He has some strong opinions about this place."

"You don't say." Hal mutters, glancing at the mess of broken windows and lampposts across the street.

"We cannot just leave this people to die. There must be something to be done about it." Superman said, he couldn't just abandon a whole city to die, it wasn't right. He couldn't on a good conscience leave.

He just couldn't. 

Another booming thunderclap was heard above, this time, lightning struck dangerously close to Superman who reflexively jerked back. Marvel groaned, clutching his head.

"Dude, will you stop with the shouting already?! And stop calling down lightning, you are gonna hurt someone." Marvel snapped.

"What did he say?" Batman questioned, he hated that he couldn't understand what was happening.

Marvel didn't answer.

"Captain?" Superman asked, feeling like his heart was starting to slow back down. Lightning from Marvel was never pleasant. His lightning was magic, meant it could harm him. His lightning which came from Zeus. He didn't want to know how it would feel like to be struck directly by Zeus' lightning.

"You don't want to know." Was Marvel's answer, he looked like even he was having trouble swallowing whatever was it that Zeus might have said. "But they say that the planet will be fine once it settles into its new non-magical state, and that while the city is dying, those who are innocent are free to go."

"Free to go? As in these people are trapped here?" Flash asks, horror written on his face. Marvel doesn't answer, he seems just as confused about his own words.

"There are 878 people as of now in this city, 878 of which 50 are children. Nothing excuses taking the life of children." Martian Manhunter said, he had been quiet since their arrival, studying the city's minds, but many minds he couldn't read, and some others were as if he were trying to look past broken glass.

And he couldn't read any minds outside the city. It was as if there was a giant dome on the city, keeping everything else out.

"They won't die even if the city dies, they will just be forced to move away, the ones who can't leave are the ones who participated in anyway in stabbing the Gods." Marvel said, he seemed to be relaying whatever was it that he was hearing, growing increasingly confused if not a bit judgemental by the minute 

As if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Dude, that is so messed up. What did these people even do?" Green Lantern asked, because what the hell would lead six Gods to grow incredibly resentful of a whole city to the point of trapping the culprits inside while also killing the city?

"Don't know, they won't say, they just keep insisting that we really need to leave."

"Then we should leave." Diana states to the collective surprise.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"No one can change a God's mind, even less Zeus', not even me. If he's doing this, there must be a reason, I know that no one who isn't the cause of his anger will be hurt. I'm not agreeing to what he is doing, but sometimes, it's best to not interfere with the Gods' doings, not if it's of this magnitude, Gods haven't interfered with humans' affairs in centuries, if they are doing this, it means something awful must have been done, something we are better off not interfering with." Wonder Woman states, she wasn't sure of the cause, but if six Gods were targeting the whole place, it couldn't be good.

What had these people done to gain the wrath of six Gods? She could tell, that her father has kept rain from coming this place for years now, she knew it in the complete lack of the tendrils of magic left in the aftermath of every rain.

Meanwhile, the rest of the League frowned at her words, on one side, it didn't felt right to just turn their backs to these people, no one deserved to die. 

But on the other hand, none of them knew a single thing about this world, they didn't knew what had happened, magic was dying, the planet was agonizing because of it, and the whole city was apparently cursed.

And for a world that was meant to be Captain Marvel's home world, the few people who had passed them on the streets hadn't reacted to him at all. Yeah, he wasn't wearing a costume, but the colors in his clothes and his face should be a dead give way.

He didn't use a mask.

Point was, none of them knew anything. Should they leave? Or should they try and help? But fighting against six Gods didn't seem reasonable.

Even less if said Gods were the ones who gave Marvel his powers, same man not even Superman could take down. 

"Can we at least walk around before leaving?" Flash asks, he didn't want to leave without at least attempting to make reason of this place, of why had a whole city been cursed. Marvel said innocents were free to go, that those who didn't participate in stabbing the Gods on the back wouldn't suffer harm.

But what did that meant? Were it actual innocents or were people's innocence based on the Gods' own speculations? He needed to know at least who was he giving his back to.

And he knew he wasn't the only one.

"Alright." Marvel conceded, Billy pointedly ignored the Gods' protests against it, tuning them out. What could he say? He was curious to know about this place, what was making the Gods do this.

Maybe he shouldn't be so calm with the idea of people being hurt, but sadly, as the Champion Of Magic, his job had very ugly sides to it, sides he hoped the League never learnt of.

Point was, if the Gods themselves claimed people here didn't deserve saving... something huge must have happened. But what?

He wanted to know what were the Gods hiding, why would they curse a whole city and never tell him a planet's whole magic had been agonizing.

Chapter Text

A week.

That's how long it's been since the League saw or heard of Marvel.

In hindsight, it should have been expected after having made him speak about those kind of memories, they had been so curious over knowing about those versions of them he had met, that they hadn't stopped to think about the harm they were doing by asking about what were clearly very sensitive memories.

All of them were more than familiar with what this job brought with it, watching so much death and destruction... it wasn't just something they could sweep under the rug.

 Post-traumatic stress disorder was a real thing among heroes, no one was exempt from it. No matter how good some of them might be at dealing with it or hiding it.

But the hypocrite thing was, that somehow, they had never quite realized nor believed that Captain Marvel could suffer from it.

The man was cheerful, he was all smiles, had been so from the moment he joined them.

But taken into perspective with that woman, Mary's words alongside his behavior. 

There was no doubt, Captain Marvel did suffer from PTSD. And as life would have it, Superman and Wonder Woman were a big part of it, the whole Justice League for that matter. 

Because while Superman and Wonder Woman were the ones who got the biggest reactions. Throughout the years, the League had noticed his odd behavior towards them, it wasn't consistent, just a fleeting reaction of the moment.

Like avoiding looking at them if someone was injured, or those random moments where he would flat out refuse to so much as look at Aquaman, he refused with tooth and nail being anywhere near the Young Justice or the batkids.

Something that made many of the young heroes very annoyed, others depressed. The few times one of the younger ones had managed to sneak up on the Captain...

Batgirl had once approached him at the cafeteria, those who had been there had seen him refuse to even look at her. Had ended up flat out teleporting out of there even though Batman had made quite clear to magic users to not teleport in or out of the Watchtower. That they needed to know who was in the Watchtower and who wasn't.

Point was, his strange behavior towards them all has been there from the moment he arrived, it got less noticeable with time. But it was still there.

He avoided people, avoided looking at others, and he had the habit to not be able to meet people's eyes at times, he would flinch, slump and walk away.

If looked with their new knowledge in mind... somehow, someway, all of those actions were related to whatever was it that had happened to him in those other worlds. 

It made them wonder... how many lives had he had? How many Justice Leagues had he met? How many of the people he cared about had he watched die?

It made his never-ending smiles and childish behavior all the more impacting. Because how could someone still keep such happiness and positive outlook in life after going through such horrors?

It made him all the more amazing. He seriously was stronger than any of them ever gave him credit for.

And maybe, just maybe, his childish behavior was more a way for him to cope with everything.

And then Mary appeared at the Watchtower. 

~

Mary had been finally starting to relax, to feel like after so long, she might have a chance at starting anew, with her brother. He was much older than when she last saw him, something that filled her with happiness, because he had managed to grow, was still growing. Alive. 

It did pain her that the rest of her siblings weren't here, Billy had told her they didn't exist here, he had looked everywhere for them, but not even Rosa or Victor seemed to exist.

It broke her heart to know he had been all alone this whole time, growing in the streets for he refused to live at the Rock Of Eternity, until he finally managed to land a job with an understanding man who didn't report him to the CPS. He even had his own apartment. It made her proud, to see him doing so well despite all. And that's he's never lost himself.

He had grown too, she noticed, he didn't let his respect nor admiration for others blind him into letting them mistreat him. Like the Superman in her Earth had done.

Billy had looked up to him, he had been his idol. And because of it, he let himself think that what Superman was doing was right, he had become rash, would argue very easily with their siblings, but at the end, he had seen the error of his ways, and he had gotten killed for speaking up.

But now she had him back, and he had become even more rebellious, stubborn, he stood for what was right, even if he was standing alone. 

She was proud of him. And she would whatever it took to protect him this time around, she was no longer weak, she would never let anyone take him away from her, he would get to grow up this time around. 

And still...

Right now, she has never felt so frustrated. Because it's been over a week. 

A week since Billy hasn't woken up, she even called upon lightning, a huge enough bolt to trigger his transformation.

But not even as Captain Marvel had he woken up.

She had brought him to the Rock Of Eternity, she knew he wouldn't like being there, but she didn't had any other ideas, but no matter the amount of spells she did, she couldn't wake him up or even get into his mind.

It was like he had completely shut off from the world.

She should have known something wasn't right, he had come back from the Watchtower looking upset, hadn't said a word to her even as she asked, all he had done was sit with her on the couch and ask for a hug. She had hugged him all afternoon, but he hadn't said a word on what he might have spoken about with the Justice League.

The Justice League. They were always the problem, they might have been good with him, his friends, a family even, in those universes where they were all Billy had.

But after Darkseid... And then the Amazonian/atlantean war, the regime.

The League had gone from being a group of people who made him feel safe and at home, to people who reminded him of things she wished he could forget.

Because he was a child, it wasn't until Mary became an adult that she realized how small he had been, how small children were in general. It had made her realize how incredibly messed up it all was, for a Wizard to grant a boy powers and throw the weight of existence itself on his shoulders.

She didn't care if he was technically ancient, with more than a thousand past lives, he was her brother. It became her problem the moment he was first born as her brother. And regardless of how ancient he was, he wasn't an adult in a boy's body, his mind genuinely worked on the same page as the age he looked like.

And she hated it. Because he didn't deserve any of the horrors being Captain Marvel had brought him.

Now he was unconscious.

And she couldn't wake him up. Her brother needed her help and she couldn't help him at all.

It got even worse, because there was still an option. One that made her blood boil, because they were the ones who drove him into this state. She just knew it. He had been fine until he went to the Watchtower. 

She curled her fingers into fists, frustrated, it didn't matter her personal feelings, right now, she needed to ask the League for help. There was only one remaining option on how to wake him up.

Thus.

Giving her brother one last look, she teleported to the Watchtower.

~

"Holy shit-!" Flash almost jumped out of his chair when the woman materialized in the meeting room, a woman with a very familiar mask.

"You are coming with me." She stated, her voice hard and leaving no room for argument.

The League didn't even got to ask or even speak at her words, because all of a sudden, they were no longer at the Watchtower but in a giant cave, several creepy statues of stones wearing stupid clothes, sunglasses, hats and even glitter and stickers.

There was even an old game from an arcade. A giant flat screen, dozens of lamps and Christmas lights, the word 'LAIR' in big multicolored letters, a sealed with glowing sigils door from which a sign hung, a sign in the shape of a heart with glitter words written on it 'Home Closet', a board filled to the brim with articles about... them.

Or well, some were, some others were from them, but they weren't them. Superman would definitely remember having met a seemingly zoombified version of himself who seemed particularly happy in the picture and was half hugging him.

But what caught their attention were the six thrones of stone across the room, a giant lightning bolt painted on the wall above the thrones. A very familiar lightning bolt. One of the thrones had a stuffed unicorn sitting on it.

"What is this place?" Wonder Woman asked as she turned to look at the woman, she could feel the magic tingling in the air, ancient and familiar.

"The Rock Of Eternity, but I didn't call you here just so you could stand there and watch, I don't like you, but I have tried everything and you are all I have left."

"What are you talking about?" Hawkwoman asked as the group watched the woman make her way up to the larger couch, circling it, the League instinctively moved closer, having the feeling there was something on the couch.

Which there was.

Diana's eyes flashed at the sight of Marvel's unconscious body.

"What have you done to him?" She demanded, anger in her voice as she pulled her sword out, pointing it at the other woman.

"Me? You did this!" Mary snapped, swatting the sword away, glaring at the group. "You had to go and pry on things you shouldn't! So now, you are going to help me bring my brother back. And trust me when I tell you, that if he doesn't wake up, I will erase you lot from the face of the Earth." Mary promised, eyes cold, she knew Billy had loved them all too much, reason he even joined them even in this world, even after their other variants did to him.

But she couldn't just let them keep on with their lives, not if they were the reason she lost him once again.

"Wait. Brother?" Flash repeated, surprised.

"Not in this world. But that doesn't matter, from the moment he was first born as my brother, any other world he is reborn in, he will still be so. And I will kill anyone who hurts him." Mary knew, in a way, that she had become the one thing she had fought against once, to take lives... that wasn't right. Part of her knew it.

But growing up in a world where the regime led... where she had to watch her siblings die.

It had hardened her heart towards the world. Filled her with resentment towards heroes... because everything was taken from her by the League. Her childhood, her brother, her family, everything.

"What's happened to him?" Batman ends up asking, his attention falling on Captain Marvel, he didn't seem injured, he almost looked as if he were sleeping.

Just for the little detail where he didn't sleep. He had said so himself, Atlas' stamina didn't allow him to grow tired.

Also. There was a glowing gold co-web spread across his temple.

"... He was overwhelmed. Shazam said that his magic must have reacted to his emotional state, the closest thing to define his current state would be a magical comma, he's now trapped in his own mind. The only way to bring him out, is to look for him inside his head."

That...

It made some of the League feel sick, guilt plummeting on them. Regret. Because she was right. They had kept up asking and asking even though it was clearly upsetting to him. Why hadn't he stopped them if it had been enough to send him into this state? Why did he keep answering? 

It didn't make sense. Why would he let himself be put in such position? He could have said something, they knew better than anyone the horrors of PTSD, they would have understood and would have stopped before it got so far.

"He repels magic, spells won't work, and I can't get the Gods who lend him their powers to speak. So I figured, that if there was someone who could go into his mind without the use of magic and bring him out...." She glanced at Martian Manhunter.

"I cannot enter his mind." J'onzz said, he had tried before, on Batman's request to see if the man was truly trustworthy, but he had been unable to so much as glimpse into his head. It weren't distracting thoughts as Batman's to shield the important thoughts. It wasn't glitched like Constantine's mind either nor static like Jason Blood's. 

He just couldn't read anything. It was as if he didn't exist in the same room as him, absolute silence. He was the one person he could never hear coming.

"You can. Shazam has agreed to put down the wards that hide and protect the Champion's mind from others. You will have free access to his mind, temporarily." Something Mary didn't like at all, even less because she couldn't go in with them. 

She hated it.

"I cannot go into his mind, we are not from the same universes, our magic clash. But I'm warning you, try to look for things you shouldn't just to satisfy your curiosity, and I will break your spine." She didn't bother hiding her glare at Batman.

"We won't. He's our friend, and we did this, so we will fix it." Superman stated solemnly. He felt horrible, to know that they had drove Marvel to this, that he's been like this for over a week.

Mary glared at them, even with a mask on, her eyes alone were enough to drive the message, of how unhappy she was with this whole thing.

And the naked hatred she felt for them. Not even villains had looked at them with that kind of hatred, and this one stung, because she was apparently Marvel's sister. Captain Marvel's sister who hated them to the core for things their variants had done.

It made them wonder... how bad had it been? To gain such hatred...

~

Martian Manhunter had to admit it had felt somewhat wrong to enter Captain Marvel's mind, even if it was to save him, it still felt wrong.

He had brought the others, because sometimes, it took more than one person to wake someone up from these kind of situations let alone find them.

But he never quite expected to come to a mind of absolute darkness. 

"Shouldn't there be something here?" Green Lantern asks, he's been in other people's minds, their line of job had led them to be in the weirdest of situations.

And no one's mind has ever looked like this.

Almost as if to answer his question, a blurred image materializes before them, muddled voices...

Then it clears up.

And the League sucks in a sharp breath.

"Shit. Is that Apokolips world?" Flash asks to no one in particular, taking an instinctual step back.

"With paradooms." Superman notices, feeling sick to the stomach, he has never seen so many paradooms in one place.

But what shocks the League to the core is what happens when the memory finally becomes crystal clear.

There's them, some of their variants. Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter. Fighting paradooms. But there's also Mera, Zatanna, Constantine and another two none of them can recognize, but one of them seems to be a cyborg and the other one's clearly Thanagarian.

And there's also Captain Marvel.

But what makes their blood run cold is watching as the paradooms manage to overpower Wonder Woman, one of them tearing off the arm she was holding the sword with without an ounce of mercy, blood spraying everywhere. Her scream sending shivers down their spines.

"Diana!" Captain Marvel's shout makes their hairs stand on end, watching as he tried to go towards her just for several paradooms to slam into him, one of them swinging its claws right across his face, taking one eye with it, all as another paradoom ripped his leg right off.

And in one of the most successive and gruesome twists of all. All of them fell very slowly and right infront of them all.

The Hawkman was intercepted mid-air, paradooms tearing his wings out from his back, his screams agonizing as blood sprayed everywhere.

Aquaman was ripped in half, blood and guts spilling everywhere.

Martian Manhunter was set on fire, the echo of his screams deafening.

Mera's skull was ripped in half as the paradooms dug their claws onto her head, the pain and horror in her eyes raw.

Green Lantern's shield explode into a million pieces of glowing green, paradooms stabbing right through him with their long claws. Right behind him, paradooms intercept Flash, several spear-looking bones piercing him right through his legs and abdomen.

