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Billy had never been a huge fan of holidays.
Alone on the street or bouncing between foster homes, the cheery decorations and excitement in the air did nothing but bum him out. The atmosphere was a constant reminder of how abnormal his life was compared to his peers. However, he had a special kind of dislike for Valentine’s Day.
Here’s the thing- on Valentine’s Day he felt normal. There’s no expectation to celebrate with family or disappointment when he doesn’t receive a gift. His hatred for the day was shared by everyone else who wasn’t sickenly in love or crushing hard. Not liking Valentine’s Day is normal, and wow, is it nice to feel normal.
Which led him to his new problem: this upcoming Valentine’s Day felt very not normal. This would be the first year with the Vasquez family and as a part time superhero. And whereas he’d normally let the day pass without a second thought, something has changed. Billy wants to do something different.
Billy wants to celebrate for the first time ever.
He- he has a crush. And not just on anyone, on his nerdy best friend Freddy Freeman.
The thought of February 14th filled him with this gross fluttery feeling and he had no idea what to do.
“Hey, Cap?” Flash called, waving his hand in front of the distracted Demigod’s face.
Captain Marvel jolted forward, sweeping a hand back through his hair and looking up at the team seated around the table. A good portion of the League were gathered for their weekly meeting at the WatchTower.
“Yeah?” Marvel asked, poorly hiding how intensely he had zoned out during the talking. His hand dropped the pencil he had mindlessly been doodling with.
The fellow Justice League members were staring at him. Picking apart every detail. This sort of attention was familiar to Billy. Afterall, he was the only hero who kept his civilian identity completely underwraps. But it was strange for them to do it outright.
“You back with us?” Cyborg asked, amused.
“Yeah. Yes.” Billy cleared his throat awkwardly. He waited for Batman to start talking again.
However, the Dark Knight simply stood stoic at the front of the room, stern expression on beneath the cowl. His arms were crossed as he glowered at the hero further.
The room stayed quiet until Billy couldn’t stand the tension anymore. “Uhm?” He mumbled questioningly.
“So. Who is it?” Hal Jordan asked, sitting forward and resting his elbows on the table. He had a shit eating grin on his face.
“Who’s who?”
“The girl you’re pining over.”
Oh gods.
“What?! No, that’s not-”
“Hm sure,” Victor started, “that face is so obvious.”
“I don’t know what-”
“And the hearts you’re drawing all over the table,” the cyborg continued, tapping the wood with a metal finger.
Billy looked down with a frown. There was an array of cartoonish hearts decorating the desk.
“Off day dreaming during a debrief,” Hal tsked, shaking his head in mock disappointment.
It was at this point that Billy noticed the meeting must’ve been over for quite some time, and instead of getting his attention, the team had been having a silent discussion about his pining expression.
Billy felt his neck heat up in embarrassment. He didn’t even know it was possible for the Captain to blush.
“Nooo its- its nothing. I was just… thinking.”
Wonder Woman stood from the table, apparently heading off to do some work. As she passed his chair, she patted his shoulder good naturedly with a chuckle. “Your affection is endearing,” she hummed. Her grin revealed how funny she thought this whole situation was.
“I-”
When Diana was gone, the other guys at the table leaned in closer, reminding Billy of sharks cornering a fish. Even Batman ( Bruce, Billy corrected in his head) took a seat, apparently deciding that pretending to finish up notes was a great excuse to overhear any potentially useful information. Hell, even Clark was still seated and anticipating the conversation.
“Who is it then?” The group pressed.
Billy took a breath, weighing his words carefully. It was too late to leave now without being rude, but he couldn’t give too much away. He totally couldn’t give too much away. For a lot of reasons.
“Well, it’s just that Valentine’s Day is this weekend-” he was interrupted by a chorus of sympathetic groans and nodding. Billy couldn’t help but feel like they were trying extra hard to seem supportive and keep him talking. It was… frustrating but appreciated. He didn’t get to have a lot of friendly conversations with the team, being as mysterious as he was.
It was nice. Even if it was just for the gossip.
“I hear that-” Victor mumbled.
“Ugh, it's the worst,” Barry shuddered. ‘Iris always gets so-” he gestured vaguely.
“Hm,” Clark added, “It is an important day.”
