Chapter 2: Fawcett City – Black Mask's Ammo Den
Billy's eyes fluttered open as the clouds parted and a beam of sunshine shot through his open window and onto his face. He sat up with a yawn and a stretch, the sheets pooling at his hips. He looked beside him and almost panicked when he saw his mattress empty.
As the morning grogginess faded, he remembered everything that happened the night before and felt a pang in his chest. Gar had left the apartment without saying goodbye.
"Morning!"
Billy snapped his head in the direction of the sound, and there was Gar, naked, doing pull-ups on the bar in his bathroom's door frame.
"Gar!" He declared standing, remembering that he was also nude but he didn't particularly care. Realising how stupid his panic probably appeared from across the room, he stood still and flushed red.
"Morning," he mumbled, giving a small nervous wave. He moved his hands to cover his stiffening morning wood. It was bad enough any other morning, but seeing Beast Boy himself do naked pull-ups first thing made it an inevitability.
Gar dropped to the ground and stretched his arms behind his head. "Sleep well?" He asked, stalking up to Billy with all the swagger and confidence of a catwalk model, his own rock hard rager pointing to the ceiling.
"Yeah," Billy admitted, dropping his hands to his sides, not quite sure what to do with himself. "You?" His hands going clammy when Gar stopped only a few inches away from him.
"Like a baby," he smirked, leaning in and pressing his green lips against Billy's pink ones.
He leaned into it, his hands finding their way to Gar's shoulders as the green teen rested his own on Billy's hips. The Titan pulled them closer, their members sliding against one another, Billy's dripping white from the tip.
"I had to stop myself from humping you into the mattress." Gar chuckled after pulling away from breath. "Believe me, the dog in me really wanted to," he brushed the back of his head. A light blush crept onto his cheeks.
Billy blushed back, unsure what would be an appropriate response. "Well…" He started, pausing to choose his words carefully, wondering if they'd come across as funny or desperate.
"There are worse ways to be woken in the middle of the night. Like gunshots," he mumbled the last bit under his breath and pulled Gar close again, this time resting his head in the crook of his neck.
"I'll keep that in mind." Gar said, wrapping his arms around Billy. After a moment, his hands trailed down, resting on the other teen's soft, plump behind.
"God, you have just the cutest butt," he said, breaking the comfortable silence they'd been stewing in.
Billy couldn't help but break out into a fit of giggles, his shoulders shaking as he tried to keep it in, having little success.
"What, it's true!" Gar insisted, emphasising the point by kneading and spreading the exquisitely soft cheeks, letting them clap back together before pulling them apart again. "I could do this for hours, it's like rubbing a couple of fat little puppies' bellies," he cooed, putting on the cutesiest, most babying voice he could, steeling his hold on Billy as laughter overtook his body.
"Gar!" He yelped when a firm smack smarted his left butt-cheek.
"Couldn't help myself," he said, rubbing the pink hand-print he left behind on the pale bun. They rocked back and forth, their hips writhing against each others', their aching cocks begging for more meaningful stimulation.
Without any warning, Billy reached down between them and took hold of both of their members in a tight grip.
The green teen hissed, his hips bucking, his cock sliding against Billy's. Billy buried his face deeper into Gar's neck, breathing in his animalistic scent as he stroked their cocks in tandem. The other teen's grasp on his behind tightened the faster he went.
"G-Gar!" He gasped as his orgasm suddenly pulsed through his cock, shooting onto both of their bellies, his hand on Gar's own cock.
His strokes became more erratic but he kept going, riding his orgasm long after his heavily stimulated member went soft, determined not to stop until Gar came as well.
"Come on, Billy!" Gar grunted through grit teeth, nuzzling the younger teen's mop of curls as he felt his climax approach. "Almost- almost there!" He spat, his toes curling, his canines lengthening, his pupils slitting until—
"God!" He exclaimed, his own cum spurting fast from his cock, shooting as far up as their chests and dripping thickly down Billy's fingers.
They breathed laboured breaths onto each other as they both came down from their orgasmic highs, only pulling apart to look each other in the eyes with sweat-soaked brows and gleeful grins.
