A Natural Progression | Shazam

Chapter 20

"You..." Jason breathed, staring at Batman with wide eyes. "You lost him..." he breathed, his voice cracking as he brought a hand up to his head. "He- he doesn't... Billy..." he swallowed thickly. 

He glanced at Tim, who had put his tablet away and was staring at the screen. He caught sight of the small, light scar on his cheek in the shape of a J, a reminder that he hadn't been quick enough, hadn't been there for his brother when Tim had needed him.

Jason's hand curled into a fist. "We have to find him," he said determinedly, his voice resolute. Bruce glanced back at him before looking back at the screen.

"Working on it."

"There should be some kind of tracker in his clothes unless he somehow found them and took them out," Damien said, getting a look from Tim. "What, I don't check where he goes, I just know that they're there. Blame Pennyworth for sewing them in, not me."

"Got something," Bruce interrupted the boy, the rest of the bat clan crowding around him to look at the large screen. "Some kind of warehouse in lower Gotham."

"Let's go get him then," Jason said, picking up his helmet and putting it on. Bruce nodded once, standing up from the computer and walking towards the Bat Mobile. "Be on guard- we have no idea what we're walking into."

"Bats, we're going to save Billy. Nothin's gonna stop us from getting that kid back," Dick said, patting the taller raven on the shoulder as he jogged by and clambered onto the back of Jason's motorcycle.

- - -

Billy sighed and leaned back in the beanbag pile- something that made his throat ache and his side pound. The hyenas turned their attention towards him, eyeing the 10-year-old with malice. He really hoped they were trained... he'd transform if he really needed to, but he didn't wanna beat up some poor animals- they didn't know the difference between right and wrong.

Thankfully, the hyenas didn't do much more than that, deeming him as not a threat and curling up beside one another to fall asleep. The small boy let out a breath of relief before glancing around the room. 

He couldn't move very well without pain overwhelming his senses, which Harley must have known would happen since she didn't bother to tie him up. The simple act of twisting his body slightly to look from some kind of window to bolt from had him breathing heavily- not a good sign if he was gonna try and escape.

Before he could do much of anything else, Harley burst through the door again, water glass in hand and pushing what looked like an old and beat-up wheelchair. Billy blinked, tilting his head slightly at it as the crazy lady shut the door with her foot and skipped over to him. "Here ya go, kiddo- you drink that, and we'll getcha into this. Then we tie you up, make a video, and bam, Harley's rollin' in the dough!" she said with a giggle, handing him the glass.

Harley was... a weird one, to say the least. She was a strange mixture of a chaotic older sister and crazy, crack-dealing neighbor-- to be honest, she kind of reminded Billy of some of the people back home he'd lived by. 

All good people at heart, but they had their quirks. 

Harley's, it seemed, was baby-talking a pair of toothy hyenas and tying her injured captive to a wheelchair since he couldn't very well walk.

Billy threw back the water and sat up slightly- he was kind of interested in seeing where this was going, in a morbid sort of way. With any luck, she didn't even have anything to record a ransom message on.