Sorry for the long wait guys. Writing my senior paper was cruel and unusual punishment that took up a lot of time collecting books, researching, etc. Anyway after much debate on whether or not to scrap this whole chapter I decided to go with it and it ended up being twice as long as my usual chapters so I cut it in two at a natural break. The next chapter should be up by Sunday with some encouragement. I still have to re-read it and edit.
Oh and I think the reviewer who said the car horn should have beeped and embarrassed Jaime in the last chapter earns some praise because I'd thought about that too but hesitated! Darn! Won't happen next time!
Chapter 11:
That Monday after school with Zatanna and Gar they all decided they would start to record the video that was needed for the class.
Their first scene had decided to be them on the space ship, and after some careful consideration they had decided against building a set, routing to instead use a digital background.
Zatanna's father owned a magic shop and said that they could use it on Monday's when it was closed in the afternoons, so that would be their base of operations.
The teens walked into the shop and all but Zatanna oh'ed and awed the insides.
The first thing they saw was a large fortune-teller, the glass from the window ever so slightly discolored from the antiquity of it. The machine stood tall, the lights languidly flashing. The mechanics inside was a gypsy looking figure. Her glass eyes followed Bart and Jaime as they walked by. The inside of the shop had an eerie, mystical lighting from scattered candles, which made Bart think that he'd walked into a different dimension where magic actually exists. Beyond the hall the magic shop split into three directions, one up carpeted stairs and two to each side. Zatanna headed upstairs and as the others followed, their eyes searched around the downstairs for as long as possible.
When they went into the study Zatanna disappeared for a few seconds and returned with cups of tea held on a silver tray, Gar got his first and Jaime thanked her last as she set the tray down and sunk into the couch that was facing the lit fireplace.
This was obviously where all the magic and fortune-telling props were kept. Jaime could barely keep his eyes focused on one thing for a second before another contraption caught his interest.
"What's this?" he asked as he reached his hand out to touch a switch. He just heard Zatanna start the syllable to a word when cards started shooting out at rapid fire. Jaime jumped back with his arms spasming in surprise and defense.
"I'm sorry!" cards were shooting, descending, and covering the floor quickly, some of them gliding as far as the edge of the couch. Through Gar and Bart's laughter Zatanna could be heard sighing and saying "It's a card fountain."
"Sorry!" Jaime was flustered and Bart's ears perked up as they heard the accent slip through.
"Mierda. Lo siento. Voy a-I'll pick them up." Jaime stuttered as he awkwardly went for the cards which were covering the carpeted floor. In his fluster he didn't turn off the machine. So he was on the ground picking up cards while more were being shot out. A funny sight to say the least.
Gar laughed in hysterics but Bart's chuckles had quieted and moved in closer.
"Here." Bart began helping Jaime pick up the multiple decks of cards, squatting beside him, he felt a few cards fall on his back but left them until later.
"Gracias." Jaime glanced at the auburn, hating that he was conscious of Bart's every move now that he was aware of his feelings. And that little spike of happiness he got from Bart helping wasn't helping. Neither did the nervous bubble that melted his courage to a blob of goo.
"De nada mi amigo." Bart moved closer to reach for some cards just out of his reach. Jaime saw what he was reaching for and reached for it also. Just as their hands were about to make contact-
"Ow!" The two boys withdrew their hands quickly in surprise at the current that shot through them. They then noticed the card they were about to pick up was the Lovers card, sporting a man and woman naked with a heart-shaped sunset and nature around them. Needless to say Bart's face flushed crimson while Jaime's cheeks were slightly dusted with rosy coloring.
"Static electricity." Bart chuckled nervously as he looked anywhere but at Jaime, "Probably caused by the friction between our clothes and the carpet. Electrons moved from the carpet to us and-" oh gosh. He was rambling! He sounded so stupid. Of all the things he could be saying-why was he giving a lecture on static electricity?!
He was still explaining about protons and electrons, even as he thought about this. Bart couldn't stand to look at Jaime without fearing he'd switch to another science topic (chemistry or biology would be just as bad if not worse), so he focus his eyes on the ground and kept his hands busy picking up other cards, intentionally avoiding going for the Lovers card again.
Someone shut me up, Bart mentally cringed as he mindlessly babbled on autopilot, please.
Jaime's pleasant chuckle made Bart blink and it was just the force to still his awkward scientific stuttering.
