Zatanna
Shadowcrest

Bruce had messaged her at 4:00 asking if she could meet him at the Batcave to train instead of the Watchtower; he was wrapping up some work and letting Tim monitor for the night. Not wanting to ride on the world's creepiest elevator again, she teleported there 15 minutes early. The exercise space was on the bottom level, down where the air was even cooler. She brought her own gear this time, sick of the oversize vest she had been swimming in for weeks. Dropping it on the mat, she wandered around while he finished up on the computer.

It's weird to have a dinosaur in your cave, right? I feel like that's weird.

Considering her house was more or less alive, she decided it was probably not best to criticize.

"Feeling better?" He asked, finding her near his display case of old suits.

"Yeah, fine. Must have been the sushi," she said, turning to walk toward him. He looked tired..and like he didn't believe her lie.

"Good." He seemed willing to let it slide, for now. "You ready to spar?"

"Is that what we're calling it? I feel like sparring implies I have a shot at winning." She had gotten better, but she knew that she didn't stand a real chance against someone with the combat prowess he had. Or the muscle.

"That's why I'm teaching you different types," he said as they geared up. "Incorporate them and adapt to keep your enemy off guard. Be unpredictable. Just the gloves tonight. I don't want you relying on the vest and helmet to protect you."

Brain injury incoming.

"But I bought a new purple vest..."

Ignoring her, he took his stance and she mirrored him. They started out light, just going through basic moves and countermoves. After a while, she decided to take his advice and threw in more advanced tactics, integrating every form of combat she could recall. The intensity picked up when she did and they were soon dancing around the mat, landing blows and trying to best one another. Her right hook caught his cheek and opened a gash; she grinned, making him growl and come back at her. She ducked and dodged before she caught a jab to the mouth. Thankfully, he was still pulling his punches, so she grinned again and wiped the blood.

"You can do better than that, Batman."

He smirked and came at her again with a kick to her left side that knocked the wind out of her. She threw an elbow to his temple and he stumbled just enough for her to escape and try to catch her breath.

"Better?" He grumbled before fully rushing her. Almost instantly, she was on the floor, completely immobilized by the weight of his body. His cheek and temple were bleeding, but he didn't seem remotely affected otherwise. It was like punching a brick wall...that had now collapsed on top of her. He moved his hand up and placed it on her throat. She didn't panic this time, knowing she was safe. Applying just enough pressure to make her uncomfortable, he easily ignored her attempts to free herself from being pinned.

"How would you escape, Zatanna? You don't have much time. You're being strangled."

Her mind raced, trying to think of something clever that would get his weight off of her (and wasn't magic).

"I'd trick you," she said, in a whisper too low for him to hear.

"What?" He loosened his grip slightly, clearly thinking he was cutting off air.

"I'd trick you," she repeated, still too quiet for him to hear.

He leaned his head down and turned it slightly, giving her the opportunity she was looking for. She closed the last bit of distance and sank her teeth into his neck - not enough to draw blood, but enough to let him know he had lost.

"Shit. You and those damn teeth."

She smiled against his neck and ran her lips along his pulse before trailing her tongue against his salty skin. A small groan escaped him as he took his hand from her throat and ran it down to her collarbone, stroking his thumb along it. Lifting up slightly, he looked her in the eyes briefly before rolling off and lying next to her on his back.

"Finally...freaking gorilla," she grumbled, now able to expand her lungs again with his weight no longer crushing her. He laughed as they both laid there and let their breathing return to normal.

"You fight dirty," he said, getting up and grabbing two towels from a nearby cabinet. He tossed one onto her face when she frowned at him.

"I survive. Isn't that the point?" She wiped the sweat and blood from her face before healing her busted lip.

"Yes. It was a compliment. Nothing is off limits when it's life or death. That tactic won't work on everyone, though."

"I wasn't fighting everyone."

