MOMENTS | Shazam One-Shots

Brothers

Freddy Freeman loved his new brother, and that was a fact.
__________

He loved eating lunch with him, talking about his most recent superhero endeavor. He loved watching Doctor Who with him and debating which companion was the best. He loved racing him while they were their alter egos. He loved teasing Mary with him. He loved their whisper conversations in the dead of night when everyone else was asleep. He loved making videos of him and uploading it to Youtube. He loved talking to him. He loved it when he was able to get Superman, THE Superman, to come to eat lunch with them in front of the whole school.

________________

And it was GREAT being able to go be a superhero with Billy.

________________

Hell, when they first started out it was the most fun Freddy had ever had in his life. Chasing down bad guys, getting rich and famous, being a part of an origin story, getting a lair. It was fucking AWESOME.

But above it all, he loved having a brother.

...

...

Which is why Freddy couldn't bear the thought of being responsible for Billy getting hurt.

_________________

That fateful day when he had led Sivana to his own home, where all of his siblings sat, was one of the worst days of his entire existence! Just knowing that behind those doors were his brothers and sisters, so vulnerable and unknowing of the danger to come had formed a rock in his stomach. Then when he thought about how if Billy got hurt...it would be because of him.

It would be his fault.

And Freddy hated himself for it. He had been so weak at that moment and because of that weakness, did his best friend get hurt.

The fear that clutched his heart that night stayed with him for weeks after it had happened. And there were more nights on end when he would have nightmares of Sivana doing even worse to Billy than what really happened.

He had a nightmare one night where Billy had actually drowned and he couldn't do anything to help him except freeze and watch.

There was one time where the Batarang had missed and it hit Billy instead, and he watched in horror as Sivana took the prototype and stabbed it into his sibling's chest.

Another time he dreamt that the Shazam spell didn't work, or he didn't say it in time, and Billy was dragged across the ground by the Sins into darkness, desperately screaming to Freddy for help.

And each time Billy would cry out to Freddy to either save him or run away.

Those were the nights where Freddy woke up in cold sweat. Shivering and unable to go back to sleep, the blankets offering little to no comfort and warmth for the boy. The images had been burned into his mind and they refused to fade away like dreams normally do.

So the boy vowed to himself that he would never be that weak again. Nor be the cause of any of Billy's pain.

Which is why one night, after everyone had gone to bed and there wasn't a peep in the house, and when the only source of light was the orange street lamp peeking through the curtains, did Freddy have another nightmare.

It was dark.

And it was cold.

And he was scared.