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“Maybe we could hang out? You know, go see a movie? Just you and me.”
Robin inched away from Dove after she asked that, uncomfortably glancing around. Wonder Girl smirked up at him from the couch but made no move to extract him from the situation or throw him a bone. In a similar amused state, Kid Flash shot him a wink and Aqualad chuckled quietly. Speedy simply rolled his eyes while Miss Martian gave him an excited thumbs up. And finally, Hawk’s jaw clenched as he glared.
It wasn’t like Robin didn’t like Dove’s company. She was kind and easy to talk to. She got along with everyone on the Teen Titans and had sort of fashioned herself as the unofficial mother of the group who worked to settle disputes between the members. And she listened to everyone’s troubles without judgment.
But there was one problem. Robin didn’t like her. Like like. He very much saw her as a sister, but she apparently didn’t view him as a brother.
All of a sudden, Dove’s behavior over the past few weeks made loads of sense. Her checking in on him constantly, always asking his opinion on trivial matters, hand delivering mission reports to him instead of uploading them directly to the computer as everyone else did. . . She even made him food. Him specifically, not the team.
Oh, god, she had been flirting with him!
Robin, try as he might, couldn’t fight the blush creeping up his cheeks as he realized.
“Oh, uh. . .” he stammered nervously.
“Or if you don’t like movies, we could go hiking,” Dove offered, hope filling her voice. “Or the teen center downtown has a weekly trivia night.”
Even if Robin had been interested, everything she was suggesting wasn’t suitable for wearing their suits and masks which he found a bit annoying.
“Sorry, Dove,” Robin quickly interjected before she could continue suggesting date ideas. “I’m not really looking for a relationship right now.”
He tried to keep his refusal neutral, not only to spare her feelings but to also hide the fact that he was already in a relationship. The last thing he needed was for his teammates to start asking questions about his relationship status. Or worse. They could refuse to believe him and only thought he made up a fake relationship to avoid Dove, which wasn’t the case.
She was a great girl. And if he hadn’t been in a relationship, he might have considered saying yes. Aside from whatever she had going on with Hawk, it probably would have been fun even if nothing had come from it.
But the fact remained that Robin was a happily taken man. And his teammates couldn’t know.
A look of dejection spread across Dove’s expression as she deflated. “Oh, okay. Just, uh, forget I said anything, yeah?” She then walked off, and he made no move to follow or comfort her, even though he did feel bad.
He could feel the stares from their teammates, but he didn’t turn to look at them as he left the room in the opposite direction Dove had. A few moments later, he heard a few sets of footsteps following him, and they followed him all the way to the gym before saying anything.
“What was that about?” Wonder Girl asked.
Robin finally turned to look at his teammates. His friends. Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, and Aqualad were all looking at him curiously.
“What?” Robin shrugged, heading to grab training weapons. “I don’t wanna go on a date with Dove. Is something wrong with that?”
“Not wrong per se,” Aqualad said. “But it does beg the question of ‘why?’”
“She’s hot,” Kid Flash blurted. “Why aren’t you jumping at the chance? Hawk’s been crushing on her for ages, even before they joined the team, and you’re the one she wants to date.”
“So?” Robin asked. “I don’t think of Dove in a romantic sense. I can’t force that, and I’d be doing her a disservice if I pretended otherwise.”
Wonder Girl’s gaze traced him up and down before she finally settled on, “You’re still hung up on Lady Marvel, aren’t you?”
Aqualad groaned and shook his head, knowing that Wonder Girl must have been right about it. “You’re still on that? Really, Robin?”
Robin grimaced, not liking Wonder Girl or Aqualad’s annoyed tones. Not that it was any of their business, but it wasn’t like Robin had even shown his crush on Lady Marvel in months. He talked about her far less than he used to. And why did it even matter anyway? So what if he did still like the superheroine? It wasn’t hurting anyone when the crush was active, even if it wasn’t a crush anymore.
“Lady Marvel is gorgeous, no one can deny that,” Kid Flash said, “but she’s also way older than we are. Nothing’s going to come out of a crush like that.”
“Robin, maybe you should try giving Dove a chance and move on from the crush on Lady Marvel,” Aqualad recommended.
Oh, how Robin wished he could throw it all in their faces. What he wouldn’t give to have them eat their words. But he also understood where they were coming from. They didn’t know what he knew. They didn’t know that Lady Marvel was just a magical façade and that the person behind the beautiful superheroine was an amazing sixteen-year-old girl that Robin had been dating for six months. He even dared to think he might love her.