"That's one way to start the day." Gar said with a wink, releasing his firm hold on Billy's rear. He grasped the other's boy's wrist, bringing his cum-drenched hand up between their faces. He raised his eyebrows at Billy and licked his smirking lips.
"Gar what are you—" He was cut off when the older teen opened his mouth and brought Billy's middle and index finger into it. His tongue weaved between the digits, lapping up any drop of white he could find, taking as torturously long as he wished.
Billy stood there, red-faced, as Gar continued. Gar didn't break eye-contact for an instant as he changed to the other two fingers, bobbing his head up and down as if he were on Billy's cock again.
The sight on its own was enough to send signals down to his member, compelling it to harden again no matter how tired it was.
He thought Gar would finish with his thumb, but no, after that he licked the palm and back of his hand clean. Then, he held Billy still by the arms, leaned down and ran his tongue across his chest, taking in every drop that had spurted up there, then taking a knee and doing the exact same with his belly. A hand came up to cup his balls as the tip of his tongue glanced at the tip of Billy's glans.
Billy bit his lip, not sure if he would cum again so quickly. Then he saw that look in Gar's eye, that daring, compelling look that he couldn't refuse.
He pushed on Gar's head and bucked his hips, his cock brushing against his lips, giving the only sign of approval that was needed.
Gar didn't waste any time. He knew he would need to work hard to bring Billy to climax a second time so soon, and he didn't plan on leaving until he did so.
Billy quickly became short of breath as his cock protested. Gar's hot tongue rubbed it up and down the shaft, forcing it to pulse weakly. He constantly teetered on the edge of approaching climax but never quite got there.
"Gar~!" He moaned, his knees knocking. Billy could feel how hard he was trying, his head bobbing up and down so much that his neck must've ached.
"This is getting me nowhere!" Gar thought as he caressed the inside of Billy's thigh. Then a thought popped into his mind, a cheeky one. One might consider a cheat of sorts, but it was likely to get the job done and done well.
He pulled off of the cock for a moment, keeping his head down to feign fatigue as he sucked on his own middle finger.
"If…if you wanna stop…" Billy said, struggling to stand. He'd finally started to feel a whisper of the second climax, but if it were too much for Gar…
That thought process was shattered when the green teen shot a glare up at him.
"I'm no quitter, BB," he declared, wrapping his lips around Billy's hard-on once more. This time, he slid his hands up the back of Billy's legs until he was cupping his perky cheeks. He kneaded them, spread them, and crushed them in time with his bobbing sucks.
"Brace yourself," Gar said with a smirk. He pulled on one of Billy's cheeks and prodded his tight pink hole with his wet finger, pushing past that ring of muscle and bearing deep into the boy.
Billy gasped, his face flaring scarlet as he felt his hole penetrated for the first time. Gar's sneaky finger quickly went in deep, to the knuckle, and found a spot inside Billy that almost made him collapse to the floor.
"G-G-G-Gar!" He shouted in a moan, his legs turning to jelly under him.
Beast Boy couldn't help but feel a strike of pride in his chest. He prided himself on being able to bring anyone, guy or girl, off to within an inch of their life with a single finger. You had to know what to do, and, being a boy himself, he knew exactly what was needed.
What angle and depth, what hurt like a bitch, and what felt amazing beyond belief. He knew exactly what Billy needed and he used every ounce of experience he had to barrel down and torment that sweet spot in the other boy's ass. The moans like music, and the pulling of his hair a physical steroid that prompted him to go harder.
"Gar! I'm gonna cum!" Billy shouted, no-doubt alerting a few neighbours who more than likely didn't care.
The Teen Titan braced himself. As soon as he felt the vague, sporadic thrusts that foreshadowed orgasm, he buried his nose in Billy's thin bush and let the boy cum straight into his throat.
He didn't ease up on his sweet spot for even a second, forcing Billy's cock to spurt every last drop it was capable of, his cries and moans music to Gar's ears. It wasn't that the taste was magnificent or anything, it was more about showing that he could, it gave him some sort of satisfaction.
After he was sure Billy had ridden the orgasm through as much as he could and spurted every drop he could, Gar pulled his finger from between his cheeks and, at last, pulled off of Billy's wilted cock for good.
