Summary: Suggestion from pxaviercm. Takes place around November of this year (2012), so 11 months after Auld Acquaintance.

Disclaimer: I don't own DC

The anniversary of Nabu taking Zee's father was coming up. The days leading up to it, she was retracting into herself and staying in her room more, not at all her usually upbeat, full-of-life self. Artemis tried to help, but it was just an awkward mess for her, considering that she wasn't the most emotionally showing girl AND she didn't really know how to comfort someone who was in Zatanna's situation without making it worse. Dick had stayed with her for most of the time since she started this latest...episode, but she wasn't making it easy on him. The Boy Wonder had to sit through her verbal abuse as she just vented at him. He was fine with it. He knew she didn't mean it. She just needed to get it out of her system. He had done the same to Bruce when he was first adopted. Dick sat next to her, doing his best to gently calm her down as she raged at him. It ended with her breaking down in tears and Dick holding her as she cried her heart out and apologized profusely for her venting. He stayed in her room until she fell asleep, he had gotten used to sleeping with her at this point (and not in that way), and he made sure she was taken care of. In the morning she would be far more gentle, but she still would be hesitant to hang out with the others and would prefer to stay in her room and drown in her self-pity. Dick rarely left her side, wanting to be there to help her through it, but it was getting a bit out of hand. Bruce had allowed Zee to skip school for a week while she got herself together, and after much convincing, Dick had allowed him to do the same just so he could be with her. Most of her time was spent in her room hugging the framed photo of herself with her dad Dick had gotten her on Christmas.. Dick was really just there for emotional support if she broke down and to stay with her as she fell asleep, and despite her occasional outbursts of rage, she seriously appreciated it. I don't know what I would do without him.

On Sunday, the day before her father's...departure, Dick left for Gotham, though he promised Zee he would be back as soon as he could. Just gotta do this one thing. He met up with Barbara and wanted her help with something.

"Where have you been all week?"

"Yeah...long story. You know how I said Zee's dad is...gone?"

"Yeeeeahhhh..."

"Well, this is the first anniversary of it. Tomorrow, to be exact. Zee's not doing well, and I'm just...staying with her."

"Wait, where does she stay? Was she adopted?" Oh crap, didn't exactly think this through...

"Yeah, adopted by this great guy, John Smith. He's...friends with Bruce." Barbara nodded. "Anyways, I need your help. I, uh, I need something to get her, and I thought you might know what she'd like. You two have kinda been spending a lot of time together. I-I was gonna get her something I woulda liked, y'know, back when it happened, but I thought I could use your help." Barbara grinned before dragging him into a jewelry store. Dick had no qualms about spending thousands if it meant Zee would feel better, but he didn't understand how a new necklace or earrings would help his girlfriend with this type of loss. He was hoping that between himself and Barbara, they could come up with something to help the magician. Barbara turned to him.

"What did Bruce get you back then?"

"Uh, a poster. Poster of my parents' act. It's still in my room. Also got a framed photo of me with my parents from Uncle Jack. I already got her a framed pic of her and her dad on Christmas. Her dad used to be a performer, so I guess I could get her one of his show's posters. Wouldn't be too hard, considering he and Bruce were kinda close." Barbara nodded. She didn't have experience in this...area, so she often tried not to discuss Dick's parents with him for fear of saying something wrong and hurting him. However, she did occasionally try to get him something nice on his birthday or their anniversary. He appreciated the gesture, though it didn't help very much. Unfortunately, truly relating to this type of pain simply took experience.

Barbara and Zee were close friends. Ever since Dick had introduced them to one another, they had hung out on their own a ton. Babs was aware of her situation, other than the fact that she was a member of a covert ops superhero team, of course. Needless to say, she was eager to help Zee, almost as much as Dick was. Together, they finally decided on getting a shiny, silver bracelet engraved with her father's name to keep him close to her heart. Dick was also planning on getting a poster from one of Giovanni's shows for Bruce. He knew for a fact Bruce had more than one of those and would be more than willing to give one away to Zee. God, I just need her to feel better. C'mon, Zee...

Dick thanked Barbara for the help and made his way back to the Manor since it was getting dark. Babs asked if she could see Zatanna with him, but Dick said she really wasn't feeling up to it. "I'll tell her you said hi. And I'll try to bring her tomorrow. Promise. Thanks again, Babs." Dick ran over to Bruce in his office, and sure enough, he had an old poster of Zatara's. Damn. I can't tell if this is editing or just his magic, but it looks freaking great! Dick thanked Bruce and ran down to the cave to bring the stuff to Zee. Bruce chuckled at his eagerness. Heh, young love.

The Boy Wonder Zeta'd to the cave, but unfortunately, Zee was asleep. Dick didn't want to wake her, so he decided he would give her the bracelet when she next woke up. He instead hung the poster up on the side of her room, next to the photo he had gotten her on Christmas. He gently sat down next to Zatanna and wrapped his arms around the sleeping beauty, falling asleep with her.

From the Watchtower, Nabu was on monitor duty, watching the Earth for any threats. Being a Lord of Order meant he could spend all day up here until a situation that demanded his attention arose, eliminating the need for any shifts in monitor duty. While the not-so-good doctor was at work monitoring the Earth, from inside the helm, Giovanni Zatara had cast a spell to watch his daughter. Nabu was initially against it, but allowed it after some convincing. He did not feel guilty for stealing the father from his daughter, but he would not stop the poor man from retaining some minor form of viewing over his daughter's life. Giovanni sighed as he watched the scrying spell he had cast. It has already been a year? My sweet Zatanna, please...I am sorry for leaving you, but it had to be done. Zatara watched Zatanna shut herself out from the others on the team, but Dick would not leave her side, no matter how much verbal abuse the poor girl threw at him. He was grateful for that. He cringed as Zatanna vented her anger and frustrations at the Boy Wonder continually, but was overjoyed that Dick did not leave like he expected him to. Instead, the boy stayed with and comforted her. Giovanni smiled at the gesture. If there was anyone I would want my daughter to be with, it would be you. I only wish I could see you in person to tell you so. Thank you, Richard. Warmth filled his heart as the Boy Wonder hung up one of his old posters in Zatanna's room and placed a box that he could only assume was some form of gift on the desk next to her. Giovanni nodded in approval as Dick gently tucked stray strands of hair behind Zee's ear and lay next to her so that she would have someone to be with in the morning. Thank you.

I tried to add a bit more context to the initial suggestion, so let me know how I did. Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave comments or suggestions for chapters you wanna see. Next chapter up soon.