What If...?

by WingsOfTheDamned

Summary:

What if Captain Marvel had appeared during the collapse of the multiverse in The Flash?

Notes:

Inspired by Superman Returns, Loki (TV series) and The Flash (movie)🦸

Chapter 1

The League is in the middle of a meeting, Captain Marvel, as always, was spacing out, an habit he’s had since he first joined the Justice League four years ago, an habit that somehow, didn't prevent him from reciting word for word whatever was being discussed if asked about it, something that never failed to drive Batman up the walls.

Point is, he was spacing out, no one ever knew what even went through his head, but his gaze was completely far away, as if he were looking at something no one could ever possibly guess or see.

He spent entire meetings like that, to get his attention, someone would need to shout at him or touch him, his expression was always blank, but today, it wasn't, he had already been distracted from the moment he arrived, the longer the meeting carried on, the more his brow furrowed as he watched… whatever was it that he watched, a look of pure concentration on his face.

The League tried to not mind it, but it was hard to not glance at him from time to time when he looked quite… alert, as if waiting for something to go inevitably wrong and fuck God knows what up.

And then, out of nowhere, it happened.

“Damn it!”

Captain Marvel stood up abruptly in high alarm, looking beyond alert, and before anyone could so much as process the fact that he just swore, Marvel was disappearing right through a portal without a single warning.

Leaving a stunned League behind, staring at the empty seat, because since when could he create portals? But that wasn't even the weirdest thing that happened.

No.

Things got even weirder when a crack appeared on the sky, a gap sizzling an angry gold, and right on the other side of the crack a glowing green planet was nearing at an alarming speed. The gap couldn't be entered nor was it coming from space or anything, it was as if it was from a completely different reality or something. Other glowing planets could be seen colliding against each other behind the incoming green one.

But the planet never collided.

It halted, began retreating, and Captain Marvel appeared right on the other side of the crack. With eyes glowing and an expression beyond thunderous. And the gap began sealing itself shut. Or more like it looked like he was sealing it shut. Several multicolored wire-like things fussed to several parts of his body. Some wires looking cracked or split apart.

He hadn't answered to his comm, and the crack was sealed long before Superman, Green Lantern or anyone for that matter could get to him.

And that's the last time the League sees him.

Because he goes completely silent. It's not until a few days later that Dr. Fate appears to give them news on what had happened to Captain Marvel and what had even been that crack in the sky. No one knows how, who or why, but apparently, someone fucked up with time so bad it almost caused the biggest incursion ever recorded in history.

Zatanna, Constantine and Dr. Fate had explained, that an incursion happened when someone interacted far too heavily with a universe other than their own, usually, this led to the destruction of both universes.

Not this time, whoever messed up, they did it using time, something highly volatile and dangerous to mess with to such scale, this had caused a colossal chain reaction throughout the multiverse, causing it to collide, with each universe's respective Earth as the point of impact. That's what they had seen. Universes colliding into each other.

Captain Marvel was the Champion of Magic, as in he had magic, unfathomable magic for what Zatanna had said, something the League had never even known of.

Point was, one of his duties as the Champion was to protect the balance of reality itself, make sure nexus events were left intact, this collapse in the multiverse was something only he would have had any chance at fixing. 

It was hard to guess how long it would take, he was fixing the multiverse, something with an endless number , it could take years for all they knew, they didn't even know if the threat had been subdued or even where he was.

The first few weeks were hard, most magic users were out of commission, their magic far too weak to help much, and the Justice League had had to give a conference regarding Captain Marvel's whereabouts to appease Fawcett City, made sure to keep an eye out for the city, Young Justice and the Teen Titans would also be caught patrolling Fawcett City's streets. All so as to assure people.

Weeks turned into months, and the League fell into an easy routine, keeping watch over their cities and Fawcett City. Helping people cross the streets or even walk them home, the little things Captain Marvel was known to do. Some people would ask them about him, but the League was never able to give an answer.

‘When is he coming back?’ ‘Will he come back?’ ‘Do you think he is okay?’

No matter how much the League helped, it was clear the city missed its hero, even the crime rate decreased considerably. It was… unexpected.

It gave them a lot to think about, and a lot to learn, Captain Marvel never told them about the fact that he could use magic, never used it at all, and yet, he had created a portal. 

It had taken this for them to learn that apparently, all his odd antics might have been related to… this. The excuses of being busy, might have not been excuses at all, Zatanna had explained to them what the Champion's job was, he was the one in charge of dealing with anything magic related, the protector of the Rock Of Eternity, the very source of magic itself. Like the boss of all magic.

Meant to keep the balance of reality itself, fix nexus events, make sure no one would cause an intersection or break a nexus event. Things that could put in serious jeopardy entire universes and even the multiverse itself.

