#shazambillybatson

Billy Batson had been in the middle of stuffing your pillow with a freshly frozen icepack before both of your attentions had been pulled towards your TV, watching in alarm as some beastly creature continued to mutilate downtown Philadelphia. You couldn't quite make out its features, nor what it was exactly the reporter was saying, her newscaster-like tone and the picture on the screen all just a blur to you.

Too ill feeling to put some clarity on it, all you knew was that it was certainly dangerous and was definitely a call for superhero duty. Mildly delirious or not.

"Let me come with you...!" You boasted rather confidently for someone with flem still stuck in your nose, throat, and chest, and your head pounding so hard you regretted the act of shooting up in bed.

"Absolutely not." Billy rejected your demand immediately, turning back just to shake his head at you while you attempted at more protests.

"*cough* - But I can- I could help-"

Your voice strained terribly while more coughs interrupted, proving Billy's unspoken point more than enough. And even then, he'd still use the perfect timing of your sickly hacks to double down on it.

"And that's exactly why you're not coming. You need to rest so you can get better."

"Oh my god, it's just a cough. I'll be okay, I can do this."

Again, you were shot another shake of the head, along with a deadpanned look of disbelief as he made his way closer in order to stop you from pushing your blankets and sheets away.

"You can barely get up fast without feeling dizzy, but you think you can stop that?"

He pointed back at the TV, the monster actively knocking into buildings and wreaking havoc amongst crowds of running citizens.

You nodded as though you were an eager puppy, wide eyes staring back into his along with a lazy smile as if to fake like you were all better.

Unfortunately for you, Billy wasn't buying it.

"Yeah, no, lay down..."

"But-"

"And with luck, we'll have it all handled before dinner. I'll come back to check on you, 'kay?"

He hardly acknowledged your pleas, informing you that with help from his siblings, things would go smoothly. Without you.

Pressing a gentle kiss to your forehead before replacing it with a cool, damp rag, you tried a final attempt at convincing him to let you come along, fight the good fight rather than wallow in bad health.

"Billy..."

The simple call of his name and a pouty look during his urge into laying you down.

Pushing at your shoulders, he succeeded, smiling above you while you gave in to the warmth of your bed once more. He tucked you in and then backed away towards your window, opening it with the intention to jump while you watched, fighting sleep.

"I love you, (Y/N). Rest. Please."

With a pained sigh, both of disappointment and from the literal ache of your body, you did as told and heeded his words.

"Fine. I love you, too."

He smiled, and then, he was gone. A crack of thunder after a loud, "Shazam!!" the last thing you heard before forcing yourself not to worry any longer.

You'd trust your boyfriend and his siblings. Like he said, they'd surely have everything done and cleaned up by the time you finished your nap. No need for your appearance, taking some much needed recovery from the cold that ravaged your normal body.

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

"Look, ma'am, that's real sweet of you, but I-... You should really get outta' here!"

"But if I could just have you answer a few more questions, I mean...! I'm sure the public would love to know!"

"Who are you, Lois Lane? You've gotta be the most persistent reporter ever, lady...!"

It was the muffled shouts of adults that brought you back from your sleep some thirty minutes later. If you could even call it that. It was more like a delirious limbo, a point between consciousness and dreamland, all while a fever brewed and festered regardless of the now warm rag that coated over your forehead.

Hell, your pajamas could easily pass as the small towel on your head, drenched in your sweat while you groaned and pushed yourself up weakly. Your body continued to ache, nose stuffy and running at the same time, and god, did you want nothing more than to drink a gallon of water to soothe your sore throat.

Instead, you forced your eyes to open, squinting at the TV in hopes of gauging the situation that Billy assured you would be solved by now.

"bAcK tO cHecK oN y0u bEfOre dInNeR!" He had said, or something like that, which left you rolling your eyes now in the present. Half an hour later, he and his siblings were still struggling to clear out civilians from the scene! Had they even begun to tackle the beast that still roamed free on top of your beloved city? You figured not, considering you could quite literally feel the ground shaking due to its thunderous steps and loud roars.

You had to go. You couldn't not. It's very obvious they needed your help, at least with crowd control or as distraction, something! Whatever you could do to help, to save lives, you'd be more than happy to do it. Even while sick, even if it meant giving up some of your resting time to help those in need. It was what being a superhero was all about, wasn't it?

