Here is chapter 10, this one's a bit shorter and more angst-filled, mainly from Mary. Thanks for everyone who reviewed again, I appreciate it a lot!
Replies to reviews:
Zatanna Carrile: Naw, I love a bit of jealousy, makes things more interesting...
PainInSilence: Watch out indeed.
Helena Bellamuerte: Thanks for the kind reivew, and I hope you like the update!
Alex Frost: Thanks for looking forward to it! Hope this is all good for you!
Guest: Here is your update! :)
Disclaimer: Don't own Young Justice or DC Universe
-The Missing X
Dinner for the girlfriend, boyfriend, and boyfriend's kid was awkward. Complete awkward silence fell over the three like thick fog, and Mary wasn't oblivious to glares her dad's girlfriend sent her.
From the, out of the corner of the eye glare, to the full on glare, and the just plain and simple glaring at you glare. But Mary didn't let it get to her, to be honest she didn't like Barbara either, and it wasn't like it was a problem, it was just a pest for Dick. The feeling was mutual.
Barbara only disliked Mary because she looked like her mother, her boyfriends ex-girlfriend, and it reminded her that she was second best to Zatanna, she was always second best, and to be honest she didn't like it, no one does, it's like coming second in a race, and only being put through to the big team because the first place winner injured herself. Not a good feeling.
Dick just wished Barbara would stop judging his daughter on her looks, and his daughter would stop looking at Barbara weirdly. Ok, yes she looked like Zatanna, and yes she was his daughter with her, but his girlfriend should have the decency to at least act like it wasn't like she was seeing the devil.
"Why don't you like me?" Mary blurted out rudely, it didn't mean to happen, she just lost it after all the glares the red head had given her. It was like on a cycle, from one glare to another, one to another.
"I don't not like you." Barbara defended, looking down at her empty plate, and twisting her fork around her fingers absentmindedly. Dick just watched on, seeing when he would have to stop the fight before it got too bad.
"Right," Mary sneered, "you just don't like who my mum is." Evilly glaring at the person behind Batgirl, who unfortunately was her dad's girlfriend.
"Enough," Dick commanded, gaining attention of both of the females sitting at the table, "can't we just eat our dinner in peace?" He asked, using his eyes to plead with them silently.
Barbara huffed, knowing that arguing was a lost cause in this situation; Dick would just go mama-bear on everyone, including her.
But Mary didn't want to sit at a table with her dad's lovely girlfriend and be glared at every second, pushing her chair back and getting out she didn't regard either of them as she walked out the kitchen, down the hallway, out the front door, and leaving the two adults in a stunned silence.
"Did she just run away?" Barbara asked, wide eyed, that girl had an attitude.
"I'll go talk to her," Dick sighed, being a dad was much harder than the media made it look, "I'm sorry." He called over his shoulder as he rushed after his daughter.
Zatanna groaned as she awakened in her small and dusty room in the cottage, given to her by the dwarves that had no idea the room was here in the first place. That should have been the first warning sign. The second was the fact that the door was locked and she couldn't get it open.
"Hello?" She wailed out to anyone in the cottage,
"Somebody help me! I'm trapped!" She screamed as she grabbed the door knob and frantically trying to pry it open, to no avail.
Suddenly a figure appeared beside her, revenge glinting off her emerald eyes.
The raven haired woman let go of the door knob and jumped back with a scream, landing herself in a corner, backed up against a wall, which was not the best place to be.
"Zatanna Zatara. It's good to finally meet in person." The wicked lady said, offering her hand as a mockery of a meeting.
"Who are you?" Zatanna said from her corner, eyes flickering up and down from the face to the hand.
"Darling Zatanna, did daddy dearest never speak of my father?" The emerald lady cooed, noticing Zatanna tense up at the mention of her father.
"I have no idea who you are!" She screamed, smacking her head for effect, trying to get this nut job to understand. Taking in her appearance, green cloak covering most of her body, green eyes, dark hair, pale skin, but nothing really stood out to her.
"Well let me tell you who I am." The lady said coming in closer, trapping Zatanna into the corner so she couldn't free herself.
"My name is Enchantress, and your daddy dearest did something that resulted in my imprisonment in a isolated dimension." Enchantress deadly whispered, "and I'm here to get revenge on him, by hurting you."
"What?" Zatanna whispered in shock, was this just some mucked up revenge plan?
"That's right, you are here because this is for revenge." Enchantress laughed, "But do you know what makes this even better? Daddy dearest can't do anything to help you from inside the helmet of Dr Fate, just stuck watching his only family die, because he couldn't save her. Because even after she went missing, he failed her."
"You don't have to do this." Zatanna said, pleading with her captor, all she wanted was to get back to her daughter.
"I know, but I choose to." The emerald eyed sorceress whipped, "but you know who definitely won't see this coming?"
"Who?" Zatanna challenged, with no fear, or at least that's what she looked like.
"Richard Grayson." Enchantress smirked, head titled up at her victory.
Zatanna decided to play it dumb, "Who?" She softly asked, cocking her head to the side for a better effect.
"Your true love, the one your destined to be with, the one I'm getting rid of tonight, ring a bell?"
"Why are you getting rid of him?" She whispered, closing in on herself, she could be hurt, but not anyone else, even if she hadn't seen them for years she would put her life on the line for them.
"Because, darling Zatanna, in the story of Snow White it's prince charming who awakens the sleeping princess, but if there was no prince charming, the sleeping princess wouldn't wake up." She explained slowly and gloatingly, basking in the taste of her victory.
"You won't get him." She said standing back up to her full height and looking at Enchantress, fear flickering in through the cracks.
