The Night Before
It was almost three in the morning and Zatanna laid in bed…..alone. Dick was usually home by two when he went out with the bats, something he was doing far too often for a 'retired' hero. She sat up and thought about tracking him and then thought better of it.
If he needed or even wanted help, he would know to contact you. Relax Zee….get traught. She thought, rolling her eyes as she thought of the word Dick would use to annoy her whenever she would get worried about him.
The twins were knocked out and the house was quiet, she got up from bed and threw on her robe before going down the stairs and into the kitchen. Just as she grabbed a bag of pretzels to start snacking on, she heard the apartment door creak open and close softly in the hall.
As he entered the kitchen, she threw him an all too familiar look of exhaustion. Dick smiled sheepishly at her and closed the distance between them quickly, pressing his lips to her temple.
She went to open her mouth but he beat her to the punch.
"I know I'm in trouble, but before you ask, you should know you look amazing tonight." He muttered against her jaw.
She turned her face to cock a brow at him, but he used it as an opportunity kiss her fully on the lips and grab her thighs in order to hoist her onto the counter-top.
She smiled into his kiss reluctantly and pushed him away playfully, "Nuh uh, not so fast boy blunder, it's not that easy." She said a bit breathlessly. "What happened? Where were you tonight?"
He flexed his jaw unconsciously, something he did when he didn't want to talk.
She gently took off his domino mask and waited for him to explain. Blue looked into blue as one tried to out wait the other and finally Zatanna's cerulean blue eyes narrowed just before Dick dropped his gaze and sighed.
"It's nothing, I was just lending a few of the guys a helping hand. It took longer than expected, that's all." He said quickly.
Zatanna took a sharp breath through her nose and Dick winced at the sound of it.
"You should know you're better at lying with the mask on," Zatanna said through her teeth, before hopping off the table and crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Dick resisted the urge to smirk, though Zatanna didn't find the situation as funny. "Yeah, I know." He admitted, "But trust me Zee, it's not-"
She walked past him towards the staircase, "I don't care," she said cutting him off, "I'm not worried about your extra circular activities Dick, I know it was probably for a good reason but I'm not the only person waiting up for you anymore and I'm not the only person who is getting fed up with the lies. I'm not asking you to choose, in fact I shouldn't even have to but because I love you and because I understand, I put up with it but I swear Dick if this leads to more lies and half-truths, you won't have to pick between your family or the League because you'll be the person in need of saving." She seethed.
Zatanna stalked up the stairs and slammed the door to the master bedroom with as little but noticeable force as she could.
It wasn't easy storming out of a conversation when you had sleeping kids to worry about. She walked into the bathroom and splashed her face with cool water.
The nerve of him to lie like that, after everything we've been through, after all of this –
She took a deep breath and sighed before her hands unconsciously dropped to her stomach. Angry tears started to well up in her eyes, Why? She thought.
Dick sighed downstairs, he knew that lying would set her off but he couldn't tell her the truth. They were in trouble. Deep trouble.