Chpt. XXVI: Lost

A few days had passed since Dick rescued Harper Row from Ed Nygma's hands. Dick was sitting in his bed, working away on his laptop. He was researching all that he could about the Cadmus building. Harper had managed to email him the blueprint files for the building. Dick was studying the fence that surrounded the entire base, which was a few hundred yards away from the actual building. The fence didn't seem to be much of a problem; Dick figured he'd either go over, under, or through the fence. He was prepared for whichever. Once passed the fence, Dick had to be on the lookout for sentries up in watchtowers across the base. As long as Dick got passed those, he wouldn't be sniped. He would then have to make his way to the entrance, where he planned to pose as an employee attending work late at night. Of course, Dick would need a fake employee's I.D., but he was sure Harper would be of good assistance on that. Once Dick was able to make his way inside of the campus, he would proceed to search the building for the laboratories that were responsible for creating the weapons for Nolan Drake, & work from there.

Dick felt comfortable with his plan of action. All he needed was someone to cover his six searching Cadmus. Only one person came to Dick's mind.

Dick stepped onto his motorcycle and began to rev its engine. Before he pulled out of the driveway, he removed his phone from his pocket and scrolled through his contact list. It was a short list. Dick pressed on the number he was searching for & called the number. The phone rang a few times before finally being answered.

"Yeah?" Roy said as he answered the phone call.

"Roy," Dick said. "Hey man, what's up? Where are you right now?"

"Um," Roy said, followed with a long pause. "I'm doing something right now."

Dick rolled his eyes. "Okay, well, I need to speak to you. It's really important. I need your help."

"Can this wait, like, at least a day, Dick?" Before Dick could respond, Dick heard a female's voice in the background shout his name. "Hi Dick! It's Zatanna, Roy is here at the shop!"

Dick shook his head softly. "Alright Roy, I'm heading over now."

Dick drove through Gotham City until he passed through familiar streets. He was having difficulty remembering where Zatanna's shop was, but eventually Dick pulled down onto the old deserted street where the shop was located. The atmosphere brought about the same eerie feeling down Dick's spine as the first time he arrived.

Dick parked his motorcycle & stepped off from over the bike. He walked across the street to the shop, which had a closed sign hanging. Dick shook his head and stepped up to the door. He pushed the door open a little stronger than necessary. As he stepped inside, he realized what he had done wrong.

The dim lit room was suddenly pitch black as the candles surrounding the shop's interior went out. Dick heard humming continue in the dark towards the left. Dick pulled out his phone & switched on the flashlight application. He turned the light to the front, where Roy & Zatanna sat across from one another holding hands. Zatanna's head was bent low as she chanted softly. Roy's head was also bent low, but he wore a red baseball cap which made it hard to recognize him even more.

Dick slowly shut the front door behind him. He was worried they would be pissed about the candles going out by the swift opening of the door, but they were still in a trance. Dick decided that maybe he should wait before talking to Roy.

Would Roy really want to accompany Dick out to Metropolis in order to stop Nolan? It wasn't Roy's agenda; would Roy really go all out in order to help Dick? He managed to be a great help after all that happened with Olympus. Sure, everything Roy did was questionable, with the tech he was using & the bow & arrows. But did that make him untrustworthy? Roy might have his own secrets, but...Dick had his as well.

Suddenly Zatanna gasped loudly, inhaling a large amount of air. She gasped as though she couldn't breath. Roy looked up, waking from his trance, & rushed around the table to her side. "Zatanna!" he cried.

Dick rushed over to the other side of Zatanna. "Shit," he murmured to himself as Zatanna's body began to shake uncontrollably. Her limbs began shivering & spazzing into a seizure. Dick stepped behind Zatanna & reached around her torso. "Roy, grab her legs!"

Roy bent down and gripped both legs in his arms. Together, the two lifted the witch's body onto the table, which began to shake along with Zatanna's body. Dick repositioned himself to the left side of her body, trying to get a good grip on her wrist. He felt for a pulse but felt nothing. He reached for her neck but also felt nothing. He looked around, trying to figure out what to do. Dick was panicking. He was out of ideas.