"Shazam! You must go back to Earth. Alert the Teen Titans!" The Cyborg shouts, raising his hand, a giant white portal opening at the action.

A giant white portal from which Captain Marvel barely manages to fly right through.

The memory goes black, leaving the League feeling cold, beyond horrified, unable to comprehend any of what they had just seen.

Because this. This. This is what all of them had been asking about, this. A war in which Captain Marvel had had to watch his teammates die right before him. A fight from which he barely escaped alive. 

God, how had he even managed to speak at all? No wonder he ended up as he was. If they made him relive this horrifying day.

Was this the reason he couldn't stand to watch them covered in blood? Why would he sometimes not meet their eyes? Because it reminded him of this day? How did he even do it? To always smile at them, when there was the high possibility that their faces alone were enough to remind him of that horrifying day?

God.

Another blurred image appeared, making their stomachs turn, nausea heavy, even more so as the first thing that registered were the broken sobs.

And then there it was, one of the worst possible sights the League has ever set their gazes upon.

The Teen Titans' tower was destroyed, on the ground, Blue Beetle was, a giant gaping hole on his chest, a pool of blood right beneath him. Not too far away, Starfire was at, her body ripped in half, guts and blood spilled everywhere. Bumblebee was also there, dead, two crowbars sticking out from her back.

But the one that got Flash's legs growing weak to the point where he dropped on his knees as ice set on his stomach was the sight of who Captain Marvel was holding. 

Kid Flash.

With legs destroyed and blood trailing down his mouth, eyes empty.

"No." It wasn't Flash who said it.

Batman was.

Because Nightwing was there. With a pool of blood underneath him, a gaping hole on his chest and his eyes empty.

The Teen Titans had been killed. And that... it gave a whole new meaning to Captain Marvel's absolute avoidance of them all. He had seen them all dead. Had been asked to find them, all to find them all dismembered and dead.

"Darkseid killed them. He killed them all." Flash said, voice thick with emotion as he found himself unable to stop looking at Kid Flash. He didn't recognize the kid, but he didn't need to to know that that child, in that universe, had also been related to him, the costume said it all.

He could have been his son, his nephew, hell, even his grandkid, and he got killed. The boy couldn't have been older than 13. And he got killed in a war he should have never had to fight in. And Barry could do nothing but mourn a child he didn't even know.

No wonder Marvel avoided Kid Flash, the Teen Titans and Young Justice in general. He had seen them die, not them in particular. But them still.

God... He wanted to throw up.

"They were just children." Wonder Woman found herself saying, looking at the corpses of the very children she's watched grow these past years, she knew those weren't the same ones she had watched grow, at times, even babysit. But it still hurt all the same. 

She glanced at Nightwing, and she couldn't help but rest her hand on Batman's shoulder.

"It's not Richard, none of them are our Teen Titans. Ours are still safe, alive."

"It doesn't change the fact that somewhere, in another universe, they all died because we weren't strong enough to stop Darkseid." Green Lantern said somberly. No one could say anything against that. Because he was right.

The memory went dark, disappearing altogether. Leaving them all feeling numb, suddenly, many things were starting to make sense, why was Marvel the way he was with the Young Justice and the Teen Titans. Maybe, it was much harder to look at them, after having watched them die...

Another blurred image appeared, this time, thunder could be heard. And it cleared just in time for Captain Marvel to be seen flying towards a tower-looking thing, the slash on his face scarred over, the eye the paradooms had scratched was blind now, and his missing leg had been replaced by a leg made entirely of lightning. 

That would have been a fascinating sight if the League hadn't been feeling so depressed. His eyes crackle with electricity before he flies right through the tower.

Right above the tower Black Bat flies, fighting paradooms. Batgirl and Batwoman are on the platform fighting paradooms alongside a much older looking but unmistakable Superboy.

At first, the fight seems to be going fine, until a paradoom shoots down Black Bat who plummets to the ground in a cloud of smoke. An unfamiliar woman of purple/pinkish skin crashes what looks a whole lot like Constantine's House of Mysteries against the tower, seemingly in an attempt to destroy it.

It doesn't work.

A paradoom sends Batwoman off the tower, she plummets to the ground.

Superboy is fighting, but there are too many paradooms, even for him. One grabs him from behind, fingers clasping around his neck.

"No!" Superman's words are useless and so is his attempt at reaching out, for he goes right through the image, and Superboy's neck is snapped. He freezes.

Captain Marvel screams in rage and desperation, but he can't do anything for he is swarmed by paradooms. 

Batgirl is still fighting, until she is grabbed, and Bruce finds his heart dropping as he watched as the girl he had grown to love as his own was torn apart, her screams are loud, haunting, as the paradooms ate her alive. 

And for a moment, it gets too much, first Nightwing, then Black Bat, and Batwoman, and now Batgirl? It was too much. He feels like he is standing infront of Jason's lifeless body once again, knowing that he wasn't there to protect him. Where had the Batman in that world been at? Why would he send them all to what was clearly a suicidal mission?

The purple/pink woman's pained scream echoes as a laser beam from one of the paradooms decimated her.

And Captain Marvel was still fighting, he looked exhausted and like he was barely hanging on, throwing punches and kicks all over the place with no coordination whatsoever but just the plain urge to stay alive, but the paradooms end up swarming him, overpowering him.

"No."

Diana's horrified gasp is all that is heard as the group watches horrified as the sea of paradooms swarm Marvel.

And then.

"Shazam!"

That last scream is filled with nothing but raw desperation and fear.

A lightning bolt strikes down onto the sea of paradooms, exploding it all. And the memory goes black.

Chapter Text

"We fucked up. Didn't we?" Flash asks to no one in particular, he was sitting cross legged on the ground, staring at the infinite darkness that was Captain Marvel's mind.

Captain Marvel who watched his friends get killed infront of him. Was forced to leave them behind. See the same children he had been meant to back up dead. Watch even more of his friends die while he was unable to help them. And then got eaten alive.

And the League had insisted on knowing about that. Had forced him to remember these nauseating memories. How the hell was the man still sane? Fuck, Flash felt sick, like he might throw up.

Because he knew better than anyone, the horrors of watching completely fucked up things that only he would ever remember, to have to act as if nothing were wrong. But this... God... this was beyond insane, a world where Darkseid won, where practically every hero had died.

And Marvel had to live with those memories, regardless of the amount of times he was reborn, he would always have those memories. It was fucked up.

"We did not know it was this bad." Hawkwoman defended lamely, but even if she said that, she knew, that they might have crossed a line. They should have stopped asking the moment he stopped looking at them in the eye.

She had seen many deaths in her lifetime, many wars and destruction, but nothing as bizarre and bloody as this.

"It doesn't change the fact that we brought it up. And that now he is somewhere in here. Hiding. Because of us." Superman stated as a matter of fact, still staring at the never-ending darkness, he felt sick. To watch his teammates die such gruesome deaths... Young Justice and the Teen Titans. Jon.

It made him feel like he might throw up, his son had been killed in another universe. Where had the Superman in that world been at? Where had he been that he had let Captain Marvel, Batgirl, Jon, Batwoman, Black Bat and that other heroine go into a suicidal mission? But Captain Marvel had said so himself.

All of them had been aware it was a suicidal mission, but they had still done it. And Clark felt like breaking something, screaming, because that should have never been an option. Sacrificing people to gain time? He understood it had been a war, and that in a war, there were casualties.

But they were not just people, they had been family, friends. Hypocritical or not, he would never knowingly send his family or friends on a suicidal mission. So why had that Superman agreed to it? Where had he been while all that happened?

Captain Marvel said the Flash from that universe restarted the timeline, but it didn't change the fact that all of that had happened.

"We must move on. He is not in those memories, I feel him in this direction, but still not enough to get a hang of him." J'onzz said, trying to not think too much about anything, but he would be lying if he were to say watching those memories hadn't sparked respect in him towards the Captain.

For him to be able to smile and stay positive despite having lived through such of horrors, of watching those he cared about die right infront of him... to be unable to do anything about it.

It hit close to home that one. He understood the guilt, the anger, the frustration... And he wondered how the Captain dealt with it, because it was clear he still suffered from it. But he was always so collected.

Still.

He pulled through the sea of darkness, reaching out for the memories he could feel, once used to it, it was easy to realize that while his mind was dark, the memories were there, he just had to know what to look for, still felt like feeling around in the dark.

An image began materializing, blurred, as it clears, it's to show Flash, or well, he looks like Flash, but his costume seems more futuristic, armor type kind of futuristic. Barry has to admit he likes the design.

And there, standing with him, is Captain Marvel, though his costume is different, it was still red, but it had more black accents to it, his torso was red with a larger lightning bolt down the center. The sides of his costume are black, and he wore a black hooded cape. He had a modified gold belt and gauntlets too. Looked more like an armor than anything.

"That is one freaking cool costume." Green Lantern conceded.

"Isn't that Atlantis?" Hawkwoman wonders out loud, she isn't quite sure of the reason, but something about that Flash and Captain Marvel give her the creeps, their faces are innocent but their eyes are not.

It's not a look she's ever seen on Barry or Marvel before.

"It's." Aquaman states, smiling proudly at the sight of Atlantis, even if it looked somewhat different than his own, it still comforted him to know there was another Atlantis out there, still very much safe.

Then a man enters the throne room where Marvel and Flash are at. His hair is shorter, and blond, but his armor is unmistakable. Aquaman.

"Flash! Shazam! Welcome!" Alternate Aquaman greets with a smile, prompting the other two to give him a bow, and while Captain Marvel and Flash had the habit to joke with Aquaman giving him playful bows whenever they went to Atlantis, some thing about this one felt less playful and more respectful. 

"I thought Shazam was the name of the Wizard who gave him his powers, and the word he speaks to call that big ass lightning." Green Lantern wonders out loud, second time of having heard someone refer to Marvel as 'Shazam'. 

"Maybe he chose it as his name to honor the Wizard." Diana states, watching with narrowed eyes the memory playing out before her, she wasn't sure why, but something gave her a bad feeling here.

"Your Highness. It's an honor to meet you." Captain Marvel's words at least confirm that the bow hadn't been a playful one.

"And to be the first surface people to visit Atlantis." Alternate Flash speaks, making Arthur smile, well, at least that other Aquaman had been smart, to allow the first surface people to visit Atlantis to not be a potential risk to the people.

"Yes. We have important matters to discuss. The treaty." Alternate Aquaman said, that makes the League frown, but what makes their blood run cold is alternate Flash's next words as he pulls out some papers.

"The final draft. Superman is glad you've agreed to his terms."

"Superman's terms?" Clark repeats, feeling confused and like his stomach was turning, why did he had a horrible feeling about this? This was clearly a different world, Marvel's costume said it all. Anything was possible. And he's met evil versions of himself before.

And while an evil Flash could be possible, why was Marvel there then? If the Justice League was evil in that world why would he join them if he very much remembered his past lives? And why would Superman go after Aquaman? That has never happened before, all the evil Justice Leagues had been a team. None of them had tried to kill each other or attack each other.

"May I?" Alternate Aquaman requests, holding his hand out as he asks for the papers Alternate Flash was holding. He gives them to the atlantean who takes them and opens them, walking away from them distractely as he reads, suddenly, his calm expression changes to one of absolute rage.

As if noticing Marvel steps forward.

"Is there a problem, Your Highness?" His expression is calm, but his voice, to the League's twisting stomachs, seems to hold a hidden threat.

Alternate Aquaman spins around, rage blazing in his eyes as he holds the papers up.

"This is complete subjugation. Superman will rule Atlantis!"

Clark feels his stomach give a violent twist at alternate Aquaman's words. Alternate Superman was seriously evil, and he for some reason wanted Atlantis. He felt sick, he would never try to do something like that, to rule people, let alone try to steal his friend's place in the throne. He would never wish to take Atlantis away from Arthur.

Aquaman at his side patted his shoulder as if to give him the silent knowledge to not take it to heart, that was another universe. But that didn't comfort Clark at all.

"It's what you agreed to. It's what we expect." Alternate Flash states sharply, making Barry flinch.

"You threaten me? Tread carefully." Alternate Aquaman warns, voice growing dangerous.

"We have our orders." Alternate Flash states, and without reason at all, the League watches in horror as alternate Flash and Captain Marvel pounce at Alternate Aquaman who masterfully manages to dodge them, Marvel's lightning hitting alternate Flash as its target suddenly disappeared. 

And then alternate Aquaman honest to God hits Marvel seemingly hard enough yo knock him out.

"Holy shit dude." Green Lantern whispers under his breath, completely flabbergasted, because fucking Aquaman knocked out the same guy not even Superman could knock out. So either Arthur had been holding back on them or that alternate Aquaman was on a whole new level. Or maybe Marvel was weaker there. Anything was possible.

Alternate Flash manages to use his speed and land some punches until alternate Aquaman holds him and knocks him down.

"You can tell Superman... HE WILL NOT HAVE ATLANTIS!!!" Alternate Aquaman roars, a rage like none other in his eyes, alternate Flash pounces back, but alternate Aquaman, as if predicting his movements, knocks him out without hesitation. "Your orders be damned."

At that moment alternate Captain Marvel wakes up, shooting lightning at alternate Aquaman without hesitation, Marvel who has never used his lightning on any living being. Ever. And now...

"Let's not take this any further. I want to talk to Superman." Alternate Aquaman tries to reason, making alternate Captain Marvel scoff.

"You don't 'talk' to Superman! You do what he wants! And you're gonna do what you promised." Alternate Captain Marvel's voice is dangerous on the last note, and so are his eyes, the man who attacks alternate Aquaman is unfamiliar, cruel and merciless.

And still, because of being underwater, it's clear he isn't at his strongest, and of course alternate Aquaman takes advantage of it, managing to overpower him as he throws his trident at him, successfully knocking him down. Before alternate Marvel tries to get up, alternate Aquaman puts on a final blow into his face, knocking him out unconscious.

The memory goes dark, leaving the League completely flabbergasted. 

For what they managed to get, in that world, Superman was the boss, and somehow, someway, Captain Marvel had still joined him, why? Didn't he have his past memories? Of all the times he was a hero. Why would he turn to the dark side there? It didn't make sense. It didn't make sense at all.

"That Flash's a dick." Barry speaks out loud, where the hell did that Flash had his head? To attack Aquaman just because he didn't want to give his people up as if they were mere trophies to hand out to Superman just because he thought he could boss everyone around.

"Agreed." Aquaman states in mild amusement at the speedster's words. And still, he can't help but wonder if this was the reason Marvel could never meet his eyes, he's seen the odd shame many times, was this the cause? But he didn't have to feel that way, whatever the hell had possessed him while in that universe, had clearly disappeared, he wasn't that person anymore.

Arthur would need to speak with him.

An image flashed before them, it looks like the Watchtower, that's the first thing they realize, the second, alternate Flash and alternate Captain Marvel look beyond off. Their faces sour.

"I don't know... If he said it was okay, it was good enough for me." Alternate Captain Marvel said, but even if he did, his voice clearly let known how doubtful he was of his own words.

And still, his words made Superman's stomach twist, was he talking about that other Superman? If so, it made his stomach twist uncomfortably, to know that somehow, Marvel had trusted his alternate self to the extent that he had genuinely thought that anything Superman said regardless of how bad could it be, it was fine.

Because Superman said it.

He had no idea what to do with the implications. That the man's loyalty and trust would run so blind. He hoped this time he wasn't like that, Clark liked the man, he was a good friend and he would give his life for him, but he didn't want him willing to hurt others if he ever asked that of him.

"Yeah... I asked myself, "What if what happened to Lois, happened to Iris?" Alternate Flash's words gave the League an epiphany. 

Ah.

So Lois was what had also unleashed that Superman's dark side. The League had gone to a world where that had happened too. Lois had gotten killed by the Joker after he threw poisonous gas into the Daily Planet, and Superman had destroyed the entire world.

The League would be lying if they were to deny that that wasn't the reason they were all so antsy around Lois, because while Clark denied it, what if he seriously went to the dark side because he couldn't cope with her loss? Everyone had a limit. Heroes or not.

"It made sense at first. Bad people got what they deserved. But now?" Alternate Captain Marvel said, he seemed doubtful, almost unsure of anything he has ever done.

"Superman's not actually gonna kill Batman. He's just bait. To catch the real Batman."

Alternate Flash's words freeze the League.

What? Alternate Superman wanted to kill alternate Batman? Why?

Meanwhile, Bruce knew the why, if that Superman was acting as if he was the boss of the entire world, the Justice League for the looks of it. Then Batman must be trying to stop him, that was the only logical option.

And he hoped he had succeeded. 

"And then what? Remember what he did to Green Arrow?" Alternate Captain Marvel looked sick as he spoke haunting words that made Superman's blood run cold.

Green Arrow...? What had he done? But even if he asked that he knew, he had a most terrible feeling that he knew, and it made him want to throw up. Oliver could be a bit impulsive and his methods weren't always something he approved of, but the man was certainly an admirable hero, one Superman respected a lot, because he had no powers, and still, he always went out of his way to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.

The idea that he might have done something to him in another universe... his fingers curled into fists, anger curling in his stomach, he hoped that Superman had been stopped. He couldn't bear the idea of someone with his face and powers, his name and the crest of his family.

