Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise.
I couldn't stay there, with Dad in prison Felicity has her hands full trying to get him out. And I don't want to distract her from that, what Dad does is for the good of the whole world. (perhaps the whole multiverse, if Felicity's stories of Earth X are true.)
So, I left in the middle of the night, leaving a note with a story about staying with a friend for a while.
I'll come back when Dad comes home.
I bought a bus ticket to Gotham with my card (in case Felicity decides to track me, I also ran into another kid who was running away to Gotham while buying the ticket and he agreed to use my card a few times to throw Felicity off) then I walked to the train station across town and snuck aboard a train.
I ended up in Fawcett City, lots of homeless kids live there, I decided that I'd blend in well here.
Step two was a new name. My Dad and everyone around him are on the news, if I was going to blend in I need a less well-known name. I decided to keep my name close to my old one, Billy apparently a old nickname for William, (I don't really see how you get Billy out of William, but it's a good name,) and Batson, my Grandma on Mom's side maiden name.
Then I found somewhere to live, an abandoned train station, I found a door to a old room in the back of a storage room, it looks like they did renovations in the 70's and got it mixed up, the only way into the room is through the storage room and it looks like no one else knows about it, making it my new home.
Step three was a job, I found odd jobs walking peoples dogs and delivering newspapers enough to get by without even having to consider stealing. (not that I would, I don't think I could even if my life depended on it, the very thought makes me feel guilty.)
It's hard at first, but I adjust with time and make friends. Or at least temporary friends, not many of the of kids stuck around very long, disappearing with no warning. I feel like I should be wouldn't about them, but the older kids tell me it's normal, that people disappear off the streets all the time, so I tried not to worry about them.
But everything changes after only two months when I met the wizard and he gives me powers.
I'm walking home after meeting the wizard, my thoughts are full of magic and becoming a superhero like my Dad and what this will mean for my future. Being a superhero has cost Dad so much, his parents, best friend, his innocence. I looked him up when I first found out, he used to be a billionaire playboy moron. But he looked happy, now he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. He has good people and good moments, I see it on him every time I look at him and he's not the only one, I see it in his friends.
I'm knocked literally from my thoughts when a woman bumps into me. "Sorry! God I'm so so aorry are you okay?"
"I'm okay" I smile as she helps me up, she looks mid-20s, dark skin with her hair in a ponytail. When she sees my face, her awkward smile turns bright.
"Billy! Look at that, I bump into the one person I'm looking for!" she smiles.
"Sorry, do I know you?"
"Yes!- well no, not yet anyway" she says quickly. "Let me start over, Hi I'm Nora I'm from the future. You told me that you met me the day you got your powers and that I train you so… here I am" she says nervously.
Time travel I believe in, I've been told enough stories about the Legends after all. "How do I know you in the future?"
"Uncle Ollie use to have you babysit me when he and the other went on missions- the Flash is my Dad" she smiles.
"So, you're pretty much my cousin? Cool" I smile, I've meet Barry a few times and he and Dad always act like family, it makes sense they'd been even closer in the future.
"So how are you feeling about all of this?" she asks kindly, now walking me to the abandoned train station "Starting off in this life can be pretty hard- well I don't actually know what it's like I was born into it, but it always looked hard on others."
"It's... weird" I admit "My Dad has been in this in some way since I before I was born, but I've only know him for a few years. It looks like it's really cost him his parents, best friend, ex-girlfriend, Aunt Thea has been through so much, Felicity's Dad is a supervillain. Everyone on the team has lost people to the life and they don't always win."
She puts a hand on my shoulder "This life is hard I won't lie to you, you will lose people, you won't be able to save everyone or win every fight, but even if you just save one person you've made a difference and that is what you have to focus on."
I nod, taking a deep breath. "Okay, so uh what kind of training are we going to do?"
"We'll start with basics; powers, tactics, hand to hand combat- in both forms and how to use weapons" she smiles.
"Why do I need learn to fight? I'm not going to be fighting as me and I'll have powers as Captain Marvel" I ask.
"You never know what situation you will be in, you don't know if you'll find yourself without your powers and need to fight your way out without them" she tells me "At least that's what your Dad told me every time I complained when training with him. But he was right, and that training paid off more times than I can count."
Yeah that sounds like Dad.
