The 10-year-old blacked out on the floor, blood dripping onto the light-colored carpet.
- - -
"Honestly, I didn't think you'd ripped them this bad, kid," a voice pulled Billy from the throws of darkness, guiding him back into the world of the living. His body was aching, a dull buzz in his head that made him want to stay as still as possible.
There was a dull pain in his side and distinct, rhythmic pulling that made him finally open his eyes slowly.
The room he was in was bright- too bright. He shut his eyes against it with a wince, and the light tugging at his side stopped. "Welcome back," the voice said casually before the tugging started back up again. It belonged to a man, by the pitch, but a young one.
"You're lucky I'm good at sewing. This could've resulted in a pretty nasty scar with how loose you managed to get these things," the voice continued. Billy attempted to move his arm up to his head, only to be stopped by a sharp pain in the crook of his elbow.
"I wouldn't if I were you. You lost too much blood and the IV's the only thing keeping you conscious," the man said conversationally as if he knew Billy immediately thought of pulling whatever was in his arm out.
"There," the voice said as the sound of scissors cutting thread echoed through the room. Billy laid his head back down on the pillow. Where was he? Who was this guy? Was this the guy that he'd seen coming out of his vent before he passed out? Was he even still inside the manor?
"You're heartrate's spiking. Try and calm down, kid."
The man came around to his side and the distinct sound of a keyboard could be heard beside him. "W-who..." Billy breathed, opening his eyes the smallest amount in an attempt to get a look at whoever had just saved him from bleeding out in his bedroom.
He wasn't expecting a teenager to be beside him, standing in front of a monitor with fingers flying across the keyboard like he'd seen only Batman do.
He was thin- well, thinner than Jason or Dick, but had lean muscles to him that fit someone doing gymnastics or parkour. His hair was black and he was wearing a dark grey suit- well, minus the suit jacket that is. The teenager, who was probably 16 if Billy had to guess, glanced at him.
"The name's Tim. We met your first day here," he said before turning his attention back towards the screen.
Wait, this was that one guy that had vanished after he met him. Mr. Wayne had said something about him being absorbed in his studies, which explained some of him not being around, but that didn't explain everything that just happened. Was he studying to be a nurse or something? Maybe with Jason being a vigilante, he learned how to stitch people up just in case.
Billy just hoped he wasn't a criminal in disguise.
The 10-year-old winced as he attempted to sit up, and Tim helped him sit with his back against the pillow. "Where...where are we?" he asked, looking around the room. It looked almost exactly like a hospital room, though the bed was much comfier and the room didn't stink of a sterilizer.
"One of the medical rooms in the manor. You know about Jason's activities- we had to have something in place to patch him up if he got too hurt," Tim explained, never looking up from the monitor.
Well, that explained some of the accents that screamed 'Alfred'.
"So..." Tim said, gaining the boy's attention once more as the teenager finally paused in his typing to look Billy in the eyes. "Captain Marvel, huh?"
The heart monitor went into overdrive.
- - -
Billy froze- his chest clenched and the world seemed to slow to a crawl. The heart monitor beside the bed went crazy, but Tim only glanced at it before putting his eyes back on Billy. The kid was in shock- how- how did Tim- this didn't-
He swallowed thickly, letting out a small, shaky breath before Tim cleared his throat. "I'm taking that as a yes, I hope you realize."
NO!
"I- I- n-no! Of course not, I- I'm only 10, Captain Marvel is this big- he's this thunder god and I'm just some kid and-" Tim gave him an unimpressed look, his hands shoved into his pockets. Billy could feel the tears threatening to well in his eyes but he pushed them back.
"Anyone ever tell you you're a horrible liar?" Tim asked, tilting his head slightly. "Kinda surprising considering your background and well..." he trailed off with a look towards the boy. "Your alter ego, but..."
"I said I'm not Captain Marvel! I- I- I don't even- I was just playing a- a prank on Jason and- and I-" he stammered, unable to push back the tears anymore.
"Look, kid, I know you're him. The night you snuck out, I watched you. You scaled down past Dick's room and triggered my motion-detectors. Seeing as how you weren't Damien and had no reason to be climbing down the side of the manor in the middle of the night, I had a drone follow you to make sure you didn't get hurt," Tim said, watching as Billy attempted to wipe his tears away angrily.
"I saw you transform," he made a face at his own words.
"Well, the lightning overloaded my drone's sensors, so I didn't see it see it, but one moment you were standing in the middle of the gardens, lightning struck you, and suddenly Captain Marvel was standing in your place," Tim said, his head tilting slightly as he spoke.
"Unless you can give me a good reason to believe my eyes were lying to me, I'd say that's good enough proof for anyone."
Billy wanted to curl up into a ball and cry- this couldn't be happening. He had gotten careless and look where it got him. "Please- please don' tell Mr. Wayne..." he whimpered, his hands balled into fists and rubbing the tears from his eyes as they spilled down his cheeks. He couldn't deny it, but he could at least beg the teenager not to tell his secret.
"What? Kid, of course I'm not gonna tell him," Tim said with a smirk, crossing his arms over his chest. Billy glancing up at him in confusion, one palm still up and rubbing at his the pink skin around his eyes.
"This is your secret identity, not mine. You wanna tell the old man go right ahead, but I'm not gonna."