The spacing out… the way he had left led them to believe that maybe, he wasn't spacing out, but quite literally watching other universes. That somehow, he kept watch over other universes while also being able to recite word for word whatever was discussed during meetings. 

How did the man even manage to do all of that alone? Did he even have free time? Was that why he had no secret identity? Because he was literally way too busy to have any life at all? That was a depressing thought, Captain Marvel has always been the most carefree of them all, always smiling and happy about something and anything.

No one had ever seen him mad, never serious or so much as upset. His thunderous expression from the other side of the crack in the sky was still very much fresh in their minds, even months later, because they had never seen him look so mad.

It had been blood curling.

Who even had the power to cause such a disruption across entire universes? And why would they do that? Constantine had said so, every single universe would have collapsed, that person wouldn't have had a world to go back to. So why?

And then Captain Marvel comes back. A year later.

~

Fixing the multiverse is a pain in the ass, Billy might be the Champion of Magic, might have six Gods and an ancient Wizard telling him how to do this right, but it doesn't make it any less difficult. He had to face a speedster gone insane with grief, got stabbed with kryptonian steel, had to physically push entire universes apart, seal the cracks in reality shut with far more magic than he was used to using, and force universes back into their original shape, branches of an endless tree.

It was a delicate process, slow, tortuous, he had to be careful when fixing the worlds that had been damaged, extra careful when forcing universes from their round shape back to a branch-like shape, he found branches to be a whole lot easier to keep track off, easier to manipulate, a giant tree of life.

The universes turned branches latched onto him, he needed to straight them out, fix the damage, meant pouring his magic into them. He was furious at first, not at… the speedster, but at himself for having let it happen, Zeus had said so over a dozen times, stop thinking with the heart, it only leads to chaos in these situations.

And to chaos it had led, he should have stopped him long before he changed time, he shouldn't have let him do that. But a part of him had been naive enough to believe he had been right, that no interaction meant less chances of causing havoc.

Stupid thought, he found out. Time would always find a way to right itself. Where there was tragedy, there would always be tragedy. And having two variants interacting… that had been a recipe for disaster. Even more so the difference in thoughts, speedsters were one of the highest threats to the multiverse. He shouldn't have underestimated or downplayed what had happened.

But he did, he forgot completely about what had happened last time he underestimated a speedster. He needed to stop thinking with his heart in these situations, people always got hurt when he did.

Fixing the branches, having his magic drained, all the while having to deal with the sharp burning on his side, a burning that just increased exponentially whenever he breathed … blood gushing out… it took a tool on him, Captain Marvel could go on without sleep or food for decades, that's what his Champion form was for, to avoid measly distractions, to not be restricted to a regular living being's needs in case of a catastrophe of this magnitude.

But he could feel himself growing exhausted, weak, and he knew once he went back to his Billy Batson body he would totally hate being alive. And fuck, he just hoped Rosa and Victor didn't hate him for leaving without warning. He had promised to always warn them before having to deal with something in the multiverse which usually took up to a week.

But there had been no time for warnings, he had let it go too long, he had had to act quickly.

It took him what felt like centuries to finish fixing things, another few centuries before he was satisfied with the state of the branches, and the older speedster had fixed his mistake, so there was that, even if his universe was irrevocably changed now.

Once he had finished, he had used his remaining strength to open a portal to his own world, or more like Mamaragan opened it, he couldn't for the life of him remember which world did he come from right now. 

And the second he steps through the portal, he falls, and he falls hard. He can hear the Gods and the old man screaming at him, but he can't focus, can't think, everything is just way too sore, and he just wants to black out and not wake up for the next several eons or so.

He crashes in the middle of God knows where, and he feels bad for whoever will need to fix that, he just hopes it's not a house, he stares up at the blurred night sky, he can hear alarms, car alarms, and everything is so dark… 

The last thing he sees is a man peek from above before it all goes black.

~

Captain Marvel is back.

Crashed right in the middle of Fawcett City.

Far too drained to stay awake. And of course the citizens who found him did the most logical thing, call an ambulance.

That's how Captain Marvel ended up in a hospital, in a private floor with several cops guarding it. Still very much unconscious. Dozens of people came to stand outside the hospital. Doctors had had no idea what to do with him when he first arrived, his skin couldn't be pierced, the costume couldn't be removed or even cut through and while he had no heartbeat whatsoever he was still somehow breathing.

But that didn't stop them from attempting to help him as much as possible, wrapping up a wound no one could stitch or even touch without rubber gloves and leaving him as comfortable as possible.

The police had to station outside too, keeping people, mostly reporters, out, he was kept under strict watch and no one but a few doctors were allowed to go into his room, no one ever expected to have Captain Marvel in their hospital, even less after he had been gone for a whole year.

