Summary: Takes place a few hours after the previous chapter
Disclaimer: I don't own DC
Dick smiled as he waited outside Zatanna's door, flowers in hand. Second time's the charm.
He admittedly felt slightly guilty about having to ditch Bruce and his family's dinner the day he came back, but they all were more than forgiving when they found out why he was ditching. Cass even helped him pick out flowers from the family garden.
As the door opened in front of him, Grayson took a deep breath and prepared himself. He wanted to make sure he seemed as calm and cool as ever.
And he failed miserably.
In his defense, she looked more beautiful than ever. Looks like he wasn't the only one excited for this night.
"H-h-hey." He cleared his throat and chuckled at himself, and she just smiled.
"Hey." Dick awkwardly offered her the bouquet.
"Uh, th-these are for you." Zatanna giggled, but took the flowers and smiled nonetheless.
"Such a gentleman. You always treat your first dates this formally?" He smiled. This was what he was looking for, a chance to flirt with her. Playful banter was much more up his alley when it came to Zatanna. He couldn't explain it, Dick was normally a well-collected, proper gentleman, but around her he was completely different.
She just had that effect on him.
"Only when they look as good as you do." Zee blushed as she walked back inside to put the flowers in an empty vase on the kitchen counter before walking back and smiling.
"Come on, Grayson, I thought you knew me better than that. I'm not that easy to get in bed with." Dick smiled and rubbed the back of his neck, offering a hand for her to take.
"Night's still young." She smiled and took it, allowing him to lead her out of the apartment and into the bustling streets of Gotham City.
"So, let me get this straight, you taught the most complex acrobatic maneuver ever performed at a circus to a teenage girl in less than a day?" Dick leaned back in his chair and smiled, wiping the side of his mouth neatly with the handcloth.
"Well, I don't mean to brag, but yes. I am pretty awesome." Zatanna rolled her eyes and took a sip from her glass as he snickered. "Yeah, but Jayna was pretty great. I'm sure she could outperform me given enough time. A-and it felt good, teaching her my tricks. Feel like as long as I can spread it to others, my parents're still around in a way. Like their legacy or whatever."
The magician smiled sweetly and placed a hand over Dick's.
"I know they'd be proud of who you are now." He returned the smile to her.
"Thanks." He took another bite out of his spaghetti before continuing. "So you got a new protege?" Zee nodded.
"Khalid Nasseur. He's a doctor-in-training, and believe it or not, he's a distant nephew of Nabu." Dick winced.
"That bad, huh?" Zatanna giggled, shaking her head.
"No, he's actually pretty great. Sometimes I wonder if he really is Fate's nephew cuz he's such a stand-up guy. He wants to help people, and he's got nature-focused magic to help him with that. Nabu asked me to train him, so I kinda had to say yes." Grayson nodded, drinking from his own glass.
"So first bad luck magic, now nature magic?" She nodded. "Pretty soon you're gonna have quite the squad." Zatanna smiled gleefully, excited at the prospect of leading her own magic team.
"I've been brainstorming names. What do you think of the 'Sentinels of Magic'?" Dick laughed.
"About as on-the-nose as the Batfamily, so I approve." Zatanna took one last sip from her glass, and Dick eyed her longingly. This dinner was just highlighting how much he had missed her, and he wanted to do more than just sit at a table with her.
Their relationship was far more than a mere meal at a fancy restaurant.
"I'm not really that hungry today." Right on cue.
"Wanna get outta here? I hear the city's pretty beautiful from the top of Wayne Plaza at night." Zatanna smirked as Dick signaled for the check.
Nightwing and Zatanna now stood at the edge of the tallest skyscraper in Gotham, smiling at the bright neon lights and bustling streets below them. Dick had his arms wrapped around Zee's waist as he stood directly behind her.
"You ready?"
"If you drop me, I will kill you." Dick snickered.
"Wouldn't dream of it, babe."
He slowly leaned off the edge of the scraper, taking Zatanna with him as he started to freefall down the building. Zatanna buried her head in the crook of his neck, and he laughed at her evident fear before firing a grapple to the neighboring skyscraper and swinging off at breakneck speeds.
Zee let out a muffled screech as he let go of the line at its peak and fired off another one to carry their momentum forward, and he cackled. She tightened her grip around his neck in fear. "Open your eyes, Zee, it's fun!"
She shook her head and let out a whine of protest, still terrified as the cold winds flew past their faces and blew around their matching raven hair. Dick chuckled.
"Come on, it's fun! I swear, you're completely safe with me!" At the speeds they were going, Dick was actually having a bit of a hard time swinging with only one hand while the other was wrapped around her waist, but he wanted to reassure her. She could catch them with her magic if he did fuck up anyways.
Zatanna slowly started to open her eyes and look around, and Dick smiled as he continued to swing them around at incredible speeds through the cold, night breeze of the beautiful city. She smiled softly at the sensation, but was terrified nonetheless.
"S-stop now! L-land on that building!" He snickered but did as she asked, getting them both on solid ground and letting go of her once they were safely planted on the rooftop. She started to laugh with him, and he smiled before softly kissing her. The kiss lasted only a few seconds before Zatanna broke it off. "My turn."
He looked puzzled. "Your turn?"
"Etativel!" Zee started to fly, and Dick let out a noise of shock when she took him with her. He clung to her waist desperately to keep from drifting off into the horizon, and she laughed freely as they flew around the city together.
"O-okay, ha ha, y-you got me, c-can we land now?" She looked at him quizzically, in a teasing way. She was clearly enjoying this.
"I thought you loved to fly." He was trying his best not to let go of her waist as they barreled around.
"Y-yeah, when I'm the one doing the flying!" Zee rolled her eyes.
