Title: Mad
Word Count: 800+
Genre: Romance
Characters: chalant, mentions of the team and the batfamily, Rocket
A/N: Written for a "Thirty Days of Writing" challenge on tumblr. These aren't characters I'm very used to writing, but I liked how it turned out. Enjoy
Mad
Dick was used to Artemis' red hot anger, even if he hadn't been as frequent a recipient from it as Wally had been. Usually she didn't stay mad for very long, but even when she did, you knew why she was upset and could walk around on tip toes around her.
Dick himself usually brooded, taking after Bruce, but while Bruce just didn't let others help, Dick tried to disguise it from his friends. Nightwing was the leader of the team, after all; Dick had learned from Kaldur that a good leader ought to be serene. Roy tried to brood too, but he was too impatient to keep his mood from seeping into his actions, so his friends knew when he was angry.
However, despite knowing her for years, he had only rarely seen Zatanna mad. She was usually sad or upset, more inclined to tears than to shouts. He wasn't sure that that just made it worse when she was angry. Her face and body would stay virtually impassive, though her posture would stiffen a little. Her light blue eyes would stare at you like she could look into your being, far further than M'gann ever could. While she would direct this gaze at whoever made her angry, if she were surprised by someone else, they too would be on the receiving end, though she would try to rectify herself with a smile.
Dick Grayson was now on the receiving end of her look, and he had no idea why.
She was staring at him from across the ball room in the Wayne Mansion—Bruce was the host of a charity ball tonight. Her beauty in a dark blue empire waisted dress was in no means marred by her look; if anything, her gaze made her look more ethereal looking, but he knew that he had to go ask Bruce's permission to leave.
They suffered through the car ride back to their apartment in silence interrupted by only a few minor curses at bad drivers on Dick's part. She already had her house keys out, so they were inside their brightly lit apartment quickly.
"So, are you going to tell me what's wrong? Or am I going to have to guess?"
In reality, he had been guessing since he realized she was mad. It couldn't be his casual flirting with other women at the party. Despite Dick taking after Bruce's philandering lifestyle before he had started dating Zatanna, he was not a cheater, and he knew she knew this—and to his chagrin, she took advantage of this by flirting with others as well.
He also knew her well enough not to say something to offend her, though they tended to share each others opinions and senses of humor. And most of what they had disagreed on had already been settled, usually through arguments started by his anger at her.
"We're over."
Dick's eyes widened, and he stared at her. "What?", he croaked. Cleaning his throat, he asked, "Why?"
"I don't know why you're so surprised. From what I hear, you were planning to break-up with me anyway. I just saved you the pain."
How did she know about that? "How did you-"
"Damian decided to tell me that you had decided that it was too unsafe for me to be involved with you. And unlike last time we talked about something of a similar matter, you were going to do something about it." She grimaced. "Even though you've hidden your intentions well, I've noticed something was off. It doesn't take Boy Wonder to put two and two together."
"But-"
"I'll come back for my stuff tomorrow. When your not in the house." She turned and started to walk toward the front door.
"Where are you going to stay?"
"Raquel's until I find somewhere else. She's told me it I ever need a place to crash I can go there."
"You could stay here." He gestured at theapartment.
"Are you insane?"
`He cleared his throat again. "Well, I'm leaving a few days. I'm moving to Bludhaven."
"So that's why..." her voice trailed off although her gaze was still unrelenting. "But I could never afford the rent on my own."
"Bruce would be fine with whatever you did pay. He'd probably be fine with you paying nothing.
Zatanna shook her head. "No, that man's taken care of me since father..." It was her turn to clear her throat. "Now that I can take of myself, I'm not going to take charity."
"I...I-"
Her gaze finally softened. "Dick, I'll be fine. Let's...let's end this amicably, with a hug."
He nodded, solemnly, before pulling her into a big, warm hug.
Alternate crack ending
Zatanna let herself into Raquel's apartment. "Honey, I'm home!"
Raquel appeared, dressed in a silver sequined champagne dress. "You finally got away?"
Zatanna nodded, grinning. "Free as a bird. It was fun while it lasted, but he's gotten too serious of late."
"Ready to hit the city?"
"A girls' night out? Always." The girls' hands met and Zatanna snagged a quick kiss before they walked out of the door.