"I won't, the Joker will." She cackled, throwing her hand back, "Oh, and have fun being here for the rest of your time. Your trapped." Enchantress said before disapearing again, leaving Zatanna alone to absorb her new found knowledge.
Mary was out on the street, already walking with her coat on, just going in the general direction, wherever the wind takes her.
"Mary!" Dick called out, running after the small figure, who stopped in her path and turned to look at her dad.
"What?" She groaned, no way was she going back to Barbara's, or as she labeled her: the dragon's, apartment.
"You need to come back inside and apologise to Barbara." He said catching up to her, the wintery breaths evaporating in the cool air surrounding the two people standing in the empty street.
"For what?" She defended, eyes narrowed and chin up, she didn't need to apologise to the fire head, so no way was it going to happen.
"For being rude, you can't just snap at people like that." He stressed, why was it so hard for the two women in his life to get along, it shouldn't have to take an effort.
"For being rude?" She laughed out, looking at him incredulously, "Are you serious?"
"Stop laughing, this is serious. You can't just snap at her like that and then storm out, we could have lost you." He reprimanded, looking down at the glaring girl. Who had a twisted expression on her face, a mix of emotions ran through her, hurt, discomfort, anger, and betrayal.
"For being rude?" She shouted, not caring if anyone heard her now, "For being rude? I have just been introduced to my dad who I never knew about, I have just been thrown into a different city, place and environment, and you want me to stop defending myself?" She yelled, taking a step back.
"Defending yourself? You were being rude to Barbara, and stormed out here!" He said, not quiet yelling, but getting closer to it, having to restrain himself not wanting to attract attention.
"I was being rude? You need to search up the definition of rude before you accuse someone of being rude! Did you not see the glares she was giving me? It was like she wanted me to die on the spot." Mary screamed at him, arms flailing around her body, emphasizing her point, tears starting to well in her eyes.
"Mary, calm down, and just come back. We can discuss this later." He said softly seeing the distressed state she was in.
"Calm down? Calm down?" She laughed and screamed at him, letting the waterfall of tears fall freely now.
Dammit, he knew she had kept it together a bit too well before, he just hope she was good at dealing with things but sadly he was wrong, and here was the onslaught.
"My mum has been taken, my mum has been taken. The only family I have has been taken, and I don't even know if she's alive! You want me to calm down?" She screeched, backing away further and further from her DNA donor. Dick tried to say something, but she cut him off before he could get any words out,
"No! Don't. Speak. You want me to calm down when I have been here a day, ordering me around like you've been here my whole life? No! No way in HELL does it work like that! You want me to apologise to Barbara Gordon the 'love of your life' who just sat at a table and glared at me? You want me to say sorry for looking like my mum? You want me to say sorry I'm your kid, you had no idea? You want me to say sorry for being alive? You want me to say sorry after all that's happened today? You don't get to dictate my life, you may be my biological dad, but you're not my dad. I don't have a dad." She sneered at him, not once regretting the verbal attack that came from her mind and mouth, her words, her weapon.
Dick wouldn't lie to himself, that hurt. It was worst than getting beaten up by the Joker, worst than breaking a bone, worst than waking up from a coma without sedatives, it was like hell, his own flesh and blood just denied a bond with him, what ever they had, it was past gone now.
Just staring at his daughter with a pained expression, he made no move forward, and she didn't make a move back.
"Mary, please." He softly pleaded, but he could see she wasn't going to relent that easily, the determination glowing off her and reflected in her eyes showed she was standing up, she wasn't taking anything back and she wasn't going to say sorry.
"You can go back to your girlfriend," she spat the word out like it was poison in her mouth, "I'm waiting out here, call Bruce or someone to pick me up." She said, tear tracks staining her features, the cold emitting pinkness on her nose.
"No, you can't stay out here by yourself. This is Gotham, not wherever you lived before, it isn't safe out at night for people like you." He said stepping towards her,
"And it's safe for you? Because your bigger, a male, older, or because your trained?" She said narrowing her eyes dangerously at him, she knew that people stereotyped easily and she wasn't going to fall victim to it.
"The last, it's dangerous, we have villains here. And especially in Gotham they are psycho, you can't tell what they're going to do next, please Mary, just come inside." He pleaded her, like it was his last life to live.
"Fine, but don't expect me to even look at the dragon, I want to go home." She relented, not losing the steely gaze,
"We'll go back to the manor shortly, I just need to talk to Babs." He decided, watching her walk to the door of the apartment complex and open the door,
"I mean my home, with my family." She sneered before slamming another door behind her.
A low chuckle rumbled from the figure standing atop a building, looking down on Gotham City like they were the sole ruler.
The Joker stood on top of the Wayne enterprises building, over looking the playground below, just filled with little children to bully. But he wasn't allowed his chaotic fun because he was on a job. A job that payed for his retirement, and by golly he was getting the money, even if he had to trick it out of the grumpy sorceress himself.
He had a whole diabolical plan set up, get the adopted prince of Gotham, kidnap him, put it on live tele, gloat, and then collect his money.
Although he decided plan A wasn't going to work for him, so he went with plan B, setting up fake bombs all over the city, the Batclan would be occupied, meaning that he could slip in and kill Grayson before anyone would know it was him. Genius really, everything just had to have more fun!
"Boy's get the camera's ready," he called to his goons, "the shows about to start."
Told you it was shorter, and it's not my best work either...
For people who don't know, Enchantress is actually a villain in the comics, but I made up her backstory or whatever you wanted to call that little revelation. Don't forget to review, and if you didn't forget and just don't want to, just keep reading, cheers!
-The Missing X