But what he had been doing was common knowledge, he had saved them all, it made a lot of doctors and nurses unwilling to take shit from people attempting to sneak into his floor, made lots of citizens barricade the hospital alongside the police to keep reporters with no shame or respect whatsoever out.

Because the man saved them all, God knows what he must have gone through, he deserved to be left alone, not have people trying to take pictures of him while unconscious or whatever else they were aiming for. 

He had always been there for them, taking care of those who would otherwise be overlooked, doing things other heroes or most regular people wouldn't bother with, like helping at soup kitchens, walking people home at night, playing with kids at the park, giving clothes and blankets to the homeless, helping the elderly cross the street or just flying people brave enough to ask around just because. Because he genuinely cared and enjoyed befriending everyone and anyone.

And now that he needed them most… people just tried to take advantage of the situation? It made a lot of people angry.  

It didn't surprise the hospital staff when the Justice League arrived though, it had been a given that it would happen, the same had happened that time in Metropolis when Superman landed in the hospital, and also that time in Coast City when Green Lantern also ended up in the hospital. They always turned up to take them away. 

Understandable, the League could probably help them way better than any regular hospital could. And also keep them way safer.

"We dressed his… wound, as best as we could. But without knowledge on how his body works, there wasn't much we could do for him except make him as comfortable as possible." The doctor, Dr. Temple, said as she led the Justice League out of the elevator.

"He's wounded?" Wonder Woman asks, unable to hide the surprise in her voice, Captain Marvel has never been wounded. So how did he got wounded? Was it the person who caused the collapse?

"Yes, seems like some sort of stab wound, on his left side. We couldn't stitch it up, all needles were bent or snapped, but we managed to stop the bleeding." Dr. Temple explained, her words making something unsettling settle at the pit of the League's stomach, bleeding. That was something none of them had ever thought Marvel capable of doing.

"Are there more wounds?" Batman asked, he wasn't sure how would he even begin treating Captain Marvel, Hal was easy, he was human, Clark? He was kryptonian, but his body was very reminiscent of that of a human's, kryptonite needle and any wound could be stitched. But he had no idea what Marvel was.

"No, but he… didn't have a heartbeat, he is breathing though." Dr. Temple informed, she seemed to be pondering whether that was normal or not on him. And the League had absolutely no idea. Superman had said several times how he could hear Marvel's heartbeat sometimes, and sometimes he couldn't. Sometimes he breathed, and sometimes he didn't. This was uncharted territory.

The League arrives at the room, coming to a halt outside a room with several cops standing guard.

"We are here." Dr. Temple exclaims as she pushes the door open, holding it open for the League to enter.

The League steps in.

"I will be outside." Dr. Temple informs.

"Thank you." Superman said, his words heavy with gratefulness, Dr. Temple smiles.

"It's the least we can do after all he's done for us."

And with that, she's gone.

The League turns to look at Captain Marvel's unconscious form on the bed. It's unnerving to see him so quiet and still, he seemed fine, but his costume was singed on the left side, so was his cape. 

Batman approaches the bed, checking the wound the doctor spoke of, removing the bandage just enough to catch a glimpse of a glowing gash on his side, it looked deep, and there was a lot of… blood staining his cape, granted, it was gold, but its quantity and position left very clear it had been blood from the wound.

Electricity crackled around the gash in little sparks, he would have to call Zatanna, Dr Fate or even Constantine, maybe they would have a better idea on how to deal with a wound of this kind. 

He covered the wound back up.

Taking him back to the Watchtower isn't a difficult job, the hospital was more than willing to let him go. Things do get a bit difficult, because Zatanna, Dr. Fate and Constatine's verdict on the matter is that his wound can just be healed by extremely powerful magic, his magic.

From the rest? He was fine, just exhausted, his magic was drained too, all he needed was rest and he would be fine. Would be easier and quicker if he was at the Rock, but no one but the Champion knew where it was or how to even enter.

He had spent a whole year dealing with something beyond comprehension, the power he must have used to fix that kind of mess was unfathomable. There was no telling how long it would take him to recover. 

The League kept watch over him, some would sit with him in silence, others would read to him or tell him about whatever, some of the Teen Titans or Young Justice would be found reciting to him the newest memes or popular new movies' quotes.

It wasn't until he was back that the League had begun wondering whether there might be someone they should seriously inform about Marvel, he never spoke of his personal life, he might not have one, but he might also have one. And there might be someone somewhere very, very distressed about his wellbeing. Someone who might have been going through a terrible time the whole year he was gone without warning.

But without knowledge on who it might be, the League could do nothing.

It didn't take months for Captain Marvel to wake up. Not even a month. But a week.

And he wakes up with an explosion of lightning.

~

Barry was finishing changing Marvel's bandages, as the good friend he was, when it happened.

He woke up.

And he woke up angry.

