Heroic Cognizance | Shazam

Chapter 6

Freddy rolled his eyes, hobbling alongside the raven. "You're gonna get us arrested one day."

- - -

"Somebody please tell me that at the ripe old age of nine, Cap was not taking care of two children, along with himself, all while being homeless. Someone tell me that right now." Hal said, running hands through his hair in desperation. 

"What the hell was this kid thinking!?"

"He was thinking based off past experiences," Batman said firmly. "Captain Marvel obviously went through a rough time while in foster care- aa hard enough time that he ran away by the looks of it. 

In his mind, at least at the time, the best way to keep both of these kids safe was to keep them out of the hands of any adults at all-- even if that meant they had to look out for each other, by the looks of it."

"This doesn't make any sense. How has no one noticed that these guys aren't in school? No one asks them where their parents are or anything." Superman said, shaking his head.

"That's Fawcett for ya..." Zatanna said offhandedly as another scene materialized around them.

Billy and Freddy sat on the old mattress in the office with their backs against the wall. They had more blankets added to their pile, along with another, much smaller stained mattress pushed up against the slightly bigger one. 

The boys were watching Darla with confusion as she paraded back and forth in mismatched heels, one of which had a broken heel, a long purple feather boa that was missing quite a few feathers, and a dress much too big for the 6-year-old with a slash in the side.

The little girl posed, and the boys shared a look before clapping nervously. "I don't get it," Freddy said, tilting his head slightly. 

"So you just walk around and pose, and people throw money at you or something?"

Darla shrugged, hopping out of the heels and letting the large dress pool at her feet. She had some old overalls on underneath, with a sweater covering her arms and kept the feather boa on as she clambered onto the mattress with the boys. 

"I dunno. I just remember my mama sayin' she was gonna be a model, and that that's what models did."

Billy pulled her into his lap, smirking at Freddy. "Well, I think you'd make an awesome model, Darls. Even if it doesn't make any sense."

"Freddy wants to be a superhero when he grows up, so he can't judge."

"Hey!"

"What! It's true!"

"Yea and it was a secret you fish sucker!"