Using it all to subjugate an entire planet and kill those who opposed to him. Kill heroes.

The alternate Flash doesn't answer to the alternate Captain Marvel, he also looks sight as he gets a far away look, as if remembering something unpleasant.

The memory goes dark.

"What do you think happened to that world?" Flash asks no one in particular, Marvel had said that the one Darkseid had taken over had been restarted by that universe's Flash, that in that timeline, they won the battle, meant that universe was safe.

But what about this one?

No one had an answer to him.

Another image came, this time, they recognized the Rock Of Eternity, Captain Marvel was passing around, electricity crackling all over his body as he kept raffling his hair in apparent frustration. On one of the thrones, a woman with a similar costume as him sat at, hers looked like a female version of his, armor and dark hood.

She was watching him pass around, eyes narrowed.

He stopped abruptly and groaned loudly, and to the League's collective surprise he sent lightning flying right into one of arcade games, making it explode.

"Hey! If you are gonna start blowing shit up again get the hell out! I just cleaned!" The woman snapped, and that voice, that voice. The League recognized the voice.

Mary. Marvel's sister.

She did have a striking resemblance to him. If she was from this universe it would explain her hatred towards Superman, because in her world Superman had been the villain.

Alternate Captain Marvel spun around to glare at her for a moment before his shoulders dropped and he sighed.

"I'm sorry." 

"I'm actually surprised to see you here. You know, after you what you said last time."  Alternate Marvel flinched at her words, guilt washing over his face.

"Are they mad?" He asks as Mary stands up, she seems angry. And the League has no idea what they are talking about.

"No, they are just hurt now. You should apologize. I don't care if you think yourself all almighty now, you don't get to treat them like that, even less Rosa and Victor, after all they have done for you." Mary snaps, whoever these Rosa and Victor are seems to be important, because Marvel suddenly looks very guilty, ashamed even.

"I know. But Superman-"

"I don't care what that overglorified bastard thinks!" Mary cuts him off, anger blazing in her eyes. "He's killed thousands! Anyone who so much as look at him wrong ends up dead. You are so blinded by your relationship with his other variants in your past lives that you can't fucking see that what he is doing is wrong!"

Her words struck a cord in Clark, even more so her words towards Marvel regarding his past relationships with his variants, how much had he trusted him in those past lives that he just instinctively trusted them to the point of not questioning his actions?

"He's hurt." Alternate Marvel defends, as if that somehow made it all alright. Mary scoffs.

"Being hurt doesn't excuse what he's done. You have been hurt, but you don't go around killing people for it. You told me yourself when your past memories first came back, that you always chose to help people in each one of your lives, because you didn't want anyone to suffer as you have done. But also because it was your job to stand for what was right, even if you were standing alone. So why have you become the puppet of a man who has gone insane with grief?"

Silence.

"Why do you keep on letting him use you to hurt the very people you once would have given your life for? Are you seriously gonna tell me you are fine with working with villains? Black Adam even? Or what about what he's done to Green Arrow? What he plans on doing to Aquaman? To Batman? We both know, that you didn't kill Aquaman in Atlantis even though you could have done so, because you know, deep down, that all of this is wrong."

Each one of her words made the League's stomachs twist. To hear of an evil Superman was one thing, but for him to have gone as far as teaming up with Black Adam? None of them could see Captain Marvel working alongside Black Adam. That was just wrong.

And the fact that he was agreeing to all Superman did because of his past experiences with other variants... Clark wondered what had been that. Marvel and him were friends, but the man has never been much big on interacting with him enough for their relationship to be strong enough that Clark would see the man listening to him without hesitation.

"...You know no one can oppose him." Mary frowned at his words, she was now standing before him, she grabbed his arms.

"But you can, you have to. You are a hero, there's still time to fix this. Please, before he does something that none of us can fix. I know what he means to you, what they all do. But I'm afraid this time around, they are nothing but monsters. You have to stop him. You are the only one who can."

"Maybe if I try to reason with him..."

"You think that will work?" Mary looks skeptical. Alternate Marvel shrugs.

"I don't know, but I want to believe there's still good inside him. That's what he once told me, or well, the one in another universe, he always said that there's still good inside those who act on pain, they just need the right push to see past it. I have to at least try, I... I don't want to have to hurt any of them, and you are right. I can't let him keep on hurting people..."

"Does anyone else has the feeling something seriously wrong is gonna happen?" Green Lantern asked out loud as the memory faded, his stomach was into knots, usually, when something like that was said, something extremely wrong was the outcome.

An image appears, and as it clears up, it's to reveal what looks somewhat like the Fortress of Solitude, where Sinestro is at alongside Wonder Woman, Black Adam, Hawkwoman, an older Raven and the Cyborg, all of them standing around a table, across from them sitting next to the control panels, Superman is at with his arms propped up on the desk.

Flash walks alongside Captain Marvel and a Yellow Lantern that makes Hal nauseous once he realizes that that Lantern is himself. God, what the hell?

"If they prefer chaos, I'll give it to them." Alternate Superman claims as he stands up, his eyes are sharp, dangerous, it makes Clark feel sick, it didn't matter how many evil variants of himself he saw, it would never get any easier to watch another version of him hurt others. 

But alternate Superman's next words make the League's stomach twist.

"Metropolis and Gotham. I'll flatten 'em. Set an example. Then I'm finding the dimension these duplicates came from. They'll pay for interfering."

That confused the League, duplicates? Did he meant other variants? Had other people from other universes tried to stop him?

His words though, get alternate Captain Marvel to acquire a shocked look.

"Wait. We're wiping out whole cities? Invading worlds in other dimensions?" His question gets him a dangerous look from alternate Superman. 

"You have a problem, Billy?" Alternate Superman's words freeze the League.

Billy? Had that Superman known his secret identity? How? Had he told him or had he found out on his own because he didn't like not knowing?

"Well, yeah... It's crazy. It's going too far." Alternate Marvel states, as if he couldn't understand how were they seriously unable to see it. That this was going too far.

"Man's world is incapable of self-rule. We will preserve order." Alternate Wonder Woman's words made Diana nauseous. She felt disgusted, the world of men might have its flaws, but not all of it was doomed, that 'incapability of self-rule' was freedom to many, they didn't deserve to be subjugated, what kind of world would that be if no one had any freedom? 

 "No... No... There have to be limits." Alternate Captain Marvel insists as he walks towards the table, alternate Flash moves, trying to grab him, panic flashing in his eyes, but Yellow Lantern grabs his arm, holding him back, a knowing look on his face, but he also seems to have come to terms with a sealed situation.

It gives the League the worst gut feeling ever.

"There have to be limits. Even for us. Especially on us!" Alternate Marvel claims, and Batman can't help but agree with the man, at least he isn't blind on that fact, that heroes need limits, especially those with superpowers.

"That's enough!" Alternate Superman snaps, anger blazing in his eyes and voice booming in the room, the fear that flashes in the eyes of the presents doesn't go unnoticed by the League, and they can't help but wonder if fear had been what led them all to obey.

And still.

His booming voice doesn't deter alternate Marvel. The clear danger in the room.

"We can't do this. Have you gone nuts?! Lois would never want--"

Under the League's horrified eyes they watch as alternate Superman cuts off Marvel by violently grabbing him by the throat.

"Shaz-!" 

Marvel's words are cut off, by Superman freezing his mouth shut. And then, as if things couldn't get even worse, he does the most unexpected and horrifying possible thing ever.

He uses his heat vision, to shoot straight into Captain Marvel's forehead, his pain is evident as he struggles against the man of stee, his voice muffled by the ice covering half of his face.

And the Justice League learns something that even Batman wished he had never known. Superman's heat vision burns right through Captain Marvel's skull, blood streaming down his face as a hole was burnt right through the man's skull. Hood setting on fire. His body goes limp and Superman drops the body.

The memory fades away.

Silence reigns, horror written on all their faces, even Batman was unable to hide his horror over such new discovery. 

The silence was interrupted with a thud, Superman having collapsed on his knees, eyes wide, withholding a most unfathomable horror, agony, guilt, understanding. All as tears streamed down his cheeks.

"I killed him."

"No, that wasn't you." Diana was quick to say as she went to kneel by his side, even past her own tears and pain, she felt like Clark was the one who was having it the worst, she couldn't imagine how horrifying it must be like, to watch your own face be the one to take the life of a friend in the most gruesome way possible. "We have spoken about this before, they are not you. You heard Marvel too, you are not him, our variants don't define us. We are all our own person."

"It all makes sense now. Why he kept avoiding me when he first joined, why he flinched everytime I got too close, why even now he can't stand to be alone in the same room as me, he's terrified of me." Clark said brokenly, body shaking, he felt like the pain would consume him all, he had killed Captain Marvel, a man who had trusted him.

He had believed there was still good in him. Hadn't wanted to hurt him. And he had killed him just for trying to remind him what he had once fought for. Without mercy, no hesitation. No evil version of him he had ever met had been so vile. So heartless.

"We made him fight Superman on red kryptonite." Flash whispers out loud in sudden realization. Even Batman has to admit that strikes a cord.

Because if he thinks about it, he can remember how tense Marvel had been, he had been practically shaking. Looking much too pale, and he had disappeared for a whole week. When he had come back, he had refused to be anywhere near Superman, had even punched the kryptonian when he got too close to him while leaving the Watchtower for a mission.

Shit. He had practically sent the man to fight against the very man who had killed him in another universe, while being on red kryptonite. Several times.

And if Superman's heat vision worked on him... who was to say he hadn't hidden possible injuries just so he could disappear? That he might have not come out of those battles as unscathed as he made everyone think?

"Bruce, you can't make him fight me again, promise me that if red kryptonite is ever involved, you will be the one to stop me as you did before he joined. He can't fight me again. Never again." Clark said, looking up at his friend, begging him to understand.

Batman gave him a short nod.

Good, because he could possibly never live in peace if he were to know Marvel would be the one to have to fight him while on his most irrational state.

He couldn't bear the idea of it. To have Captain Marvel fight him, for all he knew, to Marvel, he was fighting for his life, terrified beyond measure, but obliged to stop him because that's what was expected of him. So all he could do was fight him, dodge the same heat vision that had killed him, run from the same hands who had grabbed his throat, hide from the same freezing breath that had sealed his voice away. From the very man who had killed him.

And Clark knew, that he could never be in the same room as Captain Marvel ever again, not knowing what he reminded the man of, what he had to go through every single day. He couldn't do that to him, Marvel has always been so kind, so cheerful, so happy. Would even give him birthday and holiday presents, always genuinely happy.

It made Clark feel all the more awful, the pain in his chest, it felt like his heart was being torn apart, fresh tears streaming down his cheeks, a harsh sob catching at the back of his throat as he bowed his head, and not even Diana's arms wrapping around him could soothe the burning agony in his chest, the guilt that threatened to eat him alive.

Because he had been hurting his friend in a way he never thought possible. Could he even be allowed to call him friend after what had been done to him? Marvel probably didn't even want to be his friend. Just forced himself to be nice with him out of fear he might snap and kill him as that other Superman had done.

That thought sent a new wave of pain inside him, horror. God, had all of Marvel's interactions with him had ever been based on fear? Because he was afraid that he might kill him?

He felt like the worst person there ever was. For the first time in his life, he felt as if he were no different from those evil versions of himself.

Like a monster.

Chapter Text

Billy has been running for as long as he can remember, when he was born, he was born in a world where his kind was hunted and despised, blamed for the virus that came hand in hand with their apparition. A virus that took thousands of lives and held no cure whatsoever.

Or at least there was no cure in the beginning. 

His parents hid him and his sister; Mary, they grew up in an abandoned museum where their parents had once worked at, at the age of 4, the bad men found them, his father hid him and his sister in the vents and instructed them to keep quiet no matter what. The bad men took them.

He never saw them again.

At the age of 7, Billy and Mary left the museum. That's when they learnt the cruel truth about the world, about the hatred, the fear, the cold, that no matter where they tried to hide, people would always find them, shooting at them with arrows and bullets, some threw rocks, others chased them with sticks.

Critter. Freak. Demon. Monster. Abomination. Cursed child. 

Those and more had been the words thrown at them. 

Then his sister was taken, he had been sick, and she had hid him under a pile of leaves before using herself as bait to keep the Last Men from finding him.

She never came back.

He had felt alone, to be in a world where everyone hated him and wanted to kill him. With his parents dead and his sister gone.

He had looked for her everywhere, but no matter where he went, it was as if she had disappeared from the face of the Earth.

At the age of 9, he got chased to the edge of a cliff by some older kids who were very adamant about capturing him and seeing if they could sell him, something about how the Last Men were now giving rewards for anyone who turned in a hybrid.

He fell off the cliff.

Lightning struck him.

When he woke up, the world was no longer recognizable.

The Last Men didn't exist, neither did the virus nor the hybrids, and Mary was still very much gone. He had been terrified, completely alone in a world he didn't knew. That's when the dust first appeared, golden and like a shapeless blob that seemed to bounce in its steps.

And without even talking, he had just known its name.

Thavma.

The blob, known as Thavma, became his companion, telling him about this strange world where hybrids, Last Men and the virus didn't seem to exist.

As months went on Thavma began taking shape and gaining size, he was something that only Billy could apparently see, which good, at least he wouldn't have to go out completely alone.

Thavma eventually took on the shape of an enormous eldritch creature that seemed to tower over people and cars, big enough that he could carry Billy on his hand, his skin seemed to wield the universe itself, billions of stars swimming underneath his skin, lightning crackling all over his body, his hair seemed to be made of lightning, same as his eyes.

And he wore a white cloak with golden magical runes, several golden bandages covered in red runes wrapped around his arms, legs and neck. He even had giant wings with golden feathers that could call upon thunderstorms with a single flap, summon lightning with a flash of his eyes.

Not long after Thavma had acquired that form, Shazam appeared, had told him that he was the first person ever to summon Living Lightning as he did. That that meant he was the one they had been waiting for, whatever that meant. 

Shazam had then bestowed the power of Gods upon him and told him that from now on, he would be the Champion Of Magic. True host of the Living Lightning. 

At first, he had refused, confused on what was happening, just wanting to go back the moment he realized it was possible, all so he could keep on searching for Mary. The Wizard had told him that no, that that world was condemned, but that he would look for his sister, in exchange, he would use his powers for good.

So he did, and Captain Marvel was born.

A curious thing was that Captain Marvel's form looked just like a regular human despite his and Thavma's looks, no feathers, no wings, no claws, no golden eyes. At times, it made him feel at ease, to look in the mirror and see a normal face that looked too similar to his own. Even if Thavma insisted that there was nothing wrong with how he looked like.

Other times, it made him feel nauseous, to not be able to recognize himself in the mirror. A grown man who looked completely human. A stranger staring back at him. Those days he spent them hiding behind the wall that separated his and Thavma's minds.

But not even a few weeks later from becoming Captain Marvel, the Wizard told him the worst news.

He had found Mary, but she would never come back to him. The Last Men had killed her, used her to make a cure.

That's how he had found out, that hybrids had become the key to cure the virus, that they were all now hunted specifically for that purpose.

He had cried for months, thunderstorms had raged around Fawcett City, rain pouring down, the skies had wailed with him.

He didn't turn into Captain Marvel nor left the Rock Of Eternity for two whole years. And neither Thavma, Shazam or the Gods tried to force him into becoming Captain Marvel again.

At the age of 11, he dared to leave the Rock for the first time in a long time under the insistence of Thavma, the Wizard and the Gods. He got a job at Whiz radio, and because the Gods and Thavma didn't want him hiding at the Rock he had been made to get his own apartment, with him as Captain Marvel posing as his guardian.

He didn't like going out much, grown ups made him nervous, and crowds made breathing hard. Even for work he teleported if that didn't meant getting caught in crowds. His boss was a nice, kind and understanding man. Had dealt with enough magic to not bat an eye at him for teleporting into the studio.

At the age of 12, he joined the Justice League.

By that time, he had already made friends with a kid named Freddy and his siblings; Pedro, Eugene And Darla. They were nice, and spending time at their house let him relax a bit around adults, Rosa and Victor were incredibly warm people.

Almost reminded him of his own parents.

And none of them had gotten weird when he had first risked revealing himself to Freddy. He usually wore a glamour to appear completely normal to the outside eye, even if Fawcett City was known for its... supernatural residents, he still felt self conscious, years of running and being treated like a freak were hardly something he could forget just because people were nice now.

Thavma had taught him about magic and how to control better his natural lightning, about how to control people so those who grew suspicious would  leave him alone, all so he would be safe.

And then, because fate hates him, a villain who does magic somehow realizes that Captain Marvel isn't from this world, and so he casts a spell on him, claiming that he should go back to where he belongs.

The last thing he remembers is light engulfing him.

And then the world goes black.

~

The first thing Billy takes in as he wakes up, it's that he is moving, or to be more precise, someone is carrying him on their back. 

But their magic feels familiar, safe. So he doesn't let panic take over.

The second thing, his head is quiet, and his magic feels like someone has trampled on it, like it was barely there. His chest hurts too.

And the third, he is not Captain Marvel. This is 100% him, not Thavma.

But the only adult who's magic didn't felt dangerous and would be willing to touch him when he looked like this were Thavma and Tawky Tawny. 