"Hermano." he said between chuckles and it was all Bart could do to not shiver at the three syllables. Gosh he loved being called that. Or anything really-so long as Jaime said it.
"You're..." he shook his head. He was still chuckling that light, carefree chuckle that started in his throat and bubbled out and made Bart feel like he was turning into a bubble himself and he could be swept away by the slightest breeze. He loved that laugh. He wanted to hear it more often and it was only then that he realized that sure Jaime smiled a lot but he really should laugh more. Not that he doesn't do it enough; it's just that he should do it more.
Bart could stand to have more of anything Jaime had to offer. Oh geez, he is so not about to start thinking about the implications of that statement right now.
He noticed then that Jaime's eyes creased smaller when he laughed. He wondered if in the future he could make him laugh hard enough that his eyes would become crescents. He hoped so.
Bart blinked as his mind refocused, Jaime was staring at him with an amused look in his eyes and pulling at his lips.
"So-sorry." Bart quickly stuttered, oh gosh, he'd been staring hadn't he? "That was weird huh? I kind of just go into science as a default I guess. Habit I got from my uncle Barry."
Jaime's smile widened as Bart tried to scrap together his dignity.
The two teenage boys had long since forgotten their audience as they began picking up the cards again.
Jaime gave a short chuckle, "It's fine hermano," he placated, "it was kind of cute."
"Yea-yeah I gue-" then Bart's mind caught up with Jaime's words. "-ss." He just called him cute. Cute. Jaime Reyes had just said he thought Bart Allen was cute. CUTE! Bart coughed to hide the grin that was glued to his face at that moment but it couldn't be suppressed. Cute. Ohmygosh, hethinksI'mcute!
Gar was smiling, wickedly pleased as he watched the interaction. He had taken a risk but it seemed that his bet was going to pay off-and M'gann was going to pay.
Jaime bumped Bart with his shoulder and they began laughing as they picked up the older teen's mistake.
While green eyes swam in merriment, ice-blue eyes were flaming in malice.
It was then that Zatanna realized Bart had gotten a head start. And she needed to tip the scales in her favor, but for that she needed help. Zatanna bit the bottom of her lip as she thought of who she could ask for advice.
.
.
.
M'gann squealed gleefully when she saw Zatanna waiting for her in the bleachers after her Tuesday morning cheerleading practice.
"Zee!" she practically floated up to her, her green eyes were bouncing happily, "What brings you here so early in the morning?" she asked after she skipped up the bleachers and pulled her friend into a strong hug.
"Hey M'gann." Zatanna naturally responded to the hug, lifting her arms up to hug the redhead back, "I need advice."
M'gann pulled back then and held her friend at arms length, an unusually stolid look taking the usually cheerful teen's face, "What happened?" She asked somberly and the intense loyalty to her friend couldn't be hidden.
Zatanna smiled meekly and then began to explain the whole situation, her confusion, and most of all her fear.
She explained the new revelations to her longtime friend who listened very placidly with a patience that would amaze most while Zatanna rambled on about the declaration and then what she saw in the shop.
M'gann nodded her head somberly at the end of it.
"I see." she vacantly said while touching her chin and staring at the bleachers below her. This was a problem, she thought. Her eyebrows knit together.
From what Zatanna had said Bart was now actively pursuing Jaime, and, apparently, he wasn't doing too bad. This meant there were two miscalculations in her original evaluation of them. The first being that she had judged Bart would never make a move-or if he did it would be too late.
But what could have rushed the timeline? She pondered. What could have-
Her brows pushed up.
Of course.
Gar!
And with this revelation came a rush of vain anger. They had set down a no-interference rule! And he had broken it!
Well, this wouldn't do, she thought pensively as she focused on the rocks and dirt she could see below the bleachers.
M'gann bit her bottom lip. Regardless of money, her friend liked Jaime and was asking for help. Zatanna needed her right now as a friend, and she needed to be there to help not for personal gain.
She had started this whole mess, M'gann felt guilt roll through her. If she hadn't made that bet with Gar then Bart wouldn't even be a problem. She didn't know how to even mend the mess she'd made.
Bart couldn't have won yet, so she wasn't too late right? Time was the key.
