A Natural Progression | Shazam

Chapter 1

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The day should have gone off without a hitch; though, with the kind of people he associated with, Alfred wasn't sure how he'd gotten it into his mind that this day could go right in the slightest. 

Still, the morning had started out hopeful.

It began with a trip to Fawcett City as the request of Bruce that he take some time for himself, so the man went to the sunshine city to catch up with a couple of old friends he hadn't seen since the '70s. He took a drive to the city from Gotham, a simple feat since the towns weren't but a couple of hours apart.

Alfred parked in front of a public park, getting out of the old Bently and glancing around the district he was in. Fawcett City was a deceptively sunny town. 

It had a rustic charm to it that screamed 50's, and was a wonderful place to retire ever since Captain Marvel, the town's resident hero, had shown up to rapidly decrease the crime rate.

Nevertheless, like all cities, it had its problems. Fawcett had the highest homeless population in the country, something you couldn't tell by the fresh paint on various buildings and nice brick houses that lined the streets.

Still, if you could look past that and the occasional crazed maniac that needed a superhero to take it down, it was a lovely town.

Alfred's meet-up had gone smashingly, as the men reminisced about the glory days, caught up with one another and talked about what they were doing nowadays. Alfred mentioned he was still a butler for the Wayne family, surprising one of his colleagues and getting a laugh from another.

They met up in a malt shop that looked like it had been ripped right out of 1950's American suburbia and plopped into the middle of a busy shopping district, but it was a place that felt homey and warm and allowed the men to relax and just have a chat.

All in all, it went off without a hitch.

It wasn't until after Alfred had said goodbye to his colleagues and was leaving the shop that things went wrong.

He was walking down the sidewalk when he heard it- a small, almost non-existent whimper coming from an alleyway. He stopped in his tracks at the sound of it, turning his attention towards the alley and craning his neck to look.

Now, had this been Gotham, the smartest thing would be to move on before you stumbled into something you couldn't get yourself out of, but this was Fawcett. 

Alfred took a step towards the alley, listening closely and hearing a soft, watery wheeze come from further down in the alley.

The elderly man narrowed his eyes, looking around for what could be the source of such a noise in confusion. Another wheeze followed by a soft whimper. 

It reminded him of when Dick had first begun his training so many years ago and would push himself too hard in his training to become the Robin and live up to his caretaker's expectations.

It worried him as he took a step closer to the noise. Alfred paused, listening for the sound again before catching the sight of something moving subtly in the corner of his vision. 

The man walked over to it, peering around the side of a large green dumpster to find a small boy, no older than 10, sitting on the ground and clutching his abdomen. 

This child had to be the source of the sound if the pain in his face and the sweat covering his skin was anything to go by.

The boy glanced up and gasped slightly, wincing in pain as his grip on his gut tightened. "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you," Alfred said, settling down onto his knees.