Like a Falling Star WHO: Billy Batson and Cassie Sandsmark WHAT: Billy comes back from canon, and needs a hand. WHEN: Today WHY?: Because canon is mean WARNINGS: comic book violence STATUS: Closed and Ongoing Combo post
Billy was falling. Unconscious, bleeding from a slash across his chest, his shirt torn and showing the wound caused by the Spectre. The wound where his magic had been drained out of him, and now bleeding his life’s blood as he fell. He had battle against the maddened being, throwing his all too mortal frame against the immortal for the sake of all humanity, all of life itself. He fought, and he cried, as he fell. And in his arms, he clutched the Helmet of Fate, the now dead Lord of Order having been slain by the Spectre in those final moments.
With a sudden shock and booming sound, the air parted and Billy appeared just inside the highest point of the dome, lacking hope, mortally wounded, and hurling Earthward without anything stopping him. Air swirled around him, the ground coming ever closer, and fingers clutching desperately, unconsciously, at the Helmet. Billy’s consciousness flickered not at all, and it left him cold, hair blowing in the wind.
***
The sound was loud enough to alert anyone and certainly enough for Cassie to hear. Dropping whatever she had in her hands and ignoring anything else around her, she took off toward the fast-moving object. It was instinct that kicked in. Either someone was in danger or someone was going to get hurt by whatever it was falling from the dome. There was the danger that it could be something from the dome itself, but Cassie tended to jump first and consider the options later.
The closer she got the more she could make out what it was; who it was. Her eyes widened and Cassie pushed herself to fly faster. She would never reach the speed she had while working with Barry, but she would try.
Dipping down and flying up, Cassie reached out her arms as she caught her friend. Despite her own momentum, she was still pulled down a bit from the speed at which Billy had been falling. Hovering feet above the ground, Cassie held tightly to Billy as everything caught up around her.
“Billy! Billy, can you hear me?” She wasn’t sure and Cassie wasn’t sure how bad his wound was. It looked deep and she needed to get him somewhere to be treated.
***
Billy, caught by her, grunted unconsciously, and sagged in her arms. Her warmth, and the stop of his falling, slowly began to rouse him and he stirred in her arms, the tear in his shirt gaping to show his chest wound which was still bleeding quite a lot.
His eyes flickered open and he looked up, at her, confused, eyes a little cloudy from the shocks he had been through. Unclear on who she was, Billy groaned and feebly tried to reach up to her arm.
“Spectre… took it all, even…. Even Fate. Magic’s primal, or…. Or gone… No more captain...” and his words trailed off as he slumped back in her arms.
He needed treatment, but thankfully, his wound had missed the organs, and was mostly a lot of blood vessels having been cut, and him being beaten nearly to a pulp by the Spectre in his madness.
One hand still clutched the Helmet, it’s eye sockets gleaming an odd yellow as he did so.
***
“Billy! Crap! Crap, crap, crap. Okay. Okay. I got this.” Stripping her hoodie off, Cassie could handle the chilly weather for a bit. She would for her friend. He needed it more than she did. Wrapping it around Billy and securing it tightly with the sleeves, she needed to get him to the clinic. She needed to call people. Cassie needed three more of her.
“I don’t know who those people are or what, but if Cap is gone? We can fix that! I’m sure of it.” She hoped they could.
The helmet caught her attention again with the glow that it seemed to cause in Billy’s eyes. Cassie made a face and reached for it unsure of what it did or if it was hurting him. Maybe Diana or Bruce knew what it was. She’d get in touch with Constantine and Zatanna, too. Anyone who could do something or help.
But first, she’d get Billy to the clinic.
“Hang on. I don’t think this will take long.”
***
Billy groaned as she wrapped him in the coat, and he curled against her, and around the Helmet. His eyes flickered open to look up at her and a small smile crossed his face. “Know. Can trust Cassie. Cassie is cool and cute.” His other hand patted her belly below her chestline, then he was out again. He looked, in this light, a touch older, just a little, with lines of worry, and of laughter, set in his face. No real sign that he had been gone two years, though. None at all.