Giving her a quick smirk, he stripped off his shirt and tossed it onto the weight bench before sitting down. She let her eyes track over his body...no longer afraid to gaze at him for fear of being caught. His carved muscles were still tensed from the workout, making him look even more massive. After several minutes of drinking him in, she met his eyes.

"What?" He was grinning at her.

"You're beautiful," she said, grinning back.

He chuckled. "Not how most people describe me. Especially after I punch them in the mouth."

"Call 'em like I see 'em. And I drew blood first, by the way." She got up off the floor and walked over to him, holding out her hand and healing his bleeding wounds. He stared up at her for a moment before speaking.

"Can I ask you some questions?" It wasn't what she was expecting to happen next, but she hid her disappointment and took a few steps back.

"Okay, how many?"

"I'm not sure yet."

"In that case…etativel," she hovered a few feet off the ground and crossed her legs. Placing her hands on her knees, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Why are you floating?"

"Pretty easy question. It's more comfortable." She raised an eyebrow and held her hand out, wagging her fingers. "Wanna try?"

"No."

She laughed and lowered her hand back down. "What do you want to know about, Detective?"

"Magic."

"Ah, you want me to give up some secrets; cardinal magician sin," she grinned, keeping her eyes closed.

"I want to understand it better. Tell me about your people."

"The homo magi or the Italians?"

He let out an amused scoff. "Let's start with the homo magi. They isolate themselves, correct?"

"Yes. Those who have not integrated with other humans live in a hidden city that lies outside of Turkey. There aren't many pure homo magi left."

"What's happened to them?"

"Watered down genetics, essentially. Relationships with humans depleted populations. It's why they went into hiding to begin with. They wanted to protect those that were left - protect the pure magicians."

"Some claim to live for hundreds of years."

"That wasn't a question, but yes. And before you ask, I don't know if I will and I really am 21."

He was quiet for a moment, but she could hear the gears of his mind turning.

"Tell me about your mother."

A tightness in her chest made her voice quieter when she spoke.

"She met my father in Turkey when she rescued him on a mountainside. They married and had a child. I was led to believe that she was killed in a car wreck when I was still a baby, but I found out later that she had actually been taken back to the city by her fellow homo magi."

"Is she still there?"

"No." She took a long pause and swallowed hard before she continued. "She died to protect me."

"From?"

This was not something she really wanted to explain. To be honest, she wasn't sure she fully understood it herself; everything had happened quickly in the city of the Hidden Ones. She had gotten her mother back to only lose her again in the blink of an eye. It was shortly after that when she joined the Teen Titans.

"The rest of the homo magi. They wanted to...use me...use my power to enhance their own, just like they had used her."

"Why you?

"I have a genetic mutation passed on from my mother that most homo magi don't. It's called a medulla jewel." She still refused to open her eyes, because she knew his face would be filled with skepticism. It probably did all sound insane, if you weren't used to the history of magic.

"You have a jewel...in your medulla?" He finally asked, his voice dripping with the skepticism she knew was painted on his face.

"No. It's just a nickname. The structure in my brain that allows me to harness magic kind of looks like a jewel on a scan."

"Hmmm." Even his hmmms sounded skeptical. "Why do you speak backwards?"

She relaxed a bit...this one was easier for her to explain.

"That's my father's influence. He wanted me to be able to master the power around me. It allows me to focus and not lose control."

"What happens if you lose control?"

The question surprised her and she finally opened her eyes, trying to see if he was asking out of curiosity or to assess how much of a danger she was. His face didn't give anything away.

"I don't," she said sharply.

"But if you did."

She narrowed her eyes and took a long time to respond.

"I could tear the Earth from its foundation, destroy everything, and put it all back together again in an instant."

He scoffed and looked away, shaking his head. She knew it was just his nature, and that what she was saying sounded like fantasy, but it still pissed her off. Lowering her feet to the floor, she walked over and gestured for him to stand up. He towered over her as he did.

"Leef eht rewop I leef," she said, placing her hands on each side of his head.