All of this power... there was no way you could just sit here and do nothing with it! Besides, it's not like anyone would really even notice that you were sick. Sure, you did get dizzy when you rose from the bed, standing on your own two feet. And yeah, your head pounded, and your nose caused your voice to dawn a nasal tone. But you could still fight, couldn't you?

You had to, with only one way to find out...

You went to your bathroom, scanning your medicine cabinet for the bottle of Cold & Flu medicine, and recklessly drank a few swallows straight from the bottle. You did so in hopes it'd hold you over for the next couple of hours, at the very least, curing your symptoms just enough to where your sickness wouldn't affect your performance.

With haste, you were back in your room, preparing yourself for the transformation from your regular self to your super-self, all with the use of the simple, magic word...

"Sha-...ahchoo...!"

Okay, that was gross.

Wiping your nose from the snot and clearing your throat with several "ahem"s and rough coughs, you tried again, moving yourself towards your window just as Billy had and checking to make sure there were no bystanders or any members of your family around to see you.

"Shazam!!"

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"What about the monster?!" Darla shouted amongst the sea of endless screaming people and loud roars of the beast ahead, floating towards her brothers nearby with a look of concern dawning her adult features.

Billy's face mimicked hers, looking up at the beast and then back towards helpless people running in fear in all sorts of scattered directions. It was confusing, to say the least, but he'd do his best to make up for it as long as no one got injured on his watch.

"Uhh... I think we should keep clearing out people! They'll get hurt if we don't protect them!"

"But-!" Eugene started, though Billy clearly wasn't having it. One could even say the stress had gotten to him, this event definitely taking longer than anticipated with more public property being destroyed by the minute. Which meant longer clean-up duty. Which meant late dinner, which meant no time to check up on you, and-

"We'll get there when we get there!" Was his final (and pretty lax) answer, only for Freddy to swoop down and point out the next impending tragedy.

"Well, if we're gonna get there, we should get there now because it's gonna destroy the town hall!"

And it was true, the grotesque being merrily on its way towards arguably one of the most important landscapes in the city. Of course the townhall, of all buildings ever...

"Gee, thanks, Captain Obvious...!" Billy huffed, Freddy merely giving a two-finger salute in order to further solidify his frivolous behavior.

"You're welcome, Captain You-Obviously-Don't-Know-What-You're- Doing...!"

Pedro was next to return to the scene, his face twisted in oncoming question as his eyes shifted between the monster, the building, and back again.

"I mean... Do we really need the town hall? 'Cause it's super white and boring-"

"Pedro...!"

"I- What?!"

And finally, Mary. The wisest of the siblings, surely, and growing increasingly harrowed by the current events and the fact that her brothers and sister were not aiding in the fight whatsoever.

"Yes, we do need the town hall, and us standing around talking about it is not helping anything...!"

"What're we thinking?" Freddy murmured, having leaned over to Billy in hopes of their older sister not being able to hear them.

"Captain Bossy."

"Definitely."

A sudden battle cry caused their heads to snap up away from the monster and towards an incoming ball of lightning and fury. Your eyes glowed the same color as your supersuit, fist cocked back with the intention to slam every last bit of force and power you've accumulated onto your enemy. With a loud, cracking sound, it was safe to assume your hit had connected, your entire body colliding with the beast with so much force that the both of you went toppling over onto-

Oh...

"See? Told you we didn't need it." Pedro smiled and nodded, admiring your bravery and the fact you had managed to subdue the monster with one nearly fatal blow.

Mary, though unamused, marveled at the scene just the same before Billy gave a harsh sigh and a shake of the head.

"I told her to stay in bed..."

───────── 《 .°•♡•°. 》 ──────────

A mere moment had passed where you were in and out of consciousness (for the second time today, might I add), the only thing filling your vision being clouds upon clouds of smoke? Steam? Whichever the case, it caused an eerie, foggy atmosphere that didn't really seem to help your already mildly delirious state. Although, you had to admit, you were quite proud of yourself for taking down the threat in one go, having been pretty unsure of the amount of damage you'd be able to deal in your current state.

You slowly brought yourself to your feet, trying your best to squint through the "fog" in order to make out your whereabouts until you had looked down, taking notice of the weirdly textured road you stood on. It was a deep, deep maroon color. Rough and scaly, almost like a raisin and... moving?

