Bruce
Wayne Manor

He woke before his alarm went off, feeling rested for the first time in days. From what he could tell, he hadn't moved since he had collapsed on top of Zee. She was still sleeping, her face relaxed, breathing soft and even. He slowly and carefully slipped out of the bed, trying not to roust her yet. She rolled to her side, mumbling something as she did, but staying asleep. The hot shower helped to relax his muscles and he had gotten up early enough to take his time and enjoy the water. He exited and dried off as he walked to the connected closet. Putting on his standard "Bruce Wayne the businessman" outfit, he made sure to look as well-rested as possible after his fake day off.

When he walked back into the bedroom, he looked to the bed. Zatanna was on her stomach, the covers pulled up to her waist, exposing her bare back. He smiled as he thought about the night before and considered waking her...until he looked to the door, where his eyes met Alfred's. Alfred rarely showed much emotion, but as he glared at him now, Bruce could feel the anger radiating from him. He held a breakfast tray in his right hand, while his left hand tightly gripped the doorknob. His eyes briefly looked back to a sleeping Zee before he turned and left the room, leaving the door open behind him.

Oh, shit.

Bruce quickly walked out of the room and closed the door to the bedroom. He followed Alfred until they were almost to the stairs, when he suddenly turned on his heel and faced him, shoving the tray into his chest.

"I have put up with a lot over the years, Master Bruce, and I have supported you at every turn. I have defended your actions on numerous occasions and always believed you have known what's best. But that child in there was entrusted to you by Giovanni Zatara. You promised to see to her safety and security and I am quite certain that this is not what he had in mind." He was speaking quickly and quietly, eyes boring a hole through Bruce.

"She's not a child, Alfred." It sounded like shit when he said it.

"That...young lady...spent yesterday lying in a bed recovering from injuries she incurred saving your life and dozens of others. And you repay her by..."

"Alfred, please. That's not what happened. Zatanna and I have been seeing each other for a while and..."

"And what of Master Dick? Have you considered him at all?"

"Of course. I..." He didn't feel like anything he said was going to make things look or sound any better. Staring down at the tray, he tried to see things the way Alfred did when he walked into the room: Zatanna naked and asleep, wrists bruised, handcuffs still on the headboard, costume scattered on the floor. Nothing was going to stop him from being angry right now. "I need to get to the office, Alfred."

"Master Bruce...I want you to consider your actions." He took a deep breath before he continued, eyes relaxing slightly. "You know I trust you implicitly. Just please...be careful."

Swallowing hard, he gave a quick nod and turned back to the bedroom, where Zatanna was still sleeping. He put the tray on the nightstand and sat down on the bed, watching her for a few minutes before he ran his hand up her back and into her tangled hair. She groaned and stretched before opening her eyes. A smile lit up her face and it made his heart hurt. His face must have shown what he was feeling, because the smile faded and her brow furrowed.

"What's wrong. What happened?

"Nothing. Here...eat." He handed her a scone from the tray and she took it and started eating.

"Thanks. I didn't eat anything yesterday," she said, quickly downing the scone and taking the glass of milk. "Also, you're lying. Tell me what's wrong."

He played with the sheet that was covering her legs. Her knees were pulled to her chest as she watched his face and drank the milk.

"Alfred brought that in," he finally said, pointing at the tray. Her eyes got wide and she put the glass down before covering her face with her hand.

"Shit. That's two."

"Two?"

"People who know. Diana figured it out right before Mexico."

"Three, then," he said quietly. "Clark knew immediately." Trying to keep secrets around superheroes was a bitch.

She took a deep breath and leaned her chin on her knees before looking at him.

"I guess we've been playing with fire," she said, her voice quiet. He couldn't read her eyes.

"Stay and sleep if you want. I need to get to work." He leaned forward and kissed the side of her head, running his hand along her back.

"Thanks, but I need to get home. I didn't feed the cat yesterday. He'll be pissed."

He tried to smile, but could feel it twist on his face. Standing, he smoothed her hair one more time before turning to walk out.

The Voice

He had briefly considered relocating for the time being, but as easy as it was to blast the boy from the sky, it didn't seem to be a high priority. Batman was wise to stay away. He must have already known he was too weak and insignificant to contend with the powers he had encountered.

My powers.