A messy, sticky string of cum and saliva connected them for an instant before the flaccid member flopped down against bald testes. The second he did though, Billy collapsed onto his butt, panting with a sheen of sweat.
"What…what…was…that?" He asked between deep, heaving breaths, his legs trembling like a newborn calf's.
"Your prostate," Gar explained, wiping away a drool of spit that had leaked out of the corners of his mouth. "A sweet spot guys have, a bundle of nerves that has something to do with your jizz. Pressing it is very effective, as you just showed," he winked.
Billy blushed and lay back on the wood floor, his chest heaving. His lower half completely unusable.
"Anyway, I'm gonna have to go now," Gar said, standing up. He cringed at the number of missed calls and ignored texts he had when he opened his phone. With a sigh, he put his collar on, and like that he was clothed down to his knees.
He crouched by Billy's head and smiled. "This was fun," he said, cupping his cheek.
"Can we do it again sometime?" Billy asked, a fluttering feeling flapping in his chest as he looked into Gar's deep green eyes.
Gar hesitated, his smile fading as he averted his gaze.
"...Can we?" Billy asked, propping himself up. The fluttery feeling evaporated and a black, crushing feeling took its place.
"Maybe. I-I don't know, this really went against the rules." Gar said, standing and turning his back on Billy. "A hero's life is dangerous, I don't know what I could be getting you into, and I don't really want that on my conscience."
Billy flared in indignance.
"I can look after myself!" He declared standing and pounding his chest. "I'm—" He was cut off when Gar suddenly turned and caught his lips. He could feel his anger ebb away, his shoulders relaxed and he brought a hand up to Gar's cheek. Too soon, the green teen pulled away with a sad smile.
"It was nice, Bill," he said, walking over to the window and throwing it open. "I hope we can see each other again, sometime." And with that, he jumped out.
"Wait!" Billy shouted, rushing over only to see a green bird soaring into the sky. "But I can protect myself," he said, a blackness bubbling in his chest. This wasn't going to be the end of it, that much he knew.
Beast Boy had a lot to think about as he flew across the Fawcett City to the nearest zeta-tube. He thought about how much he was going to get chewed out by the team, but the thing weighing on his mind the most was the look on Billy's face as he left. It was awful. He'd enjoyed their night together more than he thought he would. But it wasn't meant to be, a complete no-go for a super like him. Billy would be better off for it.
He braced himself as he walked into Titans Tower. The overhead announced his name to everyone in the building. He took a deep breath, ready to face the music.
"Where were you?" Robin had demanded.
"Why would you leave us hanging?" Starfire guilted.
"It was so dull, you should've suffered with us." Speedy sighed, obviously wishing he'd done the same thing.
"I can't say much, I skipped the first half." KF winked, punching him in the shoulder.
"You made the right choice." Raven chipped in Speedy's ideological ally.
"Hey, not all at once," he chuckled, backing away. His interrogation was interrupted by the overhead announcing the arrival of someone else, someone none of them were expecting.
"Welcome, Captain Marvel." The overhead announced. As if heralded by God itself, Captain Marvel descended from the ceiling jet exit.
"Hey there, Titans!" He said, waving at them.
"Cap?" Robin gasped, as shocked as everyone else. "What brings you here? Is something going on with the league?"
"No, no, nothing so dramatic," he waved off. He passed the rest and clapped a hand onto Beast Boy's shoulder. "I just came by to thank Beast Boy for putting in a bit of work in Fawcett last night."
"You did?" Speedy asked, crossing his arms and frowning. "What were you doing there?"
"I-I was just passing by," he stuttered, taken aback by Captain Marvel's knowledge of his activity in Fawcett. "Saw some trouble, thought I'd help."
"And the help is appreciated!" Captain Marvel interrupted before any of the other titans could interrogate further.
"Beast Boy here saved an innocent lad from a mugging and then some," he said, slinging an arm around his shoulder. "You're a credit to your mentor!" And before anyone could react to that he spoke again.
"I better be going, just wanted to stop by and say that," he said, floating off the ground and heading back the way he came. "You lot behave yourselves now, you hear?" He was as gone as quick as he came, leaving the titans stunned and at a loss for words.
"I-I guess…you're off the hook?" Robin stuttered, questioning his own statement while rubbing the back of his head.