And this person's shoulder didn't have fur nor their back was as broad as Tawky Tawny's. Nor did they ooze Thavma's ozone smell nor tickling static whenever he picked him up in his Eldritch form.

That was enough to make him react, because he's heard enough about the traffic of supernatural creatures in Fawcett City, has busted many traffic rings.

Thus, he kicked his legs and twisted harsh enough to take advantage of the person's unawareness and surprise to break free, he crashed on the ground and spun around, he would have bolted if a hand hadn't grabbed his arm. Fun thing, his control over lightning was never related to his magic, Zeus just gave him much more stronger lighting of divine origin.

He was already one with lightning before he became the Champion Of Magic. 

And so when the hand grabbed him, his instinct was to lit his feathers and skin up with electricity, spinning around and ready to claw off the face of whoever thought they had found an easy prey.

He froze.

Ah.

"Wonder Woman. "

~

Waking up in the middle of a forest had been strange for the League.

Their last memories being of the villain shouting something about Captain Marvel not being from 'this world' and asking him to go back to his.

And then the bright light had hit.

And then they had woken up in the middle of a forest. With no signal for what Batman had said, he couldn't connect to any satellite whatsoever. 

Also.

There was the kid.

He had been unconscious, and he had looked a lot of things but human, but that dark hair and face were definitely familiar, he even had a red hoodie with the Captain Marvel lightning bolt.

Captain Marvel who was missing. And in his place that child was. A boy no older than 12. With golden claws, several golden feathers amongst his hair and neck, lichtenberg-like marks that spread all over his hands, neck and up to his left cheek, not scars, marks, as if he had been born with strikingly similar marks to those getting struck by lightning would leave.

The feathers honest to God seemed to reflect the light as the sun hit upon them, shimmering with silver streaks.

But the biggest attention catcher had been the wings, honest to God wings. Of gold and silver feathers that reflected the light and crackled with electricity. 

Point is. The League had connected the dots.

Or at least some of them, like the fact that, somehow, that child was Captain Marvel.

The villain had said that Marvel didn't belong in their world, so the League could only guess that somehow, this was how he looked like, without the child part. Or maybe that part was also true and this was a form he took whenever he needed to recharge or something.

But if that was true, then there was a high possibility of them having been teleported to another world, nothing new there. But it was certainly different considering this, by the man's words, would be Captain Marvel's original world.

Would explain why Batman never managed to find out his secret identity. You couldn't find someone who didn't exist.

Staying in the forest hadn't been an option, none of them knew what to expect from this world, I mean, Captain Marvel had left it, why leave his own world to go protect another one? Permanently. 

Thus. Wonder Woman had been the one to pick him up since he was crackling with electricity and she was the only one immune to it, carrying him on her back was the most comfortable option so his wings wouldn't be harmed.

Captain Marvel had wings.

Superman and Green Lantern had scouted the place, had seen a town nearby.

And then Marvel woke up.

He broke free from Wonder Woman's hold and tried to make a run for it, but Diana didn't let him, grabbing his arm. Touching him hadn't seemed to get a good reaction out of him for suddenly, his feathers lit up with electricity, thunder rumbling above as he spun around, eyes glowing as he took a swing at her.

But he never touched her, the moment their gazes met, the moment he froze, claws retracting. The electricity around him disappearing completely, and his eyes were gold too, and like an eagle's. 

"Wonder Woman." Was the first word he spoke, surprise on his face, Diana released his arm.

"Marvel?" 

The kid's answer was a shrug with an embarrassed look.

"Sorry, got freaked out there for a second." He mumbled, rubbing at his arm, he felt... small. He didn't like that feeling, he was always towering over many adults, or sometimes just their same size, as Captain Marvel, he was invulnerable, he looked normal.

But this... the adults were the ones who towered over him. He could be hurt. And he looked anything but human.

"That's fine, I understand." Diana assured, resisting the urge to pull the boy into her arms, he wasn't a boy, this was her very adult brother who could get very skittish when it came to physical contact. 

"Why do you look like a kid?" Flash didn't waste time to ask, anyone else would have asked about his appearance, but Barry worked with several aliens, one of which had wings. In this line of work it came a point where someone's appearance fell as a background irrelevance.

"Magic's exhausted, I usually look like this whenever I need to recharge, makes people leave me alone. You would never look at a kid and think; Hey, I bet that's Captain Marvel." Billy said without hesitation, he had practiced this answer since he first joined the League, Solomon had helped him come up with a credible excuse if he was ever de-transformed infront of them.

He wasn't from their world. Meant Batman couldn't run his face through face recognition in an attempt to find his secret identity. You couldn't find someone who didn't exist. So being a child infront of them hadn't worried him much.

He just wished he had had his glamour on. To at least look human.

"Smart." Batman conceded, Marvel smirked before looking around, frowning in confusion. 

"Where are we?" He asks.

"Yeah... remember that guy we were fighting? He said something about you not being from that world... And so he threw you back to yours. So I guess this would be your world?" Green Lantern's words made Billy freeze, blood running cold, for a moment, he even forgot how to breathe.

"I saw a nearby town, maybe we can-"

"No." Billy cut off sharply, suddenly feeling like the air was much too thin for him, air, he quickly looked around, panic gripping his chest. Oh fuck, fuck, the League was in this world, fuck. "You didn't see any purple flowers while walking, right?" He asked, a new kind of panic overtaking him.

Because his own life aside, theirs was above his. He couldn't bear the idea of them getting sick and dying. He couldn't lose them, aside from the Vasquez, they were the only family he had.

"No, why? Is that important? And what do you mean no? We can't go to that town? Why?" Superman asks, much like everyone else, looking beyond confused.

Billy considered not answering, he didn't want to have this conversation with them, or well, the hybrid conversation. Anything but that. He already felt enough like a freak, he didn't need them suddenly looking at him with pity, or worse, wariness because they might think the same as everyone here did.

That the hybrids brought the virus. What if they kicked him out of the League? Or worse.

What if he was forced to leave their world?

No.

He had to tell them the truth. This wasn't about him, Hawkwoman was in very serious danger. She wasn't a hybrid, but no one in this world knew that.

"Several years ago, a virus appeared, wherever it was, those purple flowers would be there, some believed that they were what caused the virus. If you came into contact with them or even within its proximity... You might get infected. Your pinkie starts shaking." He told the last raising his hand for more emphasis, he needed them to be very aware of the signs.

Even if he was praying they would all be safe until he recharged back and could take them all away from this hell of a place.

"The shaking pinkie is the first sign, then you get increasingly weak, get a fever, lose your appetite, can't even stand up, and then you die. Some lived for a few days, others couldn't even live for longer than a few hours. It spread all over the Earth, a pandemic if you will, millions died, and because of it the world doesn't really work as it used to, many pay with food or other stuff, like clothes, or even shoelaces, not money, money is useless. Schools, restaurants, zoos, airports, carnivals, police officers, firefighters, all of that is gone, even doctors are very scarce, entire cities have been abandoned."

The League's horrified looks made him feel a bit bad, but there was nothing he had said that wasn't true. That was the cruel truth of it all. As the Wizard had said, this world was condemned, humans had gone too far, it couldn't be saved.

Billy had wanted to come back many times, just to see if he could find other hybrids, take them away to a world where they wouldn't be hurt, save them like he wished someone had saved Mary.

But he was a coward. Whenever he opened a portal to this world he would freeze and start hyperventilating. 

He could never go through the portal.

And he hated it. Now he was here.

"And there's no cure?" Aquaman's words were expected, but it still made Billy's throat close, he dropped his gaze, suddenly feeling like he might go sick.

"The virus didn't come alone, something else came at the same time as it..." 

He hated this. Hated every second of it.

Hated even more the next words that left his mouth.

"The hybrids." He did not like this conversation, the only thing that kept him going were Hawkwoman's wings, he had to do this, he had to protect those he cared about, he wouldn't fail as he did with Mary, never again would he lose his family.

Even if that meant speaking of the one thing he hated talking about the most.

"When the virus came, all the babies in the world from then on were born with animal features; horns, feathers, scales, hooves, tails, claws, shells, fur, wings, nose, ears, antlers. Some looked more human, others more animal. No one knew why."

They still didn't.

"People blamed them for the virus, and so they began hunting them, most of the babies were abandoned, forced to grow in the streets, forests or as lab rats. Those who weren't abandoned, their parents had to move away from civilisation to hide them from those who would do them harm, those who didn't got to move away, their kids were taken away eventually. Even those who hid were eventually found..."

He tried to not focus much on that last part, refusing to think of his own experience.

"People saw them as dangerous, the culprits for the virus, killing them was no problem, I mean, to them, hybrids weren't really people, even if they were basically kids, to them, they were just animals to get rid of, the culprits of the virus. But those were lies."

More anger than intended might have slipped into his voice, but he didn't care, the hatred and resentment he still held for that was still much too raw, because their stupid panic and misconceptions had taken everything from him. His parents. His sister. His home. Everything.

"It was proven eventually that the hybrids had nothing to do with the virus. Didn't stop people from hunting them or hating them in general though, mostly the Last Men, they were kind of the new law in the world, just a bunch of people who liked hunting kids for sport or because they saw completely normal to shoot a kid who had rhino features so they could cut off his horns and sell them. Or eating a girl who had cow features."

It still burnt to remember Thunder and Cassidy, he could still hear their screams sometimes. The laughter from the Last Men, the stench of burnt skin, the heat, the pain... he curled his fingers into fists, angry at the sudden blurriness in his eyes. Focus.

"A few years ago, a doctor created a cure, I'm not really sure how it's made, but the hybrids are the main ingredient, but because of how good they did at hunting them when they thought they were the cause of the virus, they are very hard to find, so the Last Men began giving out rewards to anyone who brings them hybrids."

He finished with a knot in his throat, jaw set tight, hoping that that would be enough for them to understand how this world worked.

Still.

He wasn't quite prepared for the arms that engulfed him, and it took him a moment to realize Diana was the one kneeling before him, hugging him, it made his chest burn, fists tightening as his sight grew even more blurred. Fuck. He couldn't start crying now.

"I'm fine, it doesn't bother me anymore." Even he was able to hear the lie in his words, he hated it.

Because no, he wasn't fine, even now, he couldn't stand to be as Billy Batson around many adults, he couldn't stand adults touching him or staring at him for too long. Because last people who did that had taken everything away from him. All they wanted was to tear him apart, poke him with needles and seal him back together.

Because he wasn't normal even in this world, for what he heard, he was the first and only hybrid who was seemingly a creature of myths, and the second one with powers.

His sister would be the first one by a few minutes if she were still alive.

He had once heard of a deer boy who could apparently control animals with his voice, boy who helped take down the worst of the worst.

Abbott.

But Billy never managed to find him.

Meanwhile, the League was beyond horrified, because what the hell had they just heard?

I mean, it wasn't a secret that people could do the most insane of things when afraid and faced with the unknown, but hunt children? Kidnap them away from their families? Treat them as animals to the point where you had the gall to sell them as if they were just that? Animals?

And eat them?

It made them feel sick, even more so the fact that apparently, Captain Marvel had been born in this world, as one of the same children who had been chased, hunted and experimented on.

The idea that he might have gone through any of that... Christ. No wonder he left this world. Who could blame him?

But the idea that there was a cure where people, kids to make matters worse, were the main ingredient... how the hell did you even figure out something like that? How the hell could you be fine with ingesting that? And to abandon your own child based on what they looked like...

Barry, Bruce, Arthur nor Clark could imagine themselves doing such horripilant thing.

"I didn't really tell you any of this for me, I told you because in this world, superpowers, aliens, superheroes, none of that exists, if they see Shayera they will think she's a hybrid, and they won't hesitate to attack." Marvel's sudden words made Hawkwoman's bristle.

"Let them try, I will blow their brains out." Hawkwoman stated sharply, anger barely contained, she didn't fucking care about killing those bastards, not knowing they had killed God knows how many children. All because of something they weren't at fault for.

And if they so much as tried to touch Marvel... she would blow their brains out too.

"Someone's coming." Superman said suddenly, tilting his head to the side as he heard the sound of rapid footsteps, an accelerated heartbeat. Many more following behind.

And it took him a moment to realize what it was.

A child, followed by adults.

At that exact same time a boy no older than 8 with a very striking resemblance to a satyr burst out from the trees, terror in his eyes, he froze as he came face to face with the heroes, jerking back violently and crashing on the floor.

From behind him three men appeared holding guns.

"Hey! Back off freaks, this one's ours!" A man with a scar across his face yelled, pointing his gun at them, another man with a military jacket yanking the boy up by the arm, his eyes falling on Marvel, causing Batman to stand closer to him, glaring at the man.

"That's a pretty one you have there. Older too, where did you find it?"

"That is none of your fucking business. He stays with us, and so does that boy." Flash snaps harshly, definitely not liking any of the words that had just come out of that man's mouth, who the hell referred as 'it' to what was clearly a person?

"That's not gonna happen, because as I can see it, we have the guns here, so, unless you want a bullet between your eyes, you are going to hand us that pretty boy. I hear the Last Men are looking for older ones. The older they are, the higher the reward. And I bet one with such freaky colors is bound to pay good."

Before anyone in the League could say or do anything, lightning struck down, right behind the three men who were sent crashing to floor, Flash took that chance to zip up to the satyr kid and grab him, zipping back to the group.

"What the hell?" The men groaned, one of them looking up to look at Marvel who stood before the group, electricity crackling all over his body. 

"Go. Away." The League had to admit that hearing such booming voice alongside the deafening crack of lightning above that threatened to split the skies apart did make them feel a bit nervous.

The three men seemed smart enough, for they quickly got up and bolted away screaming in fear. Once they were gone, the electricity disappeared and Marvel turned to look at them.

"Hey, kid, you-" Green Lantern's words died on his tongue as the satyr boy flinched away from him with a frightened shriek, his hoove connecting with his shin.

Hal Jordan was a grown man, had been thrown into buildings even, but by God did that hurt worse than hitting his shin on the steps while going up the stairs.

And still.

He never thought he would live long enough to see a child run away from him, terrified of him. The child ran up straight for Marvel, hiding behind him.

And all of a sudden, like a bucket of ice, the League was made aware of the very real fact that children in this world, or at least hybrids, had grown being hunted by the same adults who had been suppose to protect them.

And that it stood to reason children would be terrified of them.

Marvel turned around to face the child, kneeling before him to come close to his height. 

"Hey, it's alright, they won't hurt you." Billy told, the first thing he knew the other boy would want to know, adults couldn't be trusted, adults meant cages, needles and pain.

The boy looked at him with a doubtful look, throwing a wary look behind him.

"What's your name?" He asks, wanting to at least have something to refer to him as, this whole thing was a bit overwhelming, because he hasn't seen another hybrid since he had left this world.

"Co...dy..." The boy, Cody, told, his voice a bit strained, it wasn't something Billy was unfamiliar with, Cassidy had had the same problem, some hybrids just didn't have the vocal cords for fluent speech or any speech at all. 

Didn't meant they were idiots. They were smart, they were just like any other kid.

"Alright, Cody. It's a pleasure to meet you." He told, grabbing the other boy's hand and giving it a light handshake. "I'm... Billy." He decided to tell, he wanted him to know his actual name, not something he had come up with to hide who he was.

"Billy."

"Yes. Say Cody, are you alone? Or do you have somewhere to go to?" He asked, he was already having the very bad idea of taking him back with him to Fawcett City. Darla would love having someone close to her age to play with. 

Plus. He couldn't just ignore him.

And still, nothing could have prepared him for the kid's next words.

"The museum of... natural history. My friends are there. You look just like our big sister, she can call upon thunder too."

Billy froze.

What?

Museum of natural history. 

Call upon thunder.

He felt his blood run cold, because this had to be some kind of joke. She was dead, Shazam had said so, Thavma had said so, the Gods had said so. 

And still.

"What's your sister's name?" He found himself asking, voice shaking despite his best attempts to hide it.

And then.

"...Mary."

Chapter Text

"I can feel him. He's closer." Martian Manhunter informed, his voice somber, even he was finding it hard to focus on the task at hand, which was finding Captain Marvel.

But how could he do that after what he had seen, watching himself die hadn't been much, but watching his friends die? Same friends he had grown to see as his new family?

To watch them kill each other? That was worse. So much worse, it made him think of fire and screams. Of Mars and how he had lost his family right before his eyes. Unable to do anything to save them.

He wouldn't let that happen now. He would find Marvel and he would save him from the hell his mind was using to torment him with. If he could just find the right memory.

A blurred image appeared, making the League prepare for the worst. But all that there was was Captain Marvel laying on a couch and staring at the ceiling, a woman sitting across from him with the look of someone who clearly had no idea what to make of the situation.

"I’m an idiot." Are the first words that come out of his mouth, making the League frown, even more so at his next words. "I don’t deserve these powers, if I’m being honest. Like, what am I even contributing? There’s already a superhero with a red suit, with a lightning bolt on it and I’m fast, but he’s faster. Aquaman is literally huge, and he’s so manly and Batman is so cool!" He moves his hands up in the air in a dramatic and erratic motion on the last note, as if that totally made every bit of sense to him and no doubt could ever cross his mind.

