Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

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Prologue

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This past year has been crazy. 

And not like, oh, yeah, my dog got sick and someone stole the tire right off my car kind of crazy- I mean really crazy. The kind of crazy that you only see in movies- what was that one Dick talked about, with the redhead who finds a bald billionaire? 

Anyway, he says my situation is eerily similar to that one. And, well, he's not wrong.

This time last year, I was just some homeless 10-year-old living in Fawcett City. I mean sure, I'm also Captain Marvel (don't tell anyone I told you that) and I'm a part of the Justice League and stuff, but over the course of a few months I not only moved into a mansion full of Gotham's best heroes, but I also found out who Batman really is, got adopted by the man, and got four new brothers to boot!

I live in Gotham now, and I go to school alongside Damien and even hang out with him and Jon when Dami feels like letting me join them. I have a roof over my head, and I help Alfred in the kitchen when he's cooking breakfast, Dick taught me how to swim and everyone even threw me a surprise birthday party when I turned eleven- and I hadn't even known it was my birthday!

All in all, it's been exciting, amazing, and life-changing all rolled into one! 

But... it hasn't been all fun and games. 

Circe, the reason any of this even happened in the first place, is still out there somewhere. She's a Goddess, and she's tied to Earth- so she isn't someone I could have banished to the heavens...which means she's out there still, probably on some remote island where we'll never find her and probably plotting her revenge.

She seems like the type. 

Sure, Constantine says there's nothing to worry about, that even if she does show her face again that we can handle her, but I don't know. She was able to lay low for so long last time, gathering power and pulling sorcerers under her spell with the promise of riches and power. 

Morgaine Le Fey is still under heightened security- John, me, and Zatanna take turns checking in on her monthly, while Felix Faust actually gave up on his life of crime. He went into...I think it had something to do with the history of Arthurian artifacts or something, but he's been clean for the past 7 months at least!! 

And honestly, there isn't much more to tell. I've made other entries that go into more detail about what's happened in the past year, but I'm not gonna waste time going over them here. Tim said that this is supposed to be therapeutic, something to help me untangle my thoughts and put them down on paper to make sense of. 

I really hope this works- I mean, I already put all of my good stickers on this notebook, so I guess I'm in this for the long haul. 

Anyways, my phone is going off right now, telling me that I got a meeting with Constantine I gotta get to- my lessons with him are getting really advanced and it's really exciting! I think we're focusing on conjuring this week? I forget. 

Either way, I should get going. If I'm late again John will make me clean out the storage room.

So this is Billy, signing off, Mr. Journal. 

Or are you a Ms. Journal?

Either way,

- Billy Batson-Wayne

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Chapter Text

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The universe was made up of a multitude of worlds. Plenty of dimensions that mirrored theirs, and plenty that looked like something so warped it was barely recognizable. The universe was vast, but at the heart of it all sat The Rock Of Eternity. The nexus of all magic, on a plane at the center of the multiverse. It was an ancient, hollowed ground, one that very few people had stepped foot inside of. 

"You know, I never would have guessed that you pretty much had your own Batcave, squirt."

One that, obviously, the majesty of which was lost on Jason Todd.

Billy tilted his head at the man as he kicked his feet, plopped down on the large stone throne in the center of the stone chamber. "What do you mean? The Rock of Eternity's nothing like the Batcave."

Jason scoffed. "I dunno kid, jagged stalactites, eerie wind, somehow damp and cold at the same time? All you need are some bats and it's like we're still under the manor." He smirked, leaning against the arm of the chair and raising a brow. 

Billy grinned and leaped at the chance he now saw, climbing up onto Jason's shoulders like a spider monkey from the chair-- and getting a surprised grunt from the elder. "Ack-! Watch the ears, kid!" 

The raven just laughed, resting his chin on top of Jason's hair. "I never thought of it that way, you know... kinda makes this place more homey to me now."

Jason glanced upward slightly, hands wrapped around the boy's ankles to steady him before he jostled the boy he could see getting lost in his own thoughts. "Stay on target, squirt. Why're we here again?" 

"Oh! Right!" 

Billy pat Jason's head with one hand and pointed in the direction he wanted to go with the other, which just so happened to be down the hall. "That way. There's something I need to get." Jason followed the boy's direction dutifully, trudging his way down the hall and eyeing some of the crude chalk drawings that covered some of the smoother cave walls.

