Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this fic. They're all property of DC and WB.
In the Spirit
Learning a Lesson
Billy Batson looked down at the child on his lap, and smiled fondly as he felt like it was only a few years ago that he had come to visit Santa Claus. Of course, in his case, that actually was a few years ago. Because of the wizard Shazam, Billy could now become the superhero known to the world as Captain Marvel. All it took was one word, and that was it. He was an adult; a living breathing superhero, fighting injustice just like Superman.
The thought of Superman troubled Billy, in that he regretted how he had berated his hero. Even after what he had done, Billy still looked up to him. Still idolised him. How could he not? He was the world's greatest hero, bar none. Billy had seen the Man of Steel's public statement following the battle with Luthor and Brainiac, and had almost cried in sorrow when he announced the disbanding of the Justice League. Just as he had realised his mistake, he was pulling the whole thing apart?
And then, Green Arrow had made a heartfelt speech that almost made Billy cry with happiness and hope that Superman might reconsider. Then, the applause began. The wonderful, powerful applause. Even Billy started clapping, which had prompted some strange looks from the other children in the orphanage. But Billy didn't care. His hero, Superman was coming back. The Superman that gave him hope. The Superman that made him feel as though what he was doing as Captain Marvel was right. This was the Superman that had given him hope when he was living on the streets; the Superman that had made him create a living for himself and go to school, for the chance to one day go to Metropolis and meet his hero.
But that was then. Now, during the Christmas season, Billy was sat in the Fawcett City shopping mall, with a girl of about five or six sat on his lap staring up with complete and utter adoration. He smiled.
"Nice to meet you. What's your name?"
"Mary."
"Mary? That's nice. I'm Captain Marvel," he lowered his voice and put his hand on the other side of his mouth, as though he were letting Mary in on a big secret. "But you can call me Marvel," he whispered, and the girl grinned.
"So, what do you want for Christmas?"
"I want to fly."
Billy's smile widened. "I guess we could arrange that."
The child's eyes lit up with excitement.
"As long as it's all right with your parents," Billy added, looking over at the mother and father that were now nodding in approval. Billy smiled, amazed at how readily the people of this city trusted him. He stood, still holding the child to his chest. "Okay, now hold on."
The child gripped his neck tighter, and Billy rose off the ground. The girl looked down and gasped as they rose higher and higher. "You okay?" Billy asked, and the girl nodded.
"Can we go outside?"
"I don't think so, pretty lady. It's pretty cold out, and I'm not wrapped up for the weather," he said, a smile on his face. Mary looked slightly disappointed, but was still in awe of her current situation. Billy slowly lowered them down to the ground, and put Mary down on the ground, who ran to her parents, an excited grin on her face. Billy sat down in the chair again, and the next child landed violently on his lap. Billy let out a brief 'whoof' as he landed on him, and let out a pained smile.
"So… what's your name?"
"Billy."
Billy smiled. "Is that right? I know a Billy. Really good kid. So, Billy… what do you want for Christmas?"
"Fly!"
Billy grinned. He guessed he would just be doing this for the rest of his time here.
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After what felt like two hundred flying expeditions, the mall was closing. Billy couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He couldn't wait to go flying around in the open air. The security guard tipped his hat to him as he left, and Billy gave him a wave as he shot into the air, taking a deep breath through the grin on his face. Contrary to what he had told Mary, the cold didn't affect him whatsoever. It was a nice little side effect of the stamina that had been given to him from Atlas. He reached a point in the sky where he could look out across the whole city, and floated in the air.
He looked down over the peaceful city, wondering how it was ever dubbed a city. It was more akin to a country town than a city. He heard his cape fluttering slightly in the breeze, and he wondered whether Superman did this. Maybe he should go and visit Metropolis; try and patch things over with the Man of Steel. Billy grinned at his idea. It was the perfect time of year, too! He set off in the direction of Metropolis, looking down at the ground as it sped away beneath him. He passed over several cities and towns on his way to Metropolis, and stopped in shock as he saw something happening in one of them; down below him was a crime in progress.
He shot down into the city, and landed on ground level. It looked as though someone was trying to rob the Central City bank, and Billy remembered that a member of the Justice League lived in this city. He couldn't remember which one (he only really remembered details about Superman), but he couldn't help but wonder if he would meet him or her. He was knocked out of his thoughts as the bank robbers ran out of the front entrance, and they froze upon seeing him.