“Shoot!” Arthur groaned, “I totally forgot..” he grumbled something about Mera and buying a gift.
Billy nodded, surprised at how casual this encounter was. For a moment he thought he’d gotten out of revealing too much, when-
“So, trying to impress your girlfriend?” Arthur asked, wiggling his eyebrows in a way that made Billy want to cringe.
“No- not really…”
“Or a future girlfriend?” Victor revised.
“Uhhhh.”
“Knew it!” Barry laughed. “He’s trying to impress someone!”
This conversation was inching closer and closer towards the truth. Just enough for Billy to begin standing up and turning towards the exit.
“Wait!”
“C’mon! Maybe we can help!”
Billy huffed. “I don’t really think-”
“Pleaseeeeee?”
Shoot.
“Fine.” Billy sat back down, flipping up the hood of his cape like a moody teenager. This is not how he expected his day to go.
“So we’re right then?” Barry asked.
Billy hesitated. “Let’s say hypothetically you’re correct-”
The buzz in the room seemed to amplify.
“Here we go,” Arthur clapped.
“Tell us what she’s like.” Clark encouraged.
Oh boy. No turning back now.
“Uhm, well…” Billy struggled to begin, feeling like he was tiptoeing through landmines. “They’re-” Billy could sense Bruce’s head tilt across the room, picking up on his phrasing. Luckily no one else seemed to have noticed - “ a really good friend of mine. I don’t even know if I should do something for Valentine’s Day, I mean-” Billy trailed off, gesturing to indicate his indecision.
“Ohhhh man. The friend zone.” Barry blurted out. The other sent him various chastising looks.
“Basically.” Billy admitted. Everyone turned back to look at him in surprise. “Probably. I’m assuming so. It’s complicated.”
Clark spoke up next. “You haven’t talked about it?”
“Not at all.”
Victor jumped in, “So this Valentine’s date would be your confession?”
“Confession.”
Ollie sighed melodramatically. “Face it Cap. You’re down hard. It’s written all over your face.”
Billy didn’t really have a response for that, so he let the table deliberate over the newfound information.
A deep voice cut through the lull, startling Billy to look across the room. “Do you have any plan as to how you’ll go about this?” Bruce asked, seeming genuinely intrigued.
Great, now Batman was judging his love life. Fantastic.
“Nope.”
“You need a plan.” Bruce insisted.
Marvel raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t everyday that Batman took an interest in your romantic ventures.
“I don’t think I should do anything, honestly. I’ll just mess it up.” Billy slouched, propping his chin on his hand and looking sullen.
“Ohhhh and the plot grows thicker,” Barry commented. He sounded absolutely riveted by the events unfolding, looking excitedly between the League member’s faces. “You don’t want to mess up the friendship right?”
“Right.”
“But you love her.”
“Wha-”
“We are not going over this again,” Victor groaned, “You were sitting there staring off into space for a good 20 minutes. Literally. I have footage of it.” The half robot claimed, tapping his temple.
Barry hummed. “Look Cap, I get it. Iris and I were childhood best friends. Hell, we practically grew up together. Her parents raised me, so if anyone understands the friend zone it’s me.”
Billy tilted his head. Huh. That was pretty much his exact situation. “So what did you do?”
Barry smiled mischievously. “Charmed her of course! I had to make her think of me differently, ya know, in a romantic way.”
“Okay...” Billy nodded, that made sense.
Ollie suddenly smacked the table, as though he had a brilliant idea. “Let’s get Diana in on this!” He suggested. “Diana!!!” He hollered towards the common room.
“What! Why?”
Clark chimed in helpfully, “It’s good to have a woman’s input on these things.”
Billy was mortified, this was already so weird. He didn’t need another one of his idols hearing about his dumb crush. He shook his head in defeat, hearing Wonder Woman’s footsteps approaching from the hallway.
During Billy’s silent exasperated meltdown, his eyes found Bruce’s across the way. He was definitely caught staring, but he didn’t flinch. Instead, he seemed to be working something out, and drawing some sort of conclusion.
Billy didn’t look away either, sensing that they were both in on something the others weren’t. His expression must have served as confirmation for Batman, who straightened up and stopped squinting in that detective-looking-for-clues way.
Ohhhhh boy.
