Quick Disclaimer: This is my first story ever written, so I'm sorry if it's not too good. This is a Dick Grayson/Zatanna Zatara story. And a quick PSA from future me, the first few chapters are an actual pain to read, so I'm sorry in advance for that crap. Trust me, it gets infinitely more tolerable after around the first 30 chapters, so I hope you can stick with me through then.
I don't own Young Justice or any other DC properties.
This story will follow a timeline that I have created for this universe. It basically sees a lot of ideas I thought were interesting mushed together to create something semi-coherent. This first chapter was just a disclaimer and also a timeline for what this universe will follow. So here's the basic timeline for what this story will follow (there's other stuff that happens in this universe obviously but this timeline centers on Dick and Zatanna):
1998: Dick Grayson is born to the Flying Graysons, Mary and John Grayson, in Haly's Circus. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne, age 15, has just left Gotham in search of training to become a symbol of fear to protect Gotham City. His first stop is Rome, where he tracks down fabled stage magician Giovanni Zatara, age 21, whose wife just passed away in a car crash. After much convincing and the revelation that he knows of Zatara's powers, Bruce finally gets Zatara to accept him as a student. He spends roughly a year with Zatara and his 1-month-old daughter Zatanna (Zee's birthday is November 20th and Dick's is December 1st), training in the art of escape. He then leaves for his next stop, France, where he is to train with one of the greatest vehicle handlers in the world for the next step in his quest.
2006: Dick Grayson, age 8, witnesses the death of his family when Tony Zucco sabotages the trapeze lines to get revenge for Haly not allowing him to use the circus to launder stolen goods. Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth are in the audience, and Bruce offers to adopt the boy, who gratefully accepts. Dick spends a week in juvie, since the orphanage was out of space, where he gets beaten by other kids there until Wayne finally finishes the paperwork to legally adopt the boy. Dick quickly discovers that Bruce is the Batman, and he helps Wayne bring Zucco to justice, officially becoming Robin, the Boy Wonder and the world's first ever sidekick. This takes heavy inspiration from Dick's introductory episode in The Batman. Dick also starts going to school at Gotham Middle, where he meets 9-year-old Barbara Gordon, who quickly becomes his first ever real friend.
2008: Robin meets Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, and Speedy (the clone cuz Roy was abducted a week ago) in that order, forming lifelong friends with the 3. When their mentors get kidnapped, Robin, KF, Speedy, and Wonder Girl team up with new superhero Aqualad(Kaldur has been a hero for about a month) and Supergirl, who is training with Superman but chose to suit up to help find her cousin. The 6 save their mentors and choose to form a team, jokingly named the "Sidekick Squad" by Wally. The Sidekick Squad lasts about 3 months, going on adventures before they slowly fizzle out. The friends keep in contact but abandon the idea of their Jr. Justice League.
2011: The Team is formed. Donna and Kara were given invitations to join with the boys, but declined, since Kara was still training and Donna preferred to do things on her own with Wonder Woman. Pretty much just YJ Season 1 here. On New Year's Eve, Wally and Artemis finally become a couple, Kaldur and Raquel agree to try dating, and Zatanna kisses Dick, although they do not become a couple right away.
2012: Before Dick can talk to Zee about their possible relationship, he, Wally, Roy, and Kaldur are brought in to discuss Clone Roy as well as the missing 16 hours. By the time the meeting ends, the rest of the team has Zeta-d home and Bruce makes Dick come home to get rest, much to his chagrin. The Joker breaks out that night, prompting a 2-week case where Batman and Robin are far too busy to leave Gotham. Once the case is over, Robin and Zatanna finally have their talk and become an official couple. Later on this year, Dick encounters the mercenary Deathstroke, and in one of their early fights, Slade develops an interest in the Boy Wonder. He captures him and forcefully makes him his apprentice, but Dick frees himself, starting a long rivalry between the two.
2013: Garfield's mother is murdered by Queen Bee, and he is pseudo-adopted by Megan, meaning he now stays at the cave. His martian powers have not yet manifested so he just lives there as a friend. Towards the end of this year, Donna Troy, still Wonder Girl, joins the team, after having failed to convince her ex-boyfriend Roy to come back from his quest to find the original Roy Harper.