"Who the-?" one said, but he didn't get the chance to say anything more, as a scarlet blur knocked him clean out. The other three with him were about to do something when they were similarly knocked out. The scarlet blur stopped in front of Billy, sending a gush of wind in his direction. Before Billy stood the Flash, the Fastest Man Alive, an unsure frown on his face.
"Hey."
"Uh, hi," Billy responded.
"Aren't you that guy that Supes fought? Sergeant Happy or something?"
"Uh… it's… Captain Marvel, sir."
Flash snapped his fingers and nodded. "Right, right, Captain Marvel. You chewed us up pretty bad, if I remember right."
Billy frowned. "Yes, sir, I did. And I'm sorry about that."
Flash raised an eyebrow beneath his mask. "What's with all this 'sir' stuff?"
"Well… you're a member of the League and all, I just thought…"
"Well, cut it out, okay? I mean, you're the captain. I should be calling you sir."
Billy smiled, happy that the Flash wasn't going to get angry with him about the speech that he had given them all when last he saw them.
"So, what're you doing in Central?"
Billy rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well, actually, I was on my way to Metropolis to talk to Superman, so I could apologise for what I said, and then I saw that there was bank robbery going on, so-"
"Woah guy, slow down," Flash said, putting his hands up in a mock surrender fashion. "Now, you're going to apologise to Supes for what?"
"For… fighting him and that big speech I gave him."
Flash shook his head and laughed quietly. "Buddy, you shouldn't apologise to him. He should apologise to you, and then thank you. If it wasn't for what you said, I doubt that he would've-"
He was cut off by the sound of approaching police sirens. He checked that the would-be bank robbers were well and truly unconscious, then turned back to Billy. "Anyway, we can talk about this later. You mind sticking around? I've got an appointment to keep, and it'd be great if you could come too."
"Um… well, I…" Billy didn't know how to respond. Was the Flash inviting him to a party or something? "…sure, okay," he said enthusiastically, wondering what kind of 'appointment' it was.
Flash nodded. "Cool. Just follow me," he said, quickly turning and speeding off down the street. Billy took to the air and pursued his fellow crime fighter.
Flash stopped in front of building and waited for Billy to catch up. Billy landed and looked up at the sign above the entrance:
The Central City Homeless Shelter.
Flash looked over at him. "After you," he said, gesturing to the door. Billy accepted and walked ahead, albeit a bit hesitantly. Billy had never gone to a homeless shelter, either as his younger self or as Captain Marvel. He had avoided them as much as possible as a boy. If he was honest, he wasn't homeless for a particularly long time before he had found the orphanage.
It was slightly unnerving, but as long as the Flash was with him, he supposed it wouldn't be too bad. He opened the door and prepared himself for the noise. Except there wasn't any. There was a low murmuring, but most of what could be heard was the clink of spoons on soup bowls. The look of the room reminded Billy of his school lunch hall, with the tables all lined up next to one another, all of them packed to the point of collapsing. Flash whizzed over to the counter, saying his greetings to the staff, and Billy followed. He wasn't sure what he should do around them. Should he ignore them? Should he glance at them? He quickened his pace as he felt increasingly uncomfortable.
Flash was already behind the counter, tying the apron behind his back and putting the hairnet on his head. Billy couldn't help but smile at the image. Flash spotted him and frowned for a moment before looking up and quickly removing the hairnet with a sheepish grin.
"I keep forgetting about that," he offered, looking embarrassed. He tossed the hairnet and the apron over to Billy, and got to work as only he could. Billy followed suit, deciding to go slowly at first until he got used to pouring the soup into the bowls.
About two hours later, and Flash and Billy were sat on the floor of the kitchen, taking a well deserved break. Flash looked over at Billy.
"So, how's it feel to have made a big difference tonight?"
"Pretty good," Billy confessed, nodding. "But… is it that busy every night?"
Flash frowned. "Pretty much. I help out as much as I can, but… you've got to live your life, I guess. But this is the Christmas crowd. It gets pretty nasty out there, especially during the night."
"But… don't they go to the shelters?"
Flash shrugged. "Most of the time it's not enough. Central City has about eight homeless shelters spread around, but eight isn't that much in a city this size."