There were various doodles of normal things you'd expect to see- dogs, cats, flowers, lightning bolts, and that S everyone seemed to draw in their notebook at some point in their life... but as they kept walking, he spotted more drawings. More... concerning drawings.

There was what looked like a cartoony version of Captain Marvel and Superman duking it out… Supes' eyes were scribbled in a harsh red. There were drawings of what looked like Billy, sitting alone and miserable while a trio of people threw what looked like slime balls at him. There was another drawing of two people, and Jason could only assume they were meant to be Billy's parents.

That last one looked like it had been half-hazardly smeared, as if angry fists had tried to rub away the picture's very existence at some point. 

Jason tilted his head up slightly. The happy-go-lucky kid on his shoulders didn't seem to notice the pictures. He probably had seen them so many times that they just disappeared into the background in his mind. 

"Oh! There it is!"

Billy patted Jason's head excitedly, bouncing on his shoulders and causing the elder of the two to follow Billy's finger to where it was pointing. Turns out the reason they came here was for a... gift box? It was sitting on the ground near a bundle of blankets- the first thing Jason's mind went to to describe it would be a nest.

He set Billy down on the ground, allowing the boy to bolt for the object and pick it up. He held it above his head like it was some treasure, and all Jason could really do was stare. 

"And... why exactly did you hide this thing here?" 

Billy gave him a look that told him he wasn't impressed. The scrunched nose really gave that one away.

"Because If I hid this in the manor, Damien would have found it by now. I don't want him ruining the surprise!"

Ah, of course. The demon brat's birthday was tomorrow. He'd planned his gift out with Dick- or, well, maybe the better way to put it would be that he'd been forced into participating in their gift by the eldest Wayne. Hopefully, the kid was still hung up on Bat-Cow.

Billy managed to pull him out of his thoughts when he grabbed Jason's hand, tugging him along back down the hall with Damien's gift hugged at his side. "C'mon! We're gonna be late!"

"The party's not for another two hours, squirt!" 

- - -

One Week Earlier...

Billy tugged uncomfortably at the tie around his neck, scrunching his nose at the uncomfortable way it rubbed against his throat. The dress shirt and stiff dark purple pants looked foreign on him, and the matching blazer made him look so... different. He still wasn't sure about this entire thing- the uniform, the idea of going back to school; Hell, maybe it wouldn't;t be so bad if it were any normal school, but he was starting at Gotham Private Academy today. 

While it may have been the same school Damien attended, he couldn't push away the thought that he was going to be very out of place. The school was full of rich kids, from what Jason and Tim had told him. Jason may never have attended, but Tim had and the way he described it gave Billy a sinking feeling in his gut.

He was pulled from his tumultuous thoughts by a sudden knocking at his door. The boy jolted, attention turning towards the door as it was opened. 

"Billy? How's it going?" 

Bruce poked his head through the door with a small grin, tilting his head slightly. At the sight of the boy's crooked and messily knotted tie, he huffed a laugh and came into the room fully. After shutting the door behind him, he made his way over to the youngest of the household, kneeling in front of the smaller raven and untying his tie. 

"I- I was having trouble..." Billy defended.

"I can tell... Don't worry. It'll get easier with time." Bruce replied, easily re-tying the tie and straightening it. He took a moment to straighten the boy's blazer as well, the corners of his mouth turning upward as he lifted his gaze to look into his youngest son's eyes.

Billy was quick to avert them. Bruce was way too good at reading his emotions- it only got easier for him the longer he tried to maintain eye contact. 

"Nervous...?" The man questioned. 

"Somethin' like that..."

Bruce's expression shifted, and his eyes grew soft. "You won't be at Gotham Academy alone, you know. Damien'll be right there with you, and it'll do you good to make more friends your age."

Billy shifts on his feet. "I guess..." 

"Tell you what," Bruce stood, straightening his own slim black tie in the process. "If you try this out for, let's say, a month," he smirks. "Captain Marvel and Batman can do an official team-up in Gotham."

"Wait- for real?! Like- an actual team-up, no Justice League problem required?!" 

Maybe he was a little too excited at that idea, but can you really blame him? Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damien all got to work alongside Bruce on a near-nightly basis when they were in Gotham. The one time Billy had tried to help, he'd ended up making a mess of the covert operation due to his static and far-too-bright costume.

And sure, he had Fawcett City to watch over, so it wasn't like he could really complain, but...

Bruce chuckled. "Yes, like an actual team-up. Harley's been on a rampage lately. I'm pretty sure she's missing the Joker, and that never ends up well for anyone."

