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Billy shivered. It was wintertime, and it got cold in Fawcett City. The cold front had moved in from the lake, chilling the air. He cupped his hands and blew into them, trying to warm them up to stave off the chill. He looked around and the quiet stillness of the night had him on edge.
He quickly walked to his apartment for the night, careful to avoid the eyes he was sure was following him.
He quickly walked in and closed the door, sliding down as he sat down on the floor, hand in his head.
His stomach growled.
Looks like he would have to go one more day.
It had been a long day.
He had been running ragged, trying to get all the criminals into Arkham, so while he was gone there wasn’t anything major. He sighed and looked at Alfred, who like unimpressed. He looked at the bags packed and changed out of his undershirt.
“All prepared then sir?” Alfred says, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes. Clark mentioned the orphans in Fawcett could use some help, so I’ll be there for a few days. Not to mention it’ll be the perfect time to look for our new friend.” Bruce adjusted his cufflinks.
“Indeed, Master Bruce.” Alfred pointedly didn’t say anything.
Bruce felt his irrational rise. “I know you want me to look into that note more. But what good could come of it? I just found out Damian existed, and now I have another child to find, who may or may not be my biological kid. On the word of a dead woman.”
“It’s not my place to say, Master Bruce.” Alfred started to leave the room.
“Fine, I’ll look into it more when I get back.” He muttered.
He pretended to not hear Alfred’s “Of course, sir.” as he walked away.
“We appreciate you appearing here, Mister Wayne.” The owner of the building said. “I know people say that a lot, and you probably don’t have a lot of time, so we'll try to make this quick.” She smiled and opened the door to where the festivities were happening.
Nearing Christmas, the lunchroom looked sparsely decorated. He raised an eyebrow at the decor. “First things first, we need to get more decorations. It looks depressing in here.”
The lady gave him a look of surprise. “Oh, that's very kind of you Mister Wayne, but…” she was interrupted by his laughter.
“It’s no trouble at all.” He smiles and then winked. “It’s not like I’m hard up for cash, am I right?”
She laughed and shrugged. “If you insist.”
She leads him to a different room, which held a picture of all the kids who participated in this. One kid in particular looked familiar. He saw the features that they shared, the similarities, and the differences. What was him and what was Marilyn?
“Who’s this?” He pointed to the kid.
Looks like Alfred was right after all. Not that I’m surprised .
“Oh, that’s Billy. He’s such a sweetheart. Always has a smile. It’s amazing after Marilyn and CC’s deaths he didn’t slip through the cracks.” She shook her head. “That kid remains a beacon of positivity.”
“Sounds nice.”
He had a name to work on. Marilyn and CC . He’ll look them up later. It seems he has his work cut out for him.
The owner leads him to the assistant, who takes over from there. She shows him all around the community center, where they’ll have a live band, a tree that will hold presents for the kids (donated by the community), and the catering.
“Seems like you guys put it all together very well. I barely did anything.” He laughed.
The assistant shook her head. “Without you, we never would have been able to finance all this.”
“Well, happy to help.” He smiled and looked around the room.
It looked like he had a mission.
Batman hopped on the roof looking for the new hero. Reports (and Clark) said he was in this city. Bruce had no idea why Clark wanted him to be the one to extend the invite to the JL, but he digressed.
He looked around, trying to spot, about to grapple to another roof when a voice spoke.
“Uh...Batman?” The voice said. “What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you.” He said, turning around, putting away his grapple equipment.
“Oh.” A pause. “Why?”
“Because.” He looked around the rooftop. It was quiet except for them. “Superman wanted me to extend an invitation to you to join the Justice League.” He paused. “He was impressed with your last meeting, I guess you left a lasting impression.”
The guy’s face lit up. “Holy Moley, Superman wants me to part of the Justice League?”
“Yes.”
“I accept! Of course.” Shazam smiled. It was a boyish smile, it reminded Bruce of Dick when he was younger.
“Glad to know.” He whipped away, leaving Captain Marvel on the rooftop.