2014: Tula and Garth, who go by Aquagirl and Tempest, join the team. An alien princess named Koriand'r lands on Earth, and after kissing Dick to learn English, joins the Team as well as she has nowhere better to go, taking the name Starfire. Barbara breaks up with her 4-year-long boyfriend Luke Fox, although they stay friends. Barbara also becomes Batgirl, joining the Team. Starfire, Batgirl, and Zatanna become fast friends, and Kaldur feels conflicted between his lingering feelings for Tula as well as Raquel. He breaks up with Raquel because he feels it is unfair for her to be with someone who, at the moment, does not fully love her. She is upset but understanding.
2015: The team has an encounter with Grant Wilson, Deathstroke's eldest son. He has taken a job from the shadowy organization HIVE to eliminate the team, but in the ensuing battle, his heart gives up on him and he dies, marking a dark turning point in Slade's rivalry with not just Dick, but the whole team. On Dick's 18th birthday, he tells Batman that he would like to no longer be Robin. Bruce is happy for his departure from the role and proudly lets him leave. Dick moves into the Cave to live with Zatanna, and, less than a month later, Bruce adopts one street orphan Jason Todd after catching the boy attempting to steal the tires of the Batmobile. Bruce makes him Robin around New Year's.
2016: Dick meets Jason, and he is initially at odds about being replaced, but he understands and slowly begins to love his new brother. Jason joins the Team and Dick, upon talking with Superman, takes the name Nightwing. Around Thanksgiving, the Joker once again escapes, and this time decides to go after Batman's allies. In order to hurt Commissioner Gordon, he shoots Barbara through the spine after paying her a visit in her apartment, unintentionally removing Batgirl from action. When the Bats find out about this, Jason is enraged, and he was already dealing with anger issues leading up to this. He goes after the Joker alone, but gets captured and beaten to death with a crowbar. Bruce recovers his body upon finding him, and goes into a severe depression. Dick, now shattered from the news that Barbara is paralyzed and Jason is dead, breaks up with Zatanna in order to try to keep her safe. Zatanna, heartbroken, leaves along with Raquel to join the Justice League.
2017: Dick starts acting much more like Batman following the death of Jason. Donna and Kory leave the Team following their recent tragedies, and the new Wonder Girl, Cassie Sandsmark, joins around March. Young genius Tim Drake witnesses his father die after stealing from Two Face, and upon overhearing Two Face's plans to unite the criminal underworld of Gotham, seeks out Nightwing, who he has deduced is Dick Grayson. Dick takes the boy to Bruce, who is still depressed and has been noticeably more violent with criminals, and the Dynamic Duo, with the help of Barbara who has become Oracle, attempt to stop Two Face. The Bat Family convinces Bruce that Tim is perfect to be Robin, and Bruce reluctantly agrees to take the boy under his wing, although he is adamant that Dick trains him instead to avoid what happened to Jason. Dick spends a lot of time with Tim, and the ability to teach his new brother starts to wear Dick's shell down, and he becomes more happy, although he is not quite there yet. Meanwhile, Zatanna starts dating John Constantine, although it is clear to her that it is just a rebound meant to get her mind off Dick. Constantine is not too interested in Zatanna either, as he is just there for the sex. Once Dick learns of their relationship, he decides he needs to get over Zee, and he reluctantly starts dating Kory, who desires to fit in better in the world of man and believes a romance could help her in that regard. Dick and Kory break it off after a month, agreeing that they are better off as friends and neither's heart was really in the relationship. Meanwhile, the Bats meet Cassandra Cain, who has rebelled against her mother Lady Shiva and the rest of the League of Assassins, and they help her create her own heroic path. She leaves to follow her own journey, though she promises to return. In retaliation for the Bats and Cass foiling his plans, Ra's Al Ghul steals Jason's body and resurrects him, beginning his brainwashing into becoming the League's secret weapon against Batman. Around August, the Court of Owls come out of the