Disclaimer: I don't own Justice League, this is purely for entertainment value, etc, etc.

***WARNING***
There's one scene in this chapter that merits the 'M' rating (by which I mean sex), so if you don't want to read it, just skip the section immediately after the one with Batman in the Batcave (you won't miss anything too important).
***WARNING***

With that out of the way, enjoy!

Aftermath

Up on the Watchtower that evening, after walking out from a meeting, Zatanna found herself accepting an invitation to sit with Huntress, Power Girl and Big Barda. "So, Barda…" Power Girl spoke up. "How're things with you and Scott? I heard you guys just bought a house and you're gonna move in together."

"Yeah, we are," she woman from Apokolips answered, a content smile on her face. "We found a place in a nice, quiet, boring little neighbourhood, and it's all ours."

"That sounds… peaceful," Zatanna remarked.

"Any chance you're gonna be walking down the aisle soon?" Huntress pitched in.

"Maybe in the future, but for now we're happy with the way things are."

"Really? And, uh, just how happy are you, eh?" The Gotham vigilante asked none too subtly.

"Oh, I'm very happy," Barda replied with a conspiratorial smirk.

"Come on, Barda, spill," Power Girl insisted. "We're all women here, we won't judge. Hell, Ms 'I'm dating The Question' here's the last person who should judge anyone for having an unusual sex life."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, the Question is… you know, the Question," Zatanna pointed out.

"Okay, I'll admit he may be a little odd sometimes," Huntress relented. "But that still doesn't necessarily translate to some weird 50 Shades of Grey shit in bed, or whatever you're imagining. You know, Zatanna, while we're on the subject of bedroom practices, I've noticed you seem pretty happy these days. Anything we should know about?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I've seen her smiling like she'd just gotten laid," Power Girl teased.

"I'm not allowed to just be happy? If I'm smiling that automatically means I've had sex, is that it?"

"That's not a no."

"It could always be that she knows a guy and they've made plans to ruffle up the bedsheets together," Barda suggested.

"What? No, of course not," Zatanna protested.

"Really? Then why did your heart rate speed up just now?" Power Girl asked, grinning at her.

"Ooh, now this is interesting," Huntress commented, enjoying the reversal of fortunes. "So who's the lucky guy? Is it anyone we know?"

"I… need to answer this very important call that just came in," Zatanna said as her phone went off, alerting her to an incoming call from Cassandra. Quickly excusing herself, she got up from the table to answer the phone, grateful for the reprieve. "Perfect timing, you just saved me f-"

"Zatanna… *sniff* oh god, this is horrible," Cassandra said, her voice clearly indicating that she was upset.

"What's wrong?" Zatanna asked with concern.

"It's my brother. He… he's been shot."

"What!?" The magician exclaimed in surprise. "How… how bad is it?"

"He's alive, and… *sniff* he's at the hospital, but… there's a lot of blood, and… and it doesn't look good."

"Where did they take him?" She asked, forcing herself to remain calm.

Cassandra managed to give her the name of the hospital in question, and Zatanna promised her that she'd be there as soon as possible. "SorryI'vegotanemergencygottagonowbye!" She blurted out to Power Girl, Huntress and Big Barda, leaving them confused when she took off like a bat out of hell.

In her mad dash to get to the teleporters she failed to notice Batman stepping out from a room into the hallway and ran right into him. Although the Dark Knight managed to remain standing, Zatanna did not. "Are you alright?" He asked, offering a hand to help her up.

"I'll be fine," she answered as she stood up, rubbing her forehead a little.

"Good. I need to talk to you ab-"

"Not now."

"Don't worry, I can make this quick," Batman insisted.

"Don't care," Zatanna said curtly. "I'm in a hurry, and I need to go now."

"What's the emergency?"

"None of your business. Now get out of my way."

"If this is-" Batman began calmly, before being interrupted.

"Evom!" she almost shouted, waving her hand in front of her. In the next moment, Batman was picked up as if by an invisible force and slammed into the wall. Leaving him behind, she hurried over to the teleporters, and before he could catch up with her she was gone.

