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Tim Drake can't remember the last time he saw Richard John Grayson-Wayne and William Thomas Wayne-Batson in the same room for more than 30, maybe 40 minutes, without a heated and volatile argument developing between the first Robin and the Champion of Magic.
Which is very funny, because, as unbelievable as it may seem, when the two are forced to exchange words on the rare occasion that the entire family, without exception, is present, neither of them gets angry easily. In fact, it's even difficult, on a certain level, to truly upset either of them. There was a time when Tim was partially convinced that it was kind of impossible to make Billy, with his bright, happy blue eyes, probably without a single bad bone in his entire body, a heart so pure that he became the champion of magic Batson, get angry (Tim tried for a long time to make him angry enough to try to take the mantle. Billy was the only Wayne child to never have been Robin, never wore the characteristic red and yellow of Robin, but Tim soon discovered that he wore a different pair of reds and yellows). But if you put him together with Dick, with a smile so bright that the sun has to look away, Grayson, surprisingly, you would be putting two nuclear bombs together with a 30-minute timer attached to them.
The first time Tim saw these two fighting was so shocking that he almost thought he had stumbled into an alternate universe by complete accident. But Tim had to admit he was naive; seven months into being Robin, and at no point when he was with Dick or Billy (never together, always separated in different houses or even completely different cities) did the two even mention each other. The older Waynes avoided any conversation about the other as if the mere notion of remembering their supposed ugh… family relationship gave them such a shock that they might even fall out of their respective seats (which is unusual since Billy gets shocked every single day, it's kind of his job).
But here's the catch: to the public, the older Waynes, Dick Grayson, and Billy Batson were the best of brothers. There were friendly smiles and tweets joking with each other, and interviews together with their father where they joked and pretended that behind closed doors Billy hadn't once screamed so ferociously ("You never mean anything, do you, Grayson?!") at Dick that the mansion windows cracked, and even that didn't really stop them from fighting, and eventually the two said such hateful things to each other that even Alfred, good, calm, patient Alfred, almost cried from frustration.
Billy, despite all his superhuman power, never physically harmed Dick, and Dick, despite his superior combat training, never attacked Billy, which is impressive considering the things they say to each other on the few occasions they are left to interact.
Tim once asked if they ever truly got along, off-camera and away from prying eyes, and to the absolute surprise of the third Robin, the answer was yes. Bruce seemed tired when he answered, only about four months after Tim had forced his way in as Robin (with the subtle suggestion of Dick and Billy's expressive displeasure with this new arrangement.
“Dickhead can be… intense when it comes to Robin,” he had said, while braiding his long black hair into two equal braids. “And… have you seen how Bruce is? Do you really think this is a good idea?”
“Gotham needs Batman.”
The blood son's eyes widen slightly before he gives him a gentle, but sad smile, very similar to Bruce's, the boy notices, even in the dimples beside his cheeks.
“I know that,” he sighs. That's when he throws a small stone, almost too normal for the champion of magic to be holding around. “Keep this.”
Tim examines the stone, turning it and playing with it in his hand.
“What is this?”
“It's a key, it will take you back to the Rock of Eternity whenever you want.”
“Why would you give me this?”
“For my peace of mind.” Billy eventually says, his tone a bit too harsh if Tim's one to talk, "If B says anything or if Dick hurts you, you can stay there as long as you want.”
“Isn't it like a connection between worlds with magic? Why would you give me this?”
“Humor me, Tim, and keep it.”)
Billy was one of the only people he didn't ask (too much) about being Robin, having discovered that he was already busy with Fawcett and the responsibilities of taking care of magic and all its secrets and complications, and although Billy didn't leave the mansion fighting with Bruce, he left that place yelling at Dick. Tim doesn't know, he doesn't understand how and where their relationship started to go so wrong, especially because he finds photo after photo, evidence after evidence that Billy Batson and Dick Grayson once loved each other like brothers, always glued to each other, Dick always holding hands with his younger brother and Billy always looking at Dick as if he had hung the stars.
Tim doesn't understand, can't understand, can't form words into an understandable and true format where everything went so, so wrong between two people who one day would have shot God for the other. Especially because deep down, Tim always wanted a brother, a confidant, someone who would always hold his hand, because there was a time, Tim realizes, that Dick promised Billy he would hold his hand and never let go, and he can't understand what made him let go.
Freddy Freeman is an intelligent man, but a little naive, and also Billy Batson's best friend. He's loud and energetic, but at the same time has a strong and radical temper hidden behind that lightheartedness. Tim only needs to mention Dick once for a sour expression to develop on the older man's face. Interestingly, it's not the "I hate this guy, why did you come to talk to me about him?" kind of sourness, but rather the "look, do you really want to talk about this guy with me?" kind.
“Were they always…you know…” Tim asks, and Freddy gives a wry smile, shifting his position so he puts less weight on his bad leg.
“Are you kidding? They were practically joined at the hip once.” Freddy gives a funny look, as if the question was stupid to anyone even slightly acquainted with one of the Wayne brothers. “Wherever Dick went, you could bet there’d be a little boy in a red sweater right behind him.”
