Just a story that came out of nowhere. AU of all AU's for my stories. A bit of backstory for this tale.

Zatara had made a bargain with Fate on the day of Zatanna's birth. The bargain: if Fate was to spare his wife and daughter from death then, in later years, Zatara would become the host of Fate. And if Zatara showed even the slightest hesitation in becoming a host Fate would take over his body by force, making Sindella and Zatanna the deities to toy with.

But, if there was one thing Zatara forgot, it's that Fate plays by it's own accord. Twelve years after Zatanna's birth, Sindella died in a church fire. Firefighters were too late to save her and Zatara only had time to get Zatanna out. Zatara had confronted Fate, saying it was not part of the deal.

Fate countered Zatara's accusation, saying that rules and boundaries had not been drawn or declared, so the twisted game of chess had begun. Two years after Sindella's death, and after Zatanna's fourteenth birthday, the teen had nearly died at the hands of Zatara's enemies: Felix Faust, Wotan, Wizard, and Blackbriar Thorn.

After Zatanna had donned the helmet, Zatara had thrown himself into breaking the deal, giving himself up to Fate. And, shortly afterwards, is where the story begins.

She knew she shouldn't. Knew she couldn't. Her father was gone, under Fate's helmet, practically dead to everyone. But, upon remembering the look in his black eyes made her reconsider the offer he had given her a year ago. A year. Is that how long it's been since she had set foot in her home? Heard him calling to her to see if she was home, before running up the stairs and practically banging her door down when she didn't answer him.

Six days ago, she had ran away. Destroyed all of what was in her room at the cave, except for a bag of clothes and some miscellaneous items she hid in a pocket-like dimension, and set out to find ways to strengthen her magic. She had no way of knowing if she had succeeded or not, because she hadn't cast a spell in days. Then, she had fallen ill because of her noncompliance to cast a spell. She needed help, but wasn't going to risk going to the her so-called friends.

They'd hand her over to the League the first chance they got. They barely knew her, probably never really cared for her. They let her stay at the cave out of pity. She didn't need pity. She needed a way to get stronger. Fate wasn't going to help. He was too busy using her father as a pawn in an elaborate game of chess against Chaos. She made a decision, she wouldn't contact the League or team. She would contact the one with the power to help her get what she wanted: Klarion the Witchboy.

She gathered up items from around her, arranged them in a summoning pentagram, and called to the Chaos boy. It used up whatever magic hadn't faded, whatever life energy that hadn't been exhausted from the time she had left the cave. She had collapsed beside the pentagram, colored dots clouding her vision. Her body was becoming numb, becoming cold. The nocturnal life around her was becoming distant. She saw a pale face and dark eyes looming over her. The last thing she heard before her mind was consumed by a sea of black, was a distant sounding voice say "You should have called me earlier."

Intrigue. That was what Klarion had felt when he had been summoned to the forest. It had been a year, who knew she would be too stubborn to take his offer back then. But, he knew. Klarion could see this girl wanted to become stronger than even her own father. It would take some time, but he knew eventually she would except.

But, what he wasn't expecting, was to see the girl before him in such a state of agony. Didn't she know that if magicians didn't cast a certain number of spells each day then illness would happen? Well, He thought she knows now. He loved the forest as much as the next ageless mage. But he now had to deal with a sick, and for all intensive purposes, mortal mage.

Normally, he would be sensible about this and just drop her off at the foot of the Little League's base. But, after realising how far she had to go just to get out of it- they were currently in the thickest part of the woods that surrounded Happy Harbor, he reconsidered. He picked her up and cradled her to his chest in a bridal style carry, realizing he was taking great care with her like she was made of glass. He turned back to the portal that had summoned him.

"Teekl, in." He commanded.

The red pawed tabby obeyed, dragging the bag into the center and sitting down beside it. Klarion walked into the center and stood next to his cat. A second later, the pentagram lit up with white light, transporting Klarion, Teekl and Zatanna to the Chaos agents home/base of operations, a mansion hidden by the most ancient forms of magic that have been lost to all, in Roanoke. They reappeared in a room, one of the many unused rooms in the place, that was covered in a light layer of dust.

"Stud, hsinav morf siht moor."

At Klarion's words, all of the dust vanished from the room. Where is went, Klarion had no idea, and as long as it wasn't in any of his favorite rooms in the house, he didn't care. He set the girl on the bed in the room, his cat jumped up onto the bed to watch this scene closer. He felt her magic levels, too high for a mortal mage. It must have been some time ago since a spell had left her lips.

She would have a long way to go if she wanted to get better and stronger. And, unfortunately for him, he would have to be the one to help her. Questions rang throughout the air around him: did he have the patience to train her? Would she even listen? Those questions were to be answered upon her awakening. Now, all Klarion had to do, was wait.

Stud, hsinav morf siht moor.= Dust, vanish from room.

Will contain Babymagic in later chapters.