"Yup, you heard the guy, a member of the JL said it himself!" He said, darting away from the group. "I'm going to my room!" He declared, turning into a cheetah before the others could say anything more.
"That was weird," Raven said, pulling her cowl up and hovering away.
"Yeah…" Robin added, looking up the way Captain Marvel just left. "It was."
Two days later, Captain Marvel arrived at the Watch Tower of the Justice League. He'd been summoned by the current chairman, Aquaman II.
"Hey, guys!" He said, pulling back a chair and taking a seat at the table, which he noticed was filled to less than a quarter capacity. There was Aquaman, of course, as well as Batman, The Flash, Green Arrow, Miss Martian, and Black Canary.
"What's up?" He asked looking around at the table of heroes, all of whom had their eyes on him.
"I think it's best just to get right to it," Aquaman said, leaning forward. "Captain, it's come to our attention that a Gotham villain named Black Mask has been expanding his operations to Fawcett City after the recent fall of Thaddeus Sivana, trying to fill the vacuum and scrape up what remains of Sivana's business."
"Oh, I get it," Billy said, smirking and leaning back in his chair. "You want me to bust his doors down and show him that just cuz the good doctor's gone, doesn't mean he can swoop in and-"
"Not exactly." Batman interrupted, taking the room's attention.
"We're letting you know since a league operation will be taking place in your jurisdiction. We'll be sending the Teen Titans in on a reconnaissance mission," he began, "They're gonna be finding out where, from who, and how Black Mask is getting his contraband into the city and we'll follow from there with a series of covert infiltrations on the important choke points which hopefully lead us back to his contacts in Gotham."
"Oh." Captain Marvel said, flooring his chair and leaning forward on his arms, a bit dejected but he saw the sense of it. There were no ten-tonne men or metahumans to deal with, just regular thugs that would make using his powers overkill.
"Shouldn't they at least have backup, you know, just in case it hits the fan?" He asked, hoping to be somewhat involved in a mission taking place in his city.
"We have that covered." Miss Martian answered, speaking for the first time since Billy arrived. "I'll be hovering above in my bioship, invisible in case anything goes wrong and they need an extraction."
"But that's really just a precaution." Black canary added. "The Titans are more than up to this." She smiled as she said this, confident in her words. After all, she oversaw the wellbeing of a third of the team.
Robin, Kid Flash, Beast Boy, and Speedy all had their own mentors, all of whom were at this very table. But Raven and Starfire were brought into the fold from outside any existing member and had to be assigned one. His heart skipped a beat at the thought of Beast Boy and he was relieved that Superman wasn't there to hear it.
That's where Black Canary came in, having jumped at the chance to mentor two more superheroines.
"Then why did you invite me here?" He asked. Everyone else was a mentor to a member of the team or the chairman of the league. His presence seemed…unnecessary.
"It'd be bad form to not let you know," Flash said, his voice a jovial relief from the no-nonsense grown-up canter of the rest of the leaguers. "And, you know, on the off chance things go…less than perfect, that you know what's happening."
"Ah, okay," he said, feeling a bit hollow about it. "Thanks."
Okay, so Captain Marvel was grounded from the reconnaissance mission. That was fine. Billy Batson wasn't, Billy Batson was free to infiltrate any criminal gang he chose to. And so he did. The mission briefing had let him know where most of Black Mask's weapons had been filtered through, so he knew where to start.
Black Mask was good at picking inconspicuous locations, if nothing else. Had he not known to look for it, he would've walked right by the graffitied plywood door around the back of an apartment complex-turned drug den.
He had his hood up and was wearing the most inconspicuous clothing he had, which was most of them if he was being honest. He was never one for branded names unless something had been abandoned on the street.
Making sure no one was looking, he knocked on the door and waited. Not a moment later it peaked open and a green eye was looking out at him, illuminated by a dim light from inside.
"What?" It asked, the voice deep and rough with a Gotham accent.
"I heard that a kid that wants a quick buck could come through here. Am I wrong?" He asked, knowing exactly what they'd want to hear. After all, who would expect a scrawny brat like him to be a member of the Justice League?
