A Natural Progression | Shazam

Chapter 16

The 10-year-old blacked out on the floor, blood dripping onto the light-colored carpet.

- - -

"Honestly, I didn't think you'd ripped them this bad, kid," a voice pulled Billy from the throws of darkness, guiding him back into the world of the living. His body was aching, a dull buzz in his head that made him want to stay as still as possible. 

There was a dull pain in his side and distinct, rhythmic pulling that made him finally open his eyes slowly.

The room he was in was bright- too bright. He shut his eyes against it with a wince, and the light tugging at his side stopped. "Welcome back," the voice said casually before the tugging started back up again. It belonged to a man, by the pitch, but a young one.

"You're lucky I'm good at sewing. This could've resulted in a pretty nasty scar with how loose you managed to get these things," the voice continued. Billy attempted to move his arm up to his head, only to be stopped by a sharp pain in the crook of his elbow. 

"I wouldn't if I were you. You lost too much blood and the IV's the only thing keeping you conscious," the man said conversationally as if he knew Billy immediately thought of pulling whatever was in his arm out.

"There," the voice said as the sound of scissors cutting thread echoed through the room. Billy laid his head back down on the pillow. Where was he? Who was this guy? Was this the guy that he'd seen coming out of his vent before he passed out? Was he even still inside the manor?

"You're heartrate's spiking. Try and calm down, kid."

The man came around to his side and the distinct sound of a keyboard could be heard beside him. "W-who..." Billy breathed, opening his eyes the smallest amount in an attempt to get a look at whoever had just saved him from bleeding out in his bedroom.

He wasn't expecting a teenager to be beside him, standing in front of a monitor with fingers flying across the keyboard like he'd seen only Batman do. 

He was thin- well, thinner than Jason or Dick, but had lean muscles to him that fit someone doing gymnastics or parkour. His hair was black and he was wearing a dark grey suit- well, minus the suit jacket that is. The teenager, who was probably 16 if Billy had to guess, glanced at him.

"The name's Tim. We met your first day here," he said before turning his attention back towards the screen.

Wait, this was that one guy that had vanished after he met him. Mr. Wayne had said something about him being absorbed in his studies, which explained some of him not being around, but that didn't explain everything that just happened. Was he studying to be a nurse or something? Maybe with Jason being a vigilante, he learned how to stitch people up just in case.

Billy just hoped he wasn't a criminal in disguise.

The 10-year-old winced as he attempted to sit up, and Tim helped him sit with his back against the pillow. "Where...where are we?" he asked, looking around the room. It looked almost exactly like a hospital room, though the bed was much comfier and the room didn't stink of a sterilizer.

"One of the medical rooms in the manor. You know about Jason's activities- we had to have something in place to patch him up if he got too hurt," Tim explained, never looking up from the monitor.

Well, that explained some of the accents that screamed 'Alfred'.

"So..." Tim said, gaining the boy's attention once more as the teenager finally paused in his typing to look Billy in the eyes. "Captain Marvel, huh?"