The clinic would have his medical records, and his bloodtype set up. They would be ready to treat him, and get him stabilized, quickly. And a little later, he would wake, and smile, then gasp and shoot up to a sitting position, looking every which way. “Where?”
***
She made haste to the clinic. It was the fastest she had flown on her own. Of course, after handing him off to the medical staff, Cassie stayed. There was pacing, impatient questions, and more pacing. Cassie didn’t like waiting, though. She never had and it was likely that she never would.
Allowed to wait with him once he was stabilized, though, Cassie was on her feet the second Billy had woken up. “Hey! You’re awake! But lay still. Don’t try and move, okay? You’re at the clinic. In Madison. You remember this place, right?”
***
Billy woke suddenly, groaning, and eyes going wide as he sat up, and the sight of her reassured him, and he shivered, gently reaching for her hand as he sat back, eyes skimming the room. Spotting the Helmet of Fate nearby, he relaxed and frowned, both.
“Damn. It was real.” He glanced at Cassie, pale, and sighed. “I remember Madison. From several years ago. It’s like a dream, but the details are coming back fast.” he relaxed slowly, more, eyes holding a haunted, but relieved, look.
“I am very, very, happy to be here. Very.” he swallowed.
“How long have I been gone?”
***
Pulling a chair over, Cassie took hold of his hand with a smile. “A few days? Five, I think?” She paused, giving his hand a pat. “At least you’re back in time for your birthday?” That was something, right? It was not the best way to spend it if he needed to stay in the clinic, but at least he was okay now. Okay as he could be.
“What happened, Billy? I mean, what’s that?” The helmet was definitely a subject for conversation and it had had an odd effect on her friend. Cassie needed to know if it was safe or not. She needed to know if she had to get it to a safe place so that it wouldn’t hurt anyone else.
***
“Only five? Wow!” Billy groaned, trying to think. “Seems like I was gone so much longer in the other world.” he sighed, then smiled to her. “At least there is that. Though most people don’t know, which is good, I guess, since I am stuck in here.”
He swallowed. He felt a lot better, but he was still battered. His bruises were showing up more now, hours old now, the battering he had taken visible across his entire body, including his face and neck.
“I was back home for two years or so, Cassie. And there was upheaval. A lot of battles and a lot of bad things happening. The Spectre, the spirit of God’s vengeance, went mad, affected by a mad magic being named Eclipso. He tried to destroy all magic. And he very nearly did. In the end, it took the sacrifice of the Wizard and of Nabu, the empowering force behind Doctor Fate,to stop him. “
Billy tapped the helmet. “This is the Helmet of Fate which, when it chooses a wielder, will convey the power of Fate on them. In the wrong hands, well..., it won’t work at best, and at worst it will kill the person who tries to use it wrongly.”
He nodded. “I’m its guardian for now. kind of lost my powers in the explosion of the Rock of Eternity.”
***
“So, you’re not Captain anymore? The helmet took it?” It was a lot to take in. A lot that Cassie had never heard, in detail, about when it came to Billy. She was definitely glad things at home were a little more simple.
“That’s not cool if it took everything from you after you saved it!” It was downright rude and Cassie made a face at the very idea. “It’s okay, though. Maybe we can help put everything back together, right? I mean, there are plenty of us here and we’re better when we’re a team.”
Of course she would try and keep the positive outlook on the situation. Cassie was always trying to make sure the silver linings peeked through even the darkest clouds. It was simply who she was and what she did.
***
Billy shook his head. “No, ah, Not the Helmet. The Spectre. He destroyed ordered magic. The Helmet, it used to be inhabited by a Lord of Order named Nabu. He would guide or possess a human and gift them with magic to defend humanity as Doctor Fate. Now there is just some magic in it, nothing else.” The explanation took a lot out of him and he paled some, sagging back a little.
He smiled. “I’m sure someone will put things back together. You’re right. Things are better when teams work together.” He smiled to her, eyes warm. “You are awesome, also, you know that?”
Billy rested, then nodded. “Can you do me a favor, and go to the warehouse? Get my spare keys and phone? I lost mine when i vanished this time. I need to notify some people that I’m back.”