26 years ago

The room was a vast, grandiose space, with smooth marble floors, walls, and pillars lining the expanse. High above was a dark blue ceiling, like the night sky glistening with numerous stars. Twelve thrones were installed in a "U", masterfully crafted, and upon them sat a group of men and women, led by the man in the middle, dressed in a suit, with dark grey hair, a beard, and a look of authority about him. Standing before this unique group of individuals was a tall, regal woman dressed in a green gown, with dark brown hair and a very pregnant belly. The 12 sat there looking at the woman in silence, until one of them, a young man with golden hair, spoke up. "So… exactly how did this happen?"

A brunette man with messy hair and holding a glass of wine jumped in by saying: "Well, when a man and woman are feeling horny and don't care to use protection, they-"

"Shut up," the blond snapped back.

"This was a gift from my late husband," the woman answered cooly, ignoring their little squabble.

"I thought there was nothing left of him," a dark haired man in a Hawaiian shirt sitting next to the leader said.

"Clearly some fragment of him still remained, for something like this to happen," a woman in a white toga spoke as she petted an owl perched on her armrest.

"Ahem…" a man wearing a winged helmet piped up, addressing the pregnant woman. "Not to point out the obvious, but… we've had problems with your kids before. I'm not saying they're all bad, far from it, and I know I wasn't around during the first conflict, but your last brood… well… they all hated us."

"And what do you intend to do?" She asked. "Will you condemn my child for the actions of his or her brothers and sisters?"

A gruff looking man in a leather jacket jumped up from his throne. "To hell with this!" He exclaimed angrily. "We need to get rid of that thing before it becomes a threat."

"We can't!" A stunningly beautiful woman protested. "We should show mercy. Remember, we're talking about an infant, one that hasn't even been born."

"When it's little, a pup poses no threat," a young auburn haired lady began, her throne carved with scenes of wild animals. "And yet, if it's allowed to grow, it can very well kill a man."

"That's a dumb argument," the blond man claimed. "People have been domesticating dogs for thousands of years."

Like a powder keg, the room exploded in a cacophony of noise as they all started arguing, trying to shout their opinion loud enough to be heard over the others. Only the leader of the 12 refrained from engaging in the verbal mess, rubbing his forehead like he could feel the onset of a migraine. He focused his attention on the woman standing before him, looking her straight in the eyes as he took the measure of her resolve. The woman stood firm, showing no sign of weakness as she looked right back, refusing to be cowed by him. "SILENCE!" The man said in a booming voice that quickly quieted the others. "I realize of course the potential threat that this child represents, however… there's one thing that should be considered. If we take any extreme actions against the child, the mother will not be happy about it. And in trying to avoid a war, we may very well end up causing it."

"Perhaps we could reach a compromise," the gorgeous woman proposed.

"Do you have something in mind?" The leader asked.

"We could seal away the child's power, give them a clean slate so that they have no knowledge of it, no idea about their origin. If we do that, the child won't be harmed, but neither will they be a threat."

"I second this notion," the woman with the owl spoke up. "We could work together and…" She then proceeded to explain to the others how they might realize her companion's idea, and by the time she was done, they all seemed to be in agreement.

The leader nodded at this, then looked to the woman. "Will you allow this to happen? After all, it would require you to surrender your child."

A heavy silence hung about the room as the 12 waited for her answer. She looked down as she contemplated her decision, one hand on her belly. Several minutes passed, until finally she raised her head, looked at the leader and said: "It's that's what it takes… then so be it."

Present

Having teleported down to earth, Zatanna quickly made her way to the hospital Cassandra had told her Hector was at. Almost bursting through the doors, she'd had the misfortune of running into a frankly unpleasant doctor, whose primary language appeared to be bureaucratic nonsense. "Listen!" Zatanna snapped, losing her patience and grabbing the man by the collar, pulling his face in close to hers. "Hector Anderson, male, 26 years old, gunshot victim, lost a lot of blood. His sister just called to tell me he's in this hospital, she's a short brunette teenager, probably came in around the same time. Now, either tell me where the hell he is, or point me to someone who can actually help!"