As if he weren't theoretically speaking faster than Flash and bigger than Aquaman himself. Maybe his powers changed potency depending on which universe he was reborn into. Which was a bit odd, why make him weaker in some universes?

And still, what strikes a cord are the self-deprecating words he uses on himself. What was he contributing? Dude has lived more lives than any of them could ever possibly imagine. And in all those lives, he had been a hero. Willing to help people. For what was worth it, to the League, he was one of the greatest heroes there has ever been. So why was he doubting it now? Had it been because of what had happened with the alternate Superman? The one who got him to hurt others?

"They are all cool... And I’m just me." He drops his hands back on his chest, looking positively deflated. "And I can’t say this to anyone else, ’cause my family looks to me as a leader, but I feel like a fraud."

All of a sudden, the League felt like intruders, realizing what he was doing, what that memory was about. And still, none of them was able to stop watching.

"You understand I’m a… pediatrician, right?" The woman finally speaks up, her voice confused but also careful, her eyes still clearly giving away how lost she felt with the situation. And the League mildly wonders how did that even happen. Did she come to her office to find Marvel on the couch? Or had he appeared out of nowhere through the door or window and taken over the couch? "I mean, yeah, well, you were recommended by another patient, Billy Batson."

There was that name again, Billy. Was it another Billy or was it him? But why would he be around a pediatrician? It was confusing. And if it had been him...

Billy Batson.

Several from the League couldn't help but smile in amusement at the last name, Batson. Alternate Marvel waved his hand in dismissal.

"It doesn’t matter. Can you help fix my thoughts so that they just, like, you know, stop happening?" His question twists the League's stomachs, because how could they have been foolish enough to believe that just because he was always so happy and cheerful, there was nothing remotely wrong with him?

What was that saying? Those who smile the most hide the biggest pains.

Because that fit Marvel more than any of them would have ever wished.

"All right, look. And, again, pediatrician, not a psychiatrist, but it sounds to me like you’re experiencing imposter syndrome." The woman said, her voice becoming dutifully, as if she was finally accepting the fact that this was happening and just chosing to go along with it to the best of her capabilities. "And often, that originates from trauma early in life, so if you don’t mind me asking, how well do you remember your childhood?"

Her question gets alternate Marvel chuckling, an inside joke of his own as he answers.

"Like it was today."

His words are beyond confusing. What was that suppose to mean?

"Trauma? Uh, I don’t know." A haunted look crosses over his face for a moment, as if remembering something, and the League doesn't have to be a genius to know what that might be.

It makes Superman dig his fingernails onto his arm, guilt and pain blazing anew in his chest. Because he did that. 

And still. Marvel doesn't even mention it. He mentions something else, but still terrible either way.

"I mean, I never met my dad. Uh, my mom abandoned me at a Christmas carnival. I spent a lot of time in the foster system, ran away from 11 homes, got into a lot of fights. Then I was abducted by a wizard who gave me superpowers and then dude just, like, died in front of my face."

Each word got worse and worse than the previous one. Making the League stare horrified at him, because suddenly, they are made aware of the very real fact that he is literally reborn, as in each new universe comes with new parents, new family, new lives, new everything.

The idea of a small Captain Marvel being left in the middle of a carnival, alone, lost and very much terrified of the fact that his mother had disappeared. It was heartbreaking. He ran away from 11 homes. How long had he been in the foster system for something like that to be possible?

And what the hell was it with the wizard? I mean, they knew he was reborn, but they didn't think he would be apparently reborn without his powers until the Wizard gave them back. And God, what about his memories? The idea of a child having to bear with those horrifying memories...

It was insane to put such weight on anyone, let alone possibly a child.

"That’s not a small amount." The woman's words catch their attention, she seems a bit shocked over what she just heard.

But as if what he had said hadn't been bad enough, even worse words leave him.

"Also, a doctor conjured seven demons and held my whole family hostage, so we had to rip out one of his eyeballs, and then everybody got superpowers, but now everyone’s kind of, like, doing their own thing and I’m the only one trying to keep everybody together."

He looks dejected at the last words, it was no secret Marvel has always been particularly eager for group activities.

Now the League wonders if there had been a deeper meaning all along aside from just him being friendly.

"Okay, okay. Well, let’s just process that. Right? Rejected by your parents, then by the system, and now rejected by a city you try to protect." The woman's statement make alternate Captain Marvel frown, he looks almost offended.

"I never said I was rejected by my city." He protests, to which the woman holds up her phone with an open article, on the headline read.

'Rejected by city.'

He scowls at her.

"That’s the Tribune. Nobody reads the Tribune."

"I do."

He twitched at that before sitting up, suddenly looking very uncomfortable, like being anywhere but there.

"Anyway, okay, well, um… I, uh, appreciate your help, but I got some real problems." He tells as he stands up, making his way towards the door while awkwardly trying to come up with an excuse. " There’s this terrorist hostage situation going on, so…"

"Hostage situation?" The woman asks, raising an eyebrow, he chuckles nervously, grabbing the door.

"Yeah."

And with that the memory fades completely. Leaving the League wondered what that had meant about being rejected by the city. The League has been at Fawcett City enough times to know how feral and downright terrifying the people there could get when it came to Captain Marvel.

A woman had thrown her chancla at Superman once for not listening to Captain Marvel when he asked them to move the fight away from the park which ended up with the park in question being destroyed.

The idea that a Fawcett City from another universe hadn't wanted him around at all enough to be seen as rejection... It was hard to imagine.

"I really think we should try to convince him to speak with Dinah. I know he won't give in easily, but this can't keep on, he needs help, actual help from someone who knows what she's doing." Hawkwoman states, Dinah was the closest thing to a trusting psychiatrist they had.

The only one any of them was comfortable enough to speak with, bringing someone from outside, no matter how many background checks were done, didn't felt right.

Dinah at least knew their identities, knew them better than any stranger might ever do. And she understood too.

Meanwhile, Batman agreed with Hawkwoman's words, this couldn't continue. He had no idea how many lives Marvel might have had, but these memories left very clear the man had more unresolved trauma than anyone should ever have.

He knew he wasn't one to speak, but this... this was on a whole new level.

An image appeared, much like the others, blurred, as it began clearing, it revealed Captain Marvel sitting at the top of a building, at his side, the striking image of Wonder Woman stood at, even her costume was the same. No difference whatsoever.

"Superman came to Fawcett City a few months ago, I asked him to. I didn't really want to, but I thought I owed Freddy one. He likes him, thinks he is the coolest hero out there..." A dark looks crossed over his face, and Clark wondered if he would ever be able to face the man after seeing what that other variant of him did.

"He isn't the same Clark from the regime." Alternate Wonder Woman tells, she seems... odd. But the League can't quite place the why.

"I know. But when I saw him sit with Freddy... I wanted him gone. I didn't want him anywhere near him, I didn't want him anywhere near me for that matter. I know he isn't the same, I know that this one is good, he almost died saving a whole city, I know he would do anything to do what's right, I saw it in his eyes. This one is good. But..."

He trailed off, hanging his head with a frustrated sigh. Alternate Wonder Woman sat down with him.

"This is your first life after Superman killed you. No one expects you to make peace with that and move on. You are allowed to not want him anywhere near you or your family."

Clark had to admit that stung, and it made him feel all the more worse. The idea that his friend would be terrified enough of him he wouldn't trust him with his family... But understandable.

Knowing that that world had been his first life after he had killed him... that there had been a Superman there too. How cruel could life be? Did that Wizard chose where he was reborn? If so, why put him through that?

"He has done nothing wrong." He refuted, as if that was reason enough for him to not have to feel remotely bothered by Superman. 

"Doesn't mean you have to force yourself to deal with something you aren't ready for. You-" Alternate Wonder Woman's words cut off, and then, her face completely morphed into the most bizarre thing ever, a dark skinned old man.

"What the-"

"Billy Batson!" The man's shout startles the League and even Captain Marvel who shrieks, jerking back and almost falling off the edge. "You are a fool of a Champion." Are the man's greeting words, Marvel looks disturbed.

"What the hell… What the hell is going on? What happened to her beautiful face?" He looks positively horrified as he asks that, the League can very much agree on that bizarre image, how the hell was that even possible?

"It's a dream." Martian Manhunter realizes, recognizing the difference in waves between memories and dreams. 

That at least explained the weird vibe. 

"Also, aren’t you, like, dead-ass dead?" Alternate Marvel asks, standing up as the creepy old man with Wonder Woman's body stands. Diana feels very disturbed.

"I bring a warning from beyond your realm. The daughters of Atlas are coming for you." The man proclaims, making alternate Marvel frown and tilt his head in confusion.

"Isn't Atlas one of the Gods who lend him his powers?" Flash asks to no one in particular.

"Daughters of Atlas?" Alternate Marvel asks, he looks confused.

"They’re coming to unmake your world and torture mankind for all eternity in the Pit of Endless Agony." The old man states somberly.

"Okay, I feel like maybe I should be writing all this down."

"Quiet!" The old man's booming voice makes Marvel and the League flinch. Alternate Marvel raises his hands in a placating manner.

"Okay, okay."

"You don’t know what you’ve done. I regret having ever returned you your powers and memories this time around. Because of you, the barrier between the worlds has been brought down. They will be hunting for you now. Hunting your family."

"I'm sorry what was that?"

"Oh, they’re coming. Listen to me, Billy. The fate of your world depends on it. One thing you absolutely must not allow the daughters of Atlas to do is…"

The memory cuts off.

"Dude what the hell? There was literally no need for him to be such a jerk." Green Lantern said, who the hell had that old man been? 

"He said that he regretted having returned his powers... I think that was the Wizard who guards his powers whenever he dies." Batman theorized, narrowing his eyes, what did that man had meant by Marvel having provoked the barriers between worlds to have been brought down? 

"Well, that Wizard is a jerk." Flash said, because what the hell was wrong with that guy? To come up into a dream where Marvel was already feeling like shit just to throw more shit at him?

Another blurred image appeared, clearing up to reveal a man dressed in a similar costume as Marvel, but blue, Captain Marvel was with him, both of them sitting next to each other on top of a building.

"Wait, didn’t you tell us the wizard disintegrated?" The man in blue questions, looking confused.

"The skin peeled off his face. He turned into a literal pile of ash." Alternate Marvel stated, making the League grimace, and he said the guy died right infront of him. They couldn't imagine how that one must have felt, to watch the same man who always was there to meet you in your next life turn to dust right infront of you.

Even if Marvel said the man appeared as a ghost now, it didn't change the fact that he had watched him die.

"Yeah, seems definitive. I dunno." The man in blue agrees. And part of the League is seriously curious on who he might be, because he had the exact same costume as Marvel. But in blue.

"Yeah. Except now he’s in my dreams and, Freddy, he’s trying to give me a message." 

Freddy? Was that the same Freddy who Marvel brought Superman to Fawcett City for? That dream-Wonder Woman had refered to him as Marvel's family. Was he his brother? Would explain the similar costumes.

The man in blue, Freddy, snaps his finger in sudden realization.

"Could be astral projection powers." Alternate Captain Marvel frowns in confusion, tilting his head to the side.

"What’s that?"

"Obi-Wan Kenobi-ing you from the great beyond." Freddy states as a matter of fact, making Marvel look positively uneasy.

"That’s it, I’m calling an emergency meeting. And I want you there." Marvel proclaims, giving Freddy a serious look, to which the man in blue scoffs at.

"Where else am I gonna go?" His question gets him the most judgemental look the League has ever seen on Marvel. "What?" He asks defensively.

"Dude." Marvel said, making a phone appear out of nowhere, holding it up for Freddy to see, an article on it. The man in blue leans forward to read it under his breath for a moment before leaning back with a defensive look.

"Okay, first of all, I didn’t explode it!" Was his first defense, crossing his arms over his chest. "All right? It was already like that and, and,… What is that, the Tribune? It’s fake news!" He snapped, clearly annoyed at being called out.

"Freddy, we only have one rule." Alternate Marvel reminds.

"All or none." They say at the same time.

"And it makes no sense by the way." Freddy defends. "Your idolized girl wonder? She's been lassoing people on her own for a while now, okay?  And when someone says Gotham city. Who do you think of? You think of Batman, because it's a one supe town and it always will be."

The League raises their eyebrows at that, so a Batman and a Wonder Woman had also existed in that world.

"Okay but-"

"Listen! But when there's a re al threat. A r eal threat, like giant portals in the sky or weird insect like drone armies. Pissed off aliens! That's when they come together. That's when the team unites." 

"We are not a team." Alternate Captain Marvel refutes, to which Freddy frowns in confusion. "We are a family."

His words strike a cord within the League. Even more so because he looks somewhat sad, uneasy, like he was remembering an unpleasant thing. The man in blue seems to notice because he is quick to snap his fingers quite loudly.

"Yeah, right! exactly. And family should stick together and and look out for each other. And be happy for each other." He told as a statement of fact before growing pleading. "I have a girl talking to me, Billy. A girl. For the first time in my life! And she laughs with me. Not at me. And I probably don’t have a shot in hell with this girl, but I’ll never find out if you keep trying to control everything I wanna do! And what's this all or none stuff anyways?! I mean, you were more than happy to do shit on your own when I didn't have my superpowers."

Marvel doesn't seem remotely annoyed by his words, just tired if not a bit guilty.

"Just be at the Rock Freddy?" He requests as the man in blue leaves the edge of the roof where he had been sitting at, now hovering in the air.

Freddy sighs in defeat.

"Okay." He conceded at last, turning around, yet before he flies off he turns back to Marvel. "By the way, she has a sister. Total control freak. I think you guys would get along. Think you’d love her, actually."

Alternate Captain Marvel rolling his eyes is the last thing the League sees before the memory fades away. The idea that anyone would call Marvel control freak was something no one could wrap their heads around, he had never been one to care much for what people did, if anyone was a control freak that was definitely Batman.

But again, this was his first life after getting killed by someone he had seen as a friend, maybe he had been affected enough he had clung to the people around him in fear of what might happen to them or what they might do if he wasn't keeping an eye on them. Which was admittedly a depressing thought.

Another blurred image appeared, and as it cleared, the first thing that League saw was Marvel getting hit by a building, and regardless of knowing that wouldn't leave a scratch on him they couldn't help but inwardly flinch.

A boy on a roof sat on the floor, grimacing at the sight. He was surrounded by three women in odd attires. 

"Ow."

A woman holds up her staff towards the building. The older woman halting her.

"Wait. There are more." She exclaims, and to the League's surprise, there are more, all of them wearing similar costume as Marvel's, a green one, a grayish one, Mary and another woman with a purple costume, hers being the only sleeveless costume.

"Perfect. We take them all." The woman with the staff exclaims, pointing the staff at the incoming heroes. The younger one grabs the staff, pushing it down.

"No. That’s not why we’re here. We’re here for the seed of life. Yield, sister. We stick to the plan we have." She tells firmly, making the woman with the staff glower.

"Father would never yield." She snaps, to which the older woman yanks her back by the hair, a dangerous look on her face.

"And Father is dead. Now, you know your place, sister. Or I will show it to you." She releases her hair, turning to look at the heroes. "We do this our way, not theirs." She states, the woman with the staff stepping back at the same time Marvel removes himself from the building. "Make one move..." The older woman begins, holding her hand out towards the boy on the ground, yanking him up and towards her by apparent magic or something. The boy screaming at the action, choking as her hand clasps around his throat. "And I will snap this child’s neck." She threatens sharply.

The ground breaks beneath her, lifting the piece underneath them and making it float.

"Oh Freddy." Marvel exclaims as the three women fly close to the heroes, fear in his eyes.  

"Wait, Freddy, as in costume blue Freddy? Did she fucking de-age him?" Green Lantern asked, mortified, what kind of sick person would de-age someone and use them as leverage?

Villains. That's who. Why did it surprise him that someone would go that far? 

The woman drops the boy, Freddy, who seems to have a hurt leg or something for he drops on his knees with a pained look. Marvel growls angrily at the sight, a rage like nothing the League has ever seen overtaking his eyes before he is shooting up towards them.

"Billy, no!" Mary shouts after him, but he ignores her completely. Freddy quickly crawls up to the other side of the slab of concrete to look at Marvel's incoming form, behind him, the older woman begins chanting in a language Wonder Woman recognizes as the Gods'.

"The daughters of Atlas." She realizes out loud. To which the League grimaced, so the Wizard's words had been right on the daughters of Atlas coming after Marvel and his family.

They watch as a blue wall begins begins lifting around the city, making cars at the bridge crash against it, more than walls a dome. 

"Billy, stay back! They’re using the staff to take our powers!" Freddy shouts, panic in his voice, but not even that seems to deter Marvel.

Yet.

The dome closes right before he can cross it, promoting him to crash into it. Horror flashes in his eyes as he pays it around as if to make sure he really couldn't go through it.

And then he punches it, electricity crackling with each punch, but the dome doesn't even budge. And holy fuck how strong was that thing to resist not one but several punches from Marvel?

He ends up putting enough distance to shoot lightning at the dome, but all it does is bounce on the dome before it goes straight for a building, crashing at the top of the building and making the roof of it explode. Captain Marvel winced at the sight.

"Sorry!" Marvel shouts towards the building before turning back to the sisters and Freddy.