There was little that could be done to stop his plan. The League would certainly continue trying and he looked forward to the challenge...life was boring in the underground bunker. He tried to remember the last time he had gone toe-to-toe with anyone he even considered a threat.

The ringing of the communication device was irritating as it interrupted his thoughts.

"What is it?"

"We are close. My ally should be ready to move soon. Is everything else in order?"

"Of course."

"Good. I will call when things are in motion. Be ready." The buyer sounded as arrogant as ever.

Zatanna
Diamond Theater

The contract was ready to sign. Opening night would be a little over a month and a half away, which would give her plenty of time to finish practicing. The stage itself was currently under construction, so they would still have to practice at home, but they would be able to get a couple of weeks in on the finished product before they went live.

Mrs. Brooks greeted her with a hug and led her in to sign the paperwork. She wouldn't accept much in the way of payment. Part of her goal was to help them recuperate some of the income lost during the construction process and the rest of what they insisted on paying Zee would go to charity in their names.

"Thank you again, Zatanna. This is all so exciting!"

"It's my pleasure, truly. Please give my regards to your husband and tell him I'm looking forward to the shows." She waved as she left. When she rounded the corner, she saw Deon leaning over a blueprint. It dawned on her that she hadn't returned his texts or phone call. Bruce had been ignoring her, even canceling their last training session. There were worse ways for it to have ended, but it had still bothered her enough that she didn't feel like being social aside from practice. Even there, she had rarely spoken. She considered turning back around and sneaking out of the theater unnoticed, but decided against it.

The best way to get over one guy…

"Hey, stranger." She walked to sit down on the bench behind him.

"Hello, ma'am. You lost?" He half smiled at her and leaned back against the table he was working at.

"I was. Think I found what I was looking for, though." She smiled back. "Sorry I've been out of touch. Things have been a little weird."

"Yeah, I saw the news. I was worried."

"I'm fine. Just needed a few days to recover." It wasn't exactly the truth, but she wanted to try to put him at ease.

"Good. In that case, can I interest you in dinner Wednesday night? Or would you rather I not..."

"I'd like that," she cut him off with another smile.

"I'll call you."

"I'll answer this time," she said as she stood. Walking out of the theater, she turned to Shadowcrest and started a brisk walk back. There were a lot of things she wanted to do this week and pining over Bruce wasn't on the list - she was sure he wasn't going to waste time pining over her.

Arriving at Shadowcrest, she set about thinking of costume ideas for the shows. The basic look was always the same, as she liked to honor her father by sticking to a traditional magician's outfit, but she made sure to change little features each time. Predictability is boring.

When she was on her fourth variation – a black jacket with a garnet-colored vest and white shirt – she heard a light knock at the front door. She could feel the energy on the other side before she even opened it.

Just what I need today.

"Hey, Zee." Dick was leaning against the railing on the porch when she opened the door. "Can I come in?"

"No." She leaned on the door frame, blocking his way inside.

"I promise I won't be an ass. I just want to talk a minute. And apologize."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Now was as good a time as any, she supposed. Spending the rest of her life angry with him wasn't healthy, and if they were going to have it out it was better to do it at Shadowcrest than the Tower.

"Fine."

"Why are you dressed for a show?" He asked, following her inside. She could feel the tension in the house rise as they entered. It didn't appreciate fights any more than she did.

"Just trying a few things on. I'm playing some nights at the Diamond Theater once it reopens." She walked into the den and sat down on the couch, pulling her legs up and under her body. He sat a short distance from her, looking around at the changes she had made since he was last there.

"Can I get tickets? I know the talent." He smiled lop-sided at her.

"I'm afraid you'll have to pay like everyone else, Grayson."

"Harsh." He put his hand over his heart as if he were injured. She couldn't help but grin slightly and roll her eyes.

"You wanted to apologize?"

"Yeah. For the Watchtower. That wasn't fair of me...to corner you like that."

She stayed quiet for a moment, measuring what she wanted to say.

"It was more than a little humiliating."

"I'm sorry. That wasn't my intent. I guess I just..." His voice faded out and he leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling. They sat quietly for a while before he finally looked at her. "Are you and Bruce..."

"Not anymore." Her voice was a whisper and she didn't look at him...not wanting to see his reaction to the truth. She could still feel his pain as he processed the information. "We weren't trying to hurt you. It just happened." It felt like an hour before he finally spoke.

