Chapter Text
Gods how did Billy let this happen? He felt too stupid for his own good. Not only had he put himself in harm's way but Robin as well. It was supposed to be a simple mission.
Billy had never been in Gotham. It was no surprise though, Batman tried to keep other League members out of it as much as possible. But the big guy had needed Captain Marvel’s help fighting off a magical enemy– one he wasn't equipped for, so reluctantly Batman had asked Marvel for his help. The magician was powerful, sure but nothing the Captain shouldn't be able to handle. Should being the key word there.
It was Billy's fault honestly. He'd slipped up, made a mistake. He was too slow. Honestly he should've seen it coming and been able to prevent it but no matter how many powers of Gods he had the undeniable truth was that he was still a lousy kid. Him, Batman, and Robin had all been fighting off the magician as well as they could. Though it wasn't that great. Using physical attacks against a magic user was far from simple. Batman and Robin were communicating attacks through their comms– and yeah that absolutely made Billy feel left out but that's not the point. Suddenly a smile crept onto the face of the villain. Shit. That was never a good sign when dealing with an enemy.
“Well, well, well… fighting beside someone you don't even know the name of. And here I thought you were supposed to be the world’s greatest detective.” Oh for fuck’s sake. Was this guy seriously using a mind reading spell on Batman? That couldn't be good. That guy knew too much for his own damn good. Although it was a little comforting to Billy that he'd hid his identity so well not even the great Batman could find it. Though the magic of this adult form was probably truly to thank. Billy would still take the credit though.
Marvel glanced at the other two and noticed the way Robin seemed to slow and was confused for a second. Did he not know Batman had no clue of his identity? Billy had always assumed the dynamic duo told each other literally everything. Clearly not. Maybe Robin had never asked– to be honest Billy was sure Batman knew quite literally every other Justice Leaguer's identity. It was only fair to assume he knew of the Captain’s as well.
Now all three were unfocused and that's exactly what the magic user had been planning. They fell right into his hand. Shit.
“Oh what a pity. Maybe this will help you get more acquainted.” He threw out a spell and it rammed straight into Billy and Robin. The two hit the ground in an instant and both passed out in a heap. Without another word the magician disappeared using a spell Batman had never heard before.
Batman cursed under his breath and sighed as he knelt beside the passed-out heroes. Neither seemed physically harmed nor distressed. That was either a great sign or perhaps really awful. There was no telling till the two awoke– which would hopefully be soon.
Bruce carried– or dragged in the case of Captain Marvel– them to the Batmobile before speeding back to the Cave. He hoped the heroes were okay. He couldn't live with himself if either were hurt. Damian was just a kid and with how childish the Captain could act at times he was a little bit of one as well.
When Billy woke his head was spinning. The world was hazy and– fuck, his side throbbed in immense pain. Pain he shouldn't be able to feel as Captain Marvel. Oh Gods– did he detransform in his sleep somehow? Could he even do that? His head swam with questions. He heard voices from the other side of the room. They talked in hushed but intense voices. He tried to sit up in an attempt to hear what they were talking about but Gods his body felt sore. Once again he should not be able to feel this way as Captain Marvel but for the life of him he couldn’t figure out how he would've detransformed while passed out.
He opened his eyes hesitantly and looked down at his hands and– holy shit. Those weren't his hands. Weren't even Captain Marvel’s hands. They were– “Robin please try to keep calm.” He heard the strained voice of Batman speak to Robin. Oh shit this was bad.
“Calm down? Are you serious? I have been forced to magically switch bodies with another. And you are suggesting I calm down?” Great so they had been bodyswapped. Wonderful.
Billy tried to stand up but nope– his legs were wobbly and bruised. “Oh shit. Ow.” Billy was no stranger to pain, especially from fights but he never been in a fight as himself that was anywhere near as intense as the fights heroes got into. Overall he felt fairly fine though. Physically at least. Batman and Robin both snapped their attention to him and Batman helped him stand better.
