The Secret Life of Billy Captain Marvel Batson

Batman Claims The Bat Son

When he finally showed up at a Justice League meeting, he was using crutches.

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*** Now ***

Crouching down to talk to Billy eye to eye, Batman asked the tiny boy for the third time, "are you absolutely sure you don't have powers in this form?"

"No. I don't. Stop asking. They're watching," little Billy jerked his head nervously at the training room's reinforced glass window.

Hands, faces and noses were pressed against the glass as word got out about the new Robin who Batman had smuggled into the Watchtower.

"Ok. Take me down." Batman stood up to his full height.

As nimble as a squirrel, Billy scampered up Batman's leg, grabbed his arm and swung up to sit firmly on his shoulders.

"Oww!" The little boy bruised his knuckles punching Batman's head through his bullet proof cowl.

Gently plucking the child off his shoulders, Batman bent over to speak to him at eye level.

"Go for the legs. Swipe the back of the knees. Do what you have to bring me down," his lips quirked up slightly in a ghost of a smile.

Billy pounced at Batman's legs.

Batman somersaulted over Billy.

"Tag, you're it!" Billy tapped Batman and ran across the room.

"Hey, you're supposed to fight, not run!" Growled Batman.

Billy stuck out his tongue and wagged his hands,"catch me if you can!"

Exasperated, Batman ran towards the boy, slipping on the marbles Billy rolled at him.

Thud!

And there was the Batman on the ground with tiny Billy jumping on his stomach, pumping his little fist in victory.

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"Great job kid! You beat Bats!" Hal ruffled Billy's hair as the little one walked out of the training room triumphantly.

"For that, you win a speedy ride. Five times around the Watchtower," grinned Barry.

The blonde picked up the boy and put him on his shoulders.
"Hang on tight!"

Captain Marvel raced Flash many times. Sometimes he won, sometimes Flash beat him. But speeding around as Billy was a whole new experience.

It was better, scarier, more exhilarating than any rollercoaster ride.

The rush of wind through his hair at insane speeds, without the impenetrable cushion of invulnerability.

Five times around the massive Watchtower was way too short. Billy was disappointed when he had to get off his speedy ride. "Again!" He pleaded.

"Later," grinned Barry. "First let's celebrate your victory with drinks!"

"Barry, you don't give beer to a child," Hal blurted.

"Who said anything about beer? Captain Marvel has a stash of milk shakes in the fridge. I'm sure he wouldn't notice one missing," smirked Barry.

In a red blur, he popped up in front of Billy and Hal with two cans of beer and a milkshake.

Handing the milkshake to Billy, Barry whispered, "for you, kid. Just don't tell Cap we pinched this from his stash."

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Batman guided Billy to the empty room beside his own. On it was the proudly engraved name plate Robin.

"Bruce, you know I can't be Robin. Conflict of interest," whispered the boy.

"Just play along. Unless you have a better explanation for Billy being in the Watchtower," growled the Bat.

The door creaked open revealing a room identical to the one he had stayed in at Wayne Manor, back when the boy reporter did Whiz network's series on Bruce Wayne.

The clothes Alfred had bought for him were in the cupboard.

The furniture was kid-sized.

On the coffee table was a large platter of Alfred's home baked pastries and a steaming pot of tea.

A whiff of the delicious aroma had Billy drooling.

Closing the door behind him, Batman removed his cowl.

Crouching so that he could speak with Billy at eye level, Bruce's fatherly gaze met Billy's.

"Alfred made these for you. Eat up and get some rest. The League meeting is going to be a loooong one." The corners of Bruce's eyes crinkled as he smiled.

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"Where's Cap?" Frowned Green Arrow. "He's never late."

As if on cue, the door flew open. "Sorry guys. I had to pick up Joey on the way," the Big Red Cheese flashed his cheesy smile. On his shoulder sat a tiny brown mouse.

Ignoring the befuddled looks of his team mates, Captain Marvel took his seat and leaned forward with his hands in a steeple. The little mouse perched attentively on his massive shoulder as Batman began his presentation.

While the Justice League was in the Watchtower, Batman and Oracle used their supercomputers to track the source of the puppeteer's signals.

They suspected extremely advanced technology of earthly origin was responsible for these signals.

Mr Terrific, being invisible to tech, was on the ground following whatever leads they could find.

"Eek eeeek," squeaked the mouse as it looked meaningfully at Cap.

"Eek chrp eeee eek eeeek," whispered the Captain back to his little friend.

"Hrmmph," Batman glared at Big Red.

"Sorry. I was just translating. Joey's understanding of people speak is rudimentary," Captain Marvel explained.

As Batman continued his presentation, the Zeta-tube announced, "Sylvia 205"

A tiny white mouse materialized in the zeta tube.

Black Canary's head jerked up. "Who gave a rat zeta access?"

"Squeeeak!" The tiny mouse scrambled up Captain Marvel's other shoulder and glared at Black Canary.

"Me," mumbled Captain Marvel as he stared at his hands. "She's upset. She's a mouse, not a rat."

"Marvel, we'll talk about this after the meeting," growled Batman as he pierced the big guy with his patented Bat Glare.
"Now where were we?"

Ignoring the mice and squeaky conversation, Batman concluded his presentation explaining how in spite of all their efforts, they couldn't crack the case.

"Actually, I know what to do," Captain Marvel piped up. "Joey and Silvia, the top mouse detectives on planet Earth..."