Summary: Suggestion from 4shur4. Takes place a little while after the previous chapter, one to two weeks
Disclaimer: I don't own DC
Zatanna tapped her foot rather impatiently as she leaned back in her chair. He was running more than a little late, and she was starting to get annoyed.
She looked at her watch, the same one he had bought her just a few weeks ago, for what seemed like the billionth time for the night. She mentally swore to punish him after dinner tonight.
Who was she kidding? Depending on how she punished him, he would probably enjoy it.
It wasn't like Dick to be this late without notice. She would be lying if she said she wasn't a little worried for his safety, but her fear was only slightly outweighed by her disdain as she watched Lois and Clark waltz around the dance floor and Barry playfully feed Iris at their table.
Bruce noticed her still waiting and frowned, excusing himself from the conversation he was having with Kaldur and Hal before walking over to her.
He sat down next to her and placed a hand on her exposed shoulder.
"Still nothing?" She shook her head.
Zatanna had attended the League anniversary gala with hopes of having a magical night with her loving boyfriend. She'd even dressed up the part in a rather alluring dress, in her humble opinion. Alluring enough that she had been asked out by several others while waiting, which was ironic. Needless to say she was excited.
But instead of the lovely night she was craving, the magician was stuck here at a table waiting for that cursed vigilante to arrive while everyone else sent her awkward or confused looks.
She should have taken a page from Artemis or Barbara's books and not attended. Would have beaten having to watch all the other couples smiling and laughing together on her own.
Bruce frowned and gave her a gentle squeeze. "I'm sure he has a reason. We both know he wouldn't just stand you up like this." She narrowed her eyes and stared at the table.
"Better be one hell of a reason then." Bruce nodded and sighed before walking back to Diana, leaving Zee to her own thoughts and grievances.
Finally, almost 10 minutes later, she spotted the familiar locks of jet black hair in the distance and sat up just a bit. She locked gazes with him, and as electric cerulean met navy blue, she saw a hint of fear flicker in his eyes.
She was delighted to see he was afraid of her. After making her wait 45 whole minutes, he should be.
He sat down awkwardly and rubbed his neck, and she tried to ignore him subtly giving her a one over and blushing ferociously.
He couldn't really help himself. She looked amazing.
"H-hey, babe. Sorry, I had to-" She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, and he winced. She had that stern look on her face that she always did when he fucked up.
Would it be insensitive to tell her she looks really pretty? Yeah, probably…
"I'm not really hungry anymore, Richard." Dick grimaced.
'Richard'. He was definitely in trouble.
"Zee, please, I can explain. I-"
"Please…just take me home, Dick. I'm not in the mood for dinner anymore."
Dick frowned but nodded, offering her a hand up and awkwardly walking with her out of the restaurant. He caught Bruce's gaze on the way out, and the elder vigilante sent him a look somewhere between worry and annoyance. Dick just looked away and frowned while his father quickly looked him over and took notice of the limp he was trying to hide and the swelling in a few different parts of his torso and legs.
At least he had a reason, the Dark Knight thought to himself.
Not a word was said until they reached her apartment. He didn't really want to cause a scene in public, but at her place he could finally explain himself. And hopefully survive whatever mystical punishment she deemed fit.
He walked in before she could shut the door behind her, and she rubbed her forehead and groaned as she realized this was gonna be one long, excruciating night.
And not in the fun way.
"Zatanna, can I please just get a chance to explain?" She turned to him and narrowed her eyes.
"Explain what? That you left me waiting with no notice for almost an hour? You know how awkward that was for me? I had to sit there and just watch everyone else have a good time while I was moping at a table with nobody to talk to! I was asked if I was okay or if I needed a friend five times! I had to tell them, 'No, it's alright. I'm just waiting on my boyfriend to show up, he'll be here soon'!"
Dick rubbed his left arm as it throbbed in pain and frowned, looking down in guilt. He had promised her they could go, and he knew how much the League meant for her…
She had every right to be mad at him, but he did have a reason.
"Zee, I…I'm so sorry. I would have been there if I could, you know that! But there was an explosion in Blüdhaven I had to deal with, and then I had to stop Deadshot from killing a state senator who was visiting, a-and then Electrocutioner had attacked the City Bank. I woulda dealt with him pretty fast, but he must've upgraded his gauntlets cuz when he hit me it actually got through my armor and I passed out for-"
"You what?!" All sense of anger and annoyance in her voice had made way for fear and concern. She grabbed his arm and practically tossed him onto her couch, muttering a spell to quickly discard his shirt. Her eyes widened as she saw the several new scars and burn marks all over his torso, and she frowned as she gently traced the rather severe burn marks all over his chest with her soft fingers.