It’s not a crush, he thought bitterly, but he kept it to himself.
It wasn’t Robin’s secret to tell, and he’d guard it with the same ferocity that he guarded Batman’s identity.
Eight-month anniversaries weren’t really something most couples celebrated since it wasn’t one of the major milestones. It wasn’t one month, six months, one year, five years, etc. Eight months was just a little in-between stage.
But Dick still wanted to do something special.
It was his first real relationship, so sue him. It wasn’t just some quick dates with a few girls from Gotham Academy that he had accepted dates with to test the waters or get over the crush he’d had on Lady Marvel. And that crush was no longer a crush. It had moved beyond that.
He was dating Lady Marvel. Well, technically. Dick Grayson was dating Mary Batson, not Robin dating Lady Marvel, Dick dating Lady Marvel, or Robin dating Mary. It was just Dick and Mary.
And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
It had been difficult at first to not talk about their superhero lives when hanging out or going on dates in the early days of their relationship, but that was understandable given that was how they met. But as time passed and they spent more and more time together or texting each other, they started talking about other aspects of their lives. Normal aspects, like school, hobbies, their families, their goals in life—things like that.
And Dick found himself falling more and more for her as a regular person than he ever had with his crush on her super-powered self, especially since she possessed much of the same personality qualities as a de-powered human.
So, for their eight-month anniversary, since she’d off-handedly mentioned wanting to try one, they went to an escape room.
It was simple compared to what Dick had grown used to solving working with Batman for so many years, but the excited look of accomplishment and pride on Mary’s face when she figured out a puzzle was well worth it. They also had a good chuckle about that month’s escape room theme being superhero related.
After completing the escape room in just over forty minutes, Dick led the way to a nearby ice cream shop because what day couldn’t be improved by ice cream?
But as they chatted and as they ate their bowls of sugary goodness, it was easy for Dick’s trained eyes to land on the paparazzi.
He sighed and tried not to let it affect his mood. Not today. As long as they didn’t bother him and Mary, it was something he could ignore. Being with her was often enough for him to forget all about the Richard Wayne bullshit he had to deal with, and he wanted to focus all his energy on Mary.
But a few days later, the paparazzi spying on his date came back to bite him in the ass.
Suited up as Robin and back in New York at Titans Tower, he and Kid Flash walked into the common area to find Wonder Girl, Miss Martian, and Dove all chatting loudly about an article and photos in the magazine Miss Martian had in her hands. Or rather, they were gushing.
“They’re so cute!” Miss Martian exclaimed.
“But who’s she?” Wonder Girl asked. “Richard Wayne’s social circle is all elite Gothamites, but the article doesn’t say anything about who his date is.”
Robin couldn’t fight the tension in his shoulders as Kid Flash zoomed over to them, looking at the magazine over Miss Martian’s shoulder.
“What’d I miss?” Kid Flash asked, leaning on the back of the couch.
“Just Richard Wayne being completely gorgeous and taking a beautiful girl on an ice cream date,” Dove said with a wistful sigh.
“Did everyone just forget that his name isn’t Wayne or what?” Robin asked, walking over to them at a normal pace.
Miss Martian, Dove, and Kid Flash all turned to give him the stink eye while Wonder Girl laughed. But Kid Flash? Really? Why the hell was he butthurt about Richard Wayne’s name? The girls he understood since Miss Martian and Dove read gossip and celebrity magazines often, and Wonder Girl liked to tease them about it or make fun of the articles, but since when did Kid Flash keep up with any of it? Had Robin missed something?
“He’s been going by Richard Wayne ever since the adoption,” Miss Martian corrected. “He likely had it officially changed.”
He didn’t. It was easier to let people call him Richard Wayne publicly, but his name was still Grayson, and despite the urge, Robin didn’t let her know that. Well, he could and pass it off as something he read on a case or in files, but it still seemed like something he as Robin shouldn’t be interested in considering he never expressed interest in celebrity gossip before. Better to let it pass and not get involved in order to avoid suspicion.
“Shouldn’t you know this as a Gothamite?” Dove asked.
Robin shrugged nonchalantly. “He’s not exactly making the news like his dad does. No reason to pay attention to it.”
“But he’s so cute,” Miss Martian said. “And he seems charming. Whoever this girl is, she is really lucky.”
He’d argue he’s the lucky one. “Sure, whatever you say.”
Meanwhile, Kid Flash was still staring at the magazine. “You think he’d ever consider dating guys?” he asked without thinking. The others all turned to face him with varying degrees of surprise written on each of their faces as he realized what he asked and flushed bright red. “It was just a question. Gotta go!”