The man on the inside of the door paused, looked back into the room he was in, and shrugged. He opened the door wide enough for Billy to squeeze through. The man was well-dressed, better dressed than you'd assume by his voice. He looked like he was dressed to go to a fancy do or due to show up in court. Gotham was a very different breed than he was used to.
The room was as unassuming on the inside as it was on the outside. The other two men in the room were seated in deck chairs, playing cards on an overturned truck tire with cracked plasterboard laid on top as a makeshift table. Billy couldn't turn his nose up at it, it was as fancy as any furniture he owned.
"I hope you understand that we'll need to pat you down first, just to make sure you're not wearing a wire," he said, sounding genuine.
"Course." Billy chirped, standing with his feet shoulder length apart and his arms, out to either side. He knew the drill. Even makeshift wannabe gangs knew to check for things like this, a Gotham-bred gang would no doubt be all the more cautious.
The gangster patted down his sides, down his arms, felt the inside of his waistband, and then down his legs. Nothing unusual, in fact, it was a bit less invasive than pat downs he'd had before.
He supposed that even this criminal had reservations about feeling up a kid.
"Nothin' but a switch-blade on his hip." The man said, shrugging to his fellow goons. "Nothin' unusual."
The other two nodded to each other. The shorter one, who was noticeably shorter than the other two by quite a few inches, nodded and stood and gestured for Billy to follow him.
"Got a name, kid?" He asked, his voice much smoother on the ears than the other man's.
"Arnie O'Malley," he lied. He knew not to give his real name, especially since he knew that the Titans would be striking tonight. Anything that left a trail to him could really lead to trouble.
The man put a hand on his back and led him away, opening a door at the back of the room to a stairwell. Billy shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket as they walked down, the man keeping his hand on his back.
Probably to push him down the stairs if he tried anything funny with his knife.
"What kinda work are ya lookin' for?" He asked as if giving an interview for a supermarket position.
"Anything that pays well," he shrugged. "Playin' birdie, shifting across city lines, makin' coffee. Whatever you can give me," he was familiar with all kinds of mob jobs that a kid would get. Simple ones that gave you nothing you could turn over to the authorities. After doing those for a while could get initiated and be an actual member, but he never went that far.
"Well, tonight we got a big shipment incoming. Not gonna say from where but it's pretty important," he said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. They led into a massive room, lined with crates on one side of the wall and vans parked on the other side.
"Usually, we wouldn't give someone who just walked in our front door something like this. But we're shorthanded," He said, pointing to a group of about a dozen people, teens and younger. They each stood by a crate, pulling out what Billy guessed was a semi-automatic rifle, scratched something into a notebook, and then put the weapon onto an adjacent rack.
"You see these?" The man asked, popping open one of the crates and taking out one of the weapons inside. "They each have a serial number here, on the lower receiver," he pointed it out to Billy, who was glad as he would've had no idea where to look.
"You copy this down into that book and then load it onto the rack. Make sure they're in order. When you go onto a new rack, start on a new page. Not the other side of the page you were just on, a new sheet entirely. Got it?" He asked, pushing the weapon to Billy's chest.
"Simple enough," he shrugged. Going about the task for a few minutes, his ears pricked for any sign of the Titans.
While he could only use the powers of Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury while as the big guy, he could push his senses to near-superhuman levels as his normal self. It was something he'd been meaning to work on more over time but league duties and other things often got in the way.
Besides, when he could turn into Captain Marvel in a flash, what need did Billy Batson have for any of those big powers?
He glanced down the row of others doing the same thing he was, the oldest no more than twenty. One of them glanced back at him and he almost felt his heart skip a beat. He looked back to work but he couldn't concentrate now, not after the face he'd just seen.
He'd seen it before, very recently. It had been a very distinct one whose presence led to what was probably the best night of his life. It was the face of one of his would-be muggers, the same tattoo printed sorely onto his right cheek. Now that he got a proper look at it he could tell that it was the top half of a skull. Without the jawbone.
So the newbies of Black Mask's gang had face tattoos? Billy slowed in his writing to think about it. It was a terrible idea, any kind of tattooing was, really, but if it was done it'd be done somewhere inconspicuous, not the face.
That's just asking to be spotted and reported, something so distinctive could only hinder a gang's plans. Someone like Black Mask ought to know that, he was a professional mobster after all.
