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Batman didn’t like magic or metabilities. He had been convinced they were rare, or at least the thing of the past. When he started being Batman, there weren’t really creatures in Gotham, but soon he had to think bigger and get more open-minded, creative.
Nowadays, a trip to the House of Mystery was the necessity of the odd occasion, because comms were unreliable around magic at best. So, Batman landed his jet, disembarked, and went to knock at the invisible magic door. Not that the house could be detected if not anticipated.
It took a couple of minutes of standing in the dark, but the door did open eventually, the House revealing itself.
John opened, his face... surprisingly neutral, but then quickly soured. “The hell you want, Bats?” For once, on a surprise visit, he didn’t completely reek of booze.
“You’d know if your commlink wasn’t down.”
“Maybe I turned it off. I’m only a part-timer and a consultant. I ain’t playing with the League full-time, not planning to – so if you got something to say and a payment for my troubles, I suggest you bugger off.” John paused and Batman felt exhausted. Then, somewhere in the distance, though not far at all, a powerful lightning struck. “Besides, I have an appointment for the night already.”
“Turn on your commlink, and then you won’t have to deal with house visits. You can tell me what you know about it.”
“So, it’s not the end of the world yet. Great.”
“What’s keeping you busy?”
“Would you believe that I’m keeping strays off the cold streets and feeding them?” John drawled in his usual sarcasm. “Hey there, Billy.”
“Hi John!” A boy pushed past Batman and into the House of Mysteries.
Batman was surprised, to say the least, and stepped to the side, his eyes following the unraveling scene.
“Up top, down low – too slow.” Constantine let the kid jump up high to give him a high five, then moved his hand out of the way at the last second as the kid missed it and only hit the air.
“I’ll get you for it.” Billy snarked.
“Oh no,” he mocked and shoved the kid’s shoulder. “Bugger off to the library. Zatanna bought dinner. Chinese.” Then Constantine looked back at Batman and almost flushed. The exorcist-magician cleared his throat. “You’re still here.”
“I am.”
“I promise I’ll be good. Just get out of here already. Do your disappearing act. You know you love it.”
“We might have a magic user full-time on the team. Insight from your community and contacts is required.” Some people were not easily intimidated. “Good talk.”
“What did Batman want?” Billy asked, bundled up under a blanket and eating.
“Intel on Captain Marvel, so something we definitely can’t give him... without your permission.” John sat down and went to grab a beer, but stopped himself.
Zatanna flipped through a catalog, looking for inspiration for her next show. “Hm... can’t give him an inch.”
“Yeah, the saying goes, he will take a mile. I can’t ignore him, because that means we have to move the building.” John sipped on tea, but the compulsory sobriety would end once Billy finished his lesson in magic during his “depowered” state.
While he had all the access and knowledge of spells as the Champion of Magic, he had that knowledge as the Champion, the actual eight-year-old was generally defenseless. There were so many things that would go after the kid from all sorts of realms, that it made sense someone look after the kid at least a little. The Wizard was out of the question. Nabu was uncomfortable, but he did grant them space and time to teach Billy.
The magic only got back its equalizer, so it needed time to adjust to him, as much as it needed him.
Billy picked at the vegetables, but he got over the disgust quickly, mostly because of the generous saltiness of the sauce. “I think–”
“First, you chew.” Constantine jabbed the kid, and Billy swallowed, then showed his tongue.
“John, I mean, you can use your ignorance. Say what you know now... You won’t lie.”
“I am a good liar, kid. But it’s a nice thought.” Well, he couldn’t have his alcohol, but he could smoke. So he lit one up and took a few drags, letting the kid have the time to unfreeze his feet and wolf down the box. “Alright, Zatanna, ready to teach the kid something new?”
Billy rolled his eyes, but his face lit up in a smile. Poor little bastard, wants to be useful more than anything, wants to save people to feel like he matters and has value. John did not look forward to seeing the dejected emptiness in them one day – for now the kid glowed and shone bright, and he was so bright it compelled people.
If John was ever questioned about it, he’d burst into many and very colorful explicatives. Besides, as much as the kid wanted guidance, he definitely did not need protection, not one that he was provided – his greatest strength and greatest burden was already given to him.
Maybe some people would be jealous, if all this power didn’t come with all the responsibilities.