MARVELOUS

Chapter 4

A/N: Flashbacks to child abuse in this chapter.

Black Canary showed up early at the Cave the next morning, eager to get the schoolwork out of the way so they could get onto the training. She hadn't completely dismissed Batman's warning but figured she probably looked less threatening than he did.

"Good morning, boys," she greeted. "Are you done with your schoolwork?"

"Yes, ma'am," Billy nodded proudly as he handed her a piece of paper with the names of every Justice League and Young Justice member written semi-neatly. "I had some help with the spelling," he admitted sheepishly.

"That's fine," she smiled. "Conner?"

"I only left one blank," he tried to look and sound indifferent but failed.

"Awesome," she held up a hand which Conner looked at blankly then slapped it with his own. "Today I thought we'd save the schoolwork for later and do some training first if that's okay."

"Sure," Conner shrugged.

"Can I watch?" Billy asked eagerly. "That kind of stuff looks really cool."

Black Canary seized the opportunity and smiled at the little boy. "Actually I was wondering if you would be willing to let me show you a few moves. That way, in case you couldn't use your magic for some reason, you could still defend yourself. What do you say?"

Billy chewed his lip, fear and indecision warring on his face then he slowly nodded. "Can I take Mr. Tawky Tawny?"

"Of course," Black Canary headed towards the training room, Billy and Conner not far behind. After reaching the center of the room she took the universal fighting stance: one foot in front of the other, weight evenly distributed between them, her fists parallel to her feet. "Now, Billy, I want you to come at me with everything you've got."

Billy looked rather doubtful even as he took a deep breath and ran straight towards her, shrieking like a banshee. It probably would've been more impressive if he hadn't tripped over one of his shoelaces and fell flat on his face.

Conner snorted. Black Canary shot him a stern look then crossed the room to where Billy had managed to pull himself into a sitting position, ruefully rubbing his left knee. "Are you okay?" she reached for him, intent on wrapping her arms around the boy in an attempt to comfort him.

Billy looked up, fear clouding his eyes as he let out a loud scream. "I'm sorry, I won't do it again!" he sobbed.

Black Canary froze, her hands still stretched towards him. She was unsure of what to do next when, suddenly, there was a loud roar and the stuffed tiger in Billy's arms leapt at her, morphing into a magnificent beast.

"Stay away from him," Mr. Tawky Tawny growled threateningly then turned his attention to Billy. "It's okay," he crooned. "No one's going to hurt you while I'm here."

Black Canary pulled her hands back even as Conner came to stand by her. "Is he okay?" the teenager was worried. He had never seen anyone like this: curled into a ball, sobbing as he apologized to invisible assailants.

Black Canary shook her head. "He's having a panic attack," she whispered. "It's fairly common in abuse victims."

"Is there anything we can do?" Conner hated feeling helpless. He had all of this strength and power yet none of it was useful at the moment.

"No," Black Canary's words were laced with regret. "We just have to wait it out."

"Silence," Mr. Tawky Tawny hissed then curled around Billy, effectively creating a barrier between them. "It's going to be all right," he promised.

Billy wasn't sure what had happened. One moment he had been running and then he tripped. Black Canary reached out to him and suddenly he wasn't at the Cave anymore he was-

Four and curled in a ball as his latest foster father alternated between kicking him with steel toed work boots and hitting him with his meaty fists.

"You stupid motherfucking brat! How difficult is it carry a damn plate?!"

Billy tried to protect his head with his arms, crying out as a boot connected with his left forearm. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to. Please stop; you're hurting me."

"Stop being such a baby!" he grabbed Billy by the back of his shirt, the young boy now dangling in the air.

"Please stop," Billy begged. "I won't do it again, I promise."

The man glowered then smirked cruelly as he rammed his fist into Billy's stomach and then his groin before dropping him on the ground. "Clean the mess up," he ordered then went to go watch TV.

Billy lay there for a few minutes, quietly sobbing in pain before he finally pushed himself up and began picking up the broken pieces of a cheap yellow plate, ignoring the tears that ran down his cheeks.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Billy sobbed. He could hear angry voices in the background then suddenly he was picked up and held against a muscled chest as they began walking. Billy screamed and cried as he pounded uselessly on the strong arms but to no avail. A masculine voice was talking but he couldn't hear it over his sobs. They sat down and Billy was pulled even closer.

It took close to half an hour but Billy finally began to calm down, his sobs having tapered off earlier. Batman continued to whisper comforting words as he held the boy close. This wasn't the first time he'd witnessed Billy having a panic attack but it hurt every time. Children should never be afraid of other people let alone to this extreme. He had done a thorough background check on Billy after learning who he really was. The amount of abuse he had suffered had been staggering and revealed just how bad the system in Fawcett City was. He had been too late to help Billy but he could help someone else. He had donated $3,000,000-a portion of which had gone to investigating the social workers in charge of finding suitable homes. Out of the thirty-three workers three had been taking bribes to place the children in bad homes (Billy's worker had been the first one to get arrested), five didn't bother doing background checks and the rest simply didn't have the time. An additional thirty had been hired and a new background check system had been implemented. He still chose to do random searches once a month just to make sure they were still doing their jobs.

"Batman?" Billy whispered in confusion, his swollen blue eyes taking in the bat emblem on the chest he was leaning on.

"Hey," Batman smiled at the child, relaxing his grip enough that Billy could wiggle free if he wanted.

"I'm sorry," Billy's voice was little more than a whisper and his face red with embarrassment.

"I've told you before, Billy, it's alright. It's not your fault," Batman placed a hand on Billy's forehead, making sure he hadn't given himself a fever.

"I'm fine," Billy insisted as he tried to sit up.

Batman sighed and placed the child next to him. "I told her that it wasn't a good idea; I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Billy yawned loudly.

"How about you take a nap?" Batman suggested. "I'll stay and keep an eye on you until you fall asleep."

Billy really wanted to refuse but finally nodded in agreement. He had worn himself out with crying and Mr. Tawky Tawny manifesting had drained the last of his energy. He curled up on the bed while Batman pulled the covers up around him before moving to stand in the corner. "Sweet dreams," were the last words Billy heard before he drifted off to sleep.