"Ma'am, I-"

"What's going on here?" Zatanna glanced to the side and saw a woman with blond hair in a ponytail approaching them from a vending machine.

"Detective, please-" the doctor began, only to be interrupted by Zatanna.

"My boyfriend was just brought in, I'm trying to find out where he is, and this idiot refuses to tell me!" she snapped.

"Is your boyfriend Hector Anderson?"

"Yes! Do you know where he is?"

"I do. Please, come with me."

"Thank you," Zatanna said, releasing the doctor and following the other woman.

"I'm Lauren Decker," she introduced herself.

"Zatanna Zatara. Are you the detective Hector was working with?"

"What did he tell you, exactly?" Lauren asked cautiously.

"That you were investigating the death of his and Cassandra's father. And also about what happened between you two. Don't worry, he told me why, so no hard feelings or anything."

"That's good. By the way, I can't actually take you to see Hector now, but I can take you to Cassandra, she's in a waiting room. I just stepped out to get her something to eat when I heard you come in."

"How's she holding up?"

"She's taking it pretty hard. I mean, I can hardly blame her."

Shortly after, the two women arrived at a waiting room where they found the teenage girl in question sitting alone, hugging herself and face wet with tears. "Zatanna!" she exclaimed, jumping out of her seat and throwing herself at her, hugging her tightly.

"Shh… It's alright, I'm here for you," she said comfortingly, patting her back. The two of them stayed like this for a moment before they separated.

"*Sniff* Thank you," Cassandra said gratefully as they all sat down. "I… I appreciate this."

"Of course, whatever you need."

"Hey, I got you something," Lauren spoke up, giving the girl a pastry she'd gotten from the vending machine. As Cassandra bit into her treat, Lauren began to explain to Zatanna the events leading up to Hector's current condition. She gave a summary of the investigation, told her about Gary showing up, Hector getting shot, and how the ambulance and police had gotten there fast because Harvey Bullock had called them (having heard the situation over the phone since Hector had kept the call going). She also spoke about how Hector had protected Cassandra and Scarlett by charging straight into the gunfire, shielding them with his own body (she even compared him to a fearless barbarian), and managed to beat Gary into unconsciousness before passing out.

"Whoa…" Zatanna muttered. Despite the fact that her own life was filled with super-heroes, villains, magic and all manner of fantastic beings, she couldn't help but be amazed by what Hector had done. "How is he?"

"He's holding in there," Lauren answered. "We were worried when he flatlined, but-"

"What!?" she exclaimed in shock.

"He's alright now," the detective quickly reassured her.

"You mean they brought him back?"

"Technically they didn't."

Zatanna looked her dead in the eye with a serious look on her face and asked: "Is. Hector. Alive?"

"Yes, he's alive."

"Good," Zatanna said, letting out a sigh of relief. "So, if they didn't bring him back, what happened?"

"It was crazy," Cassandra piped up. "Like… one minute he flatlined, and… and then… boom, his heart just started back up again. On it's own. Like… like he just refused to die."

Zatanna leaned over and placed her arms around Cassandra's shoulders. "You know… before 'all this', I told your brother he was just as stubborn as Batman. Trust me, he cares about you too much to let something like this keep him down." Cassandra merely smiled a bit and nodded, then let out a tired yawn.

"Hey, are you alright to look after her?" Lauren asked, speaking softly. "I left my daughter with my boyfriend, and I need to go check on them."

"It's no problem. I'll stay here with her."

"Thanks. I'll get someone to bring you blankets and pillows." Lauren patted Cassandra on the head, and bid her goodbye. As she was walking away, she stopped, turned back to Zatanna and said: "If it weren't for Hector… me, my daughter, my boyfriend, and Cassandra… we'd all be dead. The man's a hero."

