Pairing: Dick/Zatanna
Rating: T
Word Count: 1,000+

She loves masquerade balls. They're her favorite. Just the thrill of dancing with a stranger, being a whole different person for just one night. It's exhilarating. So when Bruce has a charity event that's masquerade themed, she's more than excited to attend. And she always attends his events, so she's not sure if Dick had mentioned her love of disguise-she distinctly remembers mentioning that she'd always wanted to go to one to him one day-or if Bruce just happened to pick this certain theme. She highly doubts it's just a coincidence.

Anyhow, she's wearing this sleek bareback dress that makes her look amazing. Her hair is a little curlier than usual but she kept her simple makeup process for the night. A swipe of mascara and lip gloss made her look dazzling. Her dress is silver and flows to the floor with a thin line of diamonds tracing her sweetheart neckline. There's a thin piece of material holding the back of her dress together since the drop back goes down to the very bottom of her waist. She picked the perfect heels to match too. Before entering the ballroom, she glances in the mirror of the ladies' room and take a deep breath and applying her mask. It's silver-naturally-with small diamonds tracing the outside of the simple frame with a graceful flower attached to the edge of the side. It's perfect.

She steps out of the restroom and is greeted by many upperclassmen that she's never met. But of course, she smiles back and makes small chit chat with them. Entering the ballroom, she gently picks up a champagne flute from a waiter passing by. For a while, she just sips her drink and watches the others on the dance floor.

"You're staring," someone murmurs dangerously close to her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

She knows that voice anywhere. But she smirks and decides that she's going to have a little fun. "It's called people watching," she says quietly, never taking her eyes off the twirling pairs in front of her.

"More like stalking," he responds. And she laughs softly, another chill running through her. He takes her champagne flute from her hand and sets it on the table. The song ends and the people applaud.

He steps in front of her and takes her hand, bringing it up to his lips and planting a soft kiss to her knuckles. And she can't help but feel her cheeks heat and flush before him. Such a gentleman. His mask is a simple domino mask but with a silver design in the corner. It matches her dress. Perfectly.

"Dance with me." She laughs softly and his lips twitch into a smile. "Come on, I know that you can dance."

Zatanna follows reluctantly and ends up in the very center surrounded by other couples laughing and chatting. "I should've known you'd be here," she says quietly, looking into the cyan blue abyss in front of her. He looks absolutely stunning in a tux and somehow she wonders why all of the other girls aren't throwing themselves at him already.

"I always come to these things," he answers, setting a hand to her lower back, pulling her closer to him. She swallows and allows herself to venture further. They haven't been this close since... "I have a reputation to uphold." He smirks and she rolls her eyes at him.

"Of course," she laughs softly. "I haven't seen you in a long time." Her throat is suddenly so dry that it feels lie sandpaper when she tries to swallow.

Her mind goes back to the last time they saw each other. It was two months ago. He'd found her in her old room at the cave. Curled up on her bed, staring at him in the doorway with an impassive gaze.

"Don't," she whispered, feeling the tears coming on.

"Zatanna-"

"Don't," she said again, letting out a small cry. "Just...Just go, Dick, please." She could hear his sharp inhale and she knew that she was hurting him just as much as he was her. "Please," she whispered again. "Please just go." And he'd left. That was the end of it. The end of everything.

He swallows nervously and he almost looks reluctant to speak. "I know, Zee," he whispers, closing his eyes for a moment. "I'm...I'm so sorry-"

Zatanna places a finger on his lips to stop him. "I know," she nods. "C'mere."

The song ends just as they're walking off to the side in the secluded area near the elevator of the hotel. Once they've reached it, Zatanna leans against the wall, the cool marble feeling amazing on the heat of her back. Bareback dresses are now a new favorite of hers. But they need to talk this out. It's been bottled up for too long.

"Zatanna," He starts but she shakes her head and bites her lip, feeling the sting of tears coming on once again.

"Let me just get this out, please," she says quietly, glancing up at him standing in front of her at least three inches taller. Puberty was good to this boy. "I...I haven't felt like this in forever, Dick. Not since...Not since my dad." She takes a deep breath. That was five years ago, the feeling should've dulled by now, right? "It feels like someone's punched a hole through my chest. I gave you my heart, Dick, and...and you broke it." Tears are falling down her cheeks before she knows it and she wipes them away frantically but they just keep coming.

Dick exhales in a rush and quickly holds her face with both hands, tilting her head up to look at him. He helps wipe the tears away with his thumbs. "I died that day, Zee. Hurting you, I never meant to. And when you...you left like that, I didn't know what to do. It felt like the whole world stopped and I didn't know how to fix it. I couldn't fix it. Because you were gone."

"I had to leave," she whispers, looking up at him, staring into the blue eyes that still make her go weak at the knees.

"I'm so sorry, Zatanna," He whispers frantically, like if he says it fast enough, it'll sink in for her. That's she'll believe it. He hopes she does. Because it's true. "I love you more than anything and I have since the first day I met you. I never meant to hurt you. That's the last thing I'd ever do. I just, I thought I was doing the right thing, keeping you safe and-"

He's cut off abruptly by her lips against his. First he stumbles backwards a little before regaining his composure and holding her close, chest to chest. He kisses her back just as deeply and she lets out a small moan, wrapping her arms around his neck and into his hair. She'd always loved his hair. The way it falls into his eyes so gracefully. Even his bedhead was beautiful.

Zatanna hits the button for the elevator with her elbow-Dick backed her into the wall, making her gasp in pleasure-and pulls back when she hears the elevator doors open. The car is empty and he leads them inside, his chest heaving, closing the door behind them.

They wake up with their legs intertwined and a thin sheet covering her from her waist down. Her head rests on his chest, listening to the steady heartbeat of the man she loves. She moves her hand from his torso and starts to trace imaginary patterns against his chest with the pads of her fingers. And he lets out this small sound from the back of her throat and she smiles, turning her head to kiss the space where her hand was.

He's tracing the contours of her spine, barely touching her skin. She looks up at him, baby blue staring into cyan. And she knows that they'll have to talk about everything later on, but for right now. She thinks it's okay to just enjoy the view. And to know that things are finally going to be okay.