It was then that his hearing picked up something that he had been on the lookout for. They were barely noticeable but there were several sets of feet on the roof of the building. He was below ground so it was hard to tell how many, but they were distinct enough for him to know they were there. He closed his eyes and breathed in. He poured all of his energy, all of the magic that dwelled in his body into his ears, trying to pick up anything and everything.
"Who's the new prick?" He heard someone, several people down the row whisper.
"Hell if I know," the one they whispered to responded.
His range went further, picking up the talk of the men upstairs.
"A two-pair!" One of them said, then there was a cracking and splintering sound. "…oops." The same voice said. Billy guessed that he had broken their makeshift table.
Beyond that, he could pinpoint the bark of a dog, the yowling of a cat, and the scuttle of a rat.
He tried stretching his hearing further and further, but his head was pounding. It felt as if someone were hammering it from the inside out. He could feel the sweat drip down his brow and he grit his teeth from the strain. It was like trying to wade through liquid rubber, every inch was a struggle.
But then, he heard it. Above all the other noises of the small and quiet area, above the wing-beats of the flies and the breaths of all the people and rodents, above the sizzling of Bunsen-burners in the dens above, he heard it. He heard him.
"This'll be a cinch, stealth is my middle name," he heard Beast Boy say in the sky above, lightly drowned out by the engines of Miss Martian's bioship.
"Hey!" Something incredibly loud pulled Billy from his intense concentration. He clapped his hands over his ears with a yell of pain, his eyes closed in an attempt to shut out all other stimuli. Slowly, he opened them and looked around, the row of low-rank goons all turned to look at him, some looking behind him.
He peaked over his shoulder and saw the short man that had brought him down here.
"You…you okay?" He asked, his hand tentatively reached out. "You were zoned out," he said as if he were concerned for Billy's health. "Slacking off!" he barked, pushing worry out and putting authority back into his tone.
"S-sorry," Billy said, looking away, feigning shame. "Can I use the bathroom?" He said, resting his hands on his stomach, trying to give the impression that he had an ache. Apparently, the mobster was in a good mood. Or more likely just that shorthanded, as all he did was roll his eyes and point his thumb over his shoulder.
"Take a left, second door on your right. You have five minutes," he said, emphasising the amount of time Billy had, alluding to consequences that nobody really believed existed.
"Thanks!" He said, making out to be in pain as he rushed to the door.
"Now I just need to stay close to where the titans will be, just to be safe," he thought. Rationally, he knew that they'd be fine, especially with Miss Martian overhead.
Speaking of overhead, the Titans dropped from the bioship in their night-mode uniforms. Starfire held Robin by the wrists, Raven lifted Kid Flash through and Beast Boy carried Speedy in his talons, as a pterodactyl.
"Remember, this is a recon mission only, don't take risks. I'll be here if you need me." Miss Martian said through her telepathy, opening a mind link between the seven of them.
"You know, wouldn't it be easier for you to just, I dunno, phase through the walls, read some minds, and find out what we need?" Kid Flash asked as they touched down, Raven being less than ceremonious as she dropped him.
"Yeah sure, but then we wouldn't get the training, the experience of being stealthy," Robin answered before Miss Martian could defend herself. "This is a low-risk-high-reward mission, no big names are here but the benefits are too big to pass by."
"Exactly," Miss Martian added. "The League sees this as an opportunity for you to get your feet wet while not putting you at great risk." She explained, "Now, I'm gonna be here the entire time, but don't see that as a get-out-of-jail-free card. The best-case scenario is for you all to get in there and then quickly get out without bringing attention to yourselves. Understood?"
She got a volley of mental affirmatives.
They split into two teams. Beast Boy, Raven, and Starfire all went in through the front entrance while Robin, Kid Flash, and Speedy entered from the back way because the former trio could easily sneak past the goons guarding the way in.
Which they did with relative ease. Beast Boy turned into a fly while the two girls phased through the walls, courtesy of Raven.
"I'm just seeing a lot of guys looking at guns and writing stuff down." Beast Boy said through the link. He didn't hear any reply though, his mind suddenly preoccupied as he caught a whiff of something familiar. He buzzed off to an abandoned writing station, where an open notebook and crate of guns were left idle. A quick look at the book told him that they were copying serial numbers. He stored that useful bit of info in the back of his mind. He didn't feel like projecting his thoughts at the moment.