"We just need to have hope," Zatanna replied, a reassuring smile on her face. "If there's any justice in the world, Hector will make it through this."

Over in Gotham City, Batman was in the Batcave, sitting before the Bat-computer, with the resident bats hanging above, and the Batmobile parked below. After getting brushed aside by Zatanna, he'd talked to a few people on the Watchtower, and had found out from Big Barda, Power Girl and Huntress about her phone call and sudden departure (though they hadn't mention what they'd been talking about beforehand). "Alright then, what are you up to?" he wondered out loud as he punched in the coordinates to where Zatanna had teleported to (which he'd gotten from the technician who'd been operating the teleporters). From there he looked for the hospitals closest to the location, then accessed admission records and started combing through them. Going off of the information he'd gotten, along with his own suspicions, he narrowed his search to men in Zatanna's age range, admitted in the past few hours, with serious injuries, and before long he came across the name 'Hector Anderson'. "So… this is who you've been hiding from me."

Zatanna, Hector and Cassandra were all dressed in bathing suits at a large outdoor swimming pool. As the three of them hung about together, Cassandra spotted Kara, Mary and Courtney waving at her from a distance, and Hector motioned for her to go to her friends. Zatanna watched the teenage girl make her way through the crowd of pool goers, then her lips curled into a mischievous smile and she beckoned Hector to lean down so she could whisper in his ear. Whatever she said caused Hector to smile back at her and nod, and so they grabbed each other's hand and snuck away into a shower stall together. Zatanna giggled a little as they locked the door and turned the water on to drown out the noise, then the young lovers turned to face each other with lust in their eyes.

The two lunged at each other, lips crashing together as they kissed passionately, almost like wild animals trying to devour one another. Hands roamed over their bodies as they made out, touching scars, running through hair, caressing, grabbing, and exploring. In the middle of this, Zatanna found the time to expose her breasts and hold his face against her chest, repressing a moan as he took one of her nipples in his mouth. Their hands soon moved down to their nether regions, Hector's erection and Zatanna's wetness showing them just how turned on they both were. The two of them quickly grew restless to the point that they couldn't take it anymore, and so Zatanna lowered Hector's shorts while he pulled the bottom of her swim suit aside. Then, with her back against the wall he lined himself up with her and buried himself inside her with a single thrust. A feeling of ecstasy washed over her…

And then she suddenly woke up.

Zatanna awoke with a start, jumping a little in her chair. She soon realized that she was still in the hospital, though clearly some time had gone by since she'd fallen asleep, given how dark it was outside. Cassandra sat still next to her, blanket strewn over her and sleeping peacefully with her head leaning on Zatanna's shoulder. Sitting opposite them was a grey haired man in a nurse's uniform drinking tea. "It's a shame you had to wake up so suddenly, because it looked like you were having a very good dream," he said with a knowing smile, like he knew exactly what she'd been dreaming about.

"Ah, yes, it was," she replied, trying not to look too embarrassed. Looking at the name tag on his uniform, she saw it said 'Ephorus M'. "Ephorus?" she asked, a curious look on her face.

"It's greek," the man answered. "And you must be Zatanna Zatara. I've seen your show. Pleasure to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Zatanna replied.

"Excuse me, Ms?" a new voice was heard. Zatanna looked in the direction it came from and saw a bald man in a doctor's outfit.

"Yes? What do you want?"

"Sorry to disturb you, but I understand you're here on behalf of Hector Anderson, is that correct?"

"Yeah, that's right. Is there any news on his condition?"

"He's still unconscious, but seems stable for now. Honestly, I'm impressed by his fortitude, especially considering what's been done to him. The thing is, despite how well he's doing, he'll need time before he can reasonably be expected to leave the hospital, and… I don't mean to be rude, but he only has a little insurance, and it'll only go so far."

"That won't be a problem," Zatanna declared. "I've got enough money that I can afford to take care of his hospital bill."

"That's very generous of you. Would you mind following me to accounting so we can sort this out?"