Nora spends the next month teaching me how to take down multiple larger opponents (She brought a bunch of training bots with her) and how to be the larger opponent, she also teaches me how to use swords, daggers, Bow and arrow, guns, how to use my surroundings to my advantage and basic tactics and how to patrol.
She doesn't stay all the time, running off to the past a couple times, apparently these were some people she wanted to meet, then she ran off one more time and when she came back she looked worried and guilty "Billy."
"Hey, Nora how was your trip?" I ask with a smile, as I finish up a round with a bot.
"I'm sorry Billy, but I can't teach you anymore" she tells me looking guilty.
"Why?"
"I messed up" she admits, "Remember a couple months ago my Dad destroyed that crashing satellite? Well it was supposed to kill him, and I changed it and now the futures messed up. I have to go fix my mess."
"I could help you" I offer, but she shakes her head.
"Billy you're just starting out in the hero business, remember what I said? Walk before you run, I'm afraid this is too big for you right now."
"Good luck" I hug her.
She hugs back "You too kid, you're gonna be a great hero" Then her runs off, her purple lighting following her as she runs.
I walk over the computers she set up for me and look for something to do, to keep my mind off Nora. There have been a few murders, a pickpocketing ring, a new unknow source of meth on the streets for the last five months. The last one sounds like something I should- no, walk before I run.
"Pickpockets it is" I mutter, searching for info on it. Looks like they only hit at night, looking for large crowds like a mall or event. The newspapers report witnesses seeing…leprechauns? Okay then, it is a very strange world.
That night I go to the mall and keep an eye out. It's not long before I see someone in a green coat grab a man's wallet, it's not a leprechaun, looks a kid my age.
I follow them him for the next hour, hoping he'll lend me back to the boss. He meets up with a bunch of other kids all wearing the same green coat, they don't speak. In fact, they all look kind of scared. After a few moments of counting what they're got and sharing it amongst each other so they all have the same amount (the boss must have a rule, maybe if you don't bring in a certain amount you get hurt?) then they open a man whole a jump down into the sewer.
I follow after them quietly, we walk for about mile through the sewer, they still don't say a word.
Then we get to a large open area and I stop in surprise. There are about 100 kids down here, none of them making a single sound as they put identical green coats in a pile and what they've stolen in another as a man in his 40s with dark hair and mean brown eyes watches, with a alligator sitting calmly on either side of him.
I take out my disposable phone and start recording.
A little girl puts down her stolen goods next and grabs her. "What is this? This isn't anywhere near the amount you little brat" he slaps her across the face she hard she falls to the ground, she covers her own mouth, so she doesn't scream. "You know worthless brats like you are only good for one thing, alligator food."
All the kids look on in fear, some cover other kids mouths so they don't speak.
She shakes her head violently getting down on her knees.
He smirks "Though I suppose I could be lenient this time…. You will be transferred to the lab."
She eyes go wide, but the nods, stands up and walks down one of the many paths out of the room.
"The rest of you BACK TO WORK!"
They scrambled grabbing coats and bags full of small bags and running out of the room. I stop recording and jump up and hold on myself up out of sight as they run down the tunnel I'm in. once they're gone and I hear the man leave mumbling about counting his loot, I jump down and go down the tunnel the little girl went.
It lends into a room with only six kids, including the girl. I look around at what they're doing, they're making the meth. So much for not getting in over my head, I sneak of the lab and find a empty room.
I need help, I'm in over my head. I know who to call I just don't how happy she'll be with me.
"Hello" Felicity answers on the second ring.
"Hi Felicity" I greet awkwardly.
"William! On my god, where the hell are you? You can't just run away in the middle of the night! Do you know how worried I've been?"
"I'm sorry, and I promise I'll come talk to you later but right now I need Overwatches help" I tell her.
"Wha-what do you need?"
"I spotted a pickpocket earlier tonight, followed him. Turns out it was a kid my age and him and about 100 other kids are being forced to work for this creepy guy in the sewers, pickpocketing, making Meth and I think selling it" I send the recording to her.
She's silent for a few moments while she watches then she speaks. "Oh my god, William you have to get out of there and give that video to the police."
"I can't, the police are owned by a gang and I think this is where they get the drugs they sell" Nora was teaching me about corrupt cops before she left and told me that the unknown (at the time) drug supplier was selling to the gangs. "Felicity help me do this."