Kid Flash zipped off before anyone could respond.
Miss Martian tilted her head, staring in the direction Kid Flash had run. “Did KF just accidentally come out as bisexual?”
Wonder Girl snorted, smirking to herself. “Bi for Richard Wayne. Can’t blame him. The guy is gorgeous.”
Robin quickly walked away before they could see his blush.
It wasn’t often that League members invited Captain Marvel to do something with them.
It wasn’t because they didn’t like or get along with him. And it wasn’t because they were always doing something that required knowing secret identities.
It was because he often said no. For good reason.
On the one hand, when they had asked him to join them for outings that would have required a secret identity, he had to say no, right? He wasn’t going around telling anyone his and his family’s identities, aside from Batman and Robin. And it wasn’t like he was the only one on the team that still kept their identity to themselves, like Batman and Martian Manhunter. But on the other hand, when asked to join them for things that didn’t require letting them in on his big secret, they were often adult things that he didn’t feel like doing.
No, Billy didn’t want to go to a bar and drink. No, Billy didn’t want to play an ‘inappropriate’ game with a bunch of adults. No, Billy didn’t want to spend time with people twice his age outside of the superhero business.
He was a teenager. He wanted to do teenage things. He wanted to hang out with friends his age or with his siblings.
But obviously, he couldn’t tell any of the League that, so he came up with excuses, with the most common ones centered around Lady Marvel.
“Oh, Lady Marvel made dinner plans, but thank you.”
“Lady Marvel and I were planning on going to the movies, but maybe some other time.”
“Nah, I’m going to the arcade with Lady Marvel. Haven’t gone in a while, so I’m looking forward to it.”
“I’m making dinner with Lady Marvel. Just spaghetti, I think, but it’ll be delicious.”
“Thanks, guys, but Lady Marvel needs help with something.”
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t such a good thing for her to be his constant excuse for avoiding outings with the team. Especially when they took it the wrong way.
“Karaoke in Central City,” Barry said after the latest Justice League meeting wrapped up. “What do you say, Cap? Private room, so no need for disguises.”
“And you can bring your girlfriend,” Hal added.
Billy looked at Hal, startled. “Uh, what?”
Hal simply looked back at him with an odd expression. “Lady Marvel?” Hal said. “Your girlfriend?”
Billy couldn’t hide the visceral disgusted reaction that coursed through him, the loud gagging noise and yelp echoing throughout the spacious room. Other League members turned to him alarmed, but he ignored them as he focused on the utterly blasphemous insinuation of incest between him and Mary.
“Oh, geez, man,” Hal muttered, shaking his head. “What gives? All I did was call her your girlfriend.”
From the corner of his eye, Billy spotted Batman raising a hand to his forehead. Billy could only imagine what Bruce was thinking behind the cowl. Probably something along the lines of Hal being a moron, which Billy had to agree with because the idea of him and Mary being romantically involved was not only fucking disgusting, but it was also terrifying.
He hoped Freddy shot him with a bolt of lightning if he ever ended up dating someone like his sister. He shuddered at the idea.
“That’s gross,” Billy said with an exaggerated grimace. “Oh, gods, no. Please don’t ever say that again.”
“So, you aren’t dating?” Oliver asked for clarity’s sake.
“No!” Billy quickly exclaimed. “She’s my sister!”
The group let out a near-collective, “Oh,” at Billy’s reveal.
“I suppose that makes sense,” Aquaman said, rubbing his chin. “I always thought you were married, honestly, but siblings sounds about right, too.”
A few moments of silence passed as they all digested the new bit of information.
Then, quietly, Barry carefully asked, “So is that a no to karaoke?”
Billy sighed. He supposed he should start accepting their invitations occasionally as long as the activity didn’t require disguises or secret identities. He could just avoid any potential drinking.
“Yeah, okay. What time?”
Booster Gold had been making the news lately as an up-and-coming superhero.
The media was eating him up. They loved his smile and his golden hair and his boisterous attitude and his charm and his muscles and absolutely everything else about him.
A few of the League members simply saw him as a showboat, but they appreciated that he was still helping people. Some of the team hadn’t even heard about him beyond the first time the media reported about him was upon him saving the president of the USA from a shape-shifting assassin. Hal in particular found amusement in the way Gold succeeded in making Batman grind his teeth in frustration. Oliver noted Gold knew how to play a crowd about as well as he did.
