That Old Black Magic

By: Angelic Temptress

Disclaimer: I don't own them.

Spoilers: None

Rating: PG-13

Thanks to Missy for the beta and Charles for the challenge.

xxx

"Thank you. Thank you." Zatanna bows, and someone in the audience throws a rose. She picks up the yellow flower and smiles when her theory is confirmed. Eric stands off to the side of the theater, smiling and clapping.

With a smirk, she winks at him and takes another bow.

"Gotham, you are lovely! Have a magical night!" Zatanna waves her wand and disappears in a cloud of smoke as the stage curtains close. She takes the trap door to stage right and climbs out.

"Great show tonight, Zatanna," the stage manager says as he helps her out from beneath the floor. He hands her a towel. "The doves worked perfectly."

"Thanks, Phil. We really do make beautiful magic together."

After closing her dressing room door and leaving the crew behind, Zatanna removes her top hat and sits down in front of her mirror. She yawns and begins the tedious process of removing her makeup.

There is a knock on her door, and she invites the person inside without hesitation. She chuckles, "Hey hon. I need to change and fix my face before we leave."

A woman's voice answers, "Well babycakes, you don't have to pretty yourself up for me."

Zatanna whirls around to see a woman with raven hair standing in the doorway. Her dark lips are curved into a smile, and her curled hair lies perfectly around her face and on her shoulders.

"Can I help you?"

"Actually, you can." The woman closes the door. "You and I have a mutual friend."

"Do we?"

"And I think he's going to be a target of some sort."

"A target?"

The woman nods. "Someone wants him dead."

Zatanna narrows her blue eyes, and her door opens again. This time, Eric pokes his head inside. "Sorry. Am I interrupting?"

"No," the unknown woman assures. "We were just catching up on old times." Her green eyes then quickly glance over Eric before she looks back at Zatanna. "If you're interested, you might want to look at this." She sets a paper on the magician's dresser. Without another word, she leaves the room. Eric shuts the door behind her.

"Who was that?"

"I have no idea."

He takes a seat beside his girlfriend and asks, "What did she want?"

Zatanna returns to wiping off the layers of makeup she's wearing. "I think it has something to do with Batman."

"This is his city… So, you're going to cancel on me, aren't you?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because she wants to meet you in the park in an hour." He slides the note in front of Zatanna and frowns. "Do what you have to do."

She turns to him and kisses his cheek. "Why are you so understanding?"

"Maybe because I like you."

"Oh?" Zatanna places the cleansing pad down and moves to sit in his lap. She kisses the corner of his mouth and waits for Eric to kiss her in return.

He doesn't.

"This is a silly little outfit," he whispers into her hair and runs his fingers over her fishnet stockings. He then loudly sniffs her jacket. "And it smells kind of funny."

"What?"

Eric presses his lips to her throat and chuckles. "I think it needs washing."

"And I have an hour to take it off."

xxx

Zatanna wraps her coat tighter around herself and glances in every direction, searching for the unknown woman in the night. Autumn in Gotham has always been chilly but tonight goes well beyond that fact. Her heels click against the concrete as the wind picks up to toss her hair around.

Gotham is a dangerous city at night, and she can't help looking over her shoulder every once in a while.

Her watch says it is three past two, but there is no one in sight.

"Your boyfriend's kind of cute. Where did you pick him up?"

"A bar," Zatanna candidly replies after turning around to face her. She takes a step closer to the woman. "Who are you?"

"A very close friend of your co-worker."

"Quit with the vagueness. It's aggravating."

"I'm Selina Kyle."

Zatanna nods with comprehension. "I should have guessed."

"Please. I'm positive he doesn't brag about me, though he probably should." Selina strolls into the light. She's wearing a long brown coat, pants, and heels. "Who'd you think I was?"

"I don't know. Quite honestly, you could've been a number of women."

Selina narrows her green eyes.

"So what is all this target stuff about?" Zatanna demands with both hands hidden in her pockets. One hand grips her wand.

"I'm not sure."

Now pissed off, Zatanna shakes her head. "Then why the hell am I standing out here in the cold?"

"Because I got a phone call from him!" She's flustered. "I didn't know who else to turn to."

"What about his team?"

"They started ignoring me a long time ago."

"You said Batman called you?" Zatanna shifts her stance, not believing what she's hearing.