"So… why don't we get more?"
Flash let out a long sigh, as though he had answered this question a million times, and it was beginning to hurt him to think about it. "Don't ask me," he said quietly. A silence followed, and Billy had no wish to be the one to break it. Suddenly, Flash got to his feet and took off the apron, and Billy did the same.
"Well," he said, stretching, "it was really good to see you again, Captain. I'm glad that someone helped out." He extended his hand.
"Thanks," Billy said, shaking his hand. "Maybe I'll come back some other time."
Flash nodded, a slight smile on his face. "That'd be great."
They said their goodbyes to the staff, and they made their way to the door. Once outside, Flash turned to Billy.
"Y'know, if you want to talk to Supes, I bet he'll be up at the Watchtower now."
Billy smiled. "Would that be okay?"
Flash shrugged and grinned. "Sure. Anything for Captain Marvel," he said, saluting. He put his hand to his earpiece. "Hey, Mr Terrific, could you transport two up? I've got a guest."
Billy grinned as he was teleported up to the Watchtower. All in all, this had been a great day.
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Billy was feeling pretty good. It was about a week since he had first come here with the Flash, and he had come back every day since. Superman hadn't been available when he went up to the Watchtower, but somehow it didn't seem so important to him anymore. He would still get around to it, but he really felt like he was making a difference by coming here. Flash wasn't available today, though he had come on and off for the past few days.
During a break, Billy decided to mingle, hoping to get to know some of them. Most of them were more occupied with trying to sleep, so Billy left them alone. He was shocked at how many children were here, and wondered what kind of society lets people live like this. He felt a tugging on his cape, and looked down to see a boy no older than Mary. He smiled and knelt before the boy.
"Hi," he said, wondering if the boy knew who he was.
"Are you Superman?"
Billy smiled. "No. I'm Captain Marvel. Pleased to meet you," he said, extending his hand for a handshake. The boy slowly took it, and shook his hand gently.
"I'm Charlie. My mom always calls me Charles, but I don't like that name," he said, scrunching up his face. "I've never seen you here before."
"Well, Flash brought me here."
"Are you his friend?"
Billy smiled again. "I guess you could call me that. Do you like the Flash?"
The boy nodded, grinning. "He's really cool. He comes here all the time and gives us food all super fast!"
"He's a nice guy too, huh?"
"Yep. He said he'd bring Superman someday. But he's always really busy, Flash says."
Billy nodded and smiled. "Well, I'll see if I can bring him when I come next time."
The small boy nodded with a grin, his eyes wide with excitement. A woman walked over to them, and Billy looked up to see Charlie's mother looking down at him with a concerned look on his face.
"I'm sorry if he's any trouble," she said, an embarrassed smile on her features. Billy smiled and stood.
"It's okay. You've got a good boy there, ma'am."
She seemed slightly puzzled for a moment, then smiled and nodded. Billy extended his hand, and she looked down at it as though it were some foreign object. She took it and smiled.
"My name's Kate."
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Captain Marvel."
"Captain Marvel? So… are you with the Justice League?"
Billy rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, uh, no… not exactly. I'm just a friend of theirs."
"He says he's gonna bring Superman next time, mom," Charlie cut in, tugging at her mother's clothing. She looked up at him.
"You're bringing Superman? Flash says he's been trying, but Superman's too busy," she said, a hint of bitterness in her voice. Not enough to sour the conversation, but enough that Billy noticed it.
"I'm sure it's for a good reason, ma'am."
She looked puzzled again.
"Is something wrong?"
She shook herself out of her puzzled expression. "I'm sorry, what?"
"I said, 'is something wrong'? You looked a bit confused."
"Oh, it's nothing. It's just… not many people call me ma'am," she said, smiling nervously.
Billy frowned as he smiled, his face going slightly red. "Well, uh… that's just what you call ladies, isn't it?"
There was a long silence between the two, but fortunately, Charlie seemed determined to break it. "Where do you come from, Captain Marvel?"
Billy smiled politely and looked down at Charlie. "Pardon?"
"Well, Superman comes from Krypton, and Flash says he was struck by lightning, so… where do you come from?"
"Oh, you want to know where I got my powers."