"That's not flying. This is. Ylf, Kcid, ylf!" Dick started to levitate on his own accord, letting go of Zatanna and awkwardly moving his arms around to try and keep balance. She laughed and flew up to him, taking his hands and leading him around as she moved through the air with grace.
Dick couldn't resist the urge to giggle as they flew around together. "O-okay, this is kinda fun."
She smiled knowingly and winked at him.
"Told ya."
The pair flew up so they were hovering several hundred feet above the central plaza of downtown Gotham, and Dick smiled at her sweetly as she helped him balance in midair. He had an idea he just had to try out.
"You know, there is something I've kinda wanted to try." She humored him.
"What's that?"
Dick didn't answer. Instead he cupped her cheeks with his hands and kissed her passionately. She let out a noise of surprise but quickly eased into it. They both softly moaned into the kiss, and Dick broke it off a few seconds later to catch his breath. Zee smiled and rubbed her forehead against his.
"I've never made out with someone this high up before." Zatanna started to laugh.
"I'm honored to be the first."
Zatanna smiled and watched from a few yards away as Dick talked with Commissioner Gordon.
They had decided to go on patrol together for a bit when they ran into a shady arms deal going down.
Normally it would have taken him far longer to deal with the veritable army of goons lying tied up at his feet, but tonight he had the magician to help. What would have been a 20+ minute brawl turned into a less than 5 minute tussle.
"Nightwing, 's been a while since I've seen you around here." He nodded.
"Pleasure's all mine, Gordon."
"Well, Commissioner Yin's told me what type of work you do, but this is impressive, even for a man of your talents. Minimal suspect injuries, virtually no property damage, and not a scratch on you. How'd you do it?" The vigilante smiled.
"I might've had a bit of help." Jim looked to the side to see Zatanna there and smiled.
"The magician from the Justice League? What is this, date night?" Nightwing smirked.
"She was in the neighborhood and decided to give me a call."
"I see. Well, it's nice to know no matter where you go in Gotham, there's a superhero or two around to keep the peace." Dick smiled and waved to Gordon.
"Call me if you need anything!" He fired a grapple to swing off, and Zatanna flew after him, leaving Gordon and his men to clean up. He smiled as he watched them soar into the night sky together.
"Always did like those two together."
Dick landed on the fire escape outside Zatanna's apartment while carrying her bridal-style. She had slightly twisted her ankle on their last encounter for the night, which just meant he had an excuse to hold her for the trip back home. He gently deposited the young magician to her feet and opened the window for her once she unlocked it with magic, and she carefully slid into her residency.
"So…good kidnapping?" She smiled.
"Best ever. You better find a way to top this next time." Dick's smile threatened to rip his face in half.
Next time…that sounded really nice.
"So…I'll see you?" He tried not to sound too disappointed at the prospect of having to leave her for the night.
However, before he could turn around and swing back to Wayne Manor, she yanked on his suit's torso armor rather viciously and pulled him in for a deep kiss. He stiffened in response but eased into it very quickly, and she gently tugged him into her apartment and shut the window behind her with one hand while holding him with the other. They broke off for air and she leaned in to whisper into his ear while he was catching his breath.
"Stay with me." He smirked.
"Say it backwards."
"Yats htiw em, Drachir Nosyarg." He smiled before pulling her in for another kiss, gently taking off her jacket and carrying her to her bed while she wrapped her legs around his waist.
Needless to say they didn't sleep much for the rest of the night.
Zatanna woke up the next morning in an empty and rather disheveled bed, clothes scattered every which way, some hers and some not.
She groaned as she sat up in bed, rubbing her forehead and trying to accommodate her eyes to the rays of sunlight breaking through her blinds. She noticed she still wasn't clothed, not a surprise, so she quickly muttered a spell to dress herself in an oversized Batman t-shirt. She chuckled upon realizing this shirt belonged to Dick from almost three years ago. He wouldn't ask for it back, would he?
Zee stood up and stumbled outside of her bedroom and towards the source of some commotion in the kitchen. She very nearly tripped over several pieces of Dick's Nightwing armor that were scattered around the place all over the floor, and she winced at the throbbing pain in her foot. Her sore ankle had not gotten any better from last night.
Zatanna blushed as she peeked out of the room and saw Dick, dressed in only his boxers from last night, trying to cook what looked to be pancakes for her. She tried sneaking up behind him, but he could hear her struggles as she limped towards him rather clearly, and he smirked as she got right behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, laying her head on his back.
"Hey." The shorter raven hummed in response and he smiled, turning around and pecking her on her forehead. "Is that my shirt?" She smirked.
"Good thing you noticed. You can have it back, but you might have to take it off me first." He snickered.
"Ankle better?"
"Not at all." Dick picked her up and gently seated her on top of the kitchen counter, but before he could turn back to deal with the pancakes, she wrapped her legs around his waist and yanked him into her so she could kiss him.
He broke away after a few seconds, smiling. "As fun as this would be, I kinda need to get to that before it burns." She smirked.
"I'd rather you focus on me more." Dick returned her smirk with a mischievous one of his own.
"Did I not focus enough on you last night?" Zatanna cackled, smacking his arm gently as he placed the spatula down to the side and wrapped both arms around her waist.
He moved in to kiss her again, and this time she didn't let him break off. And they may have been freezing because they were half-naked in Zatanna's less-than-warm apartment kitchen, but to be honest, neither one really cared in the heat of the moment. All they cared about was the taste of one another's mouth and how long they could carry this on before needing to breathe.
This was what they had been waiting for almost three years for, and they intended to enjoy every second of it together.
Feel free to leave comments or suggestions for chapters you wanna see. Next chapter up soon.