You could've sworn that it - whatever you were standing on - was rising and sinking just the slightest. But, then again, you couldn't exactly trust your vision right now, the effects of your medicine kicking in with a weird, head-spinning affect that caused you to almost miss the loud shout of your name.

"(Y/N)!!" Billy called into the clearing mist, hands cupped over his mouth and very grateful in the moment that his adult voice was loud and deep. He was sure his calls could be heard from miles away, let alone a few feet, his worry growing when he still didn't receive a response despite that fact.

"Baby, where are you...?!"

A smile creeped onto your face at the pet name, turning and looking towards the sound of his voice. It was when the golden glow of his lightning emblem came into view that you allowed excitement to swell in your chest, calling back out to him with a squeal laced in your raspy voice.

"I'm down here, I'm okay! Did you see what I did?! I literally took it out with one punch!"

When Billy was finally able to catch sight of you, another breath of relief left his throat, hurrying towards your wobbly figure and steadying you once he felt your grip on his biceps.

"Yes, I saw, and I'm concerned because I thought I told you to stay in bed."

"Aww, c'mon, dude...!" You practically whined. "I'm totally fine, I literally feel fine! Plus, it was obvious you needed my help, so-"

"We had it handled, (Y/N)."

"Oh, is that why I-..." Harsh coughs cut into whatever attitude you were about to dunk on your boyfriend, stepping away to cover your mouth as he nodded knowingly.

"It doesn't matter when you're still sick and should be resting."

"It's *cough* fine, I'm *cough-cough* I'm fine."

He didn't have time to offer up more lectures with his deadpanned look, his siblings swift to join you two with gracious smiles of their own at your appearance and quick take down.

"That was sick, you know how sick that was?! If I could do an instant replay, I would because that was awesome!" Freddy gushed, blowing your ego higher than need be as Pedro offered up a fist bump. You returned it eagerly, only to pout again when Billy didn't hesitate to inform them all of your unfortunate status.

"You wanna know what else is sick? Her. She is. She's sick and really should not be here-"

"-But I am, and I did my part, and now everything's fine and you're just mad 'cause you're a hater...!" You huffed, being exaggerative with your arms and hands that caused Billy to give you a weird look.

"What are you, drunk?"

You took offense to the half-joking question, unsure as to why he'd ask such a thing when you felt perfectly fine and dandy. Like, cloud nine, hazy eyes, and the weird urge to run a marathon yet so, so sleepy at the same time.

"Am I drunk or am I sick, Batson, which is it?"

A pause, attitude dwindling.

"'Cause...'cause I dunno', either..."

He pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head once more in what could only be a mixture of dissatisfaction and worry.

"You took too much medicine before you got here, didn't you..."

Barely even a question, the obvious answer being yes, you could only scoff and toss your head to the side.

"No, just half the bottle..."

"That's way too much." Mary commented, nodding her head solemnly.

Before anyone could continue the odd conversation, the ground they stood on began to rise and fall a lot heavier than before.

"I knew it!" You shouted alarmingly loud, startling the siblings as they struggled to keep balance on the surface that was now beginning to rumble.

"Knew what?!" Freddy exclaimed. "What do you know?!"

"I thought I was hallucinating, but I'm not! We're not on the ground!" You informed, the shaking growing more violent by the second.

"What?!"

"(Y/N), please explain...!" Mary further urged, and before you could, a coughing fit stopped you from doing so and left everyone else in the dark, Billy trying his best to come to your side for comfort only for everyone to lose their balance the higher the "ground" rose.

Without second thought, Eugene flew upwards to get a better look at the entire scene, the rest of you quickly following in suit until you were all high enough in the sky to see that the monster was not yet finished with its rampage.

"(Y/N), hit it with another falcon punch!!" Freddy urged, Billy already shaking his head while giving an answer before you could.

"No, no, do not do that, she doesn't even feel well enough to be flying, look at her...!"

And it was true, your flying abilities suffering majorly from lack of health and increase of the medicine taking full affect making you drowsy and unfocused. You struggled to stay steady in the air, using Billy's arm as a crutch in case you were to suddenly drop from the sky. Hell, even the lightning emblem on your chest was dimming in and out as if you were literally on the verge from powering down while you spoke nasaly.