Flash almost didn't manage to avoid the fist of lightning that went straight for his face. Bolting himself across the room.

"Dude! It's me!" Flash called, raising his hands in surrender as Marvel sat up, and oh fuck, his expression was thunderous, eyes glowing dangerously as he stared at Barry.

And he lunged.

"Shit." Barry stumbled as he took a leap, bolting out of the room. "Guys! Cap is awake and he's not happy at all!" He informed through the comm, skipping it through the halls of the Watchtower as Marvel chased after him, on foot, and Barry was starkly reminded of the very real fact that Captain Marvel also had super speed.

"What do you mean by not happy?" Hawkwoman asked, Flash phased straight through a wall, a wall Marvel destroyed on his way.

"He's fucking chasing me is what I mean!" He shouted in panic, thanking every fucking God out there that Marvel seemed to be far slower, weak, or Barry would be toast right now. Not that it made him look any less terrifying, eyes glowing as electricity crackled all around his body. 

Out of nowhere, he felt something give a harsh tug on somewhere, and his speed glitched. He crashed face first into the wall he had meant to phase through. What the hell?!

"Shit!" Barry exclaimed, whirling around in time to see Marvel pounce at him, but he never grabbed him, Superman appearing out of nowhere, tackling him just in the nick of time, both of them crashing through the door to the training room.

Superman who couldn't help but wince as him and Marvel crashed through the door, he hadn't meant to use so much strength. But he didn't have time to feel bad for too long since Marvel punched him with an explosion of lightning that made him see white and sent him flying out of the room, and sweet God, that hurt.

Superman is quick to stand up, the rest of the League coming up to the door just in time to see the Captain stand up, he seems agitated, and still, he staggers at the sight of them, frowning, he seems confused, and lost.

And Diana takes a leap of faith.

"Captain?" She calls, her voice gentle as she moves to stand infront of the group. His gaze settles on her, or at least that's what it looks like, no one can be sure when his eyes are glowing and there's no way of knowing who is he looking at. But his body is tense, fingers curled into fists, he looks ready for a fight. 

And he's bleeding again. Red. Not gold as he's been doing this past week, and why do they have a feeling that's way worse?

"We mean you no harm. You are safe now, I promise. The fight is done, everything is alright now, you are among friends now." Diana told, her voice soft, reassuring, she knew what it was like to wake up confused after blacking out in the middle of a hostile and/or unsafe environment.

Captain Marvel stares at her for a full minute, and then he shakes his head, the glow in his eyes disappearing completely, he looks at every single one of them, gaze lingering far too long on Batman, Flash and Superman.

His body relaxed, suddenly, all fight leaving his body, he looked down at bleeding gash on his side, and before the League's very eyes, he brought his hand up, sealing the wound shut with a single thread of lightning that shot right out of his finger. Leaving smooth skin behind, skin that was covered within seconds as the suit just repaired itself. All blood disappearing alongside the singed marks on the suit and cape.

Leaving him looking as if nothing had ever been wrong in the first place. 

He then looks up at them with a somewhere between embarrassed and apologetic look.

"I apologize, I didn't mean to attack anyone." 

"It's alright, we understand. We are just glad to see you are okay." Diana said, walking up to him and pulling him into a hug. And to Billy it felt so good to finally have something to truly give him an understatement of this world.

He hugged Diana back, touching people has never failed to give him a reading on what universe he was in, waking up to a blurred world and just the single knowledge that Flash was touching him had been far too overwhelming. Not even for a second had he thought about his Flash, but about the one who almost destroyed everything.

But he was back home. Finally everything was done. Superman was alive, Batman was alive, Flash was… well, Flash. He knew it didn't change the fact that a Superman and a Batman had been lost, a Supergirl… because he didn't stop it in time. That timeline should have never been formed.

But it did. And a lot of people suffered.

"Being the Champion Of Magic doesn't mean you get to control everything. You are neither omnipotent nor the ultimate God. People make choices, your job is to ensure that those choices don't destroy the multiverse. Every new timeline comes with new lives, new possibilities. Not all of them good. But they must be left to run their course. You know this." 

Solomon's voice made a knot stick at the back of his throat. He knew, he didn't need to be told something he already knew. But it has never made things easier. To watch people he cared about die, never been born because of a single change, or just become twisted by greed or grief.

He sighed, sometimes, he hated his job.

~

"A year?" Billy felt quite stupified to learn that he had been gone for a whole year, it had felt like centuries to him, he had honestly thought he would come back to everyone he ever knew being long dead.

He was at the meeting room, after he had managed to get the League to stop fussing over him and harassing him with ‘are you okay?’ ‘does anything hurts?’ ‘how are you feeling?’ questions, he had ended up at the meeting room, he wanted to go home, if he still had a home that was, reason he might also be stalling on that matter, he was afraid of going back home and not finding them.