shadows, determined to recruit Dick Grayson, as he is the great grandson of William Cobb, one of their most prominent warriors, and kill Bruce Wayne, as they have unknown rivalries with the Wayne Family. Tim, Zee, Superboy, and Constantine are there to witness Dick nearly die at the hands of an elite Talon. They save him and bring him back to the Cave to heal. The Bats, with the help of a returned Cassandra, defeat the Court, driving them back into the shadows. Zee realizes she still loves Dick, and promptly breaks up with John, who doesn't really care as he was only there for the sex. Cass is made Batgirl and adopted by Bruce. Connor also breaks up with Megan after she starts growing increasingly violent and even tries to mind wipe him. (This year is VERY eventful, but now we are heading into Invasion)
2018: The year starts off with a bang, as Tula dies near Valentine's Day. Wally and Artemis leave upon seeing how dangerous the hero's life is, Garth leaves to mourn, Kaldur leaves upon learning who his father is, leaving Dick in charge. Lagoon Boy, who was being trained by Garth and Kaldur, joins, taking Kaldur's place and starting a fling with M'gann. Garfield starts to exhibit Martian powers, taking the name Beast Boy and joining the team. Bumblebee and Mal join the Team after Bumblebee gets shrinking powers from a lab accident with the Atom, and her boyfriend only lets her join if he will be there to watch over her. Ted Kord, member of the Justice League, dies, and the alien scarab he was studying latches onto Jaime Reyes, who becomes Blue Beetle and joins the Team around July. In August, Kaldur comes to Dick with a plan to infiltrate the Light, and Dick accepts knowing that Kal will do it anyways and with Dick there, he is less likely to die. Dick alerts Robin, Oracle, and Batman of his plan when Kal goes undercover. They realize they need backup on the inside, so Dick reluctantly asks Artemis to go in due to her past with the League of Assassins. Arty accepts, much to Wally's anger, and Dick also tells Zatanna of his plan (they were repairing their relationship and Dick wouldn't lie to her at this time), who supplies a Glamor Charm to Arty. Tim and Cass find new vigilante Stephanie Brown, who has been inspired by the Bat Family and is trying to be a vigilante of her own. Upon seeing her dedication and unwillingness to listen to their pleas to make her stop, the Bats take her in as a member of their clan. Cass starts training her, even giving her the Batgirl mantle, and the two quickly become best friends. The rest of the year follows YJ Season 2, with Wally dying shortly after New Year's. Wally does not die, but is sucked into the Speedforce, and everyone assumes he is dead.
2019: Arty stays on the Team as Tigress to honor Wally, and Bart becomes Kid Flash but quickly hands the role over to recently introduced Max West (New-52 Wally but with a new name) and goes back to Impulse. Following her faking her own death, Arty takes the name Linda Park as a new alias, using a Glamour Charm from Zatanna to disguise herself as a completely different person. Steph ditches the Batgirl mantle to be Spoiler, a hero of her own making, and she and Cass, who has taken the name Black Bat, hook up with one another. Roy, now going by Will since he found the original Roy, chooses to raise his new daughter with Donna's help, as they have made up and Cheshire has ditched her kid. Connor and Megan get back together and Tim and Cassie hook up. Dick goes on a leave of absence, deciding that he needs to clear his head following Wally's death. This part takes heavy inspiration from The Long Road, written by WereDog15, so give props to him for a great story here. Upon Dick's return, he immediately asks Zee out on a date, and she accepts. Dick and Zee go strong, quickly becoming close again. Raquel also gives birth to Amistad, her son. Meanwhile, Jason, who has taken the name Almansi (Arabic for the Forgotten One according to Google Translate), attacks Batman and Robin. Bats unmasks him and attempts to break through his brainwashing. Almansi, upon seeing Bruce and Dick's faces, gains a bit of his memory back. He leaves the League, taking the new name "The Arkham Knight", and starts a campaign against Batman. This next bit is basically just the movie Batman: Under the Red Hood. After Jason escapes Bruce, he turns his eyes from Batman to the new Robin, seeing him as a replacement. Jason, who