Charlie nodded, and Kate seemed interested as well. Billy thought it over for a moment, and realised that there would be no harm in telling them, as long as he didn't name any names. Well, he guessed he could name Shazam, but that was about it. And so, he sat down with them and told them the story. About how his parents were murdered and his legal guardian abandoned him. About how he came across the cave that held the great wizard Shazam. And how he endowed him with magnificent powers to become the Earth's Mightiest Mortal (though he hated that nickname). They were both entranced through the entire story, as were several onlookers, who had become bored with trying to sleep.
Once he had finished, they all took a deep breath, as though it were the most enthralling thing they had heard in their entire lives. Billy had to admit, for so many people to think that you are this amazing person felt pretty good.
"Charlie!" a small voice rang out.
They looked over to see another boy of roughly the same age waving to Charlie. He looked at Kate hopefully, who just smiled and nodded. "Have fun." And with that, he was gone. Billy doubted that even the Flash could go as fast as that boy did at that moment. He looked over at Kate, who was still staring in the direction that Charlie had run.
"He's a great boy, ma'am."
"You don't have to call me that, you know," she said, laughing slightly. "My name's Kate."
"Uh… okay… um, Kate."
She nodded. "That's better. And yes, he is a great boy."
"How long has he…?"
She remained silent for a moment, still looking at her son. "All his life."
Billy didn't know what to say. He had at least known something about his parents before they were killed. He had known what it was like to live in a home. To have been born into this life… Billy wasn't about to say that he had had an easy life, but… it was a whole lot better than being born on the streets.
"And how long have you lived… uh… here?"
She sighed. "Pretty much all of his life."
"What happened?" Billy asked, and she looked over at him, as though judging the sincerity of his concern. All she saw in his eyes was an innocent kindliness, an urge to help as best he could. So she told him. About how the father had gotten fired as the baby was born. How he ran away from both her and their baby. How she was eventually evicted from her home and forced to live on the streets. About how she fought to keep her son.
"There was no way I was going to let some caretaker raise my son," she said, and Billy couldn't help but admire her.
"Kate, if you had superpowers, you'd be one heck of a superhero."
She smiled. "Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment."
Billy grinned, and his watch alarm went off. He looked down and grimaced. "I'm sorry, but I've got to go. I'll see you the next time I'm here, I'm sure," he said to Kate, standing. She stood and smiled.
"Thank you."
He grinned back, not sure what she was thanking him for. "I hope I'll see you again. Do you come here often?"
She nodded. "I will now. Charlie seems to like you, so you can't be all that bad."
Charlie seemed to hear the mention of his name, and ran over to them.
"You're leaving?" he said, a pleading look in his eyes.
"I've got to, Charlie. But I'll see you next time. And I'll see if Superman can come too, huh?" he said, smiling at the boy. He beamed at Billy, and Billy slowly walked out, waving to the two as he left. As he took to the air, he noticed that it was snowing. And he couldn't help being filled with Christmas cheer.
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The next day, Billy arrived in time for the dinner rush. Billy walked in and smiled as he saw the Flash stood behind the counter, serving out soup at such speed that all he could see was a scarlet blur grabbing bowls. He walked to the counter, looking for Kate and Charlie as he did so. He couldn't see them anywhere. When he got behind the counter, he put on his apron and hairnet, and looked over at Flash.
"Hey, Flash?"
"Mmm?" he responded, still moving as a blur.
"Have you seen a woman and her boy? Her name's Kate? His name's Charlie, about six or seven years old?"
"Uh… no," he said, stopping to think about it briefly before going back to his soup. Billy paused for a moment, then shrugged. They must have gone to another shelter.
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The next day, Billy went to the shelter earlier than usual in hopes of seeing Kate and Charlie. They weren't there, but Billy got to work.
The next day, he went earlier still. They still weren't there.
He repeated this process for another few days before deciding to go and look for them. He checked the other homeless shelters in Central City, and even went to Keystone to check if they had somehow made the long trek over to Central's sister city. They weren't anywhere to be found. Billy had enlisted the help of the Flash in finding them, who had gladly helped, being familiar with the two himself. He didn't know them as well as Billy did (which wasn't that much) but he had talked to them before.
Flash had given Billy his old Teen Titans communicator, and set his Justice League earpiece so it would transmit on the old Titans frequency. Billy had been surprised at how brainy the Flash could be when he wanted to be. Flash had brushed it of, saying that he had seen Batman do it and just copied what he saw, but Billy was still impressed nonetheless.