But Captain Marvel? Oh, Captain Marvel hated the guy for one very simple reason:
“I don’t bite. . . much.”
Captain Marvel snapped his head in the direction of Booster Gold upon hearing those words. And it wasn’t just the arrogant hero flirting with a random woman. That he could easily forget about. That wasn’t what drew his attention. Plenty of heroes liked to flirt to play up appearances, so it wasn’t anything new. And it wasn’t even necessarily the line itself, as cringy as that was.
Oh, no, no, no. It wasn’t any of that.
Booster Gold was flirting with Lady Marvel.
He was flirting with Captain Marvel’s sister.
As if choosing to flirt after aiding in a natural disaster wasn’t tacky enough, no, Booster Gold wanted to be suicidal.
Booster Gold smiled down at Lady Marvel, grin as wide and charming as always while Lady Marvel leaned away in alarm. Both Marvel’s looked a few seconds away from hitting him with the Strength of Hercules, but before either of them was able to grasp their bearings long enough to even think about saying something much less doing something, someone unlikely stepped in.
Batman stared the man down as he stepped up to Lady Marvel’s side. Despite being three inches shorter, Batman was leagues more intimidating than the bright gold and blue hero. His glare through the cowl alone was enough to make Booster Gold flinch.
Yet Batman remained gentle when interacting with Lady Marvel, his gloved hand a reassuring presence on her upper back.
“Walk away,” Batman ordered in his low, growly voice.
Booster Gold quickly nodded and hurried to leave Batman’s presence. Captain Marvel hurried over to Lady Marvel’s other side as Batman’s hand moved to her arm as he spoke to her quietly, in a tone very few of the other heroes present could hear. But Superman and Wonder Woman remained respectful, not listening in, and if they heard anything he said, it wasn’t theirs to share.
All seemed well after that. Lady Marvel was alright, albeit annoyed with everyone who brought it up since the mildly creepy, overt flirting attempts by others were something she had grown used to over time, and Captain Marvel had calmed, moving on quickly from the incident even if he still didn’t really like Booster Gold for his flirting attempt.
Batman, however, showed a new form of discontent, specifically toward Booster Gold. And it was present whenever the two crossed paths after that initial incident with Batman talking down to him, treating him like a child, sending him to do menial tasks, and sometimes even outright ignoring him.
Even Hal hadn’t reached that level with the Bat, and he’d gotten on Batman’s nerves plenty of times in the past to where he probably held the record for how often someone could piss him off. With Booster Gold not in the League, he could be as surly as he wanted without Superman and Wonder Woman feeling the need to step in, which wasn’t the case for whenever Batman and Hal got on each other’s cases.
Still, Batman’s new level of aggravation had a few members of the Justice League talking. Even more so after watching his most recent softness toward Lady Marvel. He wasn’t soft with anyone, so why in the holy hell was he so gentle with Lady Marvel? And did his aggravation regarding Booster Gold have anything to do with it?
“You don’t think. . .” Oliver trailed off, watching Batman closely.
“No, no,” Hal said. Then he tilted his head, thinking. “Yeah, maybe. I can see it.”
“It’d make sense,” Oliver agreed.
Never once in all of Batman’s years on the Justice League had he ever inserted himself so forcefully into a situation on the behalf of another hero, even for his team members whom he openly showed care and concern for, like Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Flash. And while he had a few snide comments toward people who made lewd comments, he was never overt about any of his protective qualities.
At least, not to the degree he’d shown with Lady Marvel.
So that just got them thinking. . . what if Robin hadn’t been the only Gothamite with a crush on Fawcett’s favorite heroine?
“What’d make sense?” Barry asked upon hearing Oliver and Hal’s ponderings.
“Have Lady Marvel and Batman grown a bit close over the last few months?” Oliver asked in return instead of outright saying what he and Hal had been thinking.
Barry’s lips pursed, eyes flicking around as he looked back.
Yeah, he supposed. Ever since Lady Marvel had helped with a case in Gotham and shortly thereafter Batman and Captain Marvel had had that talk in the Watchtower, it seemed they had settled whatever differences they had. Afterward, Captain Marvel and Lady Marvel, along with occasionally the rest of the Marvel Family, had begun making appearances in Gotham, or even just Lady Marvel on her own.
“You think they’re dating?” Barry asked carefully, not quite sure if that was the conclusion he was supposed to draw. But it seemed like the only one that made sense with the way Oliver and Hal were talking.
And based on the way Oliver and Hal’s expressions shifted into a knowing look, Barry knew he’d hit it on the nose.