"We can take her out to distract her! Get ice cream and go bowling or something!" Billy's enthusiasm was building by the minute. He'd had a soft spot for Harley for a while now; it was pretty easy to see the good in her, what with her "no killing kids" policy. She was just easily led astray, that's all.

The elder of the two chuckled. "Sure... something like that. But you have to do this for me first, got it?" 

Billy nodded. "I'll try, dad." 

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Chapter Text

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Billy nodded. "I'll try, dad." 

- - -

Billy made his way downstairs after Bruce with his new backpack slung over his shoulder. It felt weird to be carrying something so light- the lack of any kind of emergency snack or an extra sweater, but... that wasn't really needed anymore, was it? 

The pair came into the dining room just in time to watch Dick get an entire bottle of syrup squeezed in his direction. The eldest Wayned ducked, causing the sticky substance to splatter against the wall. 

"JASON!"

"YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE DUCKED!" 

Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What the hell is going on in here-?" He glanced between the two as Billy took his seat, setting his backpack gently down on the table next to Damien's sleek black messenger bag. 

"Dickhead here called dibs on the upper westside after I specifically told him that I was running a damn drug bust there tonight!" Jason growled, glaring at Dick as he explained his side. "He's out to make me look like a dumbass and flaunt his stupid new suit!" 

"You're terrible at stealth, Jay! It's not my fault you refuse to use anything but a Kevlar body suit and a motorcycle helmet!" Dick argued.

"Both of you cut it out. Go get some rags, you're going to clean up the mess you've made," Bruce said, crossing his arms over his chest and letting a bit of that signature Bat-tone seep into his voice. 

"But-" 

"But he-" 

"Go. Now. Neither of you are patrolling that area tonight. Tim and Damien will be taking your place. You two are going to clean the guano off the Batcave's floors tonight. Do I make myself clear?" 

Yeah, this wasn't Bruce speaking, he was in total bat mode right now. Billy watched in fascination as he slowly ate the pancake in front of him. The first two robins caved under that stare- it was something to behold even without the cape and cowl.

"Fine. Whatever." 

"C'mon Bruce..." 

"Not another word. Now go get those rags before the syrup stains the wallpaper."

Only then did the other raven beside Billy glance up disinterestedly, taking a slow bite from his apple. "Pea-brains," he muttered before taking another bite.

Billy was too busy stuffing his face to comment much, but he watched as Tim slumped in his chair in annoyance across the table. Once the eldest of the four had left the room, Bruce sighed, shoulders relaxing as he took a seat at the head of the table.

"Best hurry and finish your breakfast, you two. Don't want to be late." 

"Ah we takin' th' sch-ool buh'-?" Billy asked between bites, getting an unimpressed raise of the brow from Bruce as he sipped his coffee. 

"This school doesn't have school buses, Batson," Damien replied. "The children of Gotham's elite are far too good for that." The sarcasm was dripping from his voice.

"Oh."

Bruce smirked into his drink, shaking his head ever so slightly at the two. "I'll actually be dropping you off myself. We have to finalize your registration, Billy. After that, it'll be like any other normal school day." 

"If you consider rubbing elbows with snobbish brats normal..." Damien muttered under his breath.

- - -

Billy honestly wasn't sure what he'd been expecting the school to look like, but it certainly wasn't a whole entire castle. This place was huge- large towers with purple and gold banners hanging from them, a tall wrought iron fence surrounding the perimeter, uniform hedges, and brick pathways- it was all so fancy. It made the boy shrink slightly in his seat, trying to take in as much as he could from the backseat of Bruce's fancy car and being overwhelmed by it all. 

"You're panicking." 

Damien was sitting beside him, eyebrow raised and studying his face. "Stop working yourself up. It's just a school." 

"Sorry, I just- I haven't been to school since 1st grade... I’m- I’m out of practice, and this place is- it’s… a lot.”

”Father went here as a boy. It’s only natural for us to follow in his footsteps. A public setting for learning strengthens not only social skills, but life skills as well.” Damien said this with crossed arms, as if he was repeating something he’d been told many times before this point. 

“Someone’s taken Alfred’s words to heart,” Bruce chimed in from the front seat with a grin.

“Tch.”

“Damien’s right, though Billy. Don’t worry so much. Tim told me you’re reading at a fifth-grade level, and while your math could use some work, that’s what school is for. It’s okay to not know everything, and it’s okay to be nervous. Just don’t let that nervousness turn into fear.”