"He's...he's right, I feel- I'm pretty sure all of my power went into that one attack."

Freddy, dramatically, tossed his arms up into the air before dropping them at his sides.

"Oh, great, so we're screwed."

Protests from his siblings swiftly followed, all of them coming forth at the same time that left Freddy lifting his open palms up into the air in surrender.

"Oh, real nice, bro..." - "We're right here, y'know." - "Don't say that, we can do this...!" - "Okay, (Y/N)'s not the only one who can throw a punch, man!" - "Maybe if we spent less time talking and letting the sick girl do all of the work..."

"Sorry-sorry, my bad, I didn't realize you guys were so sensitive about this...!"

Fortunately, amongst the chaos of their words and the beast slowly rising from the ruins of Philadelphia's town hall for round two, your brain managed to fumble through half of a thought. An idea that could possibly work if executed correctly. A real plan, something that would help, which is what you came here to do, after all.

And sure, maybe you were too weak to carry it out alone, but the entire reason Billy had shared his power with you in the first place was because he trusted you. The same goes for all of his siblings. Because all of you together made a great team.

Besides, a half-assed plan was better than none at all.

So, without further ado...

"What-...What if y'all just... what if we stayed on the monster and then we just used our hands and then...boom. Right?"

You gained looks of concern and confusion at your nonsensical murmurs, the group making it known that whatever had just left your lips made zero sense to them even though you had been pretty confident in the fact that you came across perfectly clear.

Freddy was the first to prove otherwise, though, a barely audible, "...what?" leaving his throat as Billy gave you a look of sympathy and care.

"You're delirious, babe..."

"No, stop, I'm being serious...!" You croaked while pushing him away, which in hindsight, wasn't in your best interest when you were doing good just to stay afloat as well as dealing with an oncoming migrane. You fought to ignore that as well.

"Sounds like someone needs a nap." Eugene quipped, leaving Freddy and Darla to snicker to themselves while you gave what should've been a scoff, but what ended up coming out was more of a weak cough.

"Shut up, Eugene, I'm-!" Taking a second to gather your words, you tried again, doing your best to convey your plan once more.

"We all have lightning powers, don't we? We could land on the monster... and-and boom! Y'know?"

With the movements of your hands and fingers, you nodded as if to confirm that they understood this time around. Unfortunately, no one seemed to catch on, Mary the only one staring ahead rather than at you in confusion until something in her brain seemed to click, and she was suddenly coming towards you with a smile.

"Wait... Wait, I think I understand!"

"You do?!" You jinxed with your boyfriend, your words laced with a tone of relief and excitement while Billy's held more of a shock and surprise.

Mary nodded briskly, taking your hands in hers upon delivering her praise.

"Yes, (Y/N), you're a genius, oh my gosh! Why didn't I think of that?!"

With the two of you giving relieved laughs in understanding of one another, Darla was the first the point out the obvious for the rest of the group, leaving room for Mary to explain your plan much better than you had twice before.

"Am I the only one really confused right now?"

"Guys, we have to electrocute the monster, that's the only way it's going down. And I think, what (Y/N) means is, if we all use our powers together as much as we can like she did when she knocked it out, we'll generate enough electricity to do so."

"Yes!!" You confirmed with a mix of exasperation and relief in your hoarse voice, leaning your head against Billy's shoulder as if just the act of talking about your plan tired you out.

It made you wonder if you'd be strong enough to participate in executing, the feeling of letting down those around you much worse than any monster attacking the city or illness attacking your body.

Billy could sense this, raising and dropping the shoulder your head rested upon to grab your attention before delivering playful encouragement.

"Huh. Remind me never to doubt your sick-brain."

Sniffling, you nodded, appreciating his efforts and gaining back some of that lost confidence.

"Damn right."

It wasn't long before your plan had been put into action, one sibling distracting the monster long enough for another to land on it unsuspectingly until, one by one, all of you had your hands firmly planted on a part of its body. Counting down the seconds, you guys generated any and all electricity your bodies had stored into your hands and finally, found yourselves practically frying the beast to ash.

For the last time today, it fell. And thankfully, not on top of any more buildings. You were happy to witness it all, let alone be a part of it, nodding as if to pat yourself on the back for doing good. You certainly deserved it, you felt, seeing as all of your power went drained, and you were even too sick to stand. You convinced yourself to sit, leaning up against a large wall of rubble in attempts to recuperate.

