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Captain Marvel zeta beamed to the Watch Tower, anxiety plain on his face. It was uncomfortably obvious to everyone, The Flash figured he ought to say something.
“Hey man, if you’re stressing about Batman’s meeting don’t worry about it, he seemed in a decent mood today.” Flash said nudging him as he strolled over. “Though if you don’t mind my askin’ what’s going on dude? You okay?”
The Captain looked up, who’d been lost in his thoughts. He let out a nervous laugh, “Oh yeah I’m fine! I just got something on my mind, it’s all cool though, really.” The Flash didn’t seem convinced but the meeting just started. With a shrug he found his seat and forgot about the interaction.
Throughout the meeting Captain Marvel bit his lip as he struggled to pay attention to what Batman was saying. At last it seemed the meeting was starting to conclude, that’s when the hard part began. The team had been speculating about his true identity for months now, since he first joined. It was becoming a problem, if Captain Marvel couldn’t trust them with his identity then how can they trust him in battle? At least that’s what the rest of the Justice League thought. After careful deliberation, with the Wisdom of Solomon to back him up, he decided today would be the day to tell the team.
“Anyone have anything else that needs our attention?” Batman asked as he shut off the Holoscreen, not really expecting anyone to answer. At least not the nervous voice of Captain Marvel to.
“Uh actually yes.” The Captain offered, at the nod of Superman he continued, “I know my identity has been a sore spot for the whole team and I’m sorry about that. It’s far past time that I told you guys, just um, please don’t be too mad?” He said glancing at each team member.
“Well get on with it.” Said Aquaman, glancing at the clock in the room, people forget he has a kingdom to run too.
The Captain let out a nervous chuckle, “Right, um you guys might want to stand back.” Once the Leaguers where a proper distance away the Earth’s Mightiest Mortal shouted the name
“SHAZAM!” And a bolt of lightning coming from seemingly nowhere struck the man. When the smoke cleared, the sight standing in his place left the Justice League shell shocked.
Standing there was a small and scrappy looking boy in a faded red hoodie, with jet black hair and blue eyes. “Uh, hi. My name’s Billy Batson, I’m ten years old, and I’m Captain Marvel.”
The room turned in unison to look at a just as shocked (Although expertly masking it) Bruce Wayne. It was understandable, the boy looked nearly identical to him when he was a child.
“Hey Bats I thought you said you weren’t gonna adopt any more of ‘em.” Joked Green Lantern, before getting elbowed by Cyborg.
“Batman, I thought you agreed to not get any more children involved into super hero-ing, how did this kid somehow get the powers of a god?” Came Superman’s accusing but concerned tone.
Billy Batson seemed at a loss for words, why the sudden shift on Batman? “He is the spitting image of you.” Murmured Wonder Woman from where she was standing, her eyes locked on Batman, perhaps searching the cowl to see what’s underneath it. She was right, aside from the fluffiness in the kid’s hair it was the same hue as Bruce’s and the eyes were the same icy blue that Batman has had all his life. Anyone who had seen Batman without the cowl knew this boy looked a lot like him.
The Flash snickered, “Well his name is Bat Son.” He joked softly to Green Lantern, but was silenced by Batman’s glare.
“He’s not my son.” Bruce said curtly, but everyone who knew him well enough could tell the ‘Yet’ hung in the air. Half of the Leaguers groaned while some just smiled and shook their heads.
Poor Billy Batson was so confused, “So am I not in trouble?” He asked hopefully, while Superman looked at him with a mixture of amusement and concern.
“No you’re still in trouble, you just have a lot of explaining to do.” Clark said as the boy sighed before launching into a story of how he managed to obtain his powers by a miraculous the Wizard Shazam.
Yet as the super powered boy talked, Batman could see a couple reasons why he’s just might want to adopt this child after all. Billy had seemed hesitant to explain why exactly he’d been in the subway that fateful day, edging around the topic. His hair was greasy like he hadn’t managed to wash it in several days, his blue jeans worn and faded with small tears at the knees. That red hoodie didn’t seem near as vibrant as it should be, coated in dust and dirt; the scuff on his face and bags under his eyes that the boy paid no mind were concerning as well. As he talked, Batson held himself in a certain way, a hunched over posture, the “please don’t notice me” kind. While the hoodie was a couple sizes large on him, it was obvious it hung off him far too much to be normal. He seemed malnourished. This kid has been going hungry, it was hard to tell how many days. Yet, he still had a certain brightness to him, even though he was being reprimanded by certain Leaguers. Perhaps this issue could use some looking into.
After all, the kid’s last name was Bat Son.