Billy nodded quietly. They were probably right- he hoped so, at least. 

Soon enough the trio were climbing out of the expensive car, and Billy couldn’t help but marvel at the massive building and all the kids that surrounded him. There were little groups of children talking on paths and on the grass, ones getting out of expensive-looking cars driven by fancy butlers, or with their noses buried in the latest, fanciest handheld or phone.  

Damien scoffed and trudged his way into the large building alongside Billy, who was beginning to feel a little self-conscious by some of the stares he was getting. He wasn’t sure if it was Damien that had the reputation or Bruce, but the amount of eyes on him was… unnerving. He wasn’t used to the attention when he looked like this. 

Damien split off from them soon enough, and Billy followed Bruce to the main office. It was there that he sat in an overstuffed office chair and waited as the man spoke with the principal for what felt like ages. He hadn’t really paid attention to their conversation, only catching things like Bruce telling the woman that Billy hadn’t had the best upbringing and that he’d appreciate it if some amnesty could be given for him while he was still trying to get up to speed.

All in all it ended with him slinging his backpack back over her shoulder and leaving the small room trailing behind his adoptive father. 

“Alright, this is my stop,” he said once they were out of the room, kneeling down so that he could be at eye level with Billy. “Do your best, and remember not to sweat the small stuff, okay?”

Billy nodded, gripping the straps of his backpack loosely as he rocked back and forth slightly on his feet. “Got it. I’ll try not to.” 

“Atta’ boy. Alfred will pick you up after school, okay?”

He nodded again, and soon enough Bruce was gone, leaving Billy alone outside the principal’s office. She was quick to give him his schedule and send him on his way, however, so he followed the paper she gave him and did his best to navigate the halls and memorize the door numbers as he went. 

Here goes nothing.

- - -

“Psst.”

Billy furrowed his brow at the way the question in front of him was worded. When he read it in his head the words got all twisted up, and muttering them under his breath didn’t do much to untangle them. 

“Pssst.”

Maybe he could ask the teacher to explain? For some reason, he couldn’t remember what a ‘participle’ was— was that not the fancy word for rain?

”Pssst!”

A paper ball hit him in the temple. He blinked, glancing in the direction the wad of paper came from. Beside him, sat a few feet away was a boy with a mop of curly brown hair and a beauty mark on his chin. Was he trying to get his attention?

”Hey, you’re that Wayne kid, right? The charity case?”

Billy furrowed his brow. What? What was that supposed to mean? Why did-

“You are! You’re that street rat Bruce Wayne adopted!” The boy gawked at him, a weird smile appearing on his face as he turned to his friend and whispered something in her ear. She started giggling, and he glanced back with a wider grin.

”Did you eat bugs before Bruce Wayne adopted you? I bet you ate roaches. You look like you ate bugs and rats!”

The boy started giggling, and so did his little friend. Billy just looked back at his worksheet, trying to ignore the boy’s words and focus his mind on the words he could visibly see in front of him.

”Marie-Anne says you look like a starving orphan from those commercials.”

Why was this kid saying this? Billy hadn’t done anything to him, he hadn’t even spoken a word to this boy, so why was he being so mean??

“Are you gonna kill Bruce Wayne and try to steal all his money? My father said that it’s riffraff like you that-“

”Do you ever shut up?!” Billy said, slamming his hands down on his desk and standing up.

”Mr. Batson! That is not acceptable behavior in my classroom!” The old woman at the front of the class said, peering down her nose at him with an angry look. 

“But he-“

”I don’t want to hear it. You should spend your time chit-chatting in the halls between periods, not when others are trying to learn.” 

A few sparse snickers traveled around the classroom. Billy sat back down, ducking his head and trying to focus on his worksheet once again. His cheeks were flushed bright red in embarrassment, and the grip on his pencil was white-knuckled. 

He’d faced sleazy teenagers that would kick him til’ he puked, bloodthirsty aliens hell-bent on destroying earth, all matter of creeps and weirdos when he lived on the streets and in his time as Captain Marvel, but a few words from some kid he didn’t even know was enough to get him this worked up?

This did not bode well for him.

- - -

By midday, Billy couldn't be more miserable. He trudged down the hall with his head ducked and eyes to the floor, hoping to avoid the various stares he kept getting. He didn't know how, but what that boy had been saying about him had spread, and now every kid in the building watched him like he was some carnival freak show.

