Hello everyone, we are back with another chapter! A huge thank you to everyone who commented/reviewed on the last chapter. This one is going to focus on Billy's mom so enough said. I hope you all enjoy, read on!

Shazam! is the property of DC

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They're in the cafeteria, it's a shortened schedule, or an assembly schedule, something of that manner which Billy can never manage to wrap his head around. After all, when you're moving schools at least once a year but more like every few months, it's hard to get an idea of what stable is. He supposes he actually needs to start doing that, getting used to the school, and it sits strangely in his stomach warm in a way that he wants to baulk at. It's been a long time since he wanted to stay somewhere since he could stay somewhere without worrying about finding his mom.

Billy frowns at his food, a sandwich with some kind of not-meat and lettuce, it's already half-eaten and Billy hasn't even noticed that he's been eating. He shakes his head as if it will clear away the sensation of cotton or like a cloud of dust floating about his head and glances up.

Darla is talking eagerly to Mary who is smiling at the flurry of words about a recent discovery in the zoology field regarding octopuses… octopi? Pedro is idly watching Eugene as he plays on a Nintendo Switch that they all have no idea how he acquired ignoring his homework with a desperation Billy feels in his soul. Because yeah homework sucks. And Freddy is beside Billy, talking about the recent battle between Aquaman and this supervillain with a huge black helmet and a spear.

Billy feels a moment of guilt that he hasn't been listening to Freddy but it's quickly flushed away as he takes another bite of the sandwich and watches his family talk. Some of the kids in the cafeteria are staring at them, still awed or impressed or whatever else that two superheroes were in their school almost week ago. But for the most part, everything has gone back to normal and instead, everyone is talking about the recent scandal with that one Youtuber or whatever.

"Are you listening to anything I'm saying cause like this is pretty big for us now you know? We like have to be aware of this stuff now."

Freddy asks around the straw of a juice box, the flaps at the top sticking out so it looks like a weird too long plane. Billy nods, conveniently takes a mouthful of the sandwich, which is pretty good, and after he swallows replies, "Yeah you were just talking about the damage to that historical building."

His answer gets a smile, bright and floppy kind of like a puppy before Freddy nods and continues talking about the old building that was destroyed in the battle and the costs to replace it. Billy finishes his sandwich and stares at the table uncertain of what to do now that he isn't occupied by the conventional method of actually eating food. He's not really good at the whole socializing thing, or the whole family thing, or anything really. He only needs to look back at the past few weeks to understand that much. Mary, who totally has a secret superpower she never told them about that allows her to sense when any of them are even the slightest bit in trouble glances up and smiles at Billy.

"Everything okay?"

She mouths and Billy nods and attempts to ignore the urge to shift on the bench or to just leave the cafeteria. As if it's a gate opening for a flood, Eugene glances up from his Switch, adjusts the glasses on the bridge of his nose, and asks, "Hey Billy did you go and meet your mom?"

There's a moment where everyone freezes, like a fresco, like they're caught in one of tMr. Freeze's ice rays. He can feel their eyes on him, but it feels like it's not just them, it's the whole cafeteria suddenly curious about Billy Batson newest member of the foster family™. It rushes over him again the sight of his mom in that hallway that had tasted of mould and water, her with stringy hair and watery eyes, the man yelling in the background, and her words. The truth, the ugly truth that part of Billy wishes he never heard, wishes he could go back to that moment and tell himself to stop, don't knock on the door you're fine as you are.

But he can't. And the truth of the matter is that his mom didn't want him, thought he would be better in the foster care system than with a seventeen-year-old teen mom. Maybe she was right. It still burns in his chest, this knowing abandonment.

Billy glances up from the table, the plain grey table with its grains that are easy to stare at, and sees the look on their faces, twisting from expectant to wary. Billy can't breathe, can only feel the weight of their eyes like the whole room on him and its different from being in the suit, from being on a stage, from being a hero. He pushes away from the table, grabs his backpack and before he can think about it, he's gone, out of the cafeteria with its constant buzz of chatter and the press of their eyes even now drilling into his spine as he runs away.

The word is there in his mind, on the tip of his tongue and he wants to say it, wants to fly out of this school and far away from Philadelphia, from the reality of what is happening. He is so, so thankful he has his family, he absolutely loves his siblings (and it's surprising how easy it is to love them all in the short time he's known them maybe almost dying does that) but it doesn't erase what happened, doesn't erase who he is.

He can't help but wonder like he's been wondering since that day, how his mom could have left him, did she not love him? Did she not care for him? Has he just been unworthy of love this whole time? Why did she never look for him? He can't think about it.

Billy stops, he's at one of the back entrances to the school, the one that leads to the fields and that patch of wall that is always cool with shade where the older kids like to pretend to be intimidating. His chest is heaving, he can't quite breathe and that's just something else on top of it all and his eyes are watering again. He hates crying, hates the pain behind his eyes the feeling of sobs building up in your chest and hitching your breath, the loss of control.

He pushes the door open; it creaks and groans and clangs shut behind him as he steps out into the sunlight. It's pale with the light of the early afternoon, everything washed out with that snow that is more grey than white and the air is cold enough to fog his breath. Billy doesn't hesitate and deviates towards the wall, there's a corner where it branches off to start the gym and Billy squishes there the sound of his breathing and the city filling the air as he wipes away the tears cooling on his cheeks.

Billy tucks his head into arms and settles onto the cold pavement. He closes his eyes and tries to focus on his breathing like in that mindfulness pamphlet their gym teacher gave them as she talked about breathing techniques and a lot of other stuff Billy tuned out because had only just arrived and he already hated school again. It's quiet outside, there's just the wind rustling over the chain fence and the sound of cars passing by. Slowly but surely Billy's breathing slows down and all he can feel is the cold seeping into his fingers and his legs. It's numb, easy to push away everything that had happened and to just focus on his breathing and the feel of his fingers as he flexes them.