"You are so much like your father- and that was not a compliment!" She tells me angrily, but I can hear the sound of typing in the background. "The guy's name is Riley Gagnon, he was arrested in Gotham two years ago by Batman for child abuse and enslavement, drug making/ trafficking and murder, looks like he really did feed some of those kids to alligators. The media nicknamed him the Sewer King, he escaped a year ago in a BlackGate prison riot the Joker made…. Oh boy, he's a meta, looks like he can control alligators and crocodiles, probably why he likes the sewers. BTW all the kids I can identify are runaways."
"Do you know why all the kids where silent? It was really creepy" I ask.
"It looks like he gives the kids 'lessons' in silence, some of the kids from the Gotham bust still won't speak."
"Thanks Felicity" I smile.
"What city are you in? if it's Gotham Batman can be there within a hour, I can call him right now." She tells me, probably frustrated that I'm using a burner that Nora got me, turn according to her is untraceable.
"I'm not in Gotham, don't worry I'll be okay" I hang up, put my phone in my pocket and say my word, turning me into Captain Marvel.
I sneck out of the room and pick a tunnel at random, there I find all the kids asleep on the ground, trying to stay warm with only the green coats to cover them. (I was on the phone with Felicity for like a hour and a half.)
Looking through the crowd I recognise a lot of faces that have disappeared off the streets in the last few months.
Taking a calming deep breath, I go down another tunnel, and keep going till I find the one Gagnon disappeared down earlier.
I find him surrounded by alligators, sitting on a comfortable chair working on a laptop. He looks up, probably seeing the red and white of my suit. He looks at me floating in the air with arms crossed for a moment before speaking. "You're that new hero they're been talking about, aren't you? What was it, Captain Marvel?"
"I'm shutting you down Gagnon" I tell him, floating into the room.
"Surely, we can come to some sort of compromise" he suggests, pulling a large amount of money out of his pocket.
"You're going to Prison, you can't bribe your way out of the things you've done" I look at the alligators that are now growling at me.
They jump at me, I knock them away careful not to hurt them. They didn't ask to be controlled by this guy.
Went all the alligators are down he starts shooting at me, I catch all the bullets, (if I dodge or let them ricochet off me they could hit one of the alligators,) when he runs out of ammo he tried to hit me, I grab his arm as it come at me and twisted it forcing him to the ground. I then pull some fabric off his chair and use it to tie his hands.
I pick up his phone and google the number for the DEA and call them, giving them all the information I've gathered including the corruption in the local police, there agents arrive within an hour to deal with Gagnon and the lab and social workers soon after them, who go straight to the room with the still sleeping kids.
Once they've got the situation is in hand, I make my leave and fly back to Star City and land a block away from home. After turning back, I walk into the building and take the elevator to our floor. When I open the door, I find Felicity sitting on the couch staring at her phone.
"Hi Felicity" I wave awkwardly.
She jumps up and wraps me in a hug. "William, are you okay? What happened? How did you get here so fast?"
"It's okay Felicity, the DEA are there, Gagnon was arrested, and the kids are fine" I smile.
"Okay" she nods, releasing me from the hug. "Seriously though, how'd you get here so fast?"
"Uh, about a month ago I met a wizard and he gave me powers, so um I flew there" I tell her, rubbing the back of my neck.
She stares at me "A wizard gave you- of course, okay sure why not. What powers did you get?"
I smile "The Wisdom of Solomon, Strength of Hercules, Stamina of Atlas, Power of Zeus, Courage of Achilles, Speed of Mercury. But I can only use them when I say a certain word when I say it, it also turns me into a grown-up." I tell her before calling out "Shazam!"
When the light clears I smile at her, now having to look down.
She stares for a moment "You look just like your mother. Crap, sorry I shouldn't of-"
"No, uh it's okay" I tell her, blinking away the memories. "Felicity, I'm going to keep doing this. Fawcett City needs someone to look after it, the police are corrupt the gangs rule the city, I have to help them."
She shakes her head with a smile. "You are so much like your father, alright you can be Fawcett's superhero, but I have rules" She warns "You come back home, you always tell me when you're going and always have a com, you train with the team. Got it."
I nod with a smile "I got it."
She leaves the room mutter about stubborn Queen men.
ONE-SHOT