He did his best to stay quiet, not to draw any attention, but kids just wouldn't stop whispering around him. He wasn't anything special, he hadn't even done anything to deserve their stares- but because of that kid, now everyone thought he was some weirdo street rat that Bruce Wayne felt bad enough to adopt.

Maybe he had.

No- stop that, Billy, that's not true. Don't let their words get to you. Just find Damien, and let him explain away the kids' cruel words. It would all be fine, he just had to find his adopted brother in the lunchroom and-

Oh. That's a big room. 

The lunchroom was massive and circular, with large, floor-to-ceiling windows looking out into a large green courtyard with rose bushes. There were kids everywhere, sitting at various tables or standing and talking, wait staff with pitchers moving around them like water. It was like some weird fusion of a fancy restaurant and a cafeteria... Billy wasn't exactly sure what to do. He tried finding Damien in the mass of people, but with the mixture of everyone wearing the same thing and Damien not exactly standing out in a crowd, doing so felt like an impossibility.

It took him a moment, but eventually, he made his way outside into the courtyard- forgoing any attempt to figure out the lunch structure inside. He sighed, hugging his backpack close to his chest and staring at the sidewalk. He wanted to ditch this place, to take off, hop the fence, and go patrol Fawcett City. Honestly, he'd rather be anywhere else but here.

"You're pouting." 

Billy blinked, glancing up to find Damien standing in front of him with a silver tray in his hands. He quickly dropped his gaze back to the ground. "Am not..."

"Yes, you are." Damien took a seat next to him on the bench, bumping the boy beside him with his tray. "Eat. It's that cheese pasta you like so much." 

The younger of the two couldn't help but chuckle a bit, shoulders relaxing slightly. "It's called macaroni and cheese, Dames." Regardless, he accepted the outstretched fork and took a bite.

Damien, for his part, just rolled his eyes. "Now tell me why you're pouting." 

"I'm not pouting-!" 

"Tch." 

"I'm not!" 

"Fine, don't tell me, tell father or Pennyworth, I don't care." Damien crossed his arms and glared at a pair of passing girls. "...if it's the work, just tell Drake to tutor you. Father doesn't expect you to be top of the class." 

"R-right..." He couldn't meet the other boy's eyes. If he told Damien, he was likely to laugh in his face and call him sensitive. 

It was then that the bell in the large clock tower started to chime, signaling the end of their lunch and the beginning of classes once again. The elder Wayne stood, setting the tray down on Billy's lap and glancing around. "People keep staring at you. Why." 

He tensed. "B-beats me. I mean, we don't exactly look like two kids that would usually hang out..."

Damien narrowed his eyes. "Sure." 

With that, the elder boy left Billy alone on the bench, silently staring down at the macaroni and cheese on his tray. It wasn't but a moment later when something wet crashed into the back of his head, sending him toppling over and onto the sidewalk. Billy winced, sitting up and touching the back of his head. His fingers came back pink- was this... yogurt? 

"Enjoying your lunch, Tiny Tim?"

Billy glanced back to find a trio of boyds handing behind him, each wielding different globs of food in their hands. The leader of this little group sneered at him before hurling another fistful of yogurt at his face.

"Do you really think we're going to just sit here and let riffraff like you turn our school into the slums? You may have Mr. Wayne and that weirdo son of his under your thumb, but we can see you for the garbage you are.”

Billy furrowed a brow, shaking his head slightly in response. “But I didn’t-“

”Save it, mutt. You stick out like a sore thumb here. Your hair looks like you cut it yourself, that backpack of yours is so cheap I can see the stitching from here, and you reek of street rat.” Another boy, a taller one with glasses and dark coiled hair, said before hurling a glob of mashed potatoes at him. 

He barely managed to dodge that one, bringing an arm up to shield himself slightly. “I didn’t even-“

”He said shut UP!” The third boy, a larger one with slicked back blonde hair yelled before throwing a soda can at him. 

“You can’t possibly think that just because you managed to worm your way into Gotham Academy that you belong here. That a little nobody like you have the right to rub elbows with us?” The leader kid sneered again, glaring down at Billy angrily. “It’s a wonder that any off the Wayne family puts up with you at all— you know you’re just some charity case, right?”

“Someone’s gotta put you in your place, might as well be us.” The kid with glasses added.

”Yeah- we’ll be keeping an eye on you, ‘Wayne’.”

With that, the trio walked off, leaving Billy to deal with the slop staining his suit.

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