"I can keep an eye on her until you get back," Ephorus piped up, nodding to Cassandra's prone form.

"Thank you." Zatanna gently removed herself from Cassandra, setting a pillow against the wall and leaning the teenager's head back against it.

Ephorus smiled to himself as Zatanna walked away with the doctor, then he looked at Cassandra and said: "Sweet dreams, daughter of Hecate."

Over at the Themysciran embassy, Wonder Woman was walking to her bedroom, having just returned from a League mission halfway around the world. Upon entering her room, she turned on the light and closed the door behind her, making her way to her bathroom to freshen up before going to sleep, only to stop in her tracks. The reason for this was a large poster on the wall next to her bed, which showed Batman dressed in nothing but his cowl and a black speedo, standing in a sexy pose and blowing her a kiss. Included at the bottom were the words: 'Call me, lover.'

The Amazonian princess stood frozen in place, eyes glued to the poster, mouth wide open and an interesting shade of red crawling up her face. "Uhh…" She stayed like this for a few minutes, before finally convincing herself to remove the poster and set it aside face-down. "Hera help me, this had better not be Flash's idea of a joke," she muttered to herself, sitting down on the edge of her bed.

"Not the Flash," a distorted voice said above her. She looked up, where she saw a video camera stuck to the ceiling, presumably set up to record her reaction to the poster. She quickly flew up, grabbed it and pulled it down.

"Whoever's watching this, I will find you."

The same voice let out a short amused laugh, before saying a phrase in Greek. "Gia ti dóxa ton Ermón." (For the glory of Hermes.) The camera then exploded in her hands, not enough to hurt her, but enough that there was nothing left of the offending device. Wonder Woman coughed a little, waving away the smoke, then growled in frustration.

Hector woke up to the beep-beep-beep of a heart monitor accompanied by a dull pain in his chest. Opening his eyes, he saw that he was lying on a hospital bed, hooked up to machines monitoring his condition, had an IV in his arm and his chest was wrapped in bandages. He was interrupted from his self-evaluation when a man suddenly appeared in the room, dressed in a black t-shirt with the words 'I feel the need. The need for speed'. "Well, well, looks like Sleeping Beauty's finally woken up."

"Marc," Hector greeted. "How long have I been out?"

"About a day. Not exactly a century long nap like the fairy tale."

"That's reassuring. How's Cassandra?"

"Relax, the kid's fine. Worried sick about you, but your girlfriend's been keeping an eye on her."

"Zatanna's here?"

"Yeah, she came running as soon as Cassandra called. Speaking of your girlfriend… I heard that you've been in her dreams recently, if you get what I'm talking about," Marc said, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. "Should I congratulate you yet?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but no," Hector answered calmly, although the light blush on his cheeks betrayed the fact that he was embarrassed.

"Anyway…" Marc said with a chuckle. "I just thought I'd let you know that last night I decided to dress up as your alter-ego and run about the rooftops and alleyways. Nothing too big, beat up a few muggers, low level crooks, and I crashed an illegal weapons deal. I also robbed them blind while I was as it, and I dropped the money in a Swiss bank account, for which you'll find the details on a card I left with your 'suit'. Figured that Spartan could use a little extra mojo, just in case."

"Having Spartan make an appearance while I was unconscious in the hospital would throw suspicion off me. However, not to seem ungrateful or anything, but I'm still a little confused why you'd go out of your way like this."

"Oh, think nothing of it," Marc said dismissively. "Although Spartan miiiight want to be careful if he runs into Wonder Woman in the near future."

"What did you do?" Hector demanded, narrowing his eyes in suspicion.

"Well…" Grinning mischievously, Marc recounted the prank he'd played on Wonder Woman, what with the Batman poster and how he'd set it up to make it look like Spartan was the one responsible. Hector facepalmed when Marc was finished, causing the latter to laugh at him. "On the bright side, I'll give you this favour for free, since it was fun, and because I'm looking forward to seeing how you're gonna deal with the Princess."

"Go to Tartarus."