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, just, just save yourself!" Freddy cries out, prompting alternate Marvel to shake his head, frustration and anger in his eyes.

"No, no, all or none. We stick together."

"And that you will, because you cannot leave. Let’s see how you like being sealed off in a dying world." The woman with the staff claims before the slab of concrete begins moving.

"No! No!" Freddy screams, panic overtaking his face.

"Freddy!"

Marvel's shout is the last thing the League hears before the memory fades away, leaving them all unable to say anything at all.

"Please tell me he did got him back." Flash asks no one in particular, horror in his voice, he couldn't imagine how that must have felt like, to watch someone you loved be taken away and being unable to do anything about it. And while said someone was also seemingly unable to protect themselves. 

Hal felt sick over the idea of it, almost claustrophobic. He would go insane if he were to see anyone take Iris, Wally, Bart, Nora or anyone at all from his family and he was unable to stop it.

Another image came up, clearing up to reveal Captain Marvel and the old woman sitting across from each other at a table outside a seemingly fast food chain.

"Right, so, look, here’s the thing, um, you’re upset. A bunch of wizards came and stole your powers, which totally sucks balls, I totally get it."

The shocking and foreign swearing on Marvel's side aside, the League couldn't help but frown at his words, what did he mean by that? Totally get it? Had someone stolen his powers at some point? That was a frightening thought.

But what got their attention too was what he said, a bunch of wizards had stolen the powers from a God? But why go after Marvel then? 

"But, I kind of feel like you’re taking this all, like, really personally and, like, I don’t even know you, lady, right?" He tried to reason, the woman glared at him hatefully.

"If thieves stormed your home in the night and stole all your coin and then fled, you would naturally give chase, would you not? And say, in this pursuit the thieves dropped the money on the ground and your neighbor picked it up and kept it. Now, imagine it is not money, but the lifeblood of your father. The last breath of your mother. The power of all the gods, the magic of the entire realm that was stolen."

"Is she insinuating what I think she is insinuating?" Aquaman wonders out loud, because why did it felt like that woman was saying that Marvel's powers had come by being stolen?

And as if to confirm his words, her next words say it.

"And now this magic courses through you, and you have the gall to believe that you deserve it? This is very personal, Billy." She spat the name with resentment, anger, her eyes dangerous as they pinned him with a furious glare. Marvel shifts uncomfortably. 

"You are very menacing. I just want you to know that. Like, I really… i see the presence that you have, and that goes a long way. But today, I really wanted to talk about compromise."

"There is no compromise." They both say in unison.

"I knew you were gonna say that." He said in triumph. "Wisdom of Saruman. Don’t mess with me, okay?"

"I thought it was Solomon?" Hawkwoman mutters with a frown, to which she gets no answer.

"Give us back Freddy, you take down this sphere-y dome-y magic bowl thing and then, you know, we won’t have to annihilate you into the ground." His words get him a scoff from the woman.

"It’s a good offer."

"I’m being serious." He tells her, eyes growing hard at her clear dismissive attitude towards him.

"You play the part of a man, but you do not play it well. Give us the powers, boy. All of them. You are no leader, Billy. You are just a lost boy who likes to make-believe that he’s a warrior."

Anger flashes in his eyes at her words.

"Okay, look. I might not have as much experience as you regardless of it all ’cause I’m not, like, super old like you, but I think I have a few experiences that you don’t have." He told, looking very serious.

His next words though, are nothing the League might have expected of him in such situation

"`Cause I’ve seen all of the Fast and the Furious movies, lady. And let me tell you something. It’s all about family!" His words make Hal and Barry facepalm.

It's even more hilarious when nothing happens and his smile falters, he looks positively disappointed.

"Family!" He calls again, growing increasingly disappointed. "Guys, that was the signal. We practiced this, like, 12 times." He protested, that's when the other four heroes appeared, landing right behind the woman. "Thank you." He said at their entrance before smirking triumphantly at the woman. "Forgot all about my family, didn’t you, Goddess?"

Her smile is nothing but unsettling, giving the League a most terrible feeling.

"No, human. You forgot about mine." Marvel's face drops at her words, at the same time electricity engulfed the man in green who screamed in pain before crashing on the ground, and as smoke cleared, a boy was left behind.

"Dude, what's with their need to de-age them?" Green Lantern asked at the sight of the boy, who much like Freddy, looked like he couldn't be older than 14.

"Stands to reason you would want to put them in a weak body to take them down." Batman said, narrowing his eyes, if they had all shared Marvel's powers, anyone with half a brain would know how dangerous they could all be and would want to incapacitate them fast in any possible way.

Turning them back into children when they probably didn't have any powers was a logical move.

The older woman grabs The table she had been sitting at, sending it flying and crashing into a wall before kicking Marvel straight on the chest, sending him crashing onto a brick wall that collapsed upon impact, making civilians start running away in panic.

"Pedro!" Mary calls worriedly as she quickly knelt by the boy's side, checking him over.

The woman in purple and the man in grey turn to face the woman with the staff, anger in their eyes, the woman in purple zips up to the woman with the staff, catching her attention long enough for the man in grey to shoot lightning at her, sending her crashing into a restaurant.

The older woman turns to face the man in grey who had tried sneaking up on her, a ball of lightning already forming in his hands, but she stops his advances by immobilizing him in place, the woman in purple zips up to her, but also gets immobilized. They groan in pain as she pulls them closer.

At that moment Marvel extracts himself from the pile of bricks, looking angry and determined as he stands up before he flies up and comes crashing down on the woman. 

They go right through the ground, crashing into a storage room. 

The old woman sends alternate Captain Marvel flying and crashing onto a wall. He groans in pain before quickly bringing himself up as she approaches him. 

"You're wasting my time, boy." She adds the last despectively, and the League mildly wonders if she was calling him that as a demeaning insult, because if she was a goddess and looked that old... She had to be seriously old. Because Diana looked seriously young and she was in her 4 thousands.  

So how old had that woman been?

Marvel glares at her. And as she begins lifting rocks in the air he pounces at her, slamming her onto a wall, he tries to punch her but she easily hits his fist down.

"Did she just fucking slap Captain Marvel's punch as if it were nothing?" Flash asks horrified. Not even fucking Superman could slap Marvel's punches as if they were nothing. How insanely strong had that woman been?

She kicked Captain Marvel back onto another wall, he crashes right through it before landing on the ground, groaning in pain, for the second time, and he stays down.

"She's smacking him around as if he were nothing, how strong can she possibly be to accomplish that?" Hawkwoman said, staring mortified at the woman.

"If she was the daughter of Atlas? I believe not even the Captain's power could help him take on her without difficulty." Diana stated somberly, Atlas was the God of stamina and strength, a very powerful God. It stood to reason Marvel would struggle with a daughter of such God.

Suddenly, Mary and the woman in purple appear, not wasting time to pounce at the goddess, zipping up to her and tackling him violently, sending her crashing onto a wall before appearing infront of her, giving her no time to recuperate before they each grab an arm from the woman, lifting her up before slamming her down on the ground hard enough that the goddess stays down.

Marvel gets up, going over to the goddess, picking her up before slamming her back on the ground for good measure, creating a crater around her before dusting his hands, looking satisfied, a bit too satisfied for the slam to only had been to make sure she was unconscious. 

"Man, I sometimes forget how petty he can be." Hal couldn't help but say in amusement. Because God could Marvel be the pettiest man alive, from snitching on Hal for skipping watch duty because Hal ate his ice cream to locking Barry in the javelin because he called him dramatic.

That man was on a whole new level of pettiness.

"Yeah!" The woman in purple cheers in triumph. Her smile and almost childish glee reminds the League all too much of Marvel. "She sure didn’t see that coming, because she didn’t go to the eye doctor." She said very sure of her choice of words, making Marvel and Mary share an odd look before amusement takes over and they chuckle over some inside joke.

"Uh, Darla, that was, ’cause…"

"A euphemism. That was a euphemism." Mary finishes for Marvel as they both lamely try to come up for a plausible explanation to some unknown fact.

The three of them so caught up in the conversation they grow unaware of the rattling wires behind them. 

"Oh fuck she's still awake." Green Lantern said as he noticed the old woman's hand in the air. The wires snap, electricity crackling before they shoot up as if alive towards Mary and the newly named Darla. Latching around them like vines.

"No!" Marvel shouts in panic as the wires latch around Mary and Darla's throat, making them gasp in pain, he quickly goes over to Mary, snapping the wire with his hand before quickly doing the same for Darla. They are being dragged away by the wires, both of them grunting and groaning in pain.

And before Marvel can attempt to so much as free them a flying box slams into him, sending him crashing onto a wall, he crashes on the ground with a pained grunt.

"We’ve taken the power from two in your family already." The woman says as she walks towards him. "And now two more must die, and for what?" She asks harshly. "So you can keep playing soldier?" She snaps, grabbing him before slamming him with frightening ease against a wall. 

Over and over, and over again. And the League never thought they would ever see anyone at all be able to overpower and throw Marvel around with such terrifying ease.

She ended up dropping him back on the ground, he didn't get up. And she took the chance to grab him by the hood of his cape, starting to drag him behind her, he looks like he is struggling to even keep his eyes open, pain written all over his face.

She brings him back to the room where Mary and Darla are still fighting to breathe.  

She throws him on the floor. Mary looks at him, anger flashing in her eyes despite the fact that she seems to be losing conscience.

The old woman grabs Marvel and lifts him up before slamming him on the ground. This time he does turn around, groaning in pain as he does before looking up at the goddess.

The woman begins creating a giant ball of steel with anything from steel that comes flying in the storage room.

"My father was Atlas."  She said as he got up. "Titan God of stamina and strength." She stated. Marvel glanced at the ball of metals, sudden realization crossing his eyes before smiling as he looks back at her. "His magic and power may course through you, but you will never be a true god." Marvel scoffs at her.

"Oh yeah? Did your dad had super speed?" He asked before zipping up to her and putting her right where he had been standings second ago, making the ball of metal slam into her, knocking her out. "Nope!" He stated, grinning in triumph and amusement. 

Mary and Darla drop on the ground as the wires stop strangling them. They cough, gasping for air.

Marvel takes that to pick the goddess up and throw her over his shoulder, walking up to Mary and Darla as they stand up, still panting, he smiles brightly at them, though even if he does he looks them from head to toe as if searching for injuries.

"You okay?" He questions, at their nods he smiles again. "That was fun, let's go."

And with that the memory fades away, leaving silence behind, before anyone could speak, another memory materialized.

"Holy fuck." Were Flash's first words. Because there was a dragon snarling at a junkyard. A fucking honest to God dragon seemingly made of wood.

Dragon that was giving chase to Captain Marvel, his siblings, the Wizard who was somehow alive and two other people no one in the League recognized.

The woman with the staff was sitting on its back, she shot the blue lightning from the staff, which hit straight at Darla and the man in grey, sending them both crashing onto the ground in a explosion of electricity before two children are revealed, the girl looking way younger than the boy and previous de-aged ones.  

"Oh no." The boy with glasses who had previously been the man in grey exclaims, looking at his hands before they both quickly get up and start running again, hiding behind a car with Pedro. 

The man in blue, Freddy, is back, and he stands between the dragon and the car with a determined look.

"Okay, that’s it!" He snaps, bringing his hands up, but before he can even aim to do anything the woman shoots him, sending him crashing back on the ground, once again a kid, with a crutch. "Again?!" He protests, flinching when the dragon roars at him. 

"Freddy!" Marvel calls from behind a car, holding his hand up. The boy throws him a golden apple before standing up with the crutch and running as best as he could.

Marvel stood behind another car with the unfamiliar man and woman, he walks away from the car, holding the golden apple up. 

"Hey! this is what you want right?" He asks, shaking the apple in his hand, when the woman looks at him he throws the apple up in the sky where Mary catches it as she flies away, making the dragon and staff woman follow after her.

Marvel takes that chance to herd everyone away.

Meanwhile, the woman with the staff is chasing Mary and shooting at her with the staff, Mary barely managing to miss each and every attack, and still, the woman hits her cape, setting it on fire. Mary gets distracted by it, forgetting to look where she was going, her path gets cut off by the dome as she crashes into it.

And the woman takes advantage of it to shoot at her with the staff. She turns into a much younger version of herself, but not quite a child. And she drops the apple as she starts falling from the sky with a terrified scream.

"Oh shit." Green Lantern exclaims at the sight. He had run out of power on his ring several times, falling from such height with nothing to stop the fall was a most terrifying experience, because you never knew if anyone would ever manage to come in time to save you or if you would end up flat on a road.

"Mary!" The unfamiliar woman shouts, raw terror in her eyes as her hands come to her mouth, her eyes on the falling figure. Marvel quickly turns to look up and sees Mary falling from the sky.

He notices the dragon chasing the falling apple before looking back at Mary falling.

He doesn't even hesitate to bolt up and towards Mary, successfully catching her in the nick of time at the exact same time the memory goes dark.

And still, at least it lets the League breathe better, because she didn't die. Even if the Mary back at the Rock hated their guts, that didn't meant they wanted her dead. Here nor in any other universe.

Another blurred swirl appears, clearing up in time to see the younger goddess walking away.

"We can’t let her die. She called me sweet!" Freddy tells as he turns back to look at Marvel with a desperated look, making some from the League smirk. "We have to figure something out." He tells Marvel who seems to be deep in thought, suddenly, realization strikes him and he turns to look at the Wizard, pointing at him.

"Take my powers back." His words makes the League's eyes widen.

"He can do that?" Aquaman asks to no one in particular, much like the others, shocked that anyone could just take away Captain Marvel's powers.

"No, Billy!" Darla protests. He holds his hand up to stop any further protests.

"No, no, no." He approaches the Wizard. "Hey, take my powers back. You always give ’em to me, so you can take ’em back, right?" He asks. The wizard shakes his head.

"I am not the champion. Haven't been so in eons. You are. Have been so for centuries, and you will always be." The Wizard tells as a statement of fact, turning his back to him.

"You think I know how to fix this, dude, but I really don’t, okay? I, I didn’t even know who those Greek sisters were. I had to Google them. But you know who they are, which means you know what to do. And you were right. You made a mistake this time around, man. I mean, that’s why I always say “all or none,” right? Because without my family, I’m nothing. And honestly, I have no idea what I’m doin’ this time around."

His words makes the League's stomachs twist, to hear him speaking so low of himself, how long had it even been since he had died at the hands of that other Superman? No one could blame him for being a mess, he was trying to deal with the very real fact that he had gotten murdered by the same man he had seen as a friend, just to be resurrected back into a world where he was abandoned at and had to go through God knows what in those foster houses. Because no child ran from 11 houses just because.

God knows what kind of hell he must have lived through, making it impossible for him to deal with anything, and then those sisters appeared seeking revenge against him for something he had no part in? Hell yes was it logical for him to be a friggin mess. What the hell had that Wizard even been thinking by throwing him back into another world to live as if everything was alright?

How many lives had he been forced into? Forced to ignore the trauma and the pain for an endless job he would never be free of? It sounded downright cruel for him to have to live for eternity.

Just being reborn over and over again to do the exact same thing.

"No." The wizard states without looking at him. "You don’t have a shred of wisdom in that brain of yours."

"Jerk." Hawkwoman can't help but spit at the Wizard's lack of tact.

"But your heart is wise." The Wizard continues, finally turning to look at him. "And it knows exactly what must be done. I spent millennia searching for a worthy champion and no one was worthy of what I once shared with my brothers and sisters." He began telling as he circled him. "But when you shared your powers, you did not hesitate. For you, everyone can be worthy if given a chance. Now, go fight for your family. Go fight for the world. I chose right when I chose you to be reborn in this world."

Marvel nodded at the Wizard's, looking newly determined. Good, at least that Wizard hadn't been a complete ass.

"Billy? Billy, what are we gonna do, man?" Freddy asks as Marvel turns around, starting to walk towards the group. And the League seriously still had trouble wrapping their heads around the fact that that was his name.

Was it his name now too? Or had it been just a coincidence that he had the same name twice?

"Same thing we always do, Freddy. Save the God-" Marvel cut himself off, looking at the unfamiliar woman who leveled him with a warning look. "God darn world." He corrected, making the League smirk, curious on who that woman might have been. "Now, I’m gonna go get that staff and I need you to lure these things away from the stadium while I deal with the dragon, all right?" He asked before stepping back, yet before he could fly off, the unfamiliar woman moved.

"Wait, wait, wait, Billy, Billy." She called, making him halt and give her a nervous look.  "Can I just speak with you, before you go?" He seemed hesitant, but he still nodded, letting her approach him, and the second she had him within reach the second she pulled him into a hug, not caring at all about the monumental difference in height.

He didn't hesitate to hug her back. And he seriously looked like he needed that hug. Who was that woman? As they pulled apart he gave her a sad smile.

"Hey, I promise after this, if I don't get eaten by a dragon." He told the last with amusement, this before his eyes grew sad again, but accepting, defeated. "I'm not gonna force you to keep me around. Okay?"

That sent confusion through more than one in the League. Even the woman looked beyond confused.

"What?"

"I know this isn't really what you signed up for. I mean, the house got destroyed, Freddy got kidnapped, and now everyone's running for their lives because some crazy goddesses and their dragon are after me." 

The League was still very much uncertain on what was Captain Marvel's relationship with that woman.