His body lurched forward and he drew in a sharp breath, but she kept her hands in place. Breathing now ragged and muscles again tensed, he finally opened his eyes and looked at her.

"What is this?"

"What I have felt every single day of my life. The power of the magic around me."

After a long moment, she lowered her hands to her side. He opened his eyes and looked at her, the skepticism absent now. She took a step back, giving him space to recover from the sensory onslaught she had put him through.

Bruce
Batcave

It was as if thousands of voices were all speaking at the same time in a thousand different languages. Bright lights dancing, flashing everywhere around him. A low, pulsing sound like the bass of a sub woofer pounded his ears over and over. He wanted to reach out and take the power that was calling from within the chaos, while simultaneously wanting to run away and hide from everything he was feeling. He had never really known what sensory overload was until now. And then it suddenly ceased. Zatanna lowered her hands to her side and he was back in the quiet darkness of the cave. He had no idea how anyone could experience that every single second and maintain any shred of sanity. But, there she stood...perfectly calm and clear...her blue eyes searching his face to see if he now believed her. He did.

He had always considered her secretive - unwilling to share facts about her life and her power. Somehow it had never dawned on him before to simply ask.

"Is the interrogation over? I could use a shower," she said, pretending to wring sweat from her shirt as she walked to her gym bag, gathering her sparring gloves as she went and letting her hair down. He followed her after a moment and stood behind her. Snaking a hand around her waist, he lowered his lips to her ear and brushed her hair to the side.

"There's a shower here," he murmured, before lowering his mouth to the nape of her neck and kissing her salty skin. She leaned back against him and rolled her head to the side with a sigh. He moved to lift and remove her shirt, running his hands down her stomach to the waist of her pants before slipping his fingers down to feel inside her. She was wet and warm; ready for him. He let his hand linger there, gently stroking into her while she moaned. He closed his eyes and remembered the way she had tasted that night in Vegas. His cock was already throbbing, so he shuffled her over to the steps leading down to the mat. He lifted her to the stand on the first one and pulled her pants off. After removing his own shorts, he pushed her shoulders forward until she was bent over in front of him. Grabbing her hip with his right hand and the back of her neck with his left, he let a low moan out as thrust himself into her with one, quick motion. The sensation made her cry out, but he held her tight and massaged her neck as she arched her back.

"Fucking amazing," he mumbled, feeling her start to relax. When she began to move her hips against him, he took a long stroke out and back in, feeling her tightness along every inch of his length. He repeated the motion, but buried himself in her with more force on every thrust. She let out a cry each time that echoed through the walls of the cave, mixing with the sound of their bodies crashing together. Moving his left hand to her other hip, he picked the pace up until he was pounding in and out of her, digging his fingers into her skin as he grunted with the effort. As he felt himself reach the point of coming, he quickly reached down to rub her clit until she screamed and threw her body back against his. He cursed again under his breath as he let himself fill her. Holding her body to his, he pressed his lips to her shoulder.

"I prefer that kind of sensory overload, if it's all the same to you."

She laughed and nodded, turning to kiss the side of his head. "Noted. You said something about a shower?"

"Mmm...right...forgot about that." He pulled out of her and scooped her into his arms, making her gasp and giggle. Once in the bathroom, he set her down and started the water, making sure it wasn't hot; they were sweating enough already. When she turned to him, her eyes were filled with a wild look that made him smile. He had worried he had been too rough with her this time, but she clearly wasn't fazed - just the opposite, in fact. She already looked like she was ready to jump him again.

She pulled her sports bra off and stepped into the shower, letting the cool stream soak her hair. He got in behind her and grabbed the shampoo before working it into a lather on her head. It gave him a primal feeling of possessiveness to think that she would go home smelling like him. As she rinsed the shampoo out, he started washing her body, spending time at each sensitive spot he remembered from their first night together, evoking a sigh with each caress. Her body jerked when he washed between her legs, still sensitive from her orgasm. Taking the washrag from him, she turned him around and started working the soap over his back, down his legs, before spending entirely too much time massaging his ass. He finally laughed and turned to look over his shoulder.