"Just need to catch my breath..." You reasoned with yourself as though your eyes weren't half a blink away from fully closing.

"Need a second..." You coughed, head spinning with the urge to succumb to the cold that left even super-you ill-advantaged.

. . .

"(Y/N)...!!" Mary called into the debris, only having run into her own siblings rather than you. This worried her, especially once it had been revealed that you were fighting while sick. It also made her wonder why such mystical and magical abilities couldn't cancel out such a common flu or virus. She'd definitely be found reading up on the matter later, that's for sure...

But, until then, the search continued, Billy joining his older sister's side with a familiar concern he always harbored for you.

"(N/N)...!! Where you at, babe?!"

"You don't think she got crushed, do you?"

Mary rolled her eyes before lightly slapping the arm of her other brother, Freddy never one to learn to keep his badly timed jokes to himself.

"Don't say that, we're already worried enough...!"

"Agh-! I didn't mean it...!"

"There she is...!" Darla cheered, pointing up ahead to where you had peacefully laid yourself to rest.

Okay, that sounded a little morbid, but it's meant in the literal sense, not to worry.

Although it's not like they could tell the same, the view to them more of an alarming take on what should've been a more joyous reunion.

With super-speed Billy had almost forgotten he possessed, he was by your side in an instant, crouching down and allowing a giant wave of relief to wash over him when he was granted a clear look of your rising and falling chest. You were still breathing (thank god), and pretty heavily, he noticed, his gaze trailing upwards to inspect your face for any marks or bruises.

He found none, only the beads of sweat on your forehead and your eyes sunken in while you lightly snored, unable to breathe through your nose even in slumber.

"She's okay..." He had spoken to himself at first, a final act of reassurance he hadn't realized he needed before pulling himself together and turning back to shout.

"She's okay...!!"

Naturally, this woke you, your eyes fluttering open and a smile gracing your features at the sound of his voice.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." You apologized, fighting back a yawn as you placed a cold hand into Billy's warm one. "I was just...sleepin'. Tired."

"That's what you get for pushing yourself." He half-joked, granting you a smile of his own that brought some heat back to your cheeks.

"You should've stayed home." He reiterated for what seemed like the millionth time this late afternoon.

"Sorry. Just really needed to help you guys..."

"You did. By a lot." He admitted, gently urging you to your feet. "You did good, really."

You laughed weakly, thankfully using Billy for support as the rest of the siblings approached, glad you were okay, up, and even trying to walk.

"That's all I wanted."

"Say the word." Billy coaxed, and for once, you heeded his advice and muttered it with the hopes that you'd suddenly return home. Safe, sound, and in your warm, cozy bed.

Alas, that was wishful thinking. Instead, you were transformed back to your regular self, gently held in Billy's adult arms with the warmth exuding from his lightning emblem lulling you back to sleep much faster than expelling large quantities of magical power ever could.

"I'm taking her home." He announced, sure of himself this time around before swiftly adding, "And she's gonna stay there...!"

As if you could actually hear him and his directive attitude, he looked down at your figure cuddled against him before going on.

"And hopefully, she'll be better soon enough for people to thank her."

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"Hey, I think my sinuses are finally staring to clear up...!" You sniffled, basking in the glory that was a full, clear breath of air. Oh, how you missed air. How you missed breathing without issue, and-

"ah-cHOO!!"

"Bless you."

And... back to square one.

"Thanks..."

Normally, you'd apologize for spreading your germs, possibly passing on your sickness to your boyfriend. But, right now, cuddled up against him and finding solace in his care was all you concerned yourself with, having already thanked him a million times as he let the news channel run on your TV.

You got lucky, able to see that your selfless acts hadn't been in vain and that it really was for the best that you had gone out and helped when you felt needed.

"Feeling better?" Billy inquired, placing quick chaste kisses along your temple and forehead upon seeing the tiny smile that graced your features. You nodded against him; though not in regards to your sickness, you certainly did feel better about yourself, drifting off to sleeping knowing your city was safe and to the sound of your boyfriend's heartbeat.

𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐞!!!

squealing like the little girl I am, lemme stop omg😭✋🏽-

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ...𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ...𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭

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