“Spooky’s smashing his meta-rule,” Hal said with a smug grin.
“And smashing his meta,” Oliver added, also smug.
“Gross,” Barry muttered.
A month passed before the Teen Titans learned about the latest gossip making its way through the Justice League.
Credit to Flash, he had managed to keep it from Kid Flash for longer than anyone would’ve thought possible, but eventually, as all gossip does, it trickled down to their sidekicks. And after asking each of their mentors for as much information as they could and then comparing notes, said sidekicks needed to know more.
Well, Kid Flash and Aqualad did. Speedy didn’t care much about it. The entire thing sounded like a good laugh, but did he really care enough to find out more? Nah.
One day, when at Titans Tower in between missions, as Robin played chess on the floor with Wonder Girl, Aqualad and Kid Flash made encouraging eyes at each other while nodding toward Robin, both trying to get the other to breech the subject that had been plaguing their minds over the last few days.
Hawk smacked Kid Flash on the back of the head, causing the speedster to turn around with an annoyed glare, but since the two had been keeping quiet with their prodding, Hawk stayed quiet too, simply raising an eyebrow at them while Speedy rolled his eyes from the chair.
Finally, Aqualad sighed, readying himself for the conversation. “Robin, when’ll you be in Gotham next?” he asked.
“Probably next week,” Robin answered, not looking up from the chessboard. “For a few days, then I’ll be back.”
“What do you do while there?” Aqualad then asked. “You and Dad-Bat go out to family dinners?”
“That would require him to stop working for more than five minutes.”
Aqualad frowned, not quite sure what to make of that, but Kid Flash then stepped in wondering, “Wait, so he doesn’t have any free time?”
Robin looked up at them, an amused smirk spreading. “Batman and free time aren’t exactly compatible. Not unless you count when he’s being stitched up.”
“But what about, you know, uh, friends?” Kid Flash asked, stammering and unsure.
“Friends?” Robin repeated, slowly frowning.
Kid Flash shared a glance with Aqualad, not sure why Robin was looking at them like that. “Uh, yeah? Friends,” Kid Flash said. “Batman has friends, right?” When Robin didn’t say anything, which silently answered the question, Kid Flash continued. “What about dating? There’s gotta be someone, right? Like a pretty girl? Is he, uh, dating anyone?”
Robin gave Kid Flash a long, hard look. “Why are you asking? Why are you even curious?” Kid Flash let out a filler noise before looking at Aqualad who then froze as Robin’s eyes turned to him. So Robin tried again. “Why are you asking about Batman’s personal life?”
Then the most unlikely of voices stepped in.
“Most of the League thinks Batman is dating Lady Marvel,” Speedy said, looking up from his book. “Or at least likes her.”
“What?” Robin spat out. If anyone had been worried about Robin’s reaction before, that was why. He didn’t just look annoyed or mad. He looked angry. He looked appalled.
Speedy didn’t react, however, and shrugged. “They didn’t want to just say that because it involves Lady Marvel.” He turned back to his book, turning the page.
Meanwhile, Dove and Miss Martian had been watching the exchange curiously from the table on the opposite side of the couch. At first, they had been amused at Aqualad and Kid Flash making faces, but now, they were growing a little concerned.
“Why would that matter?” Dove asked carefully.
Wonder Girl chuckled. “Robin’s been making heart eyes at Lady Marvel for years.”
“Hah, that’d be a kick to the balls!” Hawk exclaimed, more amused at the interaction, particularly Robin’s anger, than he should’ve been. “—your mentor and your crush together.”
“So, are they?” Kid Flash asked Robin.
“What, no!” Robin answered quickly. “Of course not!”
Turning to Kid Flash next to him, Aqualad brought up, “But if Batman knows about his crush, then he would keep it a secret.”
Kid Flash nodded in agreement. “Good point.”
“They’re not together!” Robin shut down, gripping a chess piece tight in his fist. His continued utter denial of the matter didn’t help Aqualad and Kid Flash’s thought process. “Why does the League think that?”
“Because of Batman shutting down Booster Gold’s flirting with her the same way Captain Marvel would step in because of you,” Aqualad said.
Robin shook his head and then pinched the bridge of his nose. He remembered hearing about that incident from both Batman and Lady Marvel, but why would anyone make that far of a leap? “By that logic, why doesn’t the League think Captain Marvel and Lady Marvel are dating?” Robin asked.
“Oh, they did,” Speedy said, chuckling as he turned another page. “Greenie said they asked, but the Captain said they’re siblings, so that got shut down real quick.”
