***Pre Perfect Family, Pre Partners, Post Legacy***
"You know what they say," she said as her full lips curved into a breath-taking smile. "The best way to find someone in a ballroom is to dance through it."
Dick smirked, he'd been the one to tell her that, years ago at a charity event for the Wayne Foundation. Now years later they were finally together, secret identities and lifelong vendettas be damned.
They'd come a long way; they went from being estranged friends, to occasional midnight rendezvous partners, then they'd entered completely different relationships before they finally started casually dating in secret. Although secret was a very loose term for it, the members of the former and current team knew as well as several numbers of the JLA, but they never vocalized or advertised it.
They simply preferred it that way, it made them feel like they were living normal lives.
"They sound like geniuses." He remarked.
She threw her head back in one of her heart sprinting laughs, the kind that made his palms a little moister than they should be, the ones that completely captured his attention and made his heart feel full. She took his hand in hers and lead him towards the dance floor.
"Well you would know Grayson," she allowed.
He chuckled at the memory she alluded to as they danced, oddly enough he found that he was in the same position, head over heels and wanting to tell her so much more than he felt he could say.
He let go of the small breath he'd been holding as he twirled her under his arm and pulled her into him.
She brought her arm around his neck and sighed contentedly as he tightened his hold around her.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you loved me." She purred as her eyes scanned the room. She caught the gaze of an older woman who watched them dreamily, Zatanna brought her head to Dick's chest and made herself at home.
The woman winked at her as she smiled back gently.
"Young love," Zatanna breathed. "The show that always sells."
Dick didn't reply but spun her out and brought her in again.
Zatanna brought her lips to his ear, "I don't have a penny, but would you tell me what you're thinking anyway?"
Dick pulled back to look at her skeptically and mildly impressed.
"You haven't said much since we've gotten here." she explained. "That and you missed the opportunity to dip me at the last song; you usually sell the young love more convincingly."
Dick smiled, "Maybe that's because I'm not acting."
"Good to know." Zatanna winked.
He took a breath and let the words leave his lips. "I want you to move in with me Zee."
He watched as her only reaction was a mildly surprised face and raised eyebrows just before she composed her features. She sighed but not before having draped her arms around his neck and letting him lead, the Vietnamese waltz wasn't her forte but Dick seemed confident enough. She placed her ear to his chest and slowly scanned the room for their man (suspect).
"He's not in my line of vision." She informed him.
He put a small space between them and twirled her back into him, subtly adjusting their position so she could scan the opposite side of the room while he did the same.
"Well, what do you say?" He prompted when she didn't respond.
She bit her lip and smiled brilliantly. "I say how about I leave a closet full of my things at your place, you leave a closet full of yours at mines. You leave a tooth brush; I leave that, a makeup bag and no one's the wiser." She counter offered. "This way we can move in and say we didn't."
"Always one step ahead of the rest." He noted, his dark blue eyes probing her face. "But not exactly what I had in mind."
"Well this isn't exactly the romantic night out I had in mind, but I'm adjusting." She countered.
"That's a completely different analysis," He protested as he dipped her into a low spin and picked her back up. "And we wouldn't have to do mission dates if we lived together, we wouldn't have to worry about work or distance getting in the way."
Her smile faulted, she pecked him on the lips and sighed. "How do you make something so hard sound so easy?" she mused.
"Are you afraid of commitment?" he asked genuinely.
"Not in the least," she answered honestly, meeting his scrutinizing gaze with her own.
"Then what are you afraid of?" he asked as the music in the background slowed.
"You." she said, her eyes honest. "You, Dick Grayson, terrify me."
"Our guy is on the move, let's take a stroll." She suggested, casually bringing his arm around her waist and walking them to the coat concierge behind the desk.
"My jacket please." the man (their suspect) pressed the lady who was rummaging through the closet.
They stood behind him at a comfortable distance and he turned to glance at them fleetingly. Zatanna tucked herself warmly into Dick's embrace though he didn't respond as he should have, the man turned around and Zatanna threw Dick a withering glance that he failed to notice as her words still ran wild in his head.
After a while Dick still hadn't said a word and Zatanna shifted gears to use this moment to their advantage as well.
"Is this the silent treatment?" Zatanna asked as she stepped back and stood beside their suspect and turned to face Dick. She subtly pulled him into her, and shot a glare at him that said We're still on a mission.
The man looked at Zatanna and Dick snapped out of his trance.
"No, this is the sound of utter shock." He responded by encircling her in his arms and subtly adjusting the ring on his left hand.
