Beyond the Night: Beyond the Team
Mentorship
"Yrd ym sehtolc."
Zatanna took a deep breath, her eyes taking in the golden rays of sunlight flickering across the windows of the Watch Tower looking out over the planet Earth. The sun slowly set over the heavenly body, casting a beautiful sight to the beholder stationed on the viewing deck.
Her father let out a deep sigh of relief as he looked away from the scene in front of him. Batman worked at a nearby console while Wonder Woman stood nearby, waiting with a smile on her face. "I told her she'd be here soon, did I not?"
Zatara let out a sigh, looking down at his watch. "You were supposed to be here five minutes ago. What is with the delay?" A laugh escaped Zatanna's mouth, making her father look up, his eyes twinkling. He pulled his daughter into a gentle hug. "It's good to see you, though."
"You saw me at my graduation only a few days ago, tata." The young woman pushed away slightly. Out of the corner of her eye, she was sure the stoic Batman's mouth twitched in amusement, but there was also the chance she was wrong. No, she definitely had to be.
"Congratulation on earning your bachelor degree. It is a major achievement, and at only nineteen?" Wonder Woman smiled at the younger female.
"Not really. These days, quite a few teens are fast-tracking themselves towards graduating high school, but starting college at the junior level. It meant though, despite being a league member for a year and a half that I missed league duties for a year, and I'm excited about resuming them." She looked at her father, watching his mouth twitch, his arms crossed.
"Well, I'm certainly glad for more women power."
"Well…" Zatanna pulled her hands behind her back. "I'm actually excited about getting my first student." Her father's mouth twitched. "Come, tata! You promised I'd be able to take on my first student." The female magician watched her father take a deep breath. "Please tell me you aren't being your overprotective self, tata."
"I'm actually not the most overprotective person in the league." Zatara shot Batman a pointed look, but Wonder Woman sighed.
"Oh, you are being overprotective Zatara." Wonder Woman glared at Batman. "Sometimes I wish a certain someone was more overprotective, but surely you can see that your daughter is what, nineteen now? Almost twenty I guess. Surely you can allow her a little more freedom. Isn't that why we decided she would be in charge of the team alongside Red Tornado and…"
"What team?" Zatanna took a deep breath, folding her arms across her chest. One of her eyebrows shot up as she wondered what the older adults were even talking about.
"The league has decided to form a team comprised of the young sidekicks of the league members." Batman spoke, remaining emotionless as ever. There was no way he'd smirked back then.
Zatanna tensed up, her bright blue eyes widening. "Wait. So instead of getting my own student – my own sidekick…" Her fingers lifted up into an air quote. "…I am having to watch over the other league members' sidekicks? You do know the last part of my training is to take on my own student, right? How much longer is it going to be postponed?"
"All in due time, figlia."
"In due time?" Zatanna bit her lip slightly. "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Since I'm the one who requested this of Zatara…" Batman spoke, receiving a glare from the man. "Your student is due back in a short period of time."
Zatanna's hands clenched into fists. "What do you mean my student is due back? Where is she, or he?"
"She has been on retreat to a temple until you finished your degree." For some reason Batman kept speaking.
"Wait…" She couldn't help but swallow, the disappointment evident in her voice. "I am supposed to teach someone who's already begun her magical training?" She took a deep breath. "If so, how is she to be my student? Why is she my first student?"
"Because I am trusting her into your capable hands, but would trust no one other than you or her father.
Zatara took a deep breath. "Zatanna, Raven is a special case."
"All of the Teen Titans are special cases." Wonder Woman sighed. "I thought taking on my own charge would prove easy, yet that girl…"
"Teen Titans?"
"The incident in Jump City…" Zatara took a deep breath.
"The demons? What of them?" Zatanna watched as her father and Wonder Woman looked at each other. "And is Teen Titans the name of the group, because I'm so far not impressed."
"No. The team has no name." Wonder Woman frowned, glancing at Batman. "The Teen Titans were an unsanctioned group of teen and preteen superheroes that the league unfortunately did not notice the activity of over the last year. That, or someone possibly ignored the activity, having given a certain someone to much freedom."
"Robin. She means Robin? Why?"
The other female hero continued. "The only reason we came to know about the groups incident was the incident last year in Jump City."
"The magic rumor mill has it the incident involved Trigon. Are you telling me a bunch of kids dealt with Trigon?" Zatanna felt dread rushing over her.
"Yes. Raven is after all the half-human daughter of Trigon." Batman's words made the dread increase. "And if it weren't for her, Robin and the rest of the team, things would have been far worse."
Her throat tightened. "Wait. Robin is a part of the Teen Titans group?"
"Was, as we disbanded it. He was the one who formed the team." Wonder Woman gave Batman another glare.
"You…" Zatanna felt her voice strain even more. "You let him!"
"He didn't know any more than any of us." Superman's voice made Zatanna jump. Wonder Woman let out a deep sigh.
The female magician turned. "Didn't know? Batman's supposed to be the world's greatest detective. How could he not know?' Something else dawned on her. "Wait? Are you telling me Robin is a part of the team?"
Zatara's eyebrow's shot up, but her father had a look of worry. "Zatanna, you've never worked with Robin before, let alone had a chance to meet him."
She could have said she bumped into him just a few minutes ago, but instead said, "He went behind the league's back and created his own group? Why? So he could have his own team like Batman?"
"Not quite." Superman took a deep breath.
"Not…" Zatanna took a deep breath.
"Robin is a very precocious child, no doubt. He shouldn't be underestimated, but he's the reason why the team went unnoticed. Which is saying something, as the other members are an orange-skinned alien, a green monkey boy, a cyborg and your student."
"How is that praiseworthy!"
"Only some think that's praiseworthy…" Wonder Woman glared at Batman, "… while others of us feel Robin should have trusted us. Yet I have to admit Robin's reason was right. The children need a place, but none of us adults would have noticed the needs of the children."
"But why is this Raven my student?"
"Because you are the person best suited to fulfill her needs." Superman spoke up.
"Hypocrite." Batman piped up, receiving a glare from Superman.
Zatanna wasn't sure if she wanted to ask, but she was also not sure she wanted to deal with a precocious eleven-year-old. "Wonderful."
"I know, but give this a chance, figlia." Zatara took a deep breath. "And to be honest, I'm glad the opportunity to be Raven's mentor came your way." She thought for a minute he'd say something about holding her back. "As much as I don't want you to start on the last part of your journey, becoming the teacher instead of the student – it is time. But for you, not just any student."
"Alright." Except, it didn't feel that way.
~B~
The rain continued to drip down, leaving a cascade of water all over, yet he felt it all over despite being a cyborg. "I'm scared."
The young man finally turned, taking a deep breath upon seeing the soaking wet Robin in front of him. Was Robin trembling from the cold, or from fear.