“When did it stop being like that, then?” Freddy looks to the side, his hands gripping his pants as he stares at the ground, as if considering whether it was a good idea to give this information to Robin 3. He eventually sighs, his head drooping as he closes his eyes and decides that, well, it can't get any worse than it already is.
“When Robin 2 arrived.”
Look, it's not like Tim didn't know that Jason's arrival at the mansion and his eventual career as Robin hadn't started somewhat rocky and dangerous when it came to the approval (or perhaps lack thereof) from the first Robin and Bruce Wayne's blatant hypocrisy when it came to children fighting crime. From what Tim managed to gather from Freddy and from what he already knew due to his extracurricular activities with a camera and a lot of observation, when Jason arrived at the mansion, Dick had already left, but Billy hadn't.
And not for lack of trying on the part of the big red cheese, Billy was organizing a nice apartment in Fawcett for himself to live in (against Bruce's wishes, it's worth adding), but due to a terrifying encounter with Doctor Sivana (the Lex Luthor of that city, Tim likes to think of him), Billy came out injured, voiceless, but victorious. Bruce, with his great range of stubbornness (which both of his sons inherited), managed to keep Billy confined to the house until, at least, his voice fully returned, leaving the care of Fawcett in Freddy's hands for a few months.
This gave Jason and Billy plenty of time to really get to know each other. Street kid to street kid communication. Billy knew the best places to hide food, the best places to hide when scared, the best way to rearrange the bed so it wasn't so soft, the blind spots of the cameras, the passwords to Alfred's weapons lockers (strictly located in his room), how to get in and out of the mansion unnoticed, how to arrange a bed to make it look like you were sleeping in it when you had actually gone out for a smoke a few hours earlier.
Billy understood Jason in a way that Dick never would; Jason understood Billy in a way that Dick never would. The fears, insecurities, desires, and anxieties that come from living on the streets and never knowing if tomorrow you'll be able to have a full meal, if the abandoned apartment you live in won't flood in the approaching storm, if some new drug dealer won't set up a selling point near your home, or if this year you'll have enough blankets to keep from freezing to death.
The difference is that Billy's magic would never let him die, but Jason's humanity would (and already has. Jason died in that explosion, Billy wouldn't have, either, because he would yell Shazam very loudly and escape into his father's arms, or because his magic, unconsciously, always unconsciously would turn the Joker's crowbar into plastic and his bomb into a fake. The universe would protect Billy Batson from everything and any physical harm, but it would also sacrifice Jason without a second thought.)
Jason Todd was Billy Batson's younger brother, and Dick Grayson arrives at the mansion with fire in his eyes when he discovers that Bruce gave Robin to Jason and Billy allowed it.
Billy allowed it.
Billy attends the funeral, and Dick Grayson's phone has around 37 missed audio calls and unanswered voicemails. All of them involve some kind of desperate voice and aggressive crying. Dick only listened to them a week after his arrival on Earth. Jason was dead, and Billy had disappeared on a diplomatic mission to some other dimension.
Dick Grayson arrives late and alone at the younger Wayne's grave and cries when he finds Bruce standing there, but not Billy. Billy never visits the grave.
(Not his, not Mary's, not Uncle Dudley's, never, never, never, never)
Tim notices that Billy Batson hides a million things behind well-chosen words, exaggerated expressions, and a lot, a lot of rambling. It's his defense mechanism, Robin III realizes; if he never admits a weakness, then he doesn't have one.
Where Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson shatter at the sight of a dead Jason Todd (gentle, affectionate, little soldier), Billy Batson clings to his cracks and refuses to let the pieces fall to the ground like ordinary glass, and the more cracks appear, the more he hides them and pretends they don't exist, the more he clings to himself and retreats into self-imposed solitude, the sharp edges of the cracks scratching the sensitive skin of anyone who dares to touch them.
“He’s always been like that,” Freddy had said. “It’s always a victory to wring even a meager confession of sadness out of him.”
The first time Tim startled him as Robin, Billy hugged him so tightly, his hands trembling, that Tim was afraid he had actually been hurt and hadn't realized it. The next instant, Billy let go of him, his hands stopped trembling, and he gave a happy smile, his long, disheveled hair magically falling back into place, before he disappeared with a little wave.
It was almost chilling, Tim realized, how quickly Billy recovered, how quickly he let go and moved on as if nothing had happened, hiding all his conflicting emotions the moment he realized they were being shown too much, that he was too vulnerable. Billy is like Bruce, but where the Dark Knight puts on a mask of serious neutrality, preventing anyone from reading his emotions, The Champion of Magic smiles and hides his weaknesses behind an emotion stronger than sadness, happiness.
Over the years, the more Robin Tim becomes, the more often Billy appears at the mansion, obviously while Dick Grayson is conveniently absent and he can sit at the kitchen counter without the gymnast showing up and ruining any conversation Billy was having with Alfred with an overly serious face and a "hi, William" without any intonation of happiness, causing Billy to either a) Start yelling at him or b) "Well Alfred, I think it's time for me to go!"