Zatanna laced their fingers together and slipped it off his finger unnoticeably. "Look I just don't think we should rush it." She replied.
The man turned back around hesitantly, he was losing interest in their story but that didn't mean he wasn't weary of them. He looked into the coat closet and prepared to scold the coat check girl.
"I don't know that I'd call it rushing per say, maybe more like taking a leap of strong faith." Dick countered, he pulled away from her slightly to talk to the girl fumbling around in the coat closet. "We need our coats too, please." Dick said in an agitated tone.
The flustered girl looked at the three people at the counter with panic, "I'm sorry, just give me a moment. It's just taking longer than usual."
"Today lady!" the guy in front of them shouted.
Zatanna gently slapped the lapels on Dick suit.
"Hey, cut the girl some slack, no job is easy in a dimly lit closet and pointed toe heels." She said stepping up the counter and bracing her arms over it. She brought up her knees only to have her dress catch unexpectedly.
Another couple lined up behind them.
"Hey what are you doing?" the girl asked shakily. "You can't come back here."
Zatanna smiled, "Look it's no problem, I used to be a coat check too. I'm just trying to help, you're about to have a line out here." She said looking behind her.
"My boss-" she started.
"Isn't around and I'm trying to help. How about a thank you?" Zatanna interrupted.
Zatanna threw an exasperated look at Dick and the man on either side of her. "A hand please boys?"
The man mumbled something under his breath as he and Dick moved to help lift Zatanna over the counter.
"Mmmmm, what gentlemen." She purred.
She walked into the closet space, took the ticket number of the man's jacket from the girl and whispered a quick location spell under her breath while walking further into the closet.
"Oh look, our jackets are in the same spot." She said, plucking three jacket from the rack and slipping the ring into the top jacket.
"I swear I looked there." the girl promised.
Zatanna smiled at her kindly, "Hey I get it, but its fine we all got our jackets." She said walking past her and handing the man the coat.
"Thanks." he muttered before he and Dick pulled her over the counter again.
"Likewise, have a good night." She smiled as he stole another appreciative glance at her bared back and exposed leg.
Dick cleared his throat and the man flushed just before he scurried out of the hotel.
"We should go," Dick said as he held the jacket open for her like a gentleman.
"Let's." she agreed softly.
They walked quietly for what seemed like too long a moment until he couldn't take it anymore. He watched as she turned into the parking garage and let down her hair, which fell into waves onto her naked back.
"Well that went well, now all we have to do is let the tracking ring tell us where he is in the morning." She sighed.
She wore a burgundy dress with a plunge so deep it stopped in the center of her rib cage, the dress was backless and had a slit that on the left side that ran up to her center thigh. She wore a pair of black pointed toe red bottom five-inch stilettos (she called them her work shoes) and minimal amounts of jewelry but most notably a golden necklace she'd fashioned (just for tonight) from an anklet that her parents had given her at birth. She never went anywhere without it, one day it'd be a necklace, the next an earring, ring, or bracelet.
He followed her into the parking garage, "Are you going to tell me what you meant back there?" he asked.
She spun around but otherwise kept walking (backwards), "Will you drop it if I don't?" she asked.
"No." he admitted.
"Honesty." She mused as she leaned against the black car. "I like it."
"But not me?" he asked, sliding into the driver's seat.
She rolled her eyes and ducked into the passenger seat, "Don't be dramatic Dick." She said closing the door and putting on her seatbelt as he started to reverse. "Of course I like you, otherwise I would've avoided this awkward car ride and brought myself home."
He looked at her evenly and she shrugged, "I'm just being honest, but if I knew you'd get all weird about it I wouldn't have said anything."
"Well what am I supposed to think when you tell me you're terrified of me?" he asked honestly.
"Thank you," he muttered to the guy in the ticket booth.
He pulled out of the parking garage, turned the corner, and hit the highway with speed.
"I was just being honest, Dick." She said again.
"So am I, Zatanna. You're scared of me? Since when? Why?" he asked a hint of desperation in his tone.
"It's hard to explain."
He threw her an exasperated look, "We speak at least five languages -fluently- in common, pick one."
"Dick…"
"I'm serious Zatanna, I need to know."
"Fine…it's just…I don't…. I can't trust you Dick." She said bluntly.
A look of surprise flashed across his face.
"Don't look so surprised, you and I both know there are a number of reasons why you're hard to trust. Do I need to remind you of-"
"No," he said in a hard voice through a tight jaw, "But I thought we'd gotten pass that."