"Hello M'gann!" she palmed her forehead quickly, "Just ask Jaime out after school." she looked at her friend expecting her epiphany to be met with a smile but instead received a head shake. Her friend's frown spread to her face.
"Bart's there." and that's all she needed to say. Nothing would work if Bart was there. They didn't know how they knew this; it had never been discussed but they'd both concluded that if Bart was around Zatanna wouldn't be able to get through to Jaime.
"How about..." she paused and kept paused for a few seconds before another idea struck her, "We could...no." she shook her head. No, that was a last resort if to be considered at all. Some serious damage could be made that way.
"What?" Zatanna asked curiously. She watched as doubt etched across her friends lightly freckled face.
M'gann shook her head though, silently rejecting the idea.
"Come on," Zatanna urged, "What were you going to say?"
M'gann bit her lower lip with hesitation before opening her mouth, "Well..." she drawled quietly, "I was going to say we could ask Connor to distract him...but that wouldn't be a good idea; I heard he hates Bart."
Oh course, Zatanna rolled her eyes. M'gann had a thing for Connor, the local bad boy. And although he didn't seem romantically interested in her yet, he did tolerate her-which was more than he did for most people. It was a strange relationship; Rio Grande's star student friends with the school bad boy. Stuff like that only happened in movies-and M'gann's world.
The last part of what she'd just said connected with Zatanna. And in a wonderfully horrible moment she realized: Connor hated Bart. Enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?
"Really?" Zatanna tried to sound uninterested but the cogs in her brain were already turning.
.
.
.
Zatanna walked through the sophomore hallways that Tuesday. Not her usual route but she had a purpose. Her heeled boots clinked under her with each strike they made to the hard, unmovable floor below them. Homecoming was Friday. Her mind was buzzing and focused on exactly what she was about to do. As her mind evaluated her options and possible dialogue she didn't notice the appearance of another presence.
"It's not a good idea." came a male voice from her side and Zatanna visibly flinched as she stopped in her tracks and looked to find Dick Grayson standing beside her with an intelligent smile.
"Excuse me?" she asked affronted as she gathered her wits.
"Asking Connor to help you. It won't work." he explained easily, his smile becoming teasing.
"That's not what I'm doing." she lied, giving Dick a severe glare. How'd he known anyway?
"I heard what M'gann said and now you're walking in the sophomore hallway for the first time ever, come on, it doesn't take a detective to put two and two together."
"What are you? A stalker?" she demanded, throwing a glare at him as she resumed her stride, attempting vainly to leave the little troll behind.
Dick Grayson chuckled, his deep, deep blue eyes flickering with a playful and mischievous glint. Zatanna felt her heart skip involuntarily as those blue eyes met hers and stared intensely into her own almost-matching eyes. But while her eyes were like ice, his blue eyes were entirely different she noticed; his were blue waters playfully swirling and caressing the sand, mischievously lashing at the rocks. His were deep and promised a seriousness and sincerity under the playful gestures. She hated it but he was making her heart beat faster.
His voice snapped her out of her momentary trance, "Hardly, I was sitting on those bleachers before you came around."
What were they talking about again? Oh, right. Her idea.
"So what makes you think it won't work?" she demanded, then to clarify, "I mean, me asking for Connor's help..."
Dick grinned teasingly and Zatanna felt her cheeks heat for some reason as he continued to grin teasingly and stare at her like that. Those damn eyes, she mentally snarled at their power over her. She was frowning even as she was drawn helplessly into their gravitational pull.
"Because I know people. You think you can get his help because of your mutual connection to M'gann who obviously has a crush on him. But what you don't know is that Connor won't help because he thinks he likes Jaime."
He seemed so pleased with his observation. Zatanna didn't miss the odd emphasis. He was obviously baiting her and she knew it. She waited for him to continue but when he didn't she relented and with reluctance asked what she knew he was waiting for:
"What do you mean he thinks?"
The grin on the little trolls face doubled with triumph.
"Just that." he chirped and continued, "The truth is he wants to be friends with Jaime, but-" he made a dramatic pause, "-since he has about as much of a love life as a rock," this he said jokingly before returning to his all-knowing-detective-Dick-Grayson ramble, "-he misinterpreted his own desire to be closer to Jaime and thinks he likes him in a non-platonic way." Zatanna would have laughed then but the raven haired boy continued, "Plus, you don't really want to get involved in losing battle do you?"