Billy was flying over the east side of Central City, when his communicator began to beep. He grabbed it from his belt and brought it to his mouth.
"Have you found them?"
Flash sighed. "Marvel… I think you should, uh…"
"Have you found them!" he yelled, not caring about how rude he was being.
"I… yeah, I have… but they're…"
"They're what?"
"Just… get down here."
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"It was just too cold," the paramedic said, speaking to Flash and Billy, though Billy wasn't listening. He was just staring at the ambulances into which the body bags of his two friends were being loaded. The body bags of a mother and his child… a child that was seven years old.
Seven years old…
Flash had found them in an old car. They had been sleeping in it, using the heater of the car to keep themselves warm. The heater had given out, and…
Central City's winters were renowned as being some of the coldest in the country.
"I'm sorry," the paramedic said.
"How long?" Billy said, his eyes still on the ambulances.
"Sorry?"
"How long were they…?"
"It's hard to tell, but guessing… about a week."
Billy closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A week… about the same time he had just met them. They must have left that night and then…
He needed to get away. He couldn't deal with this. He just… had to go. He sprang from the ground, flinging himself into the air. He heard the Flash calling to him, but he didn't acknowledge him. He just couldn't be there right now. He needed to go somewhere else. He landed on a cliff side that overlooked the city, and huddled into a ball.
The tears welled up in his eyes and flowed freely down his cheeks.
And for the first time since he became Captain Marvel, Billy Batson felt cold.
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Billy had watched the sun go down, and had sat in complete darkness for a few hours before he heard the noise of incoming footsteps at high speed. He looked to his left and saw the Flash shooting towards him. He slowed as he approached until he was walking towards him. He sat down next to Billy, and curled up into a ball in a similar fashion.
"Aren't you cold?" he asked quietly, shivering slightly. Billy shook his head dumbly, not wanting to look at the superhero.
A silence fell between them. "Superman told me," he said finally, and Billy still didn't look at him.
"Told you what?"
"That you're a kid. I'm sorry; if I'd known, I'd never have taken you there."
"Why not?"
"Because… you're just a kid. You shouldn't have to know about this stuff."
Billy was silent for a moment. "Charlie had to," he said quietly.
Flash paused before responding. "Yeah. I know."
Billy looked up at the stars, and found that they were blocked by clouds. He could just barely see the moon through the mist. "How does it happen?" He turned towards the scarlet speedster. "How do women and children end up on the streets, freezing to death in cars?" He turned back to the moon, and let out a long breath. "How do we let that happen?"
Flash frowned sadly beneath his mask. "I wish I could tell you. I wish I knew."
"But… we're superheroes. We're supposed to know. We're supposed to be able to stop this from happening. 'When we're on the job'…" he said, quoting an old superhero quote he had read somewhere.
"…'you're always safe'," Flash finished. Billy looked over at him, and Flash shrugged, sighing as he did so. "We just have to do what we can. When people need help… that's what we do."
Billy looked out over the city, the lights twinkling against the black sky.
"It's something you shouldn't have had to learn yet. I'm sorry."
Billy nodded slowly. Flash stood and dusted himself off. "Are you coming?"
Billy slowly looked over at him, and saw that the superhero had his hand held out to him. Billy looked back over the city.
"No thanks. I… just need to be alone."
Flash paused for an instant, then withdrew the hand. He nodded silently, and then turned.
"I hope I'll see you at the shelter again."
Billy didn't respond, and a look of sadness crossed the speedster's face. He sped away, and Billy heard his cape flutter in the wind. He didn't know how long he simply sat there on the cliff side, staring out at the moon before he responded.
"Every day."
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(A/N: Not exactly Christmas cheer, but it's a part of the time of year that people like to either deny or ignore, and I always thought that one of the strengths of the animated DC universe (especially JLU) was to deal with things happening in the real world in an indirect way. This was a little more direct, but I hope that that helped you to get the message.
I'd also like to say that this story was influenced by the John Grisham novel, 'The Street Lawyer', which made me all the more aware of the situation covered in this fic.
Also, please don't let the subject matter influence your review. If there was an aspect of this story you found questionable or downright bad, please just say so.
That being said, please review.)