The doors clang open in the distance and Billy knows its probably one of his siblings or a concerned teacher but he really can't bring himself to move stuck in this void of if he's not moving, he's not feeling and that's better than anything else. Footsteps encroach on the small piece of concrete he's sequestered himself in and Billy inhales softly and shifts the slightest bit to peer up from his arms. He's a hero he can't be a coward, he has to face the struggles in his life, right?

It's Mary standing there rubbing her hands over her arms and staring down at Billy with a concerned crease to her expression, Darla is beside her, tucking her phone into her pocket one moment and squatting beside Billy the next. She nudges up against his side like a kitten and Billy shifts just a bit so that she can press a bit closer, it's not fair for her to freeze because he decided to have a meltdown outside in January.

Mary leans against the wall and stares down at Billy, she's silent peering at the empty courtyard with a frown that is almost sad and maybe nostalgic like she's remembering being a kid because adults like to do that and she's practically an adult. Darla's fingers curl into his own and he glances down into her eyes as she asks, "What happened Billy?"

He opens his mouth as if to answer before he pauses and shakes his head, the words are stuck in his throat trapped there. The doors open again and the sound of Freddy's crutch clattering against the pavement echoes out in the courtyard followed by the sound of footsteps. Pedro leans against the gym wall with a huff and a frown that doesn't really reach his eyes as Eugene squishes beside him out of the wind but still close enough to Billy that he can see the guilty expression on the kid's face. Freddy carefully clatters to the ground beside Billy taking a moment to reach over and cover Darla and Billy's hands with his own.

"You know for the first weeks I was at home I kept trying to run away, I even almost broke my ankle climbing out the second story window. I just believed that the foster system wasn't going to work, that my life would be better if I could just be on my own. And you know it took me a while to realize that being on my own wasn't everything, having people to rely on, who I could talk to, who could support me made me better, helped me to grow so that I could be independent in the right way."

Mary said, her voice was soothing, the kind that could totally narrate a video or give a TedTalk and Billy glanced briefly up at where she was picking at the sleeves of her sweater and staring at the ground. Darla beside Billy nodded vigorously and, in an excited whisper, stated, "Yeah, I was really afraid to talk for the longest time because I was afraid people would leave. But then I found out that the people who matter stay no matter what."

"I used to know my biological family you know? They weren't great but they had been decent until... But it didn't change who I am or that I have a family now."

Pedro said quietly when he spoke it was always like pulling teeth. Billy stared at his hands for a long moment processing what his siblings were telling him, they had the courage to share their stories, they spoke without fear that anyone would judge them. He wished he was brave enough for that. He supposed he could always try.

"I did meet my mom. I guess you guys don't know what happened before though. When I was six, we were at a carnival, like where we fought," he had seen flashes of her throughout the crowd, "and I got lost. She didn't come to find me. But after Eugene gave me her address I went. She was living in this apartment and there was a guy yelling in the back of her apartment and… she said…"

Darla leaned against his shoulder and Freddy planted his head on Billy's shoulder, pressed on either side Billy glanced at Mary who was smiling gently with sad eyes, Eugene who was staring at the ground with a frown, and Pedro staring off into the distance. Billy continued, "She was seventeen when she had me, the father walked out. She thought the foster system could raise me better then she could. So, she…. she didn't look for me."

The words stand alone in the courtyard, lingering and tangible like Billy can reach out and tuck them back into his chest if he's fast enough. But it's almost like there's a weight off his chest at the same time, like now that he's said it, he can move on, actually move on. It's true and there's nothing else to do but accept it. Mary crouches in front of Billy, her expression is soft and he doesn't know how to describe it like it's sad or understanding or even happy.

He flinches when she reaches out but she only wipes away the tears on his cheeks with a gentle hand and says, "What happened sucks Billy and you should never have had to go through that. And it's okay to be sad, to be angry. But your mom loved you she probably just thought she was doing was best. Maybe it is for the best because we all got to meet you Billy and if we didn't none of what happened with… the lightning gang would have happened."

"Yeah you would never have met us and where would we be?"

Darla adds one hand snaking around his arm as she smiles brightly up at him with puppy eyes. Billy inhales and nods, his life is his own and he decides what happens, right now he wants to be happy, he wants to have a family. He's ready to accept that. Maybe his mom can do that now too.

"Guess I should apologize for finding the address."

Eugene states with an awkward shrug and refuses to make eye-contact. Billy gently disentangles himself from Freddy and Darla's octopus arms and kneels in front of Eugene, carefully placing his hands on his shoulders he responds, "Nope. Thank you for helping me find her Eugene, thank you all of you, because if I hadn't found her, I would've just kept looking and I wouldn't be able to properly be a part of this family."

"I think this calls for a group hug."

Freddy states with a grin as Mary helps him to his feet and Darla pops up beside him and in the next minute, they're all shuffled together playing a strange game of Twister until everyone is mostly comfortable. Billy smiles over the faint sense of unease at being so cloistered and tightens his arms around Eugene and feels Mary's hands stroke gently over his shoulders. It feels like home

"Can we get hot chocolate?"

Darla's voice pipes up and Billy snorts as they all break apart from the obligatory happy-ending group hug with red cheeks and chilled fingers and that faint sense of awkwardness. They all look to Mary who is the defacto adult and the only one with any money. She purses her lips and for a long moment, she looks like she's going to be the responsible adult but then she nods. Billy grins, he kind of loves his family.

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Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, in it we got to explore more of the sibling bond between them and also Billy's mom. Not all the chapters are going to be Billy central these were just the ones I had planned so far. Reviews/comments are always appreciated, till next time!