Zatanna bristled at that, her defensive shields going up, "What do you mean 'losing'?"
Dick held his hands up placatingly, "Hey, I'm just warning you that Jaime already likes Bart. They both do. Just not out in the open yet." he seemed sincere as he continued, "I'm just trying to save you from heartbreak."
Despite her better instincts to hate the little twerp it was practically impossible, and that last sentence actually made her heart soften a little.
Then "Maybe you should find a new guy."
Zatanna didn't miss the meaning of that sentence, he was saying maybe she should like him instead. Somehow that only served to fuel her rage.
"Yeah well don't be so kind next time." she practically spat acid with how vitriolically she'd said that.
Dick Grayson's eyebrows rose in astonishment as she stomped away from his frozen form.
"Was it something I said?"
.
.
.
Zatanna heard the telltale cackle of Tim and knew she'd found her target.
She rounded the last corner and there they were, or rather he was, since she only had use for one of them. Connor was standing in the hall in his usual black shirt and jeans attire. He had noticed Zatanna coming but had apparently chosen to ignore her. Tim was across from him leaning against the opposite wall, the smile he'd been sporting disappeared almost as soon as she'd entered the hall and his shaded eyes were staring (or at least she thought they were, it was hard to tell with sunglasses) straight at her. After a few moments Connor sighed histrionically.
Fiery ice-blue met with disgruntled ice-blue. Zatanna planted herself at the end of the hall, purposely staring at him.
"What do you want?" the cantankerous teen finally grunted when it became apparent that she wasn't just passing.
"Can we talk?"
"Sure." Connor waited for her to talk as he leaned against the locker, "We're talking right now."
"Alone." Zatanna deadpanned with a pointed look to Tim, who quickly opened his mouth to protest her request.
Connor shrugged though and slouched off the locker, "Be right back." he placated Tim as he sauntered over to Zatanna.
The second that they were in a certain pocket of hallway which was never visited he cut to the chase, "So what's this about?"
"I want a favor from you."
Connor only raised an eyebrow and she took this as encouragement to continue, "I need your help to get Bart away from Jaime." she saw a quirk of the corner of his lip. That gave her hope.
She thought she might have him as she continued more confidently, "Can you distract him after school for a while, or maybe -say- something to him?"
The quirk of his lip turned into a smirk and she smiled with triumph. She had him. Then-
Connor snorted, "You're kidding right?"
Her smile dropped the second she saw the sardonic glint in his eyes. She felt the ground shifting under her and knew that their positions of dominance had suddenly, drastically switched.
He leaned in and she held her shaky ground, not losing foot despite feeling intimidated, unsettled, and confused.
"Sorry, sugarqueen, but-" the nickname earned him an affronted glare from her and it was obvious he was all but sorry as he continued, "I'm not your pawn." He straightened back and glowered down at her, waiting for what he assumed would be an amusing reaction.
And she didn't disappoint as her eyes widened fractionally and her jaw gaped open flabbergasted.
Her position then quickly turned to insulted and she wanted to smack that stupid smirk off his smugly handsome face. How dare he!
Connor saw the narrowing of her eyes and felt the violent waves rolling off her; it just gave him a smug sort of satisfaction to know he'd gotten under her skin. He wasn't threatened in the least bit. It was like watching a kitten hiss; hardly fear-inducing and more cute than anything.
"You're going to have to find yourself another errand dog." He finished and crossed his arms over his broad, toned chest. Then just to get under her skin some more he added mockingly, "Sugarqueen."
He watched as she huffed an indignant breath before stomping off with barely contained anger. Her ridiculous heels applauding her exit.
Connor leaned back into the lockers as his mind started drinking in the newer information. Now Zatanna was after Jaime, and apparently she saw Bart as enough of a threat to want him out of the picture. He felt something tug at his heart and registered it as concern. His eyebrows knitted together and his frown deepened.
It seemed like a storm was heading towards Jaime, he thought with poorly concealed concern.
Connor pushed off the locker and began to walk back towards Tim with thoughts of helping Jaime swirling in his mind.
Connor may be a bully but even bullies had soft spots-and his was Jaime.
Sorry if this was boring to some of you guys but come on. I gave you Dick Grayson! You cannot tell me you don't love that~ I think I got his personality pretty good but I don't know, you guys tell me. Don't forget the usual. Read and review.