Kyle's troubled face doesn't hide her feelings for Batman, and her body language gives it away as well. Her hands are tucked into her pockets and her hair sits in a messy bun. Zatanna didn't notice how tired the woman looked back in her dressing room. Now, she looks like the walking dead.

"I know a telephone call isn't conventional for him, but he called. He's in trouble."

The wind blows. Both start to tremble.

"You said he was a target."

"He told me he was a target." Selina takes another step to close the distance between them. "I'm not one to ask for help, but he said you were in town."

"You were told to contact me? Why didn't he just contact the League?"

"Maybe his communicator is broken. It's always a possibility."

Zatanna gnaws on her lower lip and pulls out her cellular phone. "Excuse me." She walks away from Kyle and dials Wayne Manor.

Alfred answers.

"Hi. It's Zatanna." She glances over at Selina who isn't within hearing range. "Is the boss in?"

"No, Miss. He's scheduled to be out of town for a week."

"Where?"

"He didn't say."

"Thank you." Zatanna hangs up and then presses her earpiece. "Zatanna to Metrotower."

"We've got you, Zatanna," Blue Beetle says. "What's the problem?"

"Could you look up Batman's schedule for me?"

"Sure. Give me a second."

"Does he have monitor duty this week?"

"Actually, he isn't even on call until next Tuesday."

"Can you locate him for me?"

"Let me see… No. He's requested to be left alone."

"Well. That's strange… Thanks anyway. Zatanna out." She turns to face the thief. "No one knows where he's at."

"There's something wrong with all of this."

"Say I believe you. Where in the world do we begin to look?"

xxx

"I hate this plan."

Catwoman steps out from her dark bedroom wearing her tight cat suit and carrying her trademark whip. "Do you have any suggestions?"

The woman's black cat is purring and rubbing up against Zatanna's leg, and she tries to gently push her away. "I don't know. Maybe give Superman or Nightwing a call?"

"We don't have the time."

"Superman could be here in a minute flat."

"Listen, Magician," Kyle snaps and places both hands on her hips. "This is Batman's city. I'm not about to let it be run over with the prying eyes of your flawed Justice League. If there's one thing he wants, it's to keep Superman and his little army out of Gotham."

"Did he tell you that?"

"Honey, if you knew him…" She doesn't continue her sentence. Instead, she pulls a notebook from a drawer. "There are several obvious places we should check. I've got an updated index of inmates at Arkham. This way, we can narrow the list a bit."

Catwoman opens the notebook and shows it to Zatanna.

"The Penguin's been legit for a while now, but we should still check out his club and a warehouse he owns on the lower West side. Two-Face has been missing for months, but I don't know where he'd be stationed. Joker and Quinn are locked up alongside Killer Croc and Scarecrow. Poison Ivy…"

Zatanna stares at the list Catwoman is reading and waits for her to say something else.

She doesn't.

The burglar freezes with her eyes glued to the paper.

Zatanna doesn't know what to do.

"Selina?"

"He's going to die."

"I'm going to call Batgirl. She should have a tracer on his belt."

"He turned it off."

"How do you know?"

"He does stupid things like that. Sometimes I think he's convinced he's a god."

Zatanna shakes her head, still not understanding how Selina Kyle, a common criminal, would know how Batman thinks.

"We need to go. It's Thursday night. Penguin's got his biweekly secret meeting in the warehouse district."

xxx

"I really hate this plan."

"Well it's not like you had a better one, remember?" Catwoman crouches near the skylight, peering down into the warehouse. Zatanna squats beside her in an attempt to be as discreet.

"Who's down there?" she whispers.

"Penguin and his men."

"I know that, but you said he's been clean for a while."

Catwoman scoffs, "When pigs fly, Penguin will be completely clean." With her green eyes focusing on the floor below them, she sighs. "I don't think he's here. It's just an illegal business deal. The bird's buying some exotic fruit for his club… Wait."

Zatanna's blue eyes follow Selina's gaze past the nightclub owner and to the door. A woman enters.

"Looks as if there's a new player."

"Who is that?"

The beautiful dark haired woman has a striking flare to her. She struts in wearing high heels, a chiffon blouse, and pinstripe black pants. Her hair is straight, and her lips are a shade darker than red.

"I think that's Talia Al Ghul." When Zatanna gives her a blank stare, Selina continues. "Ra's Al Ghul's one and only daughter."

"She's got connections to Luthor."

