Order on Its Own: War

Chapter 12:

Kayra and Lady Order crawled out into a large stadium-like room. The door on the other side slid open and a... being... of sorts... walked into the room before the door closed behind it. Lady Order noted the black metal suit it was in and its right eye was black plating with a red lense. It walked out of the shadows to reveal a large portion of him to be some kind of red plating with darker red light glowing within it. As he moved, there was a robotic noise.

"Who the heck is that?" Lady Order asked "He looks like a Borg drone but less cyborg-y,"

"What's a 'Borg'?" Kayra asked.

The Borg-like boy stopped in the middle of the room and gasped slightly at the sight of Kayra. His programming kicked in and he became emotionless once more. Kayra stood in front of Lady Order and kept her hyper-sword raised as they walked around the edge of the arena. The boy kept turning to look at them and narrowed his eyes at them.

Scan complete...

Torranian, Hunagi...

Scan complete...

Earthen, Homo Magi...

One adult, one not fully developed, conclusion: adult one bares young...

"Who the heck are you?" Lady Order shouted at him.

He cricked his neck before staring at them.

"I am," he spoke in a robotic voice "The Joining,"

"What does that mean?" Kayra asked him as they reached the door out of there.

"Torranian female of the Hunagi tribe, name: Kayra, risk level: 78, conclusion: termination," he said "Earthen female of the Homo Magi species, bares young, risk level: 49, conclusion: termination,"

The fact the kid knew she was pregnant was creepy enough but, really, assessing their 'risk level' was especially freaky. The boy lifted his arm and lazar came out. It fired a red ray of energy that hit Kayra's hyper-sword. Her sword seemed to absorb the attack and the hyper-sword seemed to vibrate even faster.

"Zatanna... get out of here... I'll deal with this Borg, as you called it," she said "Go!"

Lady Order refused to leave her behind but felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as if her child was telling her to go. Borg Boy held his hand out, a floor panel opened and a bo staff came out from the floor. He grabbed it and took a fighting stance. Kayra ran at him and her hyper-sword and his staff crossed. Lady Order fired her orderly energy at Kayra and it super-charged her hyper-sword. As she remained still to give Kayra an edge over the cyborg, she began to feel pain in her lower abdomen. She collapsed to the ground and curled up with sweat running down her forehead.

"Stop it, Momma, our powers are linked so you're draining my power as well as your own. Don't worry, it'll be okay just don't use our powers too much,"

Hearing the small voice in her head, Lady Order got to her feet and removed her helmet but obtained her uniform. The helmet disappeared before it could hit the ground and Zatanna began crying. Maybe it was hormones or maybe it was just the weight of the situation but, either way, she was crying. She didn't sob, the tears just slid down her face and fell to the black metal floor.

Borg Boy continued to fight Kayra. Kayra, though a strong fighter, couldn't compare to a machine. Borg Boy didn't try to fire another lazar since he learned her hyper-sword could absorb the energy. Kayra swung her hyper-sword at his face and he was thrown back. Borg Boy put his hand to his face and the plating around his eye fell off. Kayra leaned against the hilt of her sword as she panted for breath.

"Zatanna! Go!" she shouted.

Zatanna got to her feet, murmured an apology to her unborn child and ran out. Vents opened up and mist began to fill the room. The temperature dropped and Kayra's eyes, hair and markings turned different shades of white. From the mist, Borg Boy appeared and she stared at him. Without the eye plating, he looked remarkably like...

"Fero?" she said in disbelief.

He raised his bo staff and attacked...

Zatanna ran through the corridors with no idea of where to go. All she knew was she needed to go up but didn't know how to do that. Tears were still falling from her eyes but they flew past her as she ran. In desperation to keep the magic between her and her baby even, she reverted back to the hoodie, glasses, baseball cap combo she had been wearing.

Zatanna came to a dead end and collapsed against the wall. She was done. Once she was back on Earth, she was done being Lady Order. She'd retire from the Justice League and only act as a superhero when magic became a factor. She'd still be a Lord of Order and be an authority figure in the magic underground. As soon as she was home, she'd go on maternity leave and become a mother to her child instead of a superhero.

Zatanna fell to her knees and curled up to protect her child. She smiled at the thought of wearing a t-shirt with the phrase "Child on Board" until she began showing. Dick would probably buy her one as a joke. Dick... He was her true love and her want to have a child had put him through hell. Zatanna had only become so desperate because it was taking longer than expected to get pregnant...

Their hands were clasped together as they waited for the doctor to arrive. Zatanna was terrified of what he'd say. Dick was terrified it was his fault they weren't already parents. The miscarriage was hard on them both but she was completely horrified by it.

"Mr. and Mrs. Grayson? I'm Dr. Rockford," the doctor said as he entered.

"Hello, Doctor," said Dick "So, is everything okay? We really want to have a child,"

Dr. Rockford looked at a baby blue file and shuffled some papers around.

"Mr. Grayson, despite past injuries, you still have working reproductive organs and you have the average amount of sperm for a 24-year-old man," the Doctor said and the couple were relieved "However," their faces dropped "Mrs. Grayson, you seemed to have suffered trauma to your abdomen in your youth. It has damaged your ability to carry a child to term. There is a chance you can still get pregnant but it could take a while,"

Zatanna looked down at her abdomen and tears formed in her eyes. It was her fault. Dick wrapped his arms around her as she let out a wail and held her close.

XxX

On the car journey back from the doctor's office, Zatanna was silent. When they got home, she sat by the window and watched the rain pour down against the glass. Dick came and sat with her. The rest of that day, Zatanna was silent. She ate dinner without a word, took a shower without singing and went to bed without reading out loud. Dick looked at her as she lay with her back to him.

"Dick... do you still love me?" she asked.

Dick was completely shocked! He sat up, pulled Zatanna into his arms and looked at her dead in the eyes. She looked genuinely scared he didn't love her and he seemed hurt she could ever think such a thing.

"Zatanna... I love you more than life itself! Dr. Rockford said it would be hard for us to have kids, not impossible. Even if it was impossible, I'd love you until the day the world ended and after that," Dick said, holding her to him "You're the love of my life and my purpose in life is to love you. I know, someday, you are going to be a wonderful mother whether we have a baby or adopt one,"

Zatanna wrapped her arms around him and cried into his shoulder until his t-shirt was thick with tears. She fell asleep in his arms and her gentle snores assured him she was going to be okay. Dick lay back in bed with his wife in his arms and soon fell asleep too.