But they didn't need to wonder for much longer, because her gaze softened as she brought her hands up to touch his face. Her next words freezing them all to the spot.

"Billy. My wonderful, kind, brave, son. I will never turn you away. No matter the destroyed houses or the monsters that come knocking down the door. You will always have a home with us. Always." She told firmly, leaving no room for argument or doubt. 

And holy shit, that was Captain Marvel's mother. 

"Now, do me a favor and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, go kick their ass, okay?" Her words got more than one in the League smiling. Most of them had lost their mothers when they were children, but they did sometimes wonder what would they think of the whole superhero thing.

Apparently, Captain Marvel's had been the cheering type. 

Marvel smiled, looking a whole lot more relaxed, as if her words had been the one thing he was hoping for for a long, long time. Though taking his earlier words into account on how his mother had abandoned him, and those other 11 houses he left, it stood to reason he had potentially grown to expect abandonment from everyone.

Which was a heartbreaking thought.

"I love you, Mom." He said, and the woman's surprise, shock and sea of emotions in general at the last word led the League to believe that maybe, that might have potentially been the first time he ever called her like that.

"Me too."

Her voice is the last thing they before the memory fades away, leaving silence behind.

"She looks incredibly young to be his mother. Even if he was adopted." Green Lantern finds himself saying despite all, the woman couldn't have been older than in her 30's. And alright, Marvel was perpetually stuck with the face of someone who was in his 20's. So was Diana.

But something didn't quite fit there.

"Maybe he grows really fast. You know. Magic. Or maybe he just hits the mother of growth spurts whenever he finally gets his memories and powers back." Flash said before realizing what he just said. "Which sounds worse when I say it out loud. But it would explain why he is always so... you know. Childish?"

"Barry, you, Oliver and Hal were racing remote control cars all over the Watchtower last month." Wonder Woman reminded flatly, making the speedster pout, Marvel might be childish sometimes, but so were they. She worked with children.

But she didn't mind, she did admit it had bothered her the first time she joined, worried about whether they could be trusted or not in a battlefield, or if their childishness would get them killed.

But they had shown her more than once that despite their childish behavior, they were all very reliable in battle, she wouldn't hesitate to trust them with her life.

Another blurred image came up, swirling blurs before it cleared up. All to reveal Marvel landing on a roof, a panicked look on his face as he caught sight of the older goddess on the ground, seemingly dead.

"No, no, no. Lady, lady, you can’t die!" He called, appearing by her side within seconds, clapping in her face as if that would somehow wake her up. "Come on, Billy, come on! Powers, powers, powers. Medical powers. No. How-to-fix-dead-people powers."

The League couldn't help the amusement at his words. He then looked down at his hands with realization.

"Please tell me he isn't gonna do what I think he is gonna do." Hal asked, remembering with a wince that time Barry used his hands as electroshocks to bring back Hal.

Which, he was grateful for, but Christ had that left a most terrible burn on his chest that lasted weeks.

Marvel answered to him with a doubtful look as he held the hands over the woman's chest.

"Clear?"

Lightning crackled from his hands up to the woman's chest, making her grunt and jerk. Triumph washed over his face.

"Whoa! Come on! One more time. Clear!" The woman jerked before groaning in pain.

"Stop! Stop! Let me go to the Underworld in peace, please." The Goddess plead, and who had even managed to take her down when not even Captain Marvel could?

"No. no, lady, listen, listen to me. I need your help okay? Something that only you can do. So I need you to stick around a little bit longer, okay?" Marvel requested, a pleading undertone in his voice. The woman's gaze grew far away, heartbroken.

"When they ravished our world, the way my sister now ravages yours. My father gave his life to save the ones he loved. Us." She told, any anger she had felt before, completely gone, her hand reaches up to grab Marvel's face. "His lifeblood now courses through you, boy. And his name, Atlas, titan God of stamina and strength proved to me, that his magic belongs in you."

Marvel gave her a strange look for a moment, he almost seemed to feel bad for her. Nothing unfamiliar there, Captain Marvel has always been known for the compassion he could come up to show towards villains.

"I don’t want anyone else to die." He told suddenly as he carefully helped her sit up. "Not my family, not Anthea, not anyone, and we can save them. This all came from the tree, right? I might know a way to destroy the tree and the dragon all in one." He told as he glanced out at the city, where a giant tree could be seen, and many, many mythological creatures.

"Ladon’s powers are too great, boy." The woman told as a statement of fact, Marvel turned to look at her.

"Well, not if I can overload the staff with enough lightning." His words made the woman's eyes wide ever so slightly.

"A bomb?" 

"Is that enough to kill the dragon?" He asked, suddenly doubtful of his own idea, the woman gave him an indecipherable look.

"And more. You would annihilate everything that’s inside the dome."

Marvel grew silent at that. 

And then. His face more determined than it has ever done, something about it making the League's stomachs drop.

Even more so his next words.

"Well, then I have one more favor to ask."

The memory faded away.

"Please tell me he isn't gonna do what I think he is gonna do."

As if to answer his question, another image appeared, of Marvel with the left side of his costume singed and holding a staff, standing inside the dome, the dome that now only took a whole stadium instead of the city.

"Dude, come on! Where the hell were that world's Justice League?!" Flash snapped, anger and frustration taking hold as he realized with dawning horror where this was going. Why the hell hadn't other heroes been there? A fucking city being held hostage was certainly something that would get the attention of any respectable hero!

So why the hell had they not been there?

"Billy!" The woman, Marvel's mother, shouts, running towards the dome.

"Get out of there!" The man the League suspects now very heavily might have been his father, shouts, he is right behind the woman, both of them running towards the dome.

"I can't." Marvel tells as a statement of fact as his mother comes to an abrupt halt on the other side of the dome, her hands coming up to it. Dawning horror in her eyes. "I have to do this."

"Billy, what are you doing? You're not supposed to be in there." Freddy says, still very much a child and looking positively terrified, enough that for a moment, the League has the sudden and most horrifying wonder of whether he was truly an adult or a child.

"Yeah, I am." Marvel states, sadness in his eyes. "After everything that happened before... this, I started to think that I couldn’t do anything right, that I didn’t deserve my powers..."

His words stung, because it didn't took a genius to know what he meant by 'before'. Of what he had done in that alternate world where Superman killed him. He had said so earlier, in his talk with the pediatrician, and then with the dream-wonder Woman.

And now... he had been depressed. And he had still been forced to be Captain Marvel. To carry on as if everything was alright. 

God. How was he even doing now? Were the smiles all fake? How long was it that this and the Superman thing happened? He still flinched away from Superman, the sudden idea it having been recent... it made Clark feel sick. Even now, he still felt like crying, to hear and see the aftermath of it all. He had been hanging on a thread, trying to save and protect people while dealing with the betrayal his supposed friend had done in his previous life.

Killing him.

He just hoped the Clark in that universe had been good with him.

"But there’s something that I can do." Marvel's words got their stomachs twisting.

"No."

"I can save all of you." Alternate Captain Marvel exclaims, a sad smile on his face.

"But it’s all or none!" Freddy shouts, hitting the dome repeatedly, tears in his eyes. 

"Yeah. All of my family gets to live and none of them gets hurt." Marvel told, as if that somehow made everything else alright. As if dying was nothing but a little inconvenience to deal with if it meant everyone he cared about got to live.

And while many in the League understood the sentiment and wouldn't hesitate to do the same... this felt incredibly wrong for some reason. Because why? Why had his life ended up like that after what he had to go through in the last one? How cruel could fate be, that he would be forced to go through yet another cruel death?

But his next words were even more devastating than anything the League has ever heard from him. 

"Freddy, I’ve never had a family. You know that. Everybody I’ve ever cared about, they all left me. My mom, my dad... everyone. So when I found you guys, I had to hang on and I’ve been hanging on too tight. I should have let you do your own thing. Now it’s time for you to fly."

"What about you?" Freddy asks, voice broken as his hand rests on the dome, and God, he looked every inch of a child who was being forced to accept the fact that he might lose his brother.

A child. But that couldn't be, right? He was the man in blue, an adult. Magic de-aged him.

Right?

Captain Marvel smirks, bringing his hand up to the dome, pressing it against Freddy's.

"I’m Captain Everypower Junior." He tells, making Freddy chuckle past the tears over some apparent inside joke. "Don't you forget it." He told at last before walking away.

He enters the stadium, as he walks through the tunnel, the League can't help but notice that his hands are shaking, and still, his eyes are burning with determination, determination to die if it meant saving those he cared about.

A man willing to walk to his death with his head held high.

And despite all, the League felt respect swell up for him.

As he steps out of the tunnel that leads to the stadium, a giant tree can be seen in the middle of it all, and the woman is there, riding the dragon and looking just as determined.

"We end this now." She proclaims, voice cold. Marvel's gaze is just as thundering.

"Yeah. We do." He states, this before starting to hit the dome with lightning, electricity beginning to crackle all over, rippling across the dome.

And then he rose in the sky, holding the staff, energy crackling all over as thunder rumbled above, a thundering expression on his face, the image sending shivers down the League's spines as they were reminded of just how powerful Marvel could be on a good day.

To imagine how he might get on a bad day...

"Fly." The goddess commands the dragon, making it leave the ground.

Marvel pounces at the dragon, holding the staff out to cut through the dragon's blue fire as he flies right into it, his costume starting to burn as he flies through, the red of his costume  turning a singed black color, pain flashing in his eyes as he grunts before he is dropping, exiting the fire before flying under it.

The goddess flies up to him and the dragon sends him crashing into a billboard, roaring.

Marvel removes himself from it, anger in his eyes.

The dragon snarls and pounces at him. Captain Marvel shoots forward, eyes blazing with blue energy as electricity crackled all over his body, his fist connects with the dragon's jaw, wood exploding as the animal's head was turned by the force of the impact.

"Fuck yeah." Green Lantern found himself cheering.

The dragon swung its claws at Marvel, to which he falls back, dropping in the air and missing the claws by inches. He flies back up, punching the dragon once again. The dragon snarls angrily, chasing after him as it blows fire, burning everything in its wake.

Marvel comes to hover in the middle of the dome, electricity crackling all over, the staff acting as some sort of anchor to it all as the lightning crackled all over it.

And the look Marvel gives the staff makes the League's hearts drop. 

It's time.

He looks at the woman, wind blowing around them, his gaze hardening with new resolution as he shoots towards the dragon which shoots fire at him. He uses the staff once again to fly through it, his costume this time seems to catch fire on parts, but he keeps flying straight, determination burning in his eyes, lightning accumulating onto the staff, glowing brighter.

He looks up to the building energy on top of the dome, electricity crackling all over, wilder, bigger. He falls back from the fire, going under and slamming the staff right into the dragon's chest.

"SHAZAM!" He shouts, voice strained as he pins the dragon against the tree. A familiar gigantic lightning bolt crashes down upon the dome. 

And everything goes dark as the memory fades away. 

Chapter Text

"J'onn. Can't you just take us straight to him?" Batman asked, even he was finding it hard to keep up his composure, because this went against anything he had ever thought he knew about Captain Marvel. 

The same man he wouldn't trust to make a plan or go into a mission alone, same man who was all smiles and a bigger boy scout than Superman himself.

Hadn't hesitated to walk up to his death and give his life in exchange for the ones he loved. His loyalty had been such, he hadn't for a second thought Superman would go far enough to harm him. He clearly suffered from PTSD, depression and abandonment issues. Making it all the more confusing on how could he keep up such big facade.

As if nothing could ever bother him.

He could have given all his fortune if it meant unraveling the complex mystery that Captain Marvel was, but this? As much as he liked new information and knowledge in regard of the people he worked with, this wasn't how he would have wanted it to go.

Even this was too much for him.

"I'm afraid not. We must go past his memories, he has too many that stand louder than the one he must be hiding in. If I try to force our way past them, it could destroy them, and bad as they are. Destroying his memories isn't something I wish to risk." Martian Manhunter stated, as bad as some memories could be, he couldn't erase them, because aside from the fact that it was something he just didn't do for it wasn't right.

There was also the fact that memories, no matter how bad they were, made a person who they were, these memories, all of them, no matter how horrible, made Captain Marvel who he was, J'onn couldn't just destroy that.

"You said he was close." Hawkwoman said, she didn't want to be here, to stand here and watch a good friend suffer, go through things no one should ever have to go through.

"He is, but his mind is much more complex than anything I have ever seen, I must thread carefully, I cannot risk damaging his memories, bad as they might be, they make who he is." J'onn told as a statement of fact.

At that same time, a blurred image began forming, making the League tense, even more so at the sight they got, it looked like a meeting room at a building, several unfamiliar people sitting around the table.

But two.

Lex Luthor.

And Bruce.

Both looking much more older, but it were definitely them. Sitting at the same table.

And right by Luthor's side, Captain Marvel stood at, still looking as young as ever, just that this time, he wasn't wearing the familiar costume, in its place, he was wearing a fancy waiter suit, dark pants, red jacket and even a bowtie. His eyes looking as wrong as his body language, all as he threw a towel around Luthor's neck.

Even the voices in the memory were like a smudged echo.

"J'onn?" Wonder Woman asked, feeling uneasy over the sight of her brother just there, practically serving Luthor of all possible people.

"Mind control." 

"I'm sorry, what?" Aquaman asked, not sure he had heard right.

"These memories... he was being mind controlled when it happened." J'onn stated as he felt the familiar fogged veil that came with memories gotten during mind control.

"That's impossible, I thought his mind couldn't be penetrated." Green Lantern said, Marvel had said so before, his mind couldn't be penetrated by any kind of psychic attack or mind control in general. So how the hell did fucking Luthor manage to mind control him? And for what? To have him act as his personal waiter?

And what the hell was Batman doing there just sitting and letting it all happen? But again, this was Batman, Batman always had a plan, or at least Hal hoped that was the case.

"And in the meantime, we have nothing to fear from the League?" The voices became clearer, a man near Luthor was asking, making Luthor scoff. "Not even from Superman?"

"He will not touch me! He will NOT. He cannot." Alternate Luthor snapped, this before smiling, a dark look In his eyes. "In fact, I've got the most... marvelous anti-Superman plan. Isn't that right, boy?" He turned to look at Marvel at the last statement, Marvel who just smiled, a very wrong very skin crawling smile. What the hell had Luthor done to him?

"Absolutely, Mr. Luthor." Is the answer he gives, flat and monotonous. 

The memory distorts, before straightening back out to reveal the same room, just that this time, there's a whole lot more of people, one of which is a woman with the Green Lantern symbol on her chest, and the League mildly wonders whether they had been heroes or villains.

There was also Marvel, he stood with the group, this time, wearing a black smokin, and how was that even possible? Hadn't he said once the costume was stuck to his skin?

"Good news! The moment has come to begin our final strike! The Gulag is in turmoil! The inmates are... dare I say it? Revolting! Superman's prison has become a cauldron of hate and chaos! That's our clue to deploy our steel legion!" Luthor proclaimed, a smile plastered on his face.

"Dick." Flash muttered, he had no idea what was happening, but it was clear Luthor was still as much of a dick as he was here. And he had Captain Marvel acting like his servant or something!

"But before any of that. We must destroy the League. And I have the perfect person for that. Someone I've been saving for just such a task!" Alternate Luthor states, looking at Marvel who seems to frown in confusion.

"I thought you said that the supers were evil." That statement makes the League's blood run cold, even more so the flat voice with which he said that. And Luthor smirks at that.

"Yes, I've always said that the supers are evil. Can't argue with that." 

"But then why-" Alternate Luthor cuts Marvel off, grabbing his face and leveling him with a glare, his smile becoming all the more creepy as he speaks.

"Only you can ensure their destruction. I'm ordering you to demolish what's left of the Justice League." Alternate Captain Marvel stills at that, for a moment, horror flashes in his eyes, shoulders shaking.

"No... I..." 

"Come on man, snap out of it." Green Lantern can't help but plead, hating the sight of it, the fact that Luthor would do such a thing. Was that why Batman was there? Had he gone to save Captain Marvel?

And still.

Captain Marvel's shoulders stop shaking, eyes darkening.

"Sha-"

Whatever he was about to say, his words were abruptly cut off by a punch straight to the face, from fucking Bruce. And the punch honest to God didn't break his hand, instead, it fucking sent Marvel crashing to the ground, with blood on his face from the busted lip.

"He's bleeding." Hawkwoman said out loud, surprise and shock in her voice, and no one could blame her. Because since when could Marvel bleed? And how the hell had a human managed to take him down with a punch?

Alternate Batman didn't waste a second to put his foot against Marvel's throat.

"Shuh...Shh..." Marvel's words came as nothing but hisses and grunts, groaning as alternate Batman pressed harder against his throat, prompting Marvel to grab his leg.

"Hello, Billy." Is the greeting Batman gives. His voice is stoic, but the League could tell he was angry, not at Marvel, but at Luthor most likely.

"He's... He's not..? You're kidding me! All this time, we've been in mortal fear of Billy Batson?" One of the men snaps, incredulity in his voice. And how the hell did a bunch of villains knew Captain Marvel's secret identity?

"I'd suspected it for a while... And J'onn's telephatic probe confirmed it. It seems Marvel's dual identities are in quite a bit of mental conflict. All these years... as Batson grew to manhood... Luthor kept him in check by turning him into a stew of schizophrenic psychoses."

