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Captain Marvel was still not used to working with the Red Hood. The last time he’d seen him was the time that the League arrested him for trespassing on the Watchtower. Needless to say, that was a fiasco from start to finish. Not only was it nearly impossible to catch and detain the Red Hood but as soon as they did Batman tore into them like the proverbial Bat out of Hell.
After a huge showdown between the League and Batman, then Batman and the Hood it came out that they were related and now he was no longer on the Most Wanted List. Batman had never really scared him until that day. Sure, he was intimidating and he didn’t want to disappoint the hero but he’d never been scared of him. Now Billy understood exactly why Barry and Hal always said not to mess with the Bat’s.
Somehow, Billy got volunteered to work directly with the Bat’s on this mission. His team consisted of Red Hood, Nightwing, Batman and Flash, the second Flash. Flash One was on the other team with Green Lantern, Green Arrow and Red Robin and Superboy. Hal made a platform with his ring as soon as they landed and carried their team off west. They were looking for something, Billy hadn’t heard what that team's objective was.
He barely had enough attention to spare for their own mission. The five of them were heading east looking for clean water, food, and shelter before night fell. Just an average day for Billy Batson. He just hadn’t expected to be doing so in his Captain Marvel persona, with half the League present on a strange planet they crash landed on.
“Ahh this brings back memories,” Hood said, voice distorting through his helmet. “Searching for food and water, and a sort of safe place to sleep outside, under the stars.”
“Did you used to go camping a lot?” Billy asked.
That was the kind of thing he imagined that the Bat’s would do; survival trips as family bonding or something. Then again, he wasn’t sure how you’d actually keep track of them all. He pictured Batman standing sadly on the top of a mountain looking in every direction for his lost Bat-kids. He actually felt bad for Batman if that happened; he’d seen how desperate he seemed to get when he thought his kid was hurt. Maybe family camping wouldn’t be a good fit for them after all.
“Nah, I was homeless for a long time, wound up eating out of garbage cans’ and sleeping in boxes more times than not those years. Don’t think I ever actually saw the stars though, too much pollution in Gotham.” Hood shrugged his shoulders tense but trying to pretend he didn’t care.
“I always preferred the abandoned subway cars myself. If you can get enough newspaper and cardboard, you can fill in the cracks of the broken windows. Plus, it's half underground anyways so it hardly gets any rain or snow, just the cold or the heat. And if you can sneak into the donation bins, you can get clothes and blankets enough for the cold. Or you can always try and buddle up with a friend that helps a lot too.”
Billy thought of the little home that he and his siblings had managed to scrape together. Freddie had managed to snag them a few extra blankets last time he helped Pastor Marco sort through donations. Hopefully, it would be enough to help them through the coming winter months. Hopefully, he will be home soon so that he could help the others.
“Huh, I didn't think any of the other ‘heroes’ were street kids.” Hood said. “How did you start the whole Captain Marvel thing? Cause you know all street kids are trash and never amount to nothing.”
“Right, we're all thieves and gang members just waiting to trash everything.” Billy laughed. “I don’t know, I’ve always believed in the whole ‘do good and good will follow’ so even when it was hard, I tried to make a difference. You know, watch out for the littler kids on the streets or the new ones.”
Red Hood nodded familiar with the urge, having done similar during his time on the streets. Even if it wasn’t that exactly safe to do in Gotham because the other kids were just as likely to turn on you as anyone else.
“Let them know which restaurants will feed you or let you do dishes or errands for a meal or two. Which cops to avoid at all costs and which will actually help you out. Which foster homes are actually good ones, and which to run aways from. Stuff like that, and you know it kind of expanded from there.”
“So, you went into social work as your day job or something Captain?” Nightwing asked. “And then got sucked into the whole hero gimmick with powers and everything.”
“Um, well not really. I kind of still live on the streets, you know. Me and a few of the other kids kind of work together to get enough food and stuff. I just hope we get back before winter really sets in, you know. I don't think that Freddy can handle being in charge that long.”
Billy answered absentmindedly examining a purple bush wondering if it was edible. He was trying to see if any of the gods knew if it was safe for human consumption so he completely missed the looks the others traded. He didn’t see the calculating squint of Batman’s cowl or the way Nightwing’s face went all sad for a beat and then lit up with a look that Jason and Wally both knew was ‘Yay, another sibling.’
“Captain? How old are you?” Wally asked while the other man was distracted. If he was almost of age Bruce could probably help him get set up as the permanent guardian for his siblings.
“Twelve, but I'm the oldest, and I’ve been on the streets the longest,” Billy answered. “So, I got to protect the others, you know.”
“How many of you are there?” Batman asked.
“Just the six of us, Darla Dudley, Eugene Choi, Mary Bromfield, Pedro Peña, and Freddy Freeman. The cool thing is they can all switch like I can and actually become a superhero, too. They help me keep the city safe.”
“And all of them are younger than you?” Hood looked at the others.
“Only in our main forms, but not when we power up.”
“What is your name, Captain?” Nightwing asked, quickly. He wasn’t sure why the Captain was being so open about his secret identity but he wanted all the information he needed so that they could help while he was still answering questions.
“Billy Batson,” He answered. “Umm, Solomon said that he thinks the aroma of the flowers here are acting like a truth serum. We should probably move on before any more secrets are spilled.”
Billy looked at the others hesitantly; he didn't want to see the pity or the hate on the others' faces. Even worse, he didn't want them to treat him like a little kid. He’d been a hero for three years now, and a full-time member of the league for two. He was a hero in his own right, not just a child. Plus, he’d been on the streets for over half his life now, it was far too late to try and shelter him from the harsh realities of life.
“Nice to meet you, Billy.” Flash smiled at him like normal. “Guess we should see how far this patch of truth weeds goes. Race ya?”
Billy smiled, yep just like normal. “I bet I can get out of them before you do.”
“We will see about that,” Wally took off with a laugh. Billy flying behind to catch up.
“You didn’t say go yet, cheater.”
“You're gonna have the papers drawn up by the time we land, right?” Jason asked as the three of them watched the race.
“I actually already have papers drawn up; I’ve suspected for a while but have never gotten to confirm it. I didn’t think he was that young or I would have pressed the matter earlier. I didn’t know about the others but that can easily be taken care of too.”
“We’ve haven’t gotten so many new siblings at once before. It’s going to be awesome.” Nightwing rubbed his hands in glee.
“You might just have to move back to Gotham to spend time with them all.” Batman suggested.
“Not happening Bats, but keep trying.” Nightwing fell into a backwards handstand because he was bored.
Batman would keep working on it, maybe if he gave him and Wally an apartment as a wedding gift…
Eventually he’d get all his kids in the same city again.