"I think my ass is clean, Zee."

"You sure? I might have missed a spot." She pouted and turned him to wash across his chest and stomach, her eyes meeting his as she worked her way down. Tossing the rag to the side, she took him in her hands and began to stroke. He could feel his arousal starting to build again as she did and quickly shampooed his hair before moving them both out of the running water. She suddenly dropped to her knees and took him, half-hard, into her mouth. His fingers tangled in her wet hair as he enjoyed the feeling of her tongue dancing around him. She hummed lightly, sending a shock of pleasure through his body. It wasn't long before he was fully hard again, thrusting in and out of her willing mouth while she continued to hum - her hand alternating between squeezing the bottom of his shaft and stroking his balls, massaging gently as he moaned. His orgasm was building quickly and he tried to make the moment last longer by slowing the movement of her head. When he couldn't take anymore, he pulled her head down and held her still as he emptied into her mouth while she continued to hum and stroke him with her tongue. He let out a long sigh as she looked up at him, the wild look still in her eyes. She stood and turned into the stream of water, washing her mouth out and looking back to him. He watched her for a moment before she finally raised an expectant eyebrow.

"What?" He said, trying not to grin.

"Get on your fucking knees before I say it backward," she said darkly, making him wonder if she would make good on her threat. Deciding not to find out the hard way, he slammed her against the wall and trailed his tongue down her chest, around her nipples, across her stomach before sliding his tongue into her as far as he could. She let out a hiss when he did, digging her fingers into his shoulder. He grabbed her ass and pulled her closer, burying his face in her as he let his tongue work through every soft fold before circling around the clit. Back down and up, in and out, over and over. She was yelling and writhing when he finally stopped and gently sucked the swollen nerves into his mouth, remembering how she screamed the first time. Getting the same ecstatic response, he felt her nails dig further into his skin as her voice echoed through the cave again. When he felt her shaking as if her knees were going to give out, he stopped and stood, holding her against the wall until she recovered enough to stand on her own. He moved back and rinsed his face before turning off the water. They both stepped out and began to towel themselves off; he watched her as she did until she finally turned to look at him.

"Problem?"

"You're going to be the death of me," he said, still staring at her body as she dried herself.

"If you're lucky," she said in a low voice, pushing a finger against his chest to move him out of the way. Walking back to the gym mat, she pulled clean clothes from her bag and started to get dressed. His eyes never left her body...and she knew it...dressing slowly in a reverse strip tease.

"Making sure it's a slow death, I see." He said, still staring at her perfect figure.

She smiled and mumbled something that caused her gear and dirty clothes to fly into the bag. Walking over to him, she pecked him on the cheek and headed toward the exit.

"Let me know if you find anything new on the Maroni case. Annataz emoh."

The Voice

He hated relying on humans. Even more, he hated playing the part of second in command. The buyer was necessary so that he could keep his distance, but he was arrogant and had his own agenda. He cared about causing fear, inflicting pain, and humiliating the Justice League as he destroyed them. While they were in agreement that the Justice League needed to be destroyed, he knew that fear was pointless - just like every other human emotion.

"I have made it to the bunker. The crates are secure. When will you arrive?" The buyer asked.

"When you have everything we need. You still have a lot of work to do. We need the witch," he replied, tired of having to repeat the plan.

"I have not forgotten, I assure you."

"Good. Then don't worry about where I am. Be patient. If we stick to the plan, everything will work out perfectly. Deviate from it and you'll be on your own. I will not get caught up in your petty need for revenge or spite." His voice was biting and dark.

"Trust me. Have I not delivered so far?" His voice was dripping with arrogance.

"So far," he said...again...before hanging up and leaning back in his chair. His mind returned to counting the moments until he could take the buyer by the throat and slowly squeeze the arrogant look from his eyes as he realized who was really in control.

Soon. But not soon enough.