Suddenly, Zatanna's body stopped shaking.

Dick stared down at the body, then looked back up at Roy, who stared back at him. They both then looked back down at Zatanna's body, which remained still. Dick placed his hand slowly on her neck. There was still no pulse.

"Shit," Dick hissed, yanking his hand back. He stepped away from the table, breathing hard.

"She's not dead," Roy said. "She can't be."

"She is, man, her heart stopped beating!"

"NO!" Roy cried. "She was looking for Jim! She felt his presence & was trying to pinpoint where he was! She almost had him! She didn't tell me where he was though!"

Dick shook his head. "Dude, I'm sorry, I really am. But I think she might have overdone it this time."

Suddenly Roy was the one gasping. He shuddered hard breaths, trying to fight back the cries. His voice began to choke. "Dick, I need to find Jim. She was the only one who could help me. Without her…" Roy let out a loud roar & slammed his fist into a table top beside him. It broke in half, straight down the middle. Glass sculptures & other miscellaneous things toppled to the ground and shattered, just like Roy's own hope.

Dick stepped close to Roy & slowly opened his arms out. Roy stepped to Dick & rested his head on Dick's shoulder and began to cry. This is who it was. This is who Roy was searching for in Gotham. And it broke Roy's heart.

"TO SOW DRAGON'S TEETH!" Zatanna suddenly called out from the table as her body shot upward like a spring. Dick & Roy turned to look at her in complete shock.

Zatanna slowly turned to look at the two boys. "Whoa," she mumbled.

"Oh my god, you were dead," Dick said.

Zatanna sighed. "It happens," she said nonchalantly.

Roy stepped close to the table. "Zatanna, did you see anything?"

Zatanna nodded. "Yeah, um, it was a bright white room…& there was a light shining down on my face. There was a lot of loud noises, like buzzing & humming. But then I heard a voice say 'to sow dragon's teeth.'"

Roy turned to Dick. "'To sow dragon's teeth?'"

Dick thought about the phrase. He had read it somewhere in a book when he was younger. He was trying to remember the book. It was a mythology book. It mentioned some Greek heroes in mythology, one of which fought a water dragon, who then was ordered by Athena to sow the teeth of the dragon into the ground. Dick tried to remember the name of the Greek hero…

"Cadmus," Dick said.

Roy & Zatanna looked at each other, then back at each other. They turned back to Dick. "What?" Roy asked.

"There was this dude in Greek mythology. He, like, slayed some dragon. Athena, some goddess, she told him that he should sow the dragon's teeth into the ground. The hero was named Cadmus." Dick sighed. "It's also a military science base."

Roy slowly turned to Zatanna. "Cadmus...is a military science base? That's where Jimmy is?"

Zatanna nodded. "I guess. I mean, 'to sow dragon's teeth,' that's a really specific phrase. It can't mean anything."

Roy looked down at the ground, staring in deep thought. He looked up at Dick. "Do you know where Cadmus is?"

Dick nodded. "Metropolis."

Roy sighed. Dick remembered the story that Roy told him about his older brother. He was a cop in Metropolis. Was that who Roy was looking for…?

Dick cleared his throat. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Roy. I'm planning a heist to get into Cadmus. They're supplying Nolan Drake with chemical weapons & I want to cut off their supply. But I can't do it alone."

Roy nodded. "I hear you. I'll get my gear ready, then we can talk details."

Dick nodded in agreement, and began to led Roy to the door. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks, then turned back to Zatanna.

Zatanna was sitting on the table still with her legs crossed. She was wearing the same skinny jeans & boots. Her white blouse was still covered in a black blazer, & she continued to give Dick that same seductive look she once gave him long ago. Dick had genuinely felt attracted to her for a brief moment when meeting her. Then he found Cheyenne. Then John Constantine found them. Dick just had to ask. "Why did you send Constantine after us?"