is still crazy at this point, hospitalizes Tim, and then abducts him from the hospital. Dick tracks him down and saves Tim, and during their fight, he further breaks Jason's brainwashing. Jason no longer hates the Bats, but his League programming still urges him to kill, but he chooses to bide his time for now. Dick asks Zee to move in with him, and she happily accepts. About a week later, Raquel catches her fianceé cheating on her and calls off her engagement. Kaldur, having taken the time to discover more about himself as a person, starts to date an Atlantean guard named Wynnde. Meanwhile, the original members of the Team are inducted into the League. However, on their induction ceremony, the League is abducted by the forces of Apokolips. Aqualad, Superboy, Miss Martian, Tigress, and Nightwing save the League and choose to stick together, forming a new team that would operate as public heroes, while still being there to assist the League. They call themselves the Titans, leaving the Team under the command of Mal and Robin. About a month after the founding of the Titans, Dick convinces Zee to join them with Raquel, reuniting the original members of the Team. Dick also meets orphan Rachael Roth, who's mother has died and is having trouble controlling her strange new powers. He forms a strong bond with the girl, taking her to Zatanna for mystical help, and they assist her in getting her powers under control before allowing her to join the tam as Raven. Meanwhile, Beast Boy has taken inspiration from the Titans, and in his ongoing battle against Granny Goodness (YJ Season 3), he, along with Kid Flash, Raven, and Arrowette, form the Teen Titans. The TT quickly add new heroes Cyborg and Terra to their ranks (YJ Season 3 origins, but replace Dick's team with the TT). The remaining members of the Team (Tim, Cassie, Bart, Jaime, La'gaan, Static, and new members Traci 13 and Kyle Rayner's Green Lantern), rename themselves to Young Justice, as Mal and Karen retire to be married, leaving Tim in charge of the covert ops team. Batman's back is broken on live TV by Bane, and so Dick Grayson suits up as Batman while Zatanna uses her magic to heal Bruce. Jason, watching Bruce get back-broken, decides to suit up as his own Batman, and so does Azrael, an ongoing enemy of the Bats (Arkham version of Azrael). Dick defeats the other 2 in combat, proving himself as the one true Batman and winning the Battle for the Cowl. Jason ditches the Bat-mantle, and decides to form his own identity, taking inspiration from the man who killed him, calling himself the Red Hood. He no longer kills but is still overly violent. Zatanna takes a month to heal Bruce, at which point he takes the Bat-mantle back from Dick. Barbara has been getting spinal implants and can finally walk again, taking her mantle of Batgirl back, and the entire Batfam has an intervention with Jason, where they finally reconcile and Jason returns to their ranks. Before he can become Nightwing, Bruce asks Dick to go undercover at Spyral, because he has had his suspicions of the spy organization for some time now. Dick alerts his friends and family before going undercover, and proceeds to take Spyral down from the inside with help from Helena Bertinelli, another undercover agent, Sam Young, a friend he made while staying in Washington, DC which is where the Spyral base is, and Tiger, a fellow agent he slowly befriends. This part takes HEAVY inspiration from Captain America: the Winter Soldier. DIck discovers that Spyral has been taken over by Cadmus, with Mark Desmund (the doctor from the YJ pilot episode) having become the head of the organization. He and his team take down Cadmus, putting Tiger in charge after he promises to lead Spyral down the right path. Helena goes back to her mantle of the Huntress, Sam Young moves to Gotham and starts dating Barbara, and Dick returns to the mantle of Nightwing. Connor proposes to Megan around Thanksgiving, right before Tim goes undercover with HIVE as Red X. His undercover plot lasts less than 2 weeks, as he quickly discovers the info he needs and returns to Young Justice. During his departure, Damian Wayne arrives on the scene (basically just Son of Batman the movie here), and takes the currently vacant mantle of Robin. Tim, upon return, is pissed but, with Dick's advice, chooses to become a new hero, combining his Robin and Red X mantles to become Red Robin.
