a/n: for the reviewer who asked, I don't have any plans to include Billy's sister Mary in this story, although I might use her for different ones later. and as for whether or not the Team/Justice League knows and/or will find out about Billy's past...SPOILER REQUEST. NO COMMENT. :'D
."Tuesday".
Tuesday morning saw the arrival Black Canary and Green Arrow to Blüdhaven, along with five additional inches of bitter December snow.
"No problems, everything went fine," Green Lantern told them tiredly, stretching his limbs in the grey sunlight as the three League members emerged from beneath the boardwalk. Billy had returned there again to sleep on Monday night, although he'd hinted that he might try something different for the remainder of the week. "The kid's a natural at this. I'd honestly swear he's done it before, just by looking at him."
Dinah and Oliver glanced at one another, unsure of how to respond. "...Well, I just wanted to thank you again for doing this, John," Dinah said eventually, putting a hand lightly on his arm. "I know it's hard enough to find the time for ordinary League business as it is, without getting into the...extracurriculars."
He shrugged her off with a tired smile. "Don't mention it. As far as I'm concerned, you'd have to be heartless not to want to help. That's what we're here for, right?"
She smiled thinly back. "Yeah."
He eventually left them, leaving Dinah and Oliver to keep watch over the boardwalk. Billy, surprisingly, woke up about an hour after dawn, emerging shivering from the underpass with a cheerful smile and dark bags under his eyes.
"Are you sure you're all right, Billy?" Dinah asked, trying to hide the worry in her tone. "You know you don't have to do this. We can find another way."
Oliver smirked knowingly behind her.
"I'm fine," Billy said emphatically, grinning up at them. "Hey, though, before I forget – awkward question, but do you have a make-up kit, by any chance?"
Dinah and Oliver stared at him. "What?" they demanded in unison.
Billy had a good long laugh at their expressions.
—
"Concealer, Oliver!" Dinah shouted hours later, pacing endlessly back and forth in a muddy alley with her shaking fists clenched at her sides. "He was asking me for concealer! How many ten-year-olds know what that even is? He's trying to make himself attractive for this maniac! This is getting completely out of hand!"
They were alone. Billy, in all his usual enthusiasm, had gone to scope out a local homeless shelter on a tip; for better or for worse this left Dinah and Oliver to hole up for cover in a nearby alley to discuss the morning's events.
"Dinah, calm down," Oliver said placatingly, stepping away from the brick wall to place both hands on her trembling shoulders. "The kid may not be Captain Marvel right now, but he's obviously smart. He knows what he's doing."
"That only makes this worse!" she snapped, voice high, but then stopped. She sighed deeply, refusing to let her temper get out of hand. "I don't like this," she said evenly. "I never liked this. The Team going on missions is one thing, but in this state Billy doesn't have any superpowers or special abilities. We're deliberately sending a child into an unsafe environment, and for what? To draw out a serial killer who preys on homeless kids? We're the Justice League, Oliver. Is that how we do our business?"
"Come on, hon. You're sounding like Diana," Oliver said. Dinah opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off. "No, listen. Nothing's going to happen to Billy while we're on watch, okay? You know that. The kid said he got a tip about the shelter being safe from someone who works in the system. And we've got our own people watching his back twenty-four/seven. You don't think he's going to be safe?"
Dinah sighed and pulled away from him, looking out at the shelter with worried eyes. "It's not just that, Ollie," she said. "Something's not right here. Haven't you noticed it? Billy's deliberately starving himself. He bought a jar of concealer from the drug store today to hide the bags under his eyes. The way he wears his clothes, the way he talks to strangers on the street – kids don't just know how to do things like that. He's done something like this before."
Behind her, Oliver frowned. "Maybe it's not just his age he's been hiding, then," he said.
Dinah didn't say anything. She'd speak to Billy after all this was over, of that she was absolutely certain; but for now, there was no real use in trying to dissect his behavior – however much it disturbed her.
And neither of them really wanted to voice the unspoken question hanging in the air.
An hour or so later, Billy emerged from the shelter, looking weary from a small mountain of paperwork but otherwise fine.
"Believe it not, that's actually normal," he said with a yawn, stretching his arms behind him to loosen the muscles in his shoulders. "Women's shelters are the worst. But at least they let me through the door; the men's won't take any kids. Makes it really hard for people who just want a place to sleep." He grinned up at them conspiratorially. "It actually would have taken me a lot longer, if the lady at the desk hadn't recognized me from the soup kitchen yesterday. She let me get through registration without taking a drug test!"
Neither Dinah nor Oliver really had much they could say to that.
—
It turned out not to be the last time the topic of drugs came up for the day.
A few hours into the cold afternoon, Billy was busy scoping out a few seedy areas near the schoolyards, when a surly-looking teenager approached, holding a plastic bag full of blue crystals.
"I said I don't want any," Billy repeated loudly, backing away as the dealer bore down on him menacingly. "What's 'Blue Ice,' anyway?"
The teen grinned, black eyes gleaming. "Hottest new disease in town, little man," he drawled, holding the bag in front of him for Billy to see. "Makes you feel real good, I promise. How much did your parents give you for your allowance this week? I'll give you a good discount for the first hit."
"Didn't get anything from my parents this week," Billy said, lowly, and that's exactly when Green Arrow and Black Canary struck.
It was over in seconds.
"I'm sorry that took so long, Billy," Dinah told him a few minutes later, leading Billy away from the schoolyard while Green Arrow hauled the drug dealer off to the police station. "We had to change out of our civilian clothes before intervening, it's strictly League Protocol – "
"I know, I know, Batman drilled me on all that stuff too," Billy said patiently. "Nothing actually happened, though. I don't think that guy was going to do anything."
Dinah looked down at him sternly. "You could have transformed to protect yourself at any time, if you felt like you were in danger," she said seriously. "Nobody in the League would have blamed you."
"I know," he said confidently, and Dinah realized in that moment that the incident honestly hadn't bothered him at all. "Trust me, I know. If I had thought I was in real trouble, I'd have just said the word. Cap's great for dealing with lousy pushers."
Dinah could have asked. She probably should have.
But the sun was already setting over the brick roofs of the streets around them, and Billy looked tired enough for one afternoon, thin and shivering in his pitiful rags with his shoes ankle-deep in the snow.
"Let's get you back to the shelter, okay?" Dinah said soothingly, and Billy nodded, blue eyes far too old for his face.
Superboy and Miss Martian arrived half an hour later to take the next shift. If Black Canary was a little more forceful than normal while explaining their mission parameters, Green Arrow wisely decided not to comment.