“Anyone think he lied?” Hawk wondered, shrugging. “Just seems like an easier answer than someone willingly dating Batman.”
“Arthur said Captain Marvel was quite disgusted when they brought that up, so they believe him,” Aqualad said. “And there’s more than that anyway. Apparently, Batman’s really nice to her and soft around her, which sounds. . .” He trailed off, unsure of how to phrase it.
“Unlike Batman?” Hawk offered.
Aqualad motioned in agreement. “Yeah.”
“And he no longer dislikes Captain Marvel,” Kid Flash added. “Ever since Lady Marvel helped with a case in Gotham, Flash said they seem like they’ve gotten close. And come on, Rob, you know sightings of Lady Marvel have risen in Gotham. And the Captain, too, but mostly her. You had to have seen her.”
Robin had had enough.
He stood from the floor, and without looking at any of his teammates, he walked out of the room, ignoring a few of them calling for him.
As Robin entered his room, locking the door behind him, he took off his mask. Setting it down on the bathroom sink, he looked into the mirror, seeing nothing more than a tired version of Dick Grayson. He recognized that storming out didn’t help his case, but what else was he supposed to do? Sit there and listen to his teammates, his friends, ponder about his girlfriend and his dad dating? He couldn’t tell them the truth. And what lies would have been sufficient enough to explain away Batman and Lady Marvel’s most recent behaviors?
Yeah, Lady Marvel had been visiting Gotham occasionally. But it wasn’t to see Batman, it was to see Robin. It was to see Dick. But he couldn’t tell his team that. Billy and Bruce had told the story about why Bruce had decided to let Billy and his siblings in on the knowledge of their identities, and part of it was Billy, as Captain Marvel, accidentally making it sound like Lady Marvel was a pedophile. Dick didn’t want to accidentally do that.
Then there was Batman’s protectiveness. His overt protective qualities manifested around kids. Whether they were his kids or otherwise didn’t matter. He felt the desire to protect them from harm. That meant stepping in when Mary, a sixteen-year-old girl, was on the opposite end of a flirting attempt by a man in his late twenties to early thirties. While Lady Marvel looked to be in her mid-to-late twenties, Mary most certainly wasn’t. So, Batman stepped in to save her from the flirting.
Dick would call it harassment, he’d seen it often enough, and she’d been on the receiving end of it plenty of times, but since Mary refused to call it that, he didn’t say it out loud. Maybe it was her way of trying to ignore it and move on, but regardless, Batman had a reason for stepping in, and it wasn’t something as ridiculous as Batman dating Lady Marvel.
He just wanted to make sure she was okay. What was wrong with that? How did that warrant a whole rabbit hole thought process of thinking Batman and Lady Marvel were together?
And even then, Batman had feelings for someone already. A very male someone. Superman, of course, and those feelings were part of the reasons his brief relationship with Talia Al-Ghul didn’t last very long since, rightfully so, she didn’t want to be someone’s second choice. But for obvious reasons, Robin couldn’t just tell anyone any of that.
Sometimes. . . sometimes he wished they could just be normal. None of the secret identity bullshit. Just a teenager with his girlfriend and his dad. But at the same time, that would mean they would have never met.
The next time Dick saw Mary in person, they went to Fawcett City’s main park, leaning back against a tree in a secluded area. She laid with her head on his stomach, their arms around each other. For a while, it was just the two of them, content and comfortable in the silence, but after almost nine months together, Mary had grown used to picking out when Dick wasn’t feeling a hundred percent.
So she asked, and she received.
Dick vented to her about the League and the Teen Titans: how they thought she and Bruce were together, how they treated him like he was some besotted child that was in denial, how more and more he avoided talking to them about anything other than missions, and how he wished the two of them could spend more time together without having to deal with any of the nonsense from either set of lives.
“I can tell them,” Mary said quietly.
“What?” he blurted, meeting her eyes. Dick rubbed her arm. “No, no, no. I’d never ask you to do that. I was just venting. I’m sorry.”
Mary allowed a soft smile and sat up, not leaving his embrace but getting a better angle to talk to him. “I know,” she assured, trailing her hand from his stomach to his hand, lacing their fingers together. “I was just. . . we’ve been thinking about it for the last few months. Telling the League. Even if it means Billy might be kicked out.” She paused, watching the way his brilliant blue eyes widened in surprise. She shrugged. “He doesn’t feel right lying to them, no matter how many times Bruce says he doesn’t need to feel bad about it. But if we’re honest with it, they might be more understanding of our school schedules.” She chuckled lightly. “Or stop inviting him out to bars.”