Alternate Batman's words made the League's blood run cold and their hearts stop.

What?

Grew to manhood? As in Luthor took hold of him when he was a child and had been brainwashing him for years through God knows what methods? But how? Why? How? Had he had powers as a kid? Had he been in the League as a kid and then got seized when he less expected it? 

But it would explain Captain Marvel's refusal to so much as step into missions that involved Luthor. He had once stormed out of the Watchtower after Batman had tried to guilt-trip him into going into a mission where Lex Luthor, Sivanna and Grodd had joined forces. And he had disappeared for a whole week.

Because fucking Lex Luthor had apparently tortured him as a kid in one of his past lives, for years, enough that he might have lost any sense of reality. 

Now... fuck. What the hell was even this? How could the Wizard just stand back and let this happen? How could he let any of those things happen? The League couldn't for the life of them understand why the need to subject Captain Marvel to those kind of lives. With what purpose?

"But our goals..."

"My only goal in allying with you was to learn your connection to Captain Marvel. In this entire global conflict, he was the wild card. And I hate wild cards." Alternate Batman states, pointing at Luthor with an enraged look. The League smirked at that, well, it seemed like that Batman might have been similar to theirs.

"You! You double crossed me!" Luthor shouted, anger in his eyes. Alternate Batman smirks.

"I learned from you."

The memory glitched, distorting once again before exploding into a burst of colors before Captain Marvel was revealed, hesitantly walking right behind Batman at a subterranean room of pipes, Batman was holding an honest to God gun.

"Then Luthor found you. Took you under his wing. Told you the same thing the world was telling you... that superheroes were monsters, terrible, repulsive beasts..." Alternate Batman's words sent confusion through the League. What the hell was that suppose to mean? One thing were villains throwing all kinds of insults at heroes.

But the world? The whole world? That Batman had mentioned a global conflict before. Was this what he had meant? Had something happened in that world with superheroes and people? 

"And he never, ever, let you forget... that you had one hiding deep down inside you." Alternate Batman told, those words didn't seem to set well with Marvel for he stopped abruptly, shook his head as anger, confusion and fear overtook him, his fingers curling into fists.

"Liar. Heroes are the monsters. They think themselves above regular people, no longer caring to do anything but stand out and subjugate those with less power." He spat acidly at alternate Batman, hatred burning in his eyes, this before turning around and making a run for it.

His words slicing the League's hearts like knives. Why? How had things gone that far? Why had it taken so long for him to be found? What the hell had Luthor done to him? To sink such poison into his mind, since he was a child...

How long must it have taken, how long must he have been subjected to God knows what horrors. Horrors no child should ever have to be subjected to.

"Don't think like that, Billy!" Alternate Batman called as he turned to follow after Marvel.  "He's twisted your brain around that insanity! The worms... they're engineered to secrete certain chemicals! Billy or Marvel! Either one! They eat away at your mind!" Alternate Batman shouted after him.

But Marvel kept running, fear and confusion in his eyes, as if everything he had ever known had become a complete lie. Like he had no idea what to do, who to trust or even where to go to.

And what the hell did alternate Batman meant with 'the worms'? Was he talking about Mister Mind? Or was it something else? But the way he said it, secrete certain chemicals. Had Luthor... had Luthor implanted mind control worms into him? How? And that was such a sickening thought.

Also explained Marvel's reaction towards Barry's prank that time he gave him a can of worms, it had been meant to be a harmless prank.

But then Marvel had dropped the can and shot lightning at it faster than anyone could have ever seen it coming, way more than just a spark, it had been a giant enough lightning bolt it had destroyed the floor. He had fixed it with magic and apologized, but that was the last time he ever took anything Flash offered him.

And Barry had the sudden and very nauseating realization, that he might have laughed and called overdramatic a perfectly reasonable reaction towards something that might have caused the man and anyone for that matter some heavy trauma.

Mind control worms. 

And the most fucked up thing was that one of the guy's villains was a freaking worm that could mind control people, how the hell did he even fought him? 

"They're driving you mad, Billy! Don't let that happen!" Alternate Batman shouted as he gave chase to a frantic looking Captain Marvel. "The world depends on it! You can fight- Billy, look out!" Alternate Batman called out as Marvel had turned to look at him over his shoulder, having forgotten to look where he was running towards as they entered what looked like a lab.

There was a huge bowl on top of a desk, filled with water and worms in it, a bowl Marvel didn't see and ran straight into, the glass burst, water and worms falling on him as he fell to the ground.

"Shit." Hal swore under his breath.

The second he noticed the worms crawling on his clothes, the second terror and panic overtook him, his breathing growing increasingly fast.

"Sha-"

"Billy, no!" Alternate Batman cut off whatever Marvel was about to say, panic flashing in his eyes. "Stay calm! I can help! Stay calm!" He was quick to say, but Marvel didn't seem to hear him, completely terrified at the sight of the worms.

And then he spoke that familiar word.

"Shazam!" 

Lightning struck down, and from that light, Captain Marvel flew out, now wearing the costume and with the previous split lip healed. 

"Wait. Is he like, human, human and when he calls that big ass lightning he becomes indestructible?" Green Lantern said as realization hit, Marvel always said he was human, something many of them had had trouble believing, but if he could switch in between being human and indestructible by one single word...

So that's why that Superman had froze his mouth shut, or why that Batman went for his throat. His voice was the defining factor. Though it didn't make sense why would he try to de-transform infront of that alternate Superman who had killed him.

And still.

With that new knowledge something hit harder.

He had been human when the bomb with the dragon went off. And when the paradooms... oh fuck they fucking ate him alive.

But it also hit the reminder of the amount of times he had shouted that word in the middle of a fight, either when high in the sky, from the inside of a monster, or when a fight in general was going particularly difficult. All those times, he had become completely human, had put his life on the line before calling on the word again.

He had risked his life on those moments, and none of them had even been the wiser. Because what if something had gone wrong? What if he hadn't managed to say the word for whatever reason while mid fall from the sky? Or what if a monster had managed to get to him before he could transform? What if one day the word for whatever reason failed and he was left completely vulnerable in the middle of a fight?

Or worse? In the sky?

None of them would know, no one would be able to prevent him from meeting a most terrible end. Those who could fly always paid extra attention to those who couldn't fly when in a fight that was way off the grounds. All so as to make sure they would be able to catch anyone who might fall. 

But none of them had ever thought about throwing Marvel a look. Because he could fly.

And still.

What all of them had seen as a last resort move on his part, it had now become a most reckless move on his part. Why would he risk his life like that? Why would he not tell them at the very most about that little detail so they could watch his back on the very crucial seconds that took him to say the word again? They were a team, they looked after each other, it was what had kept them all alive for so long.

So why hadn't he said anything?

Another image appeared, glitched with smudged multicolors and distorted voices and sounds. And then it cleared up to reveal a battlefield of robots and heroes? Villains? The League couldn't tell, but all of them were fighting each other.

And in the mist of all, Captain Marvel was.

With Superman. A very old Superman.

And Clark couldn't help the spring of nausea as he saw the alternate Superman block a hit from Marvel. Fighting again.

"Damn it, Marvel! Snap out of it! You can't do this! Too much is happening too fast!" Alternate Superman shouted, the look on Marvel's face was unfamiliar, eyes unseeing, pure murder intent, raw and unforgiving, a very skin crawling smile plastered on his face. He looked absolutely terrifying. "We have to work toge-"

Alternate Marvel cut off alternate Superman with a punch to the face, sending him flying across the battlefield and crashing onto the ground, and he was still smiling, much too wide, and the insanity in his eyes was as terrifying as it was heartbreaking.

Because to see him like that... to know he had ended up like that because of Luthor, because he had been very much potentially tortured as a child, growing up as nothing but a puppet with Luthor poisoning his mind about apparently heroes being evil, monsters, beasts.

And once again, the League couldn't help but wonder, how was the man doing now? He looked perfectly fine, always smiling, always happy about something, he did had moments where he would be a nervous wreck, pale or just flat out disappear for weeks.

But Christ, all the things he had been subjected to, how could he still be so full of life, compassion and positivity? They were ashamed to admit many of them wouldn't be able to do as well as he had apparently done. So how?

And the League could do nothing but watch him fight alternate Superman, brutal and violent like nothing any of them had ever seen on him, all the while, alternate Superman did his best to dodge his attacks and try to reason with him, even by the few attacks he landed, he looked like he was trying his very best to not hurt Marvel.

But no matter what he did or said, nothing seemed to get through. Marvel tackled him, grabbing his arms, and without hesitation, he spoke.

"Shazam!" Lightning came howling down, and Marvel spun around on the last second, all so the lightning would hit Superman instead of him. The League flinched, all except Superman, same or not, part of him deep down felt like Marvel might deserve killing a Superman for what that other one had done to him.

The alternate Superman dropped to the ground with a pained grunt, groaning as Marvel grabbed him by the cape, lifting him up in the air with one hand, still very much smiling, eyes unseeing.

"Shazam!" He called on the word again, but this time, alternate Superman kicked him on the chest, breaking free from his hold and slamming him onto the ground.

That gave chance for the lightning to strike Marvel.

Leaving behind his human form, he glared up at Superman before shooting up.

"Sh-!" His words were cut off by alternate Superman flying up to him, hand grabbing his face to keep his mouth shut, Marvel glowered at him, digging his fingernails on Superman's arms. But that did nothing, finally confirming very much the fact that that giant bolt of lightning that came with the word Shazam was what gave him his powers.

"That's enough!" Alternate Superman ordered, voice booming as anger flashed in his eyes. "Look around us. Look what we've come to." Alternate Superman says, forcing Marvel to turn to look at the chaos going on around them, robots and superpowered people fighting all over the place. "There's a bomb falling. Either it kills us, or we run rampant across the globe."

A bomb? What the hell for? The League was still very confused on the whole thing with the superheroes being evil, why did it all sound like a war between superpowered people and regular ones had exploded in that world?

"I can still stop the bomb, Billy. That much I'm sure of. What I don't know is whether I should be allowed to." 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hawkwoman asked to no one in particular, what the hell did he meant by "allowed"? There was a frigging bomb falling!

"Superhumans or mankind... one will pay the ultimate price. And that decision... is not for me to make. I'm not a God, I'm not a man. But you, Billy, you are both. More than anyone who ever existed, you know what it's like to live in both worlds. Only you can weigh their worth equally. Fight the brainwashing, Billy. You can let me go... or with a word... you can stop me. Do you understand the choice that can be made by you alone?"

Alternate Superman questions, Marvel didn't look at him, shoulders sagging as all fight disappeared completely from his body, tears falling down his cheeks.

"You decide." Alternate Superman told him as he released his mouth. "Decide the world." He said before taking flight, leaving Marvel standing alone, he looked up at Superman's receding form, eyes growing distant, sad, just completely and absolutely exhausted of everything and anything.

"But I don't care about the world." He muttered, tears still falling. "All I wanted this time, was one single thing, and I got it. For someone to come and make it all end, Batman and you made it happen. You are wrong, I might be from both worlds, but I don't belong in this world, nor do I want to stay here anymore."

His words sent a cold feeling down the League's spine as a horrifying realization hit.

"No." Diana whispered in horrifying realization, eyes going wide, just as the rest, because no, he couldn't mean what they thought he meant. Not him. Anything but that.

But his next words made their hearts stop.
 
"But you can make things better for everyone else, I know you can, so I choose to make things right as they should. And that means that you don't get to die."

Marvel stated firmly, determination flooding his face as his eyes grew hard on the last note.

"Shazam!"

Lightning came howling down, crashing on him, and he emerged from the explosion, shooting up towards Superman who turned to look over his shoulder, all in time for Marvel to snatch his ankle, violently yanking him back and sending him plummeting to the ground below.

He then went straight for the giant apparent bomb, a giant bomb encompassed into a force field that he punched right through. Lightning crackling all over the bomb as the force field shattered into a million pieces. He took hold of it and without an ounce of hesitation, he shouted the word.

"Shazam! Shazam! SHAZAM!" Lightning crackled in the sky ferociously with each spoken word, this before three colossal lightning bolts came crashing down.

And everything went black.

Leaving the League frozen in place.

Had they just... had they just watched Captain Marvel commit suicide? And his words... What had Luthor done exactly? For how long? To drive him to such an end...

For someone to come and make it all end. He had said, his voice had sounded so broken, so desperated, for how long had he suffered? That alternate Batman had said another thing too.

Turned him into a stew of schizophrenic psychoses. 

And that... it didn't matter how they looked at it, his words, his actions, he might have been potentially too overwhelmed with everything, might have seen himself as too dangerous to stay alive, possibly not trusting his mind anymore.

And so he killed himself.

It made the League's hearts ache, because how much must someone suffer for them to choose to take their life away? And how could Marvel always act like no wrong has ever been done to him? There was an innocence to him that made it all the more unsettling when the League took into account what they had seen from his memories so far.

Because how? It just didn't make sense for him to be the way he was, when this had happened. He was eaten alive, watched many of the people he cared about, he was killed by the same man he had seen as a friend, sacrificed himself to save an entire city, and now he had been tortured and brainwashed since he was a child.

So how could he keep on smiling? How could he keep up exuding that innocence and positivity? It was insane to even think that these things had happened, that all along he had been hiding these horrors. 

And the League no longer knew whether to be amazed at his strength over not succumbing to this or if they should be immensely worried over where his mind stood at right now, was he faking everything or was he genuinely alright? Was he better or was he always one step away from having a breakdown?

Or was this the breakdown?

Had they pushed too far and sent him into the one breakdown he might have always tried to avoid? That thought felt like a bucket of ice, guilt gripping them tight. Because they caused this.

He was now stuck in these horripilant memories because of them.

And that was something the League didn't think they might ever be able to make up for.

Chapter Text

Billy's eyes snapped open as he shot up to a sitting position, pain explode on his stomach, hand flying to clutch it on reflex as a hiss went past gritted teeth.

And even past the pain, all he could do was wonder what the hell had been that. Who had been that woman? Who had been that man? What the hell were they talking about? And more importantly.

Who the fuck was Thavma?

"Billy?" Zeus' voice caught his attention, the lightning God rarely spoke to him, to not say ever, but whenever he did, his voice never failed to sound both gentle and guilty. Why? Billy had no idea.

"What?" His voice came out like he had swallowed gravel.

"The injury on your stomach, use your lightning to heal it." That made Billy do a double take.

"I'm sorry what?"

"Your lightning, it can heal your wounds."

"..."

"Billy?"

"You serious right now? What the hell? Didn't you think I would have liked to know that when I was fucking bleeding my guts out at the Rock? Why are you telling me this now?" He snapped, anger rising, because what the hell? If lightning could heal him how come had Zeus didn't told him the second he was at the Rock? Why did it took him a whole ass vacation to tell him?

And of course Zeus didn't answer. Always with his cryptic silences.

Still.

He brought his hand up to his stomach, where the long gash was at, light leaking out, totally normal, just a basic Tuesday in his fucked up life. He used his lightning as Zeus instructed, and despite all, he had to admit it was fascinating to watch the lightning seal the gash shut, leaving smooth skin behind.

Huh.

He could see his skin. Weird, because the suit was still stuck to his skin like a second skin, it didn't last much though, for soon, the suit honest to God regenerated or whatever clothes fixing themselves was called. He looked down at the dry blood on his body, he couldn't quite remember much on that part.

But he did remember the chimera and that overwhelming feeling of not wanting to die. So he guessed the blood must be from the monsters...

He used his magic to clean the remains, not wanting to know how he even looked like, plus, the smell was nauseating.

"That's a neat trick." He almost jumped out of his skin at the sudden voice, he turned to look towards it and he was met with Batman and an uncomfortable amount of people at the door.

Superman, Batman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Hawkwoman and Martian Manhunter.

All of them staring at him.

"What?" He couldn't help but ask, unable to hide the irritation in his voice, but to be fair he was stabbed, he felt like shit and his head was pounding. He was confused on what the hell had been all that.

But even more so on the dozens of memories he now had, of past champions, he even had Black Adam's memories, and that... it made his throat close, because all of a sudden, he could somewhat understand what had led the man to become what he became.

Too much pain could change people beyond recognition.

There was also that darkness that came after Black Adam, searing pain, then warmth, familiar and electrifying, and then that blonde woman, and that man he couldn't remember the face of...

"Dude! We thought you were a goner!" Flash exclaimed, appearing right beside the bed where Billy was currently sitting on, and despite all, he couldn't help the spark of warmth in his chest, even now, he still had troubles believing the amount of people he had managed to find, after many years of loniless, betrayals and abandonment from people he thought would stay...

He had finally found a family, in the Vasquez, and in the League. 

"I'm fine." He ended up conceding, giving the speedster a smirk and a thumbs up.

"You got stabbed." 

"Yeah, I know, I was there. But I'm fine now." Marvel assured, leaving the bed, or he would have left it if the giant green hands hadn't grabbed his shoulders, stopping his advances.

"Where do you think you are going? Dude, there was like a ton of blood all over the place, pretty sure you shouldn't be walking around just yet." Hal said as a statement of fact, remembering the puddles of glowing golden blood all over the place.