Billy sniffled, staring the teenager in the eyes. He wasn't gonna say anything? Maybe he was expecting something in return. "I can' give you anything..." he mumbled, turning his head away from the taller raven.
"Don't want anything," Tim said, leaning against the wall. "You know about Jason, and by the looks of it, you know about Titus, too. Obviously, the latter is cause you're Cap, but...I think there's something big you're missing," he said, getting the boy's attention once more.
"What do you mean?"
Tim brought a hand up and scratched at his neck. "I'm not allowed to say anything. But what I can tell you is that you might wanna pay more attention to your surroundings. The manor is a big place," he said with a smirk before the opening of the door caught both their attention.
"BILLY!"
The boy felt warmth spark in his chest at the familiar chorus of voices, Dick and Jason running into the room with worried expressions etched into their faces. They stood at the end of the bed, Jason looking him over while Dick clutched his chest. Damien and Bruce followed in behind, Damien eyeing him quickly before turning his attention towards the phone in his hand. He leaned against the wall while Bruce came around to the side of the bed.
He lifted the edge of Billy's shirt up slowly, careful to make his movements slow and deliberate. Billy still tensed but didn't move and let him get a look at the stitches Tim had done. His brows furrowed slightly before his expression schooled.
"Thank you, Tim," he said, setting Billy's shirt back down and meeting the 10-year-old's eyes. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"I- I-" Billy swallowed, glancing at Tim before looking at Dick and Jason. "Tim said I pulled my stitches loose..." he mumbled.
"What were you doing, kid?" Jason asked, eyes wide. "I left you on the floor of your bedroom! Did you have some sudden urge to start somersaulting or something?!"
"I can teach you how, if you want," Dick offered, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Cause obviously you didn't do 'em right."
Billy blinked, a small smile appearing on his face. "I uh- no, I... I think I just stretched or something while me and Damien played video games," he said, getting a raised eyebrow from Tim and a knowing smirk from Damien.
"Well, you need to take it easy for the next couple of days, alright? We'll move you to your room and you can stay in bed until Damien's party. That should give you stitches enough time to heal and let you to move freely without ripping them," Bruce said, meeting the boy's eyes.
"You're sure you're okay?" he asked slowly, his voice growing soft.
Billy grinned despite the whiplash the billionaire's expression gave him. "Yeah, I'm alright Mr. Wayne."
The billionaire sighed. "If you say so. Damien, come on, you have homework you need help with, yeah?" he said, glancing towards the soon-to-be 12-year-old. The boy nodded once, glancing towards Billy before following Mr. Wayne out of the room. Jason took the man's place, Dick coming around to his other side.
"Why does it feel like I've just been spending the past few days worrying about you, Bluebird?" Dick asked, tilting his head slightly.
Jason snorted. "Maybe 'cause you're a mother hen," he said before glancing towards Tim. "How'd replacement do with your stitches?" Dick gave him a look, smacking him on the arm before glancing down at Billy.
"They're fine- better than I could do anyway," Billy replied despite the weird looks. Was this what Tim meant by taking a closer look at the things around him?
He looked at the wall where Tim had been only to find him gone and the door to the room closing softly.
"We should still probably get you to your room," Jason said, reaching down and picking the 10-year-old up bridal style. "Mind getting the door, Jackass?" he asked, getting a grin from Billy. Dick rolled his eyes and opened the door for them, following the pair out of the room and down the hall.
"So what do you think of joining me and Dickhead here on the hunt for a birthday present for the little demon brat?" Jason asked as they walked, his boots thudding against the plush carpet as the trio made their way up the stairs. Billy glanced up at him, opening his mouth to speak before Dick beat him to it.
"Don't you think we should leave that to Bruce? He was wanting to take Billy out with him to do exactly that," the tallest raven said, raising a brow at Jason. "Or are you just trying to buy Billy toys?"
Jason smirked, using his back to shove open Billy's bedroom door. "You can't prove nothin', Grayson."
Dick rolled his eyes with a smile, helping the leather-clad man lay Billy down in bed and cover him with blankets. "Seriously though, B did want you to come with him to get Damien a gift. I think he feels bad for being away so often- probably feels bad that you've barely seen him since you got here," Dick explained, pulling tucking the boy in.
"Yeah, he's a real softie when it comes to that," Jason said sarcastically, leaning against a bedpost. Dick gave him a look before turning his attention back towards Billy.
"It'll be fun, trust me. Bruce looks like this big brick wall of scowls and stony silence, but once you get to know him he's a genuinely good person."
The boy nodded in response- it sounded like it could be fun. "Okay, when?"
"Well, we had to move Damien's party back to this weekend, and Bruce'll probably want you in bed for as long as he can keep you here, so bet on Friday," Dick replied, standing up. "Sleep tight, Bluebird."
"Don't let the Batman bite," Jason winked, getting a smack from Dick and turning off the light. He shut Billy's bedroom door and the boy let out a small breath.
The bedroom was dark, but under the thick covers of his bed, Billy felt warm. His chest felt tight and that warmth bloomed inside it- was this what having siblings felt like?
The worrying over you, the name-calling, the secretive planning against the rest of the family- it was nice. It made him feel like a part of him that he hadn't even realized was missing was finally there.
He felt like he was a part of a family again.
How had he forgotten this feeling?
- - -