Zatanna stared at Dick, then blinked. "Wait, what?"

Dick slowly stepped towards the witch. "Why the hell did you send John Constantine after us that night? You knew exactly where we were going, & you knew exactly who I was looking for that night, & you knew who she was with that night. You told me not to go, & asked me to have Constantine to check the place out. You knew I wouldn't, and so you took the liberty of calling him yourself, & had him try to kill us all!"

Dick lunged at Zatanna & grabbed her by the collar of her blazer. "Whoa, what the fuck, dude!" Zatanna cried. "What are you talking about?"

"Dick!" Roy called from the door.

Dick hissed, ignoring Roy's call for attention. "Why did you send that son of a bitch after us, huh? You ruined my life. I lost my chance of ever finding her again!"

Zatanna brought her hands up onto Dick's shoulders & jolted him. "Dick, please, just listen to me!" Dick felt his racing heartbeat slow down. He breathed slowly and heavily, & finally calmed himself. He nodded, allowing Zatanna to speak. "I didn't send Constantine after you. I had a one night stand with that douchebag, & we made a deal; he would leave me alone & I'd advertise his practice. I never called him again, so I sure as hell wouldn't have called him for a job."

Dick stared at Zatanna in her eyes. He watched her pupils, her nose, her lips, her eyebrows, just about every aspect of her face was traced by Dick. He couldn't sense a lie in her words. He shook his head. "Fuck," he whispered to himself. "I'm so sorry…"

Zatanna rubbed her hands over Dick's shoulders and slowly pulled him close to her. She rested his head onto her shoulder. Dick shut his eyes and began to cry quietly. Zatanna continued to rub Dick's shoulders & cooed in a soothing tone.

Roy cleared his throat from the door. "Dick, I'm gonna be outside." Roy walked out the door and shut it behind him.

Dick slowly rose his hands up Zatanna's back & pulled her close to him. "I'm so sorry," he said softly through shuddery breaths. Zatanna tried to pull away, but Dick pulled her back to him. "I thought I was happy," he started. "I deluded myself into believing that I was fine, that everything was okay after Chinatown. I managed to just forget about that crazy night but never really coped with it properly. It never really dawned on me that, after all these years, after finally finding Cheyenne, I might have lost her again for good. And I don't know for certain. It drives me nuts. I have another girl in my life, & she's great, but...I don't know if I'm able to move on from Cheyenne."

Zatanna stayed silent for what felt like a few minutes to Dick. He was unsure why he had suddenly opened up to her, but he had. He spilled his heart out, letting out everything he had kept bottled up inside for so long. He hadn't even realized what he was feeling until right now.

Finally, Zatanna spoke. "You...love Cheyenne. Right?" Dick softly nodded. "Okay," Zatanna said. "You love her. I can see that. You lost her that night. I don't know what John did to you & her that night. I don't know what happened to her. But it doesn't matter. You were willing to go through hell to find her, & you did. You lost her again, & now you want to find her again. You were willing to choke me to do it. You were going to kill for the one you love."

A sudden flashback from Dick's dark past came forward in his mind. Dick shook it out of thought. Zatanna was right. Dick was willing to cross any line for those that he loved. Even Cheyenne. "I just need to know where she is now," he said softly. "I just need to know that she's okay."

Zatanna nodded. "I understand. I'm sure she's fine, wherever she is right now."

Dick looked up at her. "Do you think you could...like...I don't know, maybe try &...like, track her down?" Zatanna stared back at Dick with sad eyes. Dick pressed on. "Can't you, like, search for her life force or something, like you did last time…?"

Zatanna shook her slowly. "I think it'd be best if you did this on your own, Dick. I may not be able to help this time."

Dick nodded. He let his tears roll down his cheeks; he didn't care anymore. He was going to try, one last time again, to search for Cheyenne. Dick said goodbye to Zatanna & thanked her, and stepped out of the shop.