I had the idea of the child being born on Torran and travelling back in time to get Zatanna back to Earth sooner but I scrapped the idea so the baby's gender and name could be more of a surprise! Although, I might return to this some other time...

Order on Its Own: War

Chapter 9:

The flowers were so beautiful in the meadow. Dick picked a red aster with yellow-tipped petals and wove it into Zatanna's hair. She smiled at him and hugged her husband.

"You're my Princess... my Princess of Prestidigitation," he said, holding her in his arms.

Zatanna curled up on his lap with her arms around his neck and the scenery changed so they were on a grassy dune by the ocean. Dick leaned back against his elbow with her in his arms and they looked out to sea together.

"My dear Zatanna... you're like a rose," he said to her "You're gentle, sweet and beautiful... but, if I'm not careful, I'll get pricked by your thorns," he kissed the top of her head "It's the perfect metaphor to describe you, my love,"

Zatanna looked up at him and placed her lips against his. They fell back as the sea breeze picked up to ruffle their black hair and they pulled away. Zatanna's black hair fell over her shoulders like a curtain on either side of Dick's head and she sat up to be straddling him. Dick leaned up on his elbows and cupped her cheek in his hand. She took hold of his wrist and leaned into his touch.

They looked at each other but Dick began to fade. The two began to panic and Zatanna threw her arms around him with tears in her eyes. Dick completely disappeared and she was alone, kneeling, in the grassy field. She looked around, put her face in her hands and cried.

Dick opened his eyes and sat up in his army cot. He looked around to see everyone else still asleep so he got up and walked outside for some air.

Dick was standing outside, facing his and Zatanna's home in Gotham. He had the picture of her on their honeymoon in his hand. There were some footsteps and General Eiling walked up to him.

"Homesick, Private Grayson?" he asked.

"I miss my wife, sir," Dick said and he looked down at the picture of his wife.

"I do too," said General Eiling "And my kids, got any kids, Private?"

Dick clenched his fists until his knuckles were white.

"My wife and I are expecting our first," he said "My wife wants to name it after me if it's a boy, Richard Grayson, Jr.,"

"Really? You'd think Lady Order would come up with a more magical sounding name," said General Eiling.

Dick looked at him with shock. How did General Eiling know?

"I'm high-up enough in the U.S government to have access to the Justice League files, including yours," he said.

"Oh, really? What does it say?" Dick asked, trying ease the tension to get information out of him.

"Name: Richard John Grayson II. Date-of-birth: December 1st, 2000. Spouse: Zatanna Grayson née Zatara. Codename: Nightwing, the Dark Prince of Blüdhaven, previously Robin the Boy Wonder. Current Residence: 24, Willow's Avenue, Gotham City-" General Eiling recited like a robot.

"A'right, I get it," Dick said "If you know I'm Nightwing, why did you enroll me?"

"Your acrobatic prowess and technical knowledge will help us with this war," said the General "You have the potential to be a great soldier,"

General Eiling left him to his thoughts and Dick reflected on his life. His time at Haly's International Travelling Circus, being adopted by the Batman, becoming Robin, getting together with Zatanna, becoming Nightwing... he had had an eventful life. And he wouldn't change a thing about it.

Dick closed his eyes and thought of Zatanna. He thought of the first nightmare she had once they were married and living together.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Dick opened his eyes and saw Zatanna hunched over and sobbing. He sat up and pulled her into his arms. He began comfortingly rubbing her arm and shushing her until her sobs were whimpers.

"It's okay, love, you're okay," Dick said, stroking her hair and laying down with her in his arms "What's wrong?"

"I-I had a nightmare... it was the other timeline with Magic Mistress and Renegade... I know I only remember it as if it all was a dream but, when I'm asleep, a dream is like reality," Zatanna sobbed.

Dick sat up, got out of bed and walked around to her side. He reached out his hand and he pulled her out of bed.

XxX

Zatanna sat with her legs crossed on the sofa in the living room. Dick put a blanket around her shoulders and passed her a mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream and bunny-shaped marshmallows (she found the bunny ones adorable). Zatanna sipped at the drink and Dick looked at her as she did.

"Feel better?" he asked her.

She nodded and smiled at him. Just then, their German Shepherd puppy lazily came over and whimpered to be picked up. Dick picked the puppy up and began scratching him behind his ears.

"We still need to name the dog," Zatanna pointed out "How 'bout... Junior? Buddy? Pudge because he's so pudgey?"

Dick looked around at their living room and looked at the stack of cards on the coffee table. At the top of the deck was the ace of spades.

"How about... Ace," he said "Ace the Bat-hound,"

Zatanna sat back and thought about it. She liked it. That night, Ace was named.

Dick took a deep breath of that icy cold Gotham air before heading back to his tent.

...Torran...

Zatanna opened her eyes and looked around at her surroundings. She stretched her arms above her head and put her hand on her stomach. She got up and cracked her back from her uncomfortable night sleep. Since coming to Torran, Zatanna's glasses had become cracked, her hoodie was ripped but her baseball cap was still intact. Kayra appeared in front of her and passed her a metal cup with a red liquid and blue lumps inside.

"Drink it. It will help your child to withstand the trauma of attacking the membrane," Kayra said "It is going to be rough,"

"You're people are very considerate of my unborn child," Zatanna said "Thank you,"

Kayra nodded.

"Torranians are going extinct because procreation has halted from... less than suitable conditions but S'que Da'nah won't tell me what that means," she said "It is time to prepare for the attack,"

Zatanna watched them all preparing hyper-swords and other weapons. She put her hands on her stomach to connect with her baby.

"C'mon, little bird, let me turn to Lady Order and we'll be able to go home to daddy, okay? You want to go home to Daddy, right? Then let's work together," she thought to her child.

Zatanna clenched her fists and closed her eyes. Normally, transforming to Lady Order was instinct but now she had to concentrate and try to remember how to do it. The oddest thing happened to her. In her mind, she heard a soft voice speak to her and she saw a vision of sapphire eyes like Dick's along side an Italian complexion like her own with raven-black hair.

"Don't worry, Mommy, we'll see Daddy soon,"

Zatanna opened her eyes and golden light consumed her. Kayra stared at her and Zatanna checked her costume. What was unusual was, on top of her navy unitard, was a golden sleeveless dress with a miniskirt and golden armour plating and her boots were flat rather than high-heeled. She thought about it and realized the dress gave protection to her stomach and the heels could have tripped her up.

"Trying to stay safe, little one?" she thought to her child and could have sworn she heard a small laugh similar to Dick's cackle.