Or worse. Find them, just to learn they no longer wanted anything to do with him. Rosa and Victor hadn't been thrilled when he first told them about who he was, what his job was. He had been reborn throughout the multiverse countless times, his memories and powers came back to him every single 4th birthday.

They had been his foster parents a lot of times, good and understanding, but he has never liked comparing variants, all variants were their own person with their own feelings and thoughts. No one was the same. And while Rosa and Victor had been understanding so far, he was always afraid, afraid that he might come across one who just hit the boiling point.

Because who wanted to deal with an ancient being who just happened to be a kid? A kid who was prompt to dealing with monsters, Gods and demons? And worse, a kid who granted his siblings powers too? His siblings… shit. He hoped they were alright, fixing cracks in reality always required him to use a lot of magic from the Rock.

Meant magic users would have a tough time being… well, magic users. Meant his siblings wouldn't be able to transform at all. 

Fuck, he was flipping through a file, a file the League had made for the new criminals and villains who popped up in Fawcett City while he was gone. There was also a file of the new League members.

It felt like skipping school for one day just to go back the next day and learn celebrities came to school the day before, there's several new kids and even Jesus popped up to say hi.

"So… can we ask what happened?" Green Lantern's sudden voice caught his attention, he looked up, meeting the man's curious gaze for a fleeting moment before dropping his attention back to the files, but even if he does, he's no longer looking at them.

Silence stretches in the room for an uncomfortable moment.

And then.

"Pain and loss can blind people, make them do stupid things in a desperate attempt to fix them. It wasn't his fault." He told as a statement of fact, because it hadn't truly been his fault.

It hadn't.

He understood more than anyone the desperation, of having the power and still not being able to change anything. Of trying and trying, sure that you can change it this time. 

Just to fail over and over again. Because that's what it should be. Nexus events could never be changed.

Not without killing billions in the process.

"That's it? Where is he now?" Flash's question was met with silence. 

And then. 

"Back in his timeline, he fixed what he broke. And I managed to fix the rest as best as I could, but some were far too damaged to return to their original shape. Some changes still happened, and no one but me knows of them, and him, though that one just extends to his world. I know every single change that's filtered through each and every single universe."

He always knew. 

"Is there one here we should know about?" Batman's question is understandable. 

“No, the ones who changed were the worlds which collided against each other, and his. This one was left unchanged, and I fixed the crack here before the intersection could affect this place.” Worlds that were changed because of a distortion in time never failed to make him feel horrible, if his own world was damaged he didn't think he would be able to live with that.

“Was he the one who stabbed you?”

“... Yes and no, it's… complicated. Can we not talk about this?” He didn't like the idea of keeping on speaking about this, he didn't want to think about that timeline anymore, about the deaths, about who did it. Because while not new, it would never become easier to face them.

A particular speedster who's fucked up universes way too many times. Had created timelines that ended up collapsing or bleeding into each other. He's been told several times to rid the multiverse of them, but he refused to condemn them all for the actions of a few who didn't even mean true harm in the first place.

Some had even saved billions of lives due the creation of new timelines. Billy refused to put an end to them.

“Alright, we won't talk about that.” Superman conceded, and Billy was grateful.

A beat of silence passed, and then.

“Why didn't you ever tell us about your magic thing? Even Zatanna and the others seemed rather surprised.” Hawkwoman said, she didn't sound accusing nor cautious, just… curious.

He shrugged. He didn't like this path of conversation either, but he knew he wouldn't be able to avoid this either. 

And so he spoke something he never saw himself telling them.

“I have been reborn over a thousand times throughout the multiverse, there's never been one single universe where people don't start walking on eggshells around me the second they know who I am, or they just expect way more than what I usually do. So I tried to just… not do anything ’magical’ this time around. Even hid my aura so none of the magic users would be able to tell who I was or even that I had magic. They are usually the ones who freak out the most.”

And now the cat was out of the bag. And God, he seriously hoped he could still play poker with Constantine. Visit the House Of Mysteries. Have the man calling him names even, he would take anything over the usual reaction magic users had against him.

He also hoped Zatanna wouldn't stop talking to him, he liked watching her magic show and her teaching him magic tricks. Or Dr. Fate, he seriously enjoyed watching the man's odd type of magic in action. And hanging out at the library of his tower was also nice.

Or worse, he dreaded the sole idea of losing his friendship with Raven too, I mean, yeah, they bickered a lot, but she was cool, like an annoying sister, almost reminded him of Mary sometimes.

“Freak out…?”

“I can decide who has magic and who doesn't. A big reason for them to avoid me, if they don't talk to me, they can't say the wrong thing, if they aren't anywhere near me, they can't do the wrong thing, they think I will take their magic away just because they so much as look at me.”

