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Billy wakes up from the sound of a large bang echoing throughout the deserted street. The cold rattles him to his bones, the winter air seeping through every crack in the old, decaying building. Billy takes a shaky breath, pushing himself off of his makeshift bed, using the wall to stabilize him as he waits for the wave of dizziness to pass and his legs to stop shaking. Police sirens quickly join the cacophony of sounds, piercing through the shouts and subsequent thuds. Billy sighs, stumbling out of the building to try and help with the chaos. With the level of light outside, he’d say that it’s a few hours past midnight. Which means he has to go to school in, at most, four hours, less, depending on how long this takes.
It wouldn’t be the first time he’s stayed up all night because of his powers. He just wishes that his energy was refreshed when he became Captain Marvel so that when he stayed up all night, he could still function at school the next morning.
The cold outside is even worse, but Billy pushes through it, trying to locate the source of the sounds. When he turns the corner, light flashes in his face, red and blue flooding his vision as heat warms him, helping ground him and wake up a little. He scans the area, a fire burning to his left and chaos breaking out in every direction. The policemen try to corral the people while trying to catch the man who started the fire. Billy opens his mouth to summon Captain Marvel, but right as he speaks, a man throws himself at the child. Billy gasps painfully, all the air escaping his lungs as the man lifts a fist to hit him.
“Get away from the kid, man!” Another person shouts, causing the man to pause and look at the person. Billy tries to escape, wheezing as wriggles out from beneath the man. This gets his attention, turning his gaze back on Billy who’s still groaning in pain. The man smirks cruelly, ignoring the other person’s shouts. Billy braces himself for the impact.
After a moment of the fist never colliding with his face, he opens his eyes, glancing to the side just to see the man being tackled by the person from before. Billy scrambles up, mentally thanking the person before hiding behind a dumpster, trying to catch his breath. He tries to summon his hero form, but his voice cracks midway through. He tries again, and again, and again, but he ends up breathless and frustrated, still in the body of a child. Angry tears gather in his eyes, too distracted to notice the footsteps approaching, or the shadow that falls over him, until it’s too late.
“Kid, what are you doing here?” A police man asks, baffled. Billy startles, scrambling to move his back to lay against a wall, panic lacing his veins as he looks at the man with wide eyes. The man reaches a kind hand forward, but Billy glares at it, sceptically, instead of taking it. “Let’s get you home.” He says softly. Billy shakes his head.
“N-no!” Billy stutters, his gaze still locked on the outreached hand. The police man furrows his eyebrows with a sigh.
“At least come to the station with us, even just to warm up a bit.” The man tries, but Billy scoffs.
“As if I haven’t heard that one before. You always say that you won’t make me do anything but then when you learn that I’m a foster kid, I’ll be placed in a house that I’ll leave after not even a month because I would have a higher quality of life in the streets then I would in that house.” Billy explains boredly. The police man shakes his head.
“That won’t happen, I promise. I’ll buy you food and then you can return to wherever you sleep at night.” Billy really wants to argue, he does, but the promise of a fresh meal and an escape from the chill of the outside sounds so good and Billy is a weak, weak child. He nods hesitantly, putting a hand just barely in the man’s, letting him pull the child to a police car. The man decides to take Billy to Big Belly Burger, a classic, says the man. Billy can’t remember ever having it, but he agrees easily and the man doesn’t say anything else, not asking Billy what his name is or anything like that, and Billy appreciates that.
The brightly illuminated Big Belly Burger sign appears in the horizon, and the man turns to give Billy a smile. Before anyone can process what’s happening, a car comes from the side, heading straight towards the car that Billy and the man are in, a flash of light exploding in Billy’s vision as he goes back to when he got his powers.
The metal police car turns to a train, the darkened winter sky becoming that of a subway tunnel as the car shakes violently, black turning to orange and blue. Billy looks around the area, his breathing quickening as familiar symbols fill the walls. He’s alone in the room, only the sound of metal hitting concrete accompanying his wheezes, his lungs straining from the panic that grips at his soul, still weak from when the guy ran into him. He can faintly hear his name being called through his own unintelligible mumblings laced with fear and anger. Someone shakes his shoulders but he flinches at the contact, shouting at the hands to let go at a pitch that hurts even his own ears.
The arms retreat, and Billy deflates, tiredness mixed with pain and tears coats his face. When he opens his eyes, the policeman in in front of his face, mere inches away but not touching Billy. He processes that it’s probably because of his reaction to being touched. His breathing stops entirely, bringing him back to the present as he tunes in to the man’s words.
“–you need to breath. Come on, breath with me,” the man takes exaggerated breaths, moving his hand up and down with the rise and fall of his chest. Billy takes a shaky breath, slowly returning his breathing to normal. As his vision clears, he notices the man’s worried look, as well as a cluster of cars; police, civilian, and EMT alike; behind the man, people chatting and looking at the damage with shock and awe.
“I’m… I’m not there.” Billy states. The police man shakes his head.
“You’re outside of Big Belly Burger, a car t-boned us and you seemingly dissociated. You’re safe now, we just have to take you to a hospital and check you over for injuries.” The man explains. Billy shakes his head, mumbling ‘no’ over and over again with inscreased desperation. The man stays silent, signalling for the other’s to stop coming closer. Billy doesn’t notice this, his eyes screwed shut.
“I can’t! I don’t,” he hiccups, “I don’t have money, I can’t pay for that.” Billy states. The police man hums.
“We’ll figure something out, you won’t have to pay, just let us at least look you over in the ambulance.” The man slowly reaches out, his hand stopping inches away from Billy’s skin. Billy stares at the hand, unmoving.
“I’m okay. I just got startled. Went back to the day on the train. I’m okay now, though.” Billy mumbles, his words near-unintelligible. The man nods.
“Let’s go to my friend over there in the ambulance, she’ll check you over and see if you need a hospital.” The man tries again, his voice much softer as he gently grabs Billy’s hand, leading him to the van when Billy shakily nods.