Catwoman nods. "She's been after Batman for at least a decade. I'm not sure why, though."

"Look," Zatanna orders and points to another doorway to the right end of the room. Three men are carrying an unconscious Batman. He's been bound and gagged and beaten. "Let me call backup."

Catwoman shakes her head. "There's not enough time." The thief carefully opens the skylight.

"I don't like this idea, either."

"Too bad."

"There are exotic fruit traders, the Penguin, his men, and Al Ghul's daughter down there…" Zatanna grabs Selina's shoulder. "You'll get yourself killed."

"If you create a glamour, how good is it and how long will it last?"

"Depends."

"Can you smoke up the place long enough for me to drag him into the alley?"

"Sure, but what are you going to do once you get him there?"

"I don't really know. I think I'm going to wing it."

"Selina –"

"Just get the hell off the roof after you make your glamour." Catwoman grips the sides of the skylight and carefully lowers herself in. With one hand tight on the edge, she uses her whip to latch onto a pipe. "Wait until I'm over him." Catwoman swings over to a rafter just above Batman.

Zatanna quickly recites a spell, "Emusnoc eht moor ni ssenkrad dna llif ruo seimene sgnul htiw ekoms."

The criminals, save one, start to cough, and the lights die. It's her cue to run away.

She then realizes that she has no escape route, no one with a grapple or a whip to take her to the next rooftop.

"Fire escape," Zatanna mutters and scrambles to the edge of the building's rooftop. Gun shots are fired, but she manages to jump onto the fire escape before they catch sight of her.

As fast as her shoes allow, Zatanna races down the metal stairs and to the street.

"Hold it right there," a voice demands. She freezes up and slowly turns to face the man. The Penguin has an umbrella pointed at her stomach, forcing her to raise her hands.

"Who's working with you, pretty one?" He laughs. "You are a lovely little thing, aren't you? The legs are great."

"Thanks. I'm proud of them."

A whip cracks through the night and wraps around the umbrella. Catwoman, stationed above Penguin, rips the gun from Penguin and throws it to the side.

An engine roars and a set of lights brighten the alley. The Batmobile races toward the duo, and Zatanna jumps to the brick wall, pressing her body against it. Penguin runs back inside before he can get run over. The car stops and its roof opens. Batman is asleep on the passenger side.

"What the –?"

"Get in and sit on his lap. We can program it to autopilot, and it'll take us back to the Cave."

"You know how it works?" Zatanna questions as she crawls onto Batman and watches Catwoman climb into the driver's seat.

As the canopy closes, Selina grins at Zatanna. "I'm still the only one who can break into this thing no matter how many times he upgrades it."

xxx

Zatanna is grateful Alfred is still upstairs and Batgirl is there to receive her mentor. Catwoman is leaning against a desk close to the medical bed, waiting.

"You can't hang around here, Selina," Batgirl informs the thief. "Who knows when he'll wake up?"

"I'll be good. I've never pried before."

The redhead shrugs. "I know, but –"

"Let her stay," Batman grunts from behind his curtain. "I'll take her home."

A brief expression of pain crosses over the Batgirl's face, but she quickly recovers by leaving the Cave on her cycle. Zatanna and Selina are left with Batman.

Without a word, Catwoman passes the curtain and her silhouette sits on the bed. Batman slowly sits up.

Zatanna hears the duo exchange soft words as she begins to ascend the stone staircase. She glances back at their outlines and sees their lips meeting. With a small smile, Zatanna completes her journey up the stairs and closes the grandfather clock behind her.

"Morning, Miss Zatara. Are you interested in staying for breakfast?" Alfred questions and sets down a tray of tea. "I would go to the Cave to aid Master Bruce, but I believe there is a stray cat lurking about."

"You'd be right, but I can't stay for breakfast."

"How are you getting home, Miss?"

"I think I'm going to take a cab."

xxx

It is about a quarter to six when Zatanna climbs into bed beside her boyfriend. He instantly wraps an arm around her and kisses the back of her neck.

"Long night?" he mumbles.

"Basically."

"All good?"

"Uh huh," she mumbles while sleep calls to her.

"Aren't you glad I'm a bartender and can sleep beside you all day?"

"Yes."

"I'm glad you're home, Zee."

"Me too." She sighs. "No more hunting Batmen, and no more teaming up with Catwomen."

"I'll remind you the next time."

xxx

End