2020: Wally is freed from the Speedforce on Valentine's Day, and he and Artemis don't skip a beat to get back together. He joins the Titans after deciding that he missed his friends. Connor and Megan are married in March. Wally proposes to Artemis around Independence Day, and they subsequently get married around November. Meanwhile, Damian joins the Teen Titans after Bruce thinks it might be a good idea for him to have friends. He meets fellow new recruit Jon Kent, son of Superman, and they hit it off. He also becomes close with Raven, and the two eventually start to date. Jason meets Artemis of Bana-Mighdall as well as a failed Bizzaro prototype, and the 3, along with Huntress, Starfire, and Arsenal, form their own team, the Outsiders. Deathstroke, still mad over his son's death, takes up a job with HIVE to capture the Titans. He kidnaps the entire team with the exception of Nightwing. Dick, with the help of Will, Donna, and Slade's other son, Jericho, frees the Titans and very nearly ends HIVE. Jericho goes on to join Young Justice. Slade is infuriated that Dick brought his son into this, and he hospitalizes Zatanna in retaliation. The two have a vicious battle, but they are forced to team up when HIVE starts targeting them both, Slade for failing his prior contract and Dick for his part in crippling them. The unlikely duo team up to take down HIVE, in the process discovering their plans to use Raven to raise the demon Trigon. They make amends, having earned each other's respect through the ordeal. Tim relays the info he has collected on HIVE, both through his infiltration and through Dick's adventures, to the Teen Titans, who manage to destroy the organization and bring an end to their plans to raise Trigon from Hell. Dick is shot in the head a few days after Wally and Artemis get married by KGBeast, who was hired by the Court of Owls. He is saved by doctors, but the doctors work for the Court, and during his medical exam, they brainwash him. He is abducted by the Court once he is released from the hospital, and he takes the name Ric Grayson, becoming a Talon. The Titans capture him a few days after his 23rd birthday, and M'gann frees the consciousness of Dick Grayson. Dick and Ric have a fight in his mind (inspired by that episode of Spectacular Spider-Man where its Symbiote vs Peter in his mind), and Dick ultimately wins back control over his body, Ric being destroyed fully in the process but Dick retaining the Court of Owls training that Ric underwent. Dick proposes to Zatanna a few days before Christmas.
2021: Dick and Zee get married around April.
2025: Connor gets Megan pregnant and they give birth to Marie Logan Kent.
2026: Wally and Artemis have twins, giving birth to Jai and Irey West.
2028: Dick and Zee, both 30, give birth to Mary Sindella Grayson. They retire from the hero life, promising to stay on retainer should the League need backup but retiring for the most part. The rest of the Titans do the same, but they all stay in close contact with one another.
2045: Bruce, age 63, retires from being Batman and settles down with Diana and his daughter Helena. Alfred passed away from old age a while ago, as did Leslie, Lucious, and Jim Gordon. Mary is 18 and Dick and Zee are 48. The League is mostly retired now, having been replaced with the Legion of Superheroes. Terry Mcginnis meets Bruce Wayne and becomes Batman Beyond, being trained by the whole BatFam. He is a part-timer for the Legion but protects all of the recently renamed Neo-Gotham on his own. Dick has become Commissioner of the Blüdhaven Police Department, Jason is the owner of the Iceberg Lounge which he acquired and cleansed of crime after the Penguin died of old age, Tim is the CEO of Wayne Tech, and Damian is the new head of the League of Assassins, though he has remade them into a force for good. Barbara is the Commissioner of the GCPD, where her husband Sam Young is a detective. Steph is a PI whereas Cass is a self-defense instructor. Zatanna stopped being a stage performer and became a teacher at Blüdhaven Elementary School, Cassie, married to Tim, is a fashion designer, and Raven helps Damian with the League whilst simultaneously leading her own following of mystical warriors charged with protecting the world from supernatural forces. Wally is the head of Keystone's CSI department, Artemis is a reporter under the guise of Linda Park, Connor runs a vehicle repair shop in Metropolis, Megan has a bakery near Connor's store, Kaldur works as a royal guard in Atlantis alongside his husband Wynnde, and Raquel works as a fashion designer. They all stay connected through the still-functioning Zeta Tubes, and they, along with the retired Leaguers, act as mentors for the new generation of heroes.
A decent amount of chapters will be fluff, but as I said there will also be big stories that connect to some of the events I listed above. Feel free to leave suggestions for stories you would like to see as well, cuz I am more than happy to (try to) accommodate your requests. I'm gonna update this series semi-frequently, like once a week if not more, but I won't have a set schedule. But I will keep updating, even if people don't read much, because I want to.