Dick watched her intently as she softly muttered healing spells, and he let out a groan as the pain from the scars spiked before vanishing completely. His eyes widened as the marks and injuries started to vanish as her magic got to work, and he frowned when he noticed her eyes started to droop. Healing magic always did tire her out, and he wasn't particularly sure he deserved it right now.
Before Zatanna could move onto the next batch of scars, Dick tilted her head up and kissed her passionately. She let out a noise of shock before returning the gesture herself, but before he could do anything more, she gently pushed him away and turned back to his wounds.
"Don't distract me. This is important." Her voice was stern, but he just smiled, kissing her forehead, then her cheek, then her nose. He draped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer to him as she ignored his affections and kept working, doing her best to hold back the smile.
Dick rested his head on top of hers as she finished healing the last of his new wounds, and as he kissed the top of her head and took in the sweet strawberry scent of her hair, she couldn't hold back her smile anymore.
She looked up to face his soft smirk and kissed him rather needily. He moaned before pulling her into his lap and smiling softly, kissing her neck repeatedly.
He whispered into the crook of her neck in between kisses.
"I'm sorry, Zee."
"I know. I'm sorry for yelling." He turned to peck her lips before returning to his nest just above her right shoulder.
"Don't be. I should've given you the heads' up, somehow."
"Mmm." Zee bit her bottom lip as his kisses grew more and more passionate. "You were out saving the day. I get it."
Before they could get too carried away, Zatanna gently cupped his face and brought him to lock eyes with her. She wanted to have a heart-to-heart before they inevitably spent the rest of the night together.
He took notice of her serious face and frowned.
"Zee, this was a one time thing, I swear. I've already requested an upgrade to Lucious to deal with this sort of thing, it won't happen again." She furrowed her brows, an action he found adorable.
"You could have died."
"That's a normal thing, babe. We both know it. But I didn't, and I promise I never will."
"You can't guarantee that." Zatanna looked away, but Dick gently tilted her chin back to face him. "I…I hate to be that girl, but…look at Wally. O-or Tula. Or even…even my dad. None of them are ever coming back, a-and they had superpowers to protect them."
Dick quickly realized what Zatanna was getting at, but he didn't interrupt her.
"You…are amazing. I know what you can do, what you are. But…you don't have powers, a-and you're playing a dangerous game with people who do. Every time you suit up and go out there, there's always the chance you won't come back. A-and I know the same could be said for me o-or M'gann or any of us, but it's different. I have these powers to fall back on, but you have only yourself." Tears started to form in her eyes. "And if I ever lost you…" Zatanna's voice dropped to little more than a whisper, and Dick quickly pulled her down to tuck her head under his own, gently fondling her hair.
"I won't. I promise…I swear on my parents' graves…you'll never lose me. Y-yeah, I'm not as…equipped as you or Clark or M'gann or any of them, but that's why I have you, a-and them. If anything ever happened to me, I know you guys'd get me out of it. But nothing ever will happen to me. I might get a few bumps or scrapes here and there, but I'll get past it."
The magician smiled lightly as she wiped some of her tears on his chest and sniffled.
"You always do."
"And I always will." Dick wiped the water from her eyes and smiled playfully. "Trained by the best, remember?"
Zatanna laughed softly as he said that, and he felt his heart flutter as she sat back up, wiping the last of her tears away and regaining her playful sass as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear and locked eyes with him.
"Then so long as you keep that promise, I can live with that." Dick smiled before returning to the crook of her neck to continue his prior assault on her fair skin.
"Am I forgiven?" She smirked.
"You'll have to earn it." He cackled before picking her up by her thighs and carrying her to her bedroom. He probably tore the leggings of her dress in the process but did not care in the slightest as he kissed her with more and more vigor and shut the door behind them.
"I can do that."
If you all have ideas for more Zatanna centric chapters or even story arcs please let me know. I have a lot of Dick ideas for future stories, but I don't wanna leave Zatanna behind in that sense so I'd like anything you could offer. Also, Chalant now has a Discord, which is kinda cool. For some reason, the site isn't letting me post the link, but I think if you search for "Chalant Haven" on Discord, you should be able to find it. Alternatively, you could go to the fic "Chalant Kisses" on this very site or on AO3 and get the link from there, as that author is the creator of the server. Feel free to leave comments or suggestions for chapters you wanna see. Next chapter up soon.