If he hasn't punched Guy Gardner through a wall, why would he hurt in any way someone for just being in the same room as him?  

Well, Marvel's words at least explained the reason behind Zatanna, Constantine and Dr. Fate's odd behavior, how incredibly tense they had been, avoiding getting too close to Marvel even though he was unconscious, and how the three magic users had refused to so much as touch the wound.

But even that had been a bit exaggerated, it was stupid to react like that when they had known Marvel for four years. Constantine has insulted the guy in every single way possible at this point. And Zatanna had once thrown a curse at him for his hair to be an obnoxiously pink and extremely neon color for a whole week after he laughed at her after she tripped in the same heels he told her to not wear to a gum-shooting villain fight.

Flash and Green Lantern had also fallen victim of the curse too. 

And there was also that time Dr. Fate kicked the whole League out of his tower, in the middle of the Atlantic, Captain Marvel included.

If he wanted, he could have gotten them back then, but he didn't, so why the hell had they been so freaked out about him now? Batman might need to have a talk with them.

Also.

What was that of him having been reborn over a thousand times? Like reincarnation? That was… interesting. Did that mean he might have met variants of them at some point? Would explain how come he had been so comfortable around them from the moment he joined, as if he had known them all his life. 

And while some of them were curious, no one asked. He looked like he might just go back to sleep, he had started nodding off, and that was such an extremely odd sight. 

“You should rest.” Batman told, Marvel scoffed, looking like a petulant child hell-bent on proving he was not, in fact, tired. When he was one second away from just passing out.

“I did that, for a whole week.” 

“Yeah, a week doesn't make up for a year, dude.” Green Lantern said as a statement of fact. Marvel frowned before smirking.

“Touché.”

Chapter 2

Billy wakes up with a headache, and starving. He's exhausted, wants to go back to sleep, and his side hurts, a lot. He healed the wound on his Champion form, but it had been deep enough to reach his more… vulnerable form. It's not as deep, but it still hurts. Should have been the first sign something was amiss. But he is starving.

He crawls out of bed, he should have known something wasn't right when the bed felt bigger than when he had gone to sleep. Or even that he was feeling hunger or pain.

He left the room, yawning and rubbing his eyes. He found the kitchen rather quickly, got himself some ramen and ate it straight out of the bag. He was so not in the mood to boil water or anything for that matter. But he didn't want jello, pudding or granola bars. That sounded so little for the monstrous hunger he felt right now.

He wanted Rosa's food.

But Rosa's food would mean having to face them, and he was so not ready for that. So he ate uncooked ramen, and some leftover pizza, and a whole most glorious blueberry pie. He also found donuts, a tub of half eaten strawberry ice cream and a some apples.

He should have gone for the cafeteria, more food than the main members’ personal fridge. But that had been so, so far away. Like those Oreos on the cupboard.

He wasn't beyond climbing, seriously should have given him a clue that one. Ransacking the shelf wasn't polite, his days of stealing food were over, but God he was starving here, he would replace everything when he was feeling less like his stomach might eat itself from the inside out. 

So he ransacked the cupboard. Inhaling all the snacks he could get his hands into, chips, Oreos, gummy bears, pop tarts, gummy worms, cheese puffs, more Oreos, marshmallows, granola bars, even more Oreos.

Flash's special granola bars were a gift sent from Heaven. He snatched the box and climbed off the countertop, more like crashed face first on the floor due lack of strength on his legs, he laid there for a full minute, this before groaning and turning on his back, he brought himself up into a sitting position, head lolling back as he fought for the strength to also bring his head forward. He wanted to sleep so bad.

But he also wanted to eat.

He snatched the box and grabbed a granola bar, inhaling two and feeling almost a bit better about life, he was through his third special granola bar when someone appeared right infront of him. Looking up was a struggle, and he was met with none other than Wonder Woman, the amazon stared at him, and at the mess around him, the woman looked confused if not a bit surprised.

But it all became full on horror and alarm when her eyes fell on what he was eating.

“Great Hera! Don't eat that.” The demi-goddess exclaimed in full on panic mode, lunging at him and knocking the granola out of his hands, and Billy almost cried at the sight of the granola hitting the floor. Crumbs scattering all over the ground.

He wasn't beyond eating off the floor, he had eaten trash during one of his many lives living in the streets, nothing could get worse than that. But Diana didn't even let him reach for that, no, the woman had the audacity to pick him up. And that wasn't right… He had a hard time focusing when he was being jostled so much, as Wonder Woman just skipped it through the halls, Billy slung over her shoulder, he wasn't even sure why he found himself laughing.

“Diana, who's child is that this time?" Superman asked in disappointment as the amazon appeared in the meeting room, holding out a child no older than 8, the kid looked like he might just pass out. And she presented him to them as if he were the next Simba.