Marc laughed in response. "Hey, remember that time you lived in France, when you snuck into the locker room of the women's soccer team?"

"You mean do I remember running as fast as I could and hiding in the ventilation ducts because a mob of angry women wanted to beat me to a bloody pulp for stealing their underwear? Yes, I do. I also seem to remember you put me up to it in the first place."

"Heh, good times."

"The difference in this case is that Wonder Woman's a little deadlier."

"Aww, she wouldn't kill you… probably. She'd just rough you up a little."

"Gee, thanks," Hector shot back sarcastically. "What if she just decides to punch me through a building?"

"Meh, you're a smart guy, I'm sure you'll figure something out," Marc said dismissively. "Anyway, I'm gonna run before your girlfriend barges in here. So long, sucker!" And with that he was gone.

Hector leaned back down in his bed, silently cursing the Olympian trickster god when Zatanna and Cassandra walked into the room. "Hector!" Cassandra exclaimed.

"Hey squirt," he replied, still feeling a little tired.

Cassandra rushed to her brother's side and, being mindful of his injuries, leaned over to hug him, shedding a few tears of joy. "I'm just so happy you're okay."

"It's alright," he said reassuringly, patting her back.

Zatanna watched the moment with a smile. "Hey," she said once Cassandra let him go, allowing her to approach, leaning down to give him a peck on the lips. "How're you feeling?"

"I've been better, but I'll pull through."

"Detective Decker told me about what happened. What you did was incredibly brave. She was right to call you a hero."

"Heh, that's high praise, coming from such a renown member of the Justice League," Hector said with amusement.

"Just be quiet and accept the compliment, will you?" she joked back at him.

"Yes ma'am. So…" he spoke, turning his attention back to Cassandra. "How're you holding up?"

"I'm fine, don't you worry about me," she insisted firmly. "You're the one who was shot, so you just worry about yourself now, okay?"

"Relax, Cass. Give me a few hours' rest and I'll be well enough to walk out of here."

"A few hours' rest?" Zatanna asked incredulously. "Uh, no way, buster. You're not walking out of here until you're actually ready."

"Zee, I've been hurt before. Besides, I can't afford an extended stay in the hospital."

"Money won't be an issue," she declared.

"Did you-?"

"It wasn't me."

"Um, what?" Cassandra piped up in confusion. For his part, Hector merely raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I was prepared to cover the costs," Zatanna began. "In fact, I was on my way to take care of it, but when I got there I found out that someone else beat me to it."

"What? You mean some rich guy found out and just decided to write a check?" Cassandra asked. "Is that it?"

"… More or less."

"… I still don't get it."

"Batman?" Hector guessed, having noticed Zatanna's awkwardness.

"He didn't exactly show up in person, and you won't see his name on any paperwork, but I'm certain it was him."

"Huh… you realize what that means, right?"

"Yeah, it means Batman knows that I'm dating you, so we can both expect to have a 'conversation' with him in the near future," Zatanna said, making air quotes at the word 'conversation'. "Not really looking forward to that. If you're lucky he'll be considerate enough to wait until you're out of the hospital."

"Wait, wait, wait," Cassandra spoke up. "What do you mean by that? Are super-heroes not allowed to date regular people or something?"

"It's not that," Zatanna replied. "Batman, on top of being paranoid, is kind of like an older brother to me. A nosy, overprotective, scare away any boyfriends he doesn't approve of, older brother."

"Well, I guess now you're gonna find out what it feels like to be in the receiving end," she said to Hector, chuckling a little at this.

"Hey, I'm not that bad," Hector protested playfully. "I'm allowing you to go out with Myles, aren't I?"

Zatanna laughed at the siblings' bickering. "I'm glad you're alright."

"Thanks, Zee."

A tall, dark haired woman in an earthen brown dress walked through the hallway in the hospital. She stopped at the door to Hector's room, peaked inside for a moment, then smiled to herself and walked away. "Get well, Hector Anderson."

A bit short, but there you have it. *Insert plea for reviews*