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” A worried look spread as he gripped her hand tighter. “It’s not because of anything I’ve said? I don’t want it to be because I accidentally pressured you—”
Mary set a hand on his cheek. “No, no. I promise it’s not because of anything like that.” Her thumb caressed his cheekbone. “We want to for ourselves. We want to trust the League completely. And if the League knows, then their partners will, too. And I know Kid Flash isn’t exactly the best at keeping secrets amongst other heroes, so we’re okay with the Teen Titans knowing, too.”
She then wore a cheeky grin. “And maybe that would convince Bruce that he should trust them with your identities, too.”
“Oh, I see,” Dick said, incredibly amused. “The Marvels conniving to convince B to stop being so uptight.” They both laughed. “Alright. I can get behind that. I wonder if we could convince him to go all the way and tell Supes about how he feels, too.”
The two quietly continued laughing together, snuggling back against the tree once more, happier than they were before.
A few days later, Captain Marvel attended a Justice League meeting with Lady Marvel by his side.
Considering it was a general League meeting, it meant that she wasn’t supposed to be present, so the other members of the League were confused as to why he walked in with his sister by his side. Then, they grew even more confused when Batman showed up with Robin only a few moments later.
“Captain, Batman,” Diana greeted skeptically, her eyes flicking over the two pairs. “To what do we owe the pleasure of the company of your partners?”
“Moral support,” Robin said, grinning and shooting two thumbs up at Captain Marvel and Lady Marvel, who both stood in obvious discomfort.
Captain Marvel took a careful breath before saying, “We want to tell you our identities.” He motioned to himself and Lady Marvel.
The League members made various noises of surprise.
“Oh, what brought this on?” Superman asked, eyebrows raising.
“Is Spooky back to hating you?” Hal asked, resting his chin in his hand. “Or does he know your identity and is holding it over you?”
“I’m doing no such thing,” Batman growled, gritting his teeth. “I tried to convince them not to tell you.”
“But we want to,” Lady Marvel said. “We think it’s time to trust you with our real identities. All of the Marvels have agreed.”
“It’s a long time coming, yeah,” Captain Marvel continued. “But we were worried about your reactions.”
“Reactions?” Arthur repeated, confused. “What do you mean by our reactions? You already don’t wear masks.”
"Technically we do, sort of. Except instead of hiding our faces, it hides our age." Captain Marvel hesitated for a beat then dropped, “We’re actually sixteen.”
The room turned dead silent. The League stared at the two Marvels, half waiting for them to say it was a joke and half frozen in shock. Superman and Wonder Woman noticed how Batman and Robin were decidedly unfazed by the information.
Then Captain Marvel continued. “My name is Billy Batson, and this is my twin sister Mary.” He gestured to Lady Marvel. “When I was nine, I was given powers by a wizard, and with said powers, I was able to switch back and forth between this adult form and myself and started fighting crime as a superhero. Then I shared my powers with Mary and our foster siblings.”
“The rest of the Marvel Family,” Superman realized. “All kids, too?”
“Yes,” Billy said, a worried lilt in his tone. “They’re younger. Mary and I are the oldest. And I-I understand if you don’t want a sixteen-year-old on the Justice League, but I was given these powers for a reason, and I’m going to continue being a superhero, a symbol, with or without the team. As will Mary and the others.”
A few tense moments of silence passed again, until. . .
“You should have told us,” Diana said, face impassive.
“Might I remind the League that secret identities are not required to be revealed as part of membership,” Batman said sternly.
“It’s not about secret identities,” Hawkwoman cut in. “He’s a child, and we should have been told. That is vital information to withhold. What if something had happened? We would have been responsible for a child getting hurt. . . or worse.”
“We’re not always kids,” Mary said, narrowing her eyes while folding her arms over her chest. “When we’re in these forms, we’re faster, stronger, smarter—we’re invulnerable. We’re practically immortal.”
“Even like this, you’re still children,” Hawkman said, gentler than his wife but firm, nonetheless. “Just because you look like adults, doesn’t mean you are.”
Barry’s head was in his hands. “I’ve been inviting a child out to bars,” he groaned.
“They do possess the Wisdom of Solomon,” Red Tornado said.
“Wisdom does not equal maturity,” Arthur countered. “They are still children. They are not grown, nor do they have life experience. They cannot even vote.”