“He ate those Flash's bars!” Diana's words were enough to seize the room with alarm, Batman was off his chair within seconds, quick steps approaching the child, he checked his vitals, but the kid looked alarmingly fine, his vitals were fine.

That… wasn't right.

In fact, if he ate Flash's bars, he shouldn't be looking so sleepy. 

"Barry, do you know if he might be a speedster?"

"I'm not a speedster!" The child snapped before Flash could so much as open his mouth. "And put me down, I don't like being manhandled." He requested, looking up at Diana, and those eyes were so awfully familiar she almost didn't quite hear him.

And still.

She set him on the ground, he stumbled, but held himself upright, swatting Batman's hands away.

"I'm fine." He snapped stubbornly, and where the hell did this child come from? He was wearing an Aquaman shirt with a Wonder Woman jacket, and Nightwing sweatpants. 

Something caught Batman's attention, blood. He was quick to reach out, pushing the jacket aside, and there was blood on his shirt. Fresh blood. He tugged at the shirt and was met with a long gash.

"Oh shit."

"I'm fine."

Were the kid's last words before he crumbled.

~

"Captain Marvel had the same wound." Green Lantern said, staring at the unconscious child, feeling a bit sick, and like punching someone. Because there was a child, no older than fucking 8. Stabbed. Someone had seriously stabbed a friggin child.

Batman had stitched the wound, had checked him for more wounds, and in doing so revealed quite the unsettling thing.

The kid was covered in lichtenberg marks, not scars, not burns, not wounds, actual honest to God birthmarks. He had dark hair, and there was something about his face… Hal might be going insane, but the kid had an unnerving resemblance to Captain Marvel. 

"And he's not in his room." Flash said, reappearing in the medical room, he had gone looking for Marvel a few seconds ago by Hal's request, but the room was empty.

"You seriously implying that this kid is Captain Marvel?" Hawkwoman asked.

"He might be right." Batman said, pulling up the footage of the child leaving Captain Marvel's room.

"So what is this? Like a saving power mode? Didn't he heal the wound?" Superman asked, glancing at the unconscious child, Captain Marvel. This child was Captain Marvel.

"I don't think it's as simple as that." Batman told, running a face scan on the kid. "His name's William Joseph Batson. 9 years old. Has been living with a foster family for the past two years."

"I know he said he's been reborn throughout the multiverse countless times, but isn't this a bit too much? Why make him do this now? Why not wait until he's older? Isn't that-"

"No one's making me do anything." Cut off a groggy voice, little Marvel sat up, swatting away the incoming hands. "I'm fine. God, you are worse than the Gods." 

"I don't know if you have noticed, but you almost lost a kidney dude. A little bit to the left and you would have been fucked." Flash said, unable to just not say anything. Little Marvel scoffed.

"I have had worse."

That did nothing at all for the League's nerves.

"That is so not the point. Are you insane? Why the hell are you running around getting buildings dropped on you? You aren't even a teenager yet, hell, you can't get in half of the attractions of a fun park."

"First of, last I checked, I could take a building on me, unlike half of you, hell, I could probably take a dive into the sun and I would be just fine. And second of, I can totally get anywhere I want, I'm an amazing shapeshifter. I can look the age I want whenever I want. And why are we even arguing about this? Wasn't Robin like 10 when he first started out? Granted, he was trained, but he's still 100% human, I'm not. Or well, I am like this, but I still have a ton of magic. I can still blow half the city in this form."

Alright, Billy didn't meant to snap the last part, nor for one of the lights above to explode, but he was tired, sore, in pain and hungry. He just wanted to be left alone, to go home. Why were they arguing about this? He knew this was gonna happen. It was how it always went.

He met their gazes with an angry look, anger gawning at his chest.

"I am older than any of you could ever possibly understand, just because my new body is that of a child it doesn't make me any less competent than any of you. Or what? Would you have liked for me to just let the worlds collide because I am 'too young' to be doing this?"

That's… he had a point there.

Little Marvel sighed.

"Look, I get it, it's weird. But I'm no different than all those immortal kids out there, I mean, yeah, I will grow, eventually, but my mind's far from a child's, in a way…" Billy had no idea how to even explain this, what was what Batman had said in one of his last lives?

Ah. Right.

That he sometimes envied his pure heart and soul. How despite having witnessed many deaths, destruction and horrors, he still had the ability to find the child-like glee in the simple things in life.

"I'm just me, alright? Age has never had anything to do with how I behave or what I do. I just happen to look like a child now. And I never told you because I knew how you would react. I don't like being treated like a child just because I happen to look like one. It's demeaning, and frankly? It's very annoying too."

The League stared at him, and stared.