"We have, but that doesn't mean I trust you. The good man forgives but the wise man doesn't forget. That and the two of us aren't exactly the luckiest people in love. You've been engaged twice and I've literally dated demons, let's just cut our losses while we're still young."
He threw her an unamused glanced but otherwise kept driving.
"I like what we have Dick, and I like you, I more than like you but I don't know if I want to do the whole next level thing. Not like this anyway." She admitted.
They drove quietly for a moment.
"How are you in a relationship with someone you don't trust?" he asked rhetorically.
"I don't know." she answered, regretting it the moment it passed her lips.
"What do you mean you don't know? You don't trust me and we're in a relationship!" he exclaimed.
"Are we?!" she countered belligerently.
Dick looked away from the empty stretch of highway before them, "Aren't we?"
"I-I don't know."
"How can you not know? We're either together or we're not." Dick said exasperated.
"We go out on dates, fight crime, and sleep together occasionally." She said.
He looked at her plainly and she started backtracking, "Okay, we do some things more than occasionally." She allowed. "But it's not like we ever said we were together or even exclusive, not officially anyway."
"Are you saying you've been seeing someone else?" he asked in what she coined his Nightwing voice (the voice he used when he was trying to stay in firm control of his emotions or show the lack thereof). "Is that why you don't want to move in with me?"
"No." she said frustratedly. "I'm just saying we never gave this (she said pointing to herself and then him) a title."
"Okay," he allowed, "But honestly Zatanna, I think we both knew what this was even without the disclosure."
"Fine, that's fair."
"So is it safe to say we have been in an unofficial exclusive relationship for over the past year?" he asked.
"Yes." She said.
"Okay, I'd like to change that. So, will you officially be in a relationship with me?" he asked.
She bit her lip in contemplation.
"Or is the question, do you even want to be in a relationship with me?" he asked darkly.
"Stop that." she said seriously.
"Stop what? Asking questions?" he asked angrily. "Because I gotta say Zee, I'm wishing I had asked these questions a lot sooner."
"Stop getting upset about every answer. If you don't want to hear it, then don't ask." She snapped.
"Are you insinuating I'm not going to like the answer to my last question because if that's the case, then I really don't know what we're doing here." He spluttered. "Do want to be in a relationship with me or not?"
"Dick, of course I want to be in a relationship with you; I love you." She exclaimed clearly frustrated.
A mix of emotions flitted across his face, but relief was the most palpable, not that she had any time to fully let that register as she continued in blatant frustration.
"You know that, and don't you dare say you don't." she said sternly as he opened his mouth to protest. "I love you and it's terrifying to me that I could be so committed to you, so stupidly in love with you, that I would give any and everything to you, without that same level of commitment -from you- being laid on the table."
"How could you possibly know that I am not just as committed, if not more?" he asked quickly.
"Because you're Dick Grayson; perfect until you're not. It means nothing to you to pull a Bruce and start keeping everyone including me in the dark about everything, especially how you feel. That's not a mutual level of trust or commitment and you know that too. I love you Dick but I won't subject myself to a relationship that isn't completely fair. I don't want to have to play detective in a relationship, that's just not the kind of person I am and trust me it's not the kind of girlfriend you want me to be. I deserve better than that and so do you."
"I've dated a detective." He reminded her.
"Yes Dick, because bringing your ex into this conversation is really a good move." She said sarcastically. "The bottom line is, if this is going to work then trust and communication are part of the deal all the time not just sometimes."
"I'm aware." He said.
"Are you?"
"I am." he promised fiercely. "I'm not that person anymore, I'm not…him." He pulled into an exit and stopped at the light and turned to look at her. "I swear. Please, give me a chance to prove that to you."
"Well what do you think I've been doing this whole time, this -right now- is your chance and it's the only one I'm giving you." She muttered her face slipping into a pout.
A hint of a smile played at his lips, "Good." He said. "Now will you please stop stalling me and be mine? Officially." He tacked on.
"Yes." She whispered. A smile exploded on his face and before he could say another word, she placed her hand on the left side of his face and leaned in and kissed him deeply.
The car behind them honked and Dick broke the kiss to continue driving.
"Now." She said. "We're official."
He took her hand off her lap and intertwined their fingers, "I'm already regretting it." He said semi-seriously.
She laughed, "Just take me home Grayson, I want to get out of this dress."
"I can help." He offered.
"I'd like that." she smiled.
"My place or yours?" he asked.
"I hope you mean ours." She corrected him.
He looked at her smiled. "That's exactly what I meant; ours." He said bringing the back of her hand to his lips.