Especially since his sister was listening.
He buzzed onto the pencil the writer had been using and his suspicions were confirmed. He gulped, a massive pit opening in the pit of his stomach. He hoped he was just massively confused, that this was a coincidence. That some strange set of circumstances led to that scent being there at that moment without Billy actually being present.
He hoped that was the case, but he still acted as he detected the scent leaving the room.
"Beast Boy, where are you going?" Starfire asked through Miss Martian's link.
"I just gotta check something!" He said, morphing into a dragonfly, the fastest flying insect, and flew to the door and squeezed through a crack.
The scent continued and he felt himself getting more and more nervous the stronger it got. He followed it, going deeper and deeper into the base, avoiding the swatting hands of passing mobsters until the scent was at its strongest. He slipped through the keyhole of a door and found himself in a broom cupboard.
As soon as he did, his fears were realised. There was Billy, standing atop a stack of boxes, trying to use a switchblade to unscrew a vent shaft.
As quietly as he could manage, he turned back to his usual self and snuck up on Billy. He quickly clapped a hand over Billy's mouth as he hooked an arm around his waist and pulled him down. He stood stock still and tried his best not to make a ruckus and draw attention to them.
"Billy, it's me, Gar!" He whispered into his ear. The struggle died almost immediately and Billy turned in his grasp to look him in the eye.
His mouth went agape and his cheeks flushed pink.
"B-Beast Boy!" He said in a loud whisper, resting his hands on the other teen's chest, "You're here!" He wrapped his arms around Gar and buried his face in his neck. Relief washed over him as now he knew he could keep the Titans safe.
"Yeah, I know," Beast Boy said, not letting his harsh tone go unnoticed.
"What are you doing here in a place like this? Working for a gang? You're a great kid, why would you shoot yourself in the foot and start working for someone like Black Mask?" He asked, fear and worry evident in his features as he shook the younger teen by his shoulders.
Billy scowled.
"First, I'm not working for him, I was infiltrating. Second, if I wanted to work for him, who are you to say I can't? If you haven't noticed, this place is kinda run by guys like this and a guy like me doesn't always know where his next meal will come from," he argued, stepping back.
Of course, he knew it wasn't entirely fair to speak to Gar like that. But still, he didn't know what it was like to grow up in a slum like he did before he became Captain Marvel. And so did many other kids. Not to mention, he was in favour of dealing with the root causes of these problems, like he was. He looked down, ashamed.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have—"
"No! You're right, I shouldn't be judgy…it's just, you're a great guy. Too nice for a place like this, and I got worried," he said, raising Billy's chin to look him in the eye. "Sorry, I—"
It was Billy's turn to cut him off, this time with a quick, chaste kiss on the lips. "You talk too much," he sighed, leaning into Beast Boy again. It was nice to feel his warmth once more, he'd missed it dearly in the few days it'd been since he'd left.
"I've been told…" Gar added, wrapping his arms around Billy and breathing in his scent. "But, you really should leave the hero work to us. Vigilantes, especially kid vigilantes, get hurt."
"I can take care of myself. I got this far." Billy objected, nuzzling into Gar's neck.
"Yeah, but you were struggling to unscrew a bolt, so forgive my lack of confidence," he teased, liking the indignant laugh Billy gave.
He didn't make a sound but he could feel it in the shaking of his shoulders. At least, he thought it was a laugh at first, then he heard a heave of breath and his heart sank.
"Billy?" he asked, pulling the boy back to get a look at his face. His heart broke as the other boy tried desperately to wipe away the tears that kept on flowing.
"Hey, hey," he said, cupping Billy's cheek. "What's the matter?" He asked in as soothing a tone as he could manage. But inside he was panicking, worrying that maybe he'd said something wrong or had hurt Billy in some way.
"You left!" He grunted, pulling back and facing away from the green hero. "I really liked you, really, really liked you! And you made it seem like you liked me too and then you just left!" Billy confessed. He finally let out all of the feelings he'd felt that morning, and every morning since.
