Freddy scoffed. He couldn't believe he had just said that. Now it was his turn to get mad. "You think after all we've been through we'd just kick you out? Do you think Victor and Rosa are those kinds of people? Really?"

Billy had half the energy Freddy had. He sulked his head down. "You said yourself, you like me better when I'm the other me. Soon you guys will catch on, Billy Batson isn't as great as you think I am."

Freddy walked up close to him and sat himself down, his bad leg spread out. "I never said that."

"You did. After we stopped the robbery at the gas station."

Freddy thought back. He did say something like that, didn't he? "But that was before I got to know and love Billy Batson as much as I love the other guy. I would still like you if you didn't have superpowers, Billy. He's still you, just taller."

"Would we have? I would have run away with your superman bullet, Rosa and Victor would have given up on me, and that would have been the end. The only reason I'm still with you guys is because I'm a superhero."

"Look, maybe if you hadn't of become Captain Glitter Hands we would not have been super close this fast, but," he paused, "we still would have been friends. The Freddy Freeman charm is impossible to resist forever. I'm best friends with Billy Batson, not the superhero."

Billy looked up at him. "The Freddy Freeman charm?"

Freddy shrugged. "I'm irresistible."

Billy smiled and Freddy beamed back at him. "Seriously, dude. Rosa and Victor love you. Mary, Pedro, Eugene, and Darla love you too. I love you. You're our family man. If it means that I have to remind you of that every three seconds then I will."

"You shouldn't have to do that." Billy frowned.

"But that's what a good brother does." Freddy paused. "Is this why you've been so quiet? Why you didn't tell me any of this sooner?"

Billy played with the strings of his jacket. "I had already put your lives in danger, I didn't want to add Billy problems to the list of things you guys have to deal with. I thought you guys would decide enough was enough. You guys have a kick-ass superhero team without me."

"We do have a kick-ass team," Freddy responded, "but it only works because you're on it. Besides," he said, "I'm your manager. That means your problems are my problems."

Billy blinked at him. "I don't know if that's what being a manager means."

"Meh." Freddy shrugged.

Billy smiled, standing up. When he got to his feet he offered Freddy his hand, helping him up. "Thanks, Freddy," Billy said sheepishly. "I guess I'm still getting used to this whole family thing."

"No, problemo dude."

...

It had taken a while, but things were finally getting back to normal. No, not back to normal. Better than normal.

Billy was acting like a member of the family again. Freddy had kept his promise to constantly remind him of how loved he was (this may or may not be the reason why Darla has drawn Billy a new glitter card every day for the past three weeks).

Freddy had also fixed the schooling situation. After he had almost killed himself trying to stand on the table, he announced that William Reginold Batson, which was most definitely not his middle name, was Freddy's brother and therefore under the protection of not one, but two caped superheroes.

Freddy had also gone to Rosa about Billy visiting his mom, a calculated move that could have ended badly had it not been for Rosa's super cool mom skills. All Freddy knew was that she and Billy had had a talk and afterward his mood seemed to rise dramatically.

Those were all the things Freddy could fix, but there were still some things that he couldn't. Freddy couldn't stop the nightmares. After their talk in the lair, he had stayed up one night and about one hour after Billy had fallen asleep he could hear his whimpers from the top bunk. At that moment his heart ached not only for his brother but also because how many of these dreams had he slept through?

Freddy couldn't stop them, but he could make sure to reassure Billy everyone was alright from the bottom bunk and if Billy ever needed to come down and sit with him he was always there.

Freddy would often think about the other thing that Billy said. That they were only fourteen. That the superpowers they had been given were a curse.

When Freddy sat with Billy at three in the morning as he cried on his shoulder after a particularly bad nightmare, Freddy would agree that Billy certainly did nothing in his life to deserve that.

But other moments, when he and Billy train together in the lair, when he saw the way Billy got excited when someone at school was talking about him, how geeked out Billy would get when he discovered a new power or met a new superhero, or when he thought about the profound bond he felt with Billy and his other siblings because of this secret they shared, sometimes he thought that maybe having superpowers wasn't so bad after all.

Well... what did you guys think? I loved writing this to be honest, and I would love to do more with the characters. While I was watching the movie I just kept thinking about how if I had went through half of what these kids went through at fourteen I would be and emotional mess and I had the idea for this beauty. Let me know if you liked it, if you didn't, or if you just want to say hi in the comments or you can Private Message me too!

Thanks!

~StoneyT