On one side, he did have a point, in a sense, he was older than all of them put together. Might be more skilled than any of them might possibly imagine, and also might have way more experience in this hero business or fighting at all than any of them.

But on the other hand, biologically, he was still a child, a very human child. Younger than the Teen Titans and Young Justice. And alright, Robin had been 10, but he's been with them for four years, and Jesus, that meant he was 6 or 7 when he first joined them.

"I need to sit down." Green Lantern said at the sudden realization, because holy shit, a 7 year old knocked Superman out cold, a 7 year old flattened a meteorite the size of the fucking moon. 

"You were 7?" Aquaman sounds quite stupified.  Little Marvel shrugs.

"My memories and powers come to me when I turn 4, usually, I wait until I'm 10 or 12 to start doing stuff, that's the age limit the Gods have agreed to give me, they usually get seriously pissy when I try to start sooner if it's not to stop some world ending threat. I just happened to become it sooner because the Sins broke out, and then Sivanna wouldn't stop being annoying so…"

He shrugged, as if that totally made absolute sense, as if a 7 year old beating villains was totally normal. And what the hell? 10? 12? Had he never had a regular life? But for what he just said he was the one who couldn't be held back even by six Gods.

If six Gods couldn't stop him, what chances did the League have?

"Wait, are you telling me we let a child watch over a bunch of teenagers? Did you even watch over them? Is that why they always ask for you? Because you let them get away with things?" Flash asked suddenly, remembering all the times Marvel's been put to keep an eye on either the Teen Titans or the Young Justice. 

The fact that the very teenagers who got annoyed at having anyone watching over them would ask for Captain Marvel half of the time.

"I know nothing." Little Marvel said, and oh that little shit had the audacity to pull up an incredibly believable innocent look. The League almost believed him.

Almost.

~

"You know I have legs, right?" Billy asked, but even if he asked that, he didn't make any attempts to push himself off, were he not so tired, he would feel humiliated and embarrassed over the fact that Superman was carrying him. 

But God, he was so, so tired. The League had ended up deciding that it was logical for him to go home, since his parents knew who he was and he was gone for a whole year. He had agreed, too tired to argue, and he really wanted to go home. And so Superman had brought him to Fawcett City, granted, the man was in civilian clothes, but fucking Superman.

"I know, and I would let you walk, if you could actually do that right now." Clark told as a statement of fact, reminding Billy of his disgraceful falls at the Watchtower, tripping over air or just flat out dropping on his knees.

He had eaten five more of Flash's special granola bars, and while his hunger had diminished a bit, he was still too weak and exhausted. Meant he was falling and stumbling all over the place.

He huffed against the kryptonian's shoulder. 

Meanwhile, Clark was walking down the street, looking at the address written on his hand, he knew Batman must have called them beforehand, so hopefully they would be waiting outside. Ancient being or not, it would never change the fact that to these people, their son had been gone for a whole year, had come back over a week ago and they had been unable to so much as see him.

If it were Jon, Clark knew it would drive him mad, to know nothing about his wellbeing and be unable to even reach him . And he knew how his mother had felt when he had been admitted to the hospital in Metropolis, and she had been unable to see him. Because no one knew who she truly was.

He still couldn't wrap his head around this whole thing, that the child he had in his arms was Captain Marvel, he was 9, and he was smaller than Jon had been at that age. He could hear the calm heartbeat, the soft breathing, could feel the fragility only a human child would possess. 

It was hard to imagine this child could turn into a man that towered over dozens and could knock him out with a single punch. That this very child had saved countless lives, entire universes. 

"Billy." The sudden gasp of absolute relief and emotion caught his attention and he turned to see a couple standing outside, several kids waiting too, her hand on her mouth and tears in her eyes.

And it took him nothing to realize who she must be.

She didn't wait for Clark to come to her, she ran up to him herself, her husband hot on her heels.

"He's alright, but he might need a lot of sleep, and there's a wound on his side we took care of." He is quick to inform, his voice reassuring as he passed her the half asleep child. She held him tight, and at that moment, he was able to see the exact moment all worries and fears just vaporized from her, as she cried and held him tight. As if he would disappear at any second or just to assure herself he was truly there.

And it reminded Clark of what his mother had told him once.

" You might be this all mighty hero to the world. But to me, you will always be my baby."

Just that in this instance, it held a much more macabre weight of truth, because Captain Marvel was a 9 year old boy. 

He almost felt like he was intruding as the family hugged their freshly returned missing member. Could hear little Marvel's persistent 'I'm fine' and 'I'm sorry'.

Very discreetly, Clark left.

And even as he left, he was able to hear the woman's, Rosa's, Bruce had called her, words.

"Thank you."

Clark smiled, Captain Marvel might have saved entire worlds, but to that woman, Clark had just brought her the only world she cared about the most.

Her son.