Batman glanced at him strangely as he muttered another curse under his breath over his bruised ribs. Oh right, he never cussed as the Captain. It was gonna be harder to not slip up without the help of Solomon and his wisdom. “Sorry I'm just… sore.” Batman nodded. He probably assumed Marvel wasn't used to a regular mortal body.
“This is very strange.” Robin said in a clipped and strained voice. Billy had to bite his tongue to keep himself from commenting ‘No shit Sherlock’. Robin continued his minor rant, “I hate magic. And I hate this. How do we fix this?” He glared at Captain Marvel as if it was his fault the magician decided to swap their bodies. Billy wanted to bite back at him with a retort so badly but no, he had to keep his head upon his shoulders and stay calm. Even if this was the freakiest thing that had ever happened to him.
“I've certainly never encountered this kind of magic before and in this state I really don't know what to do. I think we should see what Zatanna thinks.” Batman nodded in agreement and so did Robin. Great, they were all on the same page.
Damian sat on one end of the batcave and anxiously waited for Zatanna to arrive and… assess their situation. God, he felt so uncomfortable and odd in a body that was not his own. Though he tried to act brave and unnervous he was certainly a tad fearful. How permanent was this spell? Would Zatanna be able to reverse it? Yes. She would. Damian had great faith in her abilities.
Damian's head snapped up as Zatanna stepped through a magical portal in the center of the cave. She looked over at Damian and then at Captain Marvel who was sitting a bit away. “I was informed by Batman about your… situation shall we call it? While I've never personally dealt with this before I've done my research and believe I understand it now.” That sounded like good news but Damian was ever the pessimist and scanned her body language to notice it didn't quite seem as real veal as it should be. “The good news is that it isn't permanent but the bad news is that well… it will last 3 days give or take.”
‘Wonderful. Three days of being in a body that isn't my own’ Damian thought to himself. “Could you not reverse it on your own sooner?” She shook her head. God dammit.
“I fear I cannot without consequences. It is only three days I'm sure you two can deal in the meantime. But for now I must go. I'll check in with you two tomorrow, alright?” And with that she was gone.
This was awful. Just downright awful. It wasn’t as if Damian despised the Captain but he was certainly wary of him. He was elusive and quite a mystery, even to Batman. Besides what he had about him from others and what he'd experienced first hand the Captain was not the kind of person he liked to be around. Not that many were but Marvel certainly least of all. Captain Marvel was childish, confusing, magical, and all kinds of repulsively upbeat. Besides, he didn't even know the man very well. This could very well be the worst three days of his life.
Billy sat awkwardly in the Watchtower's cafeteria. Robin sat beside him as they waited for the Leaguers to finish their meeting regarding his and Robin's bodyswap. Billy still didn't know how to feel all this. He figured it was probably worse on Robin considering he now had the body of a 30 something year old man. Although since no one knew Billy’s identity they'd probably figure he had it worse by being ‘back’ to being a kid.
The Justice League meeting wrapped up and out stepped the members. All looked varying degrees of concern as their eyes landed on Billy and Robin. In particular a lot of them were giving Robin these pathetic sympathetic looks. Gods he knew that specific look too fucking well. The one adults used far too often when they learned of his history. He subtly rolled his eyes and glanced at Robin. Shit– the boy seemed to notice his look. It's fine, he wouldn't know what it was about.
“How are you two holding up? I know this is certainly not ideal.” Wonder Woman looked at the two with deep concern. ‘Not ideal’? That was putting it lightly. His entire secret identity could be on the line for fuck’s sake. Oh Gods. A wave of anxious nausea washed over him as he thought of that. His regular body was already in a shitty position as it was considering he was homeless (technically he lived in an abandoned building but that's besides the point) and if it went three more days without detransforming well… he could only imagine how awful the consequences would be. But he really didn't want to expose his secret identity to anyone, let alone Robin. The guy would probably tell Batman and then he would be really screwed. But if he didn't he could die. Billy's starting to get why everyone really hates magic so much.