“Perhaps we should discuss this without them present,” Dinah said gently, glancing up at Billy.
“No,” Batman interjected. “Captain Marvel is a member of the Justice League. He is entitled to be present for every meeting until or unless he is voted out.”
“But he joined under false pretenses,” Hawkwoman argued.
Robin scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “What was false about it?” he asked. “It’s not like anyone ever asked his age. Because, oh, that’s right, secret identities aren’t required to be revealed for membership.”
“I don’t think you or Batman have a leg to stand on when it comes to children fighting crime,” Wonder Woman said. “Considering Batman indoctrinated you at the ripe old age of nine.”
“He didn’t indoctrinate me into anything,” Robin argued, voice rising in frustration. “I was the one running away every night to bring justice to my family. He only gave me the tools I needed to stay safe. And we’re standing by the Marvels.”
Superman nodded at the young vigilante. “Robin is right. As is Lady Marvel. Nothing was asked regarding secret identities upon voting Captain Marvel in, and that includes age. It was never required for him to reveal it. And with their ability to transform between adult and child forms, we never would have figured it out for ourselves since they are essentially adults like this. Arguably, they are the safest out of everyone here, aside from myself. The only other League members with any degree of invulnerability are Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Green Lantern, and even so, it doesn’t come close to the degree Captain Marvel has.”
“So that means we shouldn’t be worried about endangering his life?” Hawkwoman said. “Their lives? They can make those decisions for themselves at eighteen. Until then, child endangerment is still child endangerment.”
“That isn’t what I said,” Superman replied, eyebrow twitching. “If anything, we would be endangering them more if we kick Captain Marvel off the League. As long as Captain Marvel is on the team, he has backup. He has someone looking out for him and his siblings. With us, they have support.”
“With us, a sixteen-year-old child is running headfirst into the most dangerous threats the world has ever seen,” Wonder Woman said. “Threats that could get him killed. Every other member on the team is an adult and can make those decisions.”
“Many of you seem to have reached a consensus that eighteen years is the minimum suitable age for joining the League,” Martian Manhunter said. “But why is biological age a deciding factor? Not every race or culture has a consensus on the age of maturity. Miss Martian is forty-eight years of age and is considered a biological adolescent by Martian standards but not by Earth standards.”
“On Earth alone, some countries consider fifteen years of age to be suitable as the age of majority, and others at sixteen,” Red Tornado added, in agreement with Martian Manhunter’s account. “To join any branch of military in the United States, one must be seventeen years of age. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, one need only be sixteen. Age is not indicative of maturity.”
“But we are an organization based in the United States,” Dinah pointed out. “Would that not mean we should be beholden to U.S. standards?”
As the Justice League’s debate continued, Bruce grew more and more frustrated with them. There Billy and Mary stood, opening themselves up to show their trust in the League, to people they had called friends for many years, but half the League was stomping on the trust as if it were nothing. The Marvel Family put their lives on the line to help people, and the League was hung up on something as trivial as an age discrepancy.
He'd finally had enough.
“This shouldn’t even be a debate.”
Batman’s voice boomed throughout the room, drawing the attention of everyone there without raising his voice. Whether it was his general demeanor or the biting tone of his words, he held the steady gazes of the room.
“This is ridiculous,” he said as they all looked at him. “And pointless. We as a team unanimously voted in Captain Marvel, willingly knowing nothing about his identity, just like every other member here when first joining. We never asked nor was it required. An age limit on membership has never even been set in place. If that is the discussion, an implementation of an age limit, fine, but that will not renege a previous decision of membership. There was no betrayal or dishonesty, nor is his morality or capability called into question.
“Instead, Billy and Mary came of their own free will to show their trust in everyone here, and you are all spitting in their faces. They are placing the safety of themselves and their family at risk by telling you, and none of you seem to care. And whether Billy continues to be on the team or not, he and his family deserve the respect of heroes.”
Batman shook his head. “It goes without saying I put my complete faith in three sixteen-year-olds over a group of adults. This is not the League I helped found. And this is not the League I want to be a part of.”
He motioned for Billy, Mary, and Dick to follow, and they did without question, all looking at him with complete gratitude and love. Mary, still in her adult form, felt strange openly wrapping her arm around Dick’s shorter shoulders, but he readily set his own arm around her waist as they walked. Billy linked his arm with Mary’s other arm. And Bruce ruffled Dick’s hair.
The last thing the Justice League heard before the four left, was Batman asking, “How do you think Victor and Rosa would react to an all-expenses paid trip to Gotham for a week?”
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