He was angry, confused, and most of all, he was sad. He thought he'd finally found someone he could confide in with Gar, but then he left him alone again.
"I…I'm sorry…" Gar apologized, his arms flopping to his sides. His eyes cast downward as a rot of shame and regret tore through his chest. He hadn't really considered Billy's feelings when he flew out that window. Leaving him there after an amazing night together.
He had to admit that he never got on with someone as well as he did with Billy, at least not so quickly. He didn't give off the energy of a wide-eyed fan or someone who saw him as a goofball. When they talked, it felt as if he were just another teenager getting together with another teenager.
"You're right…I left cuz I didn't want to get you involved in, well, this," he gestured around to the cupboard they were in. "Great use that was," he said with a sad chuckle, slapping his forehead.
Billy said nothing, he only turned his back.
Gar rattled his brain, trying to think of something he could say to fix this situation. Something that would not hurt Billy while also keeping him as far from this kind of a life as possible. But he just didn't want to. In any other circumstance, he would've considered starting something with Billy. But he knew it wouldn't fly.
Dragging a civilian into this kind of life was just irresponsible.
He bit his lip. He wanted to say something along the lines of "give me another chance" or "we'll make it work". But he knew he shouldn't.
"Billy…" He said, his voice cracking. "I do like you, I do. I want to try and…be with you. You're a great guy and I feel something special between us…but…" he paused, wanting to let him down as gently as possible.
"I felt it too," Billy whispered, turning to face Gar and stepping closer. He wanted to tell Gar that he had no cause for worry. That he had the powers of Gods at his fingertips, that it would be okay for them to try. But that damned wizard and his rules were stopping him!
He wasn't allowed to tell anyone he was Captain Marvel, he knew that. He knew in his heart of hearts that he couldn't for the same reasons Gar didn't want them to be together. It might put him in danger.
But he didn't care. For once he wanted to take something for himself, to be selfish and do something that was just for him. His brain was yelling at him not to, that he was a superhero and should act like it, and that meant making sacrifices.
Sacrifices…for his whole life.
No. He couldn't live like that. He would protect Gar. He would do everything in his power to keep him from harm's way because he was Captain Marvel and there was nothing he couldn't do.
"Gar…I'm…I'm…" He stuttered, biting his lip, wanting more than anything than to spit it out.
"I'm—"
The door to the closet burst open before he could get the words out. There was the short mobster again, a look of confusion on his face as he registered the scene before him.
"Shit, you're—" He didn't have a chance to say whatever he was about to say because before he could, Gar was wrapped around him in the form of a massive python. His coils wrapped around his mouth, silencing him. The green teen then pulled him back into the closet, pulling the door shut with the tip of his tail.
Billy watched as the mobster struggled until his movements slowed and eventually he went slack.
Not dead, just unconscious.
"That's gonna be a problem," Gar said, looking at Billy with furrowed brows. "I'm sorry okay! I shouldn't have just left. I wish I didn't. So, maybe, do you wanna try…" he started, going a deep green in the cheeks as he stumbled over the words he wanted to say. He tried to find the right ones without sounding like the manuscript of a romance confession scene.
"Yes!" Billy exclaimed, his eyes going bright. A massive weight was lifted from his chest now that he wouldn't need to reveal his secret. "I do want to try, I mean," he blushed.
Gar smiled, his shoulders sagging as a weight he didn't realise he was carrying lifted from him. Billy then grabbed him by the front of his spandex, pulled him in, and pushed their lips together. He melted into the gesture as the unconscious man on the ground twitched.
After a moment, they separated, grinning at each other. Billy broke out into a quiet fit of chuckles as Gar stood there, still a bit stunned.
"Go on, you were doing something?" Billy said, referring to their mission.
"Oh, right…" Gar said, flushing pink. "Uh, I'll pick you up from your place on Saturday, show you a night in my town," he winked and stepped over the unconscious mobster.
With his hand on the doorknob, he said one last thing to Billy. "Is that good for you?"
"P-perfect," Billy answered, a thousand butterflies fluttering in his chest. "See you then." And like that, Gar was a dragonfly again, flying through a small crack in the door.
"I need to find some nice clothes…" Billy mumbled, quietly going back to his task of copying serial numbers.