It's an illusion of choice; both options result in yelling.
The impossible happens just a few months later. Billy was off-planet, dealing with matters with Superman and the Martian Manhunter, when Jason Peter Todd slits the throat of Billy Batson's youngest brother and leaves him to die in one of the only places where Robin felt safe enough. He feels his blood gushing from his neck, his vision blurring, and his limbs going numb, and all he can think about is how Bruce will definitely lose himself in his grief, how Dick will never again refer a word towards his brother or father, how new cracks will appear in Billy Batson's so well-constructed image of happiness.
How it will be yet another grave that Billy will never get close to visiting, because if he doesn't show weakness, he doesn't have it, and Captain Marvel can't, will never be weak, but Tim wanted, just this once, just this one time, that he would be special enough for the Most Powerful Mortal on Earth to remember to water one or two flowers in his name as he always did for Jason. Maybe his death will even make him talk to Dick again, or maybe it will only worsen the shitty relationship they have.
The blood is red as it spreads on the ground, his eyes blue as they lose their shine, and the Rock of Eternity forces the universe not to sacrifice another little bird.
When he wakes up, it's Dick Grayson beside him, holding his hand, a gentle smile, while Bruce is behind him, a solitary hand on his shoulder as the light blue eyes become kind (yes, Tim thinks, just like Billy's). Tim kind of misses him, the stone clutched around his neck.
"How do you feel?" Dick asks, his voice soft.
"In pain."
Dick laughs, and it sounds so much like his brother's that Tim almost feels nostalgic. He wanted them to get along so much, so, so much.
He wonders if Jason also felt like this.
It's two against one this time. Tim realizes Bruce has joined the shouting, but consequently, it doesn't last long.
"You knew and didn't say anything!?"
"I don't know what I was thinking..."
Tim falls asleep before finding out what they were talking about.
This time, Billy is there, his long black hair, his hands trembling.
“I don’t like it when you guys fight.”
“I don’t like fighting either.”
“Then why do you keep doing it?”
If Tim looked closer, he would see tears (Billy cries at anything: a cute movie, a cute animal, a hug from Bruce, Alfred’s food, a gift from Freddy, but he never cries in serious situations; he didn’t cry when he told Tim about a dead twin sister).
“I don’t know, it’s like… It’s like the anger takes over me and…” Billy doesn’t continue, his head lowers, his hand stops trembling, his hair remains disheveled, and his black fingernails tap rhythmically on the metal of the hospital bed. “Go back to sleep, Tim.”
Billy isn’t there when he wakes up.
Bruce wanted things to be easier between his older sons.
He remembers a time when it was impossible to get the older Wayne to let go of his brand-new younger brother's hand. Dick looked at little Billy as if he were the most important person in the whole world, and Billy looked at Dick as if he had hung the stars. Their hands were always intertwined, one beside the other.
Then Dick leaves, and Jason enters the scene.
Billy developed a relationship with the younger one, aggressively defending him when Dick got so angry with Bruce that he took out his anger on his younger brother because of Robin. Billy knew what it meant, but he also knew what he meant to Jason. Bruce's first mistake was there.
Robin is given to Jason without Dick knowing, and Billy lets it happen, not yelling at Bruce in defense of his older brother. He faithfully believes that Dick would understand. Billy always had it in his head, Bruce realizes, that his older brother was invincible and undeniably good.
Dick would understand, Billy thought. He's that good.
Dick yelled, and Billy yelled back, and Jason covered his ears while Bruce took him to the rooms upstairs.
“I don’t want Robin if he makes them fight,” Jason’s eyes welled up with tears, his hands trembling around his ears as Bruce listened to his sons yell in defense of the little boy who was up here, who didn’t want to be defended like that. “You can keep him.”
Bruce holds him closer and lets the two of them vent their anger at each other while he carries Jason away, directly into Alfred's care, before going back down to stop the fight.
Dick storms out the front door of the mansion a few hours later. Billy's voice is hoarse from yelling so much again, his hand on his throat when he realizes he's lost his voice because of his own stupidity. When Bruce eventually leaves him alone in the cave to look for Jason, Billy cries.
“I didn’t mean to fight…” he says.
Jason dies a few years later, when he was starting to have a real relationship with Dick, and Billy was about to start medical school. It almost worked out, Billy almost started talking to Dick again, and Dick almost started looking Billy in the eyes again.
It took about nine years or so before Billy and Dick could be in the same room without a fight breaking out. Damian forced them to go together to see Tawky Tawny, Billy's tiger. While Damian petted the tiger, Tim glanced sideways at the two of them sitting side by side.
Billy says something, and Dick stifles a laugh. Behind Tim, Jason looks on with slightly wide green eyes, and Tim thinks he might look the same. Damian smiles wryly as he hugs the tiger.
Yeah, Tim thinks, they'll be alright.