“Diana!” Ollie greeted upon her entrance. The Amazonian had an indulgent smile on her face, perfect hair thrown over one shoulder and tiara shining. “Just the lady we need.”
“What may I assist you with?”
“Our boy Cap here-” he explained, “needs some advice. See, there’s this girl he wants to impress on Valentine’s Day.”
Billy slid down in his seat, resisting the urge to pull his hood over his face to shield his blushing.
“Oh, I see.” Diana nodded. “No need to be shy, love is a daunting conquest,” Diana chuckled.
Billy was so over this.
Clark spoke up. “As a woman-” Billy wanted to zap away so badly right now -”What should his approach be? He doesn’t want to jeopardize their current relationship.”
Diana took a moment to really consider the question, brow furrowed in thought. She tapped her manicured nails against her arm, deep in thought.
“If she is really your friend, she’ll appreciate your honesty. Even if the feelings aren’t reciprocated.”
Oh. Well. He hadn’t thought of it like that.
“Booo!” Arthur jeered, cupping his hands around his mouth like a dissatisfied fan. “Boring! He needs to sweep her off her feet. A grand gesture. Something she can’t say no to.”
Diana rolled her eyes. “You can’t force love.”
“He won’t get anywhere with just ‘honesty’...” the Atlantean claimed. He began rubbing his hands together like a villain gearing up to reveal their master plan. “So here’s what you do-”
Billy cut him off with a mumble. “I kind of like Diana’s idea.”
“Seriously?” Hal said in disbelief. “No romantic dinners? No candles and chocolates?”
“Well, a nice bouquet wouldn’t hurt.” Diana remarked, smiling just the tiniest bit.
Billy huffed out a small laugh. He used his powers to levitate the pencil he was holding earlier, outlining the image of a rose. “I don’t think they’re much into flowers.”
Clark suddenly tilted his head, glancing at Captain Marvel in confusion. Quietly he mumbled under his breath, “They...”
Cap’s eyes widened in alarm, seeing the dawning realisation. Bruce, who was seated directly to the Man of Steel’s right, shot a meaningful look in Cap’s direction. A general “your move” type of challenge.
“UHM. Well I think it’s time for me to go. This has been fun.” Cap announced, clapping his hands to signal the end of the conversation.
There were sounds of disappointment and protest amongst the table.
Billy felt his heart pounding in his chest as he got ready to speed off. “Anyways gotta go bye!” He called out. In a blur of white light and with a crack of lightning, he was gone.
The meeting room went silent, the members who had stood up knocked down into their seats by the gust of wind Marvel left in his wake.
Hal kicked his feet up onto the table, swiveling his chair. “That was eventful.”
“Indeed.”
“That’s probably the most he’s ever talked about his personal life.”
“And about a crush no less.” Victor added, shaking his head.
“It is nice to know he’s at least a little normal.” Barry spoke up. “Not just ‘ooo magic spells’ and getting kittens out of trees.” He mimed, changing his voice to sound spookier and waving his hands in a poor imitation of Cap’s spell casting.
“What do you think, Bruce?” Clark mused, turning to his friend for his opinion. He knew since the beginning of the conversation that the detective would be interested in whatever the hero the magical hero had to say. Some might call his interest a mild hyperfixation, to say the least.
“I think his personal life is none of our concern.” Batman grumbled, standing swiftly and collecting his things. The team glanced at each other in surprise.
“Sureee.” Hal drawled. “You totally aren’t going to use this info to track down his civilian identity. Or his little girlfriend.”
As he made for the exit, Batman paused. He turned around. “Actually, no.”
Some simple deductions told him there was no girlfriend to find, but the League didn’t have to know that.
-------
It was February 14th, a few days after his last visit to the WatchTower, and Billy Batson stood outside his own foster home. Everyone else had vacated the house earlier that morning, for some reason or another. The Vasquez’s were starting their morning shifts while most of his foster siblings were either with friends or at school clubs.
After they had left Billy had hastily climbed down the fire escape through his window, only to walk around to the front door.
Billy ran a hand through his hair and adjusted the awkward collar of his one good button up shirt. This is so stupid. He thought as he rang the doorbell. Just as he almost convinced himself to run away and forget this ever happened, Freddy pulled open the door.
“Oh there you are I was looking everywhere for y- wait. Are those roses??”