"And now?"

"Now? I don't know. We aren't speaking." She had officially reached the limit of what she wanted to reveal, so she prayed he would stop asking questions. His hand was suddenly on hers and he moved closer.

"Thank you for being honest. It's more than I got from him." He was staring at the ceiling again, thumb stroking the back of her hand.

"You should go," she said, worried about where the conversation might lead next. He nodded and stood, pulling her up with him. Instead of walking to the door, he put his arm around her waist and lifted her chin to look at him.

"Zee, I..." Before she could pull away, his lips were on hers. She wanted to stop him, but the familiar taste of his mouth made something in her brain short circuit. Her lips parted to let his tongue in and he moaned softly and pulled her closer. Acting without thinking, her hands went around his waist and under his shirt, feeling his muscles and the warmth of his skin. He backed her against the couch and pushed her down, not letting his lips leave hers as he got on top of her. Moaning at the feeling, she pulled him down and put her hands back under his shirt, feeling his chest as his tongue ran along her bottom lip.

"God, I've missed you," he mumbled into her mouth before thrusting his tongue back against hers. Something in his words made her brain reactivate and she had a sudden rush of guilt. She pushed against his chest and broke their kiss.

"Dick, please...wait." His hands were in her hair and he moved his lips to her neck. "We can't do this."

"Why?"

"You know why. Please, just..." She pushed against his chest again and he raised his head to look at her. He was panting and she could see the passion in his eyes - she hated herself for it. Putting her hands to his shoulders, she moved him back and so she could sit up and move away from him slightly. "This isn't right and you know it. We already tried this once."

"I know, but the timing then was shitty, to say the least."

"I'm not sure there's ever good timing for this, Dick." She looked down at her hands as she fiddled with the edge of the couch cushion. After a few seconds of silence, he sighed and nodded.

"I'll go. Think about it, Zee. We were good together until I fucked things up." He lifted her head and gently kissed her again. She wanted to be angry with him for assuming that she would cave, but she was tired of being angry. Instead, she just watched as he stood and left. It was only three in the afternoon, but she felt like she needed to rest. Going upstairs, she crawled into bed...willingly walking into the realm of nightmares.

Can't be worse than the waking world lately.

Bruce
Watchtower

Two things were certain: he'd been overruled on Zatanna going to the bunker, and there was no way in hell he was letting her go alone.

"This is a terrible idea and you know it," he said to Clark, who was pacing back and forth in the meeting room.

"I hate to agree with him, Superman, but I don't like it either," Diana added.

"Do I even get a say in this or are you all just going to talk about me like I'm not here?" Zatanna's irritated voice came from behind him as she sat in her usual chair. It was the first time he'd heard her speak since the morning at the manor. He turned slightly toward her without looking at her face.

"We know you want to go," he said as gently as he could. "But we want to make sure you come back, too."

She leaned back in her chair without responding.

"Zee, could you take someone else? Keep both of you invisible while you're there?" Ollie asked.

"Maybe, but it would shorten the amount of time we'd have. Invisibility spells aren't exactly easy. We've all seen how useful I am when my magic meter goes to zero. The focus required to keep two people under? I don't know." She was quiet for a moment as everyone considered the option. "I also don't know how well my magic would hide some of the people here. We have some...unique energies in this group."

"Understatement of the century," Dinah mumbled.

"I'm just a human. You could get us both in and out the easiest," Bruce said.

"No. Not you." Her voice was sharp.

"Do you have a reason or do you just not want me there?" He snapped back at her.

"I have a lot of reasons. Number one being that you don't offer me anything that would give me a tactical advantage."

He stood and turned to her, feeling his anger rise at her dismissal of his abilities. She stuck a hand up and continued.

"If I'm taking someone, it's in case I get caught and can't get out, right? Can you bust your way out of that bunker if I go down? Clark, how deep did you say the roof of the thing was?"

"At least 20 meters," Clark said, studying the two of them as they argued. "I think she's right, Bruce. If she takes another team member, it needs to be someone who can break out if things go badly."

He took a deep breath and stared at the floor. The room stayed eerily quiet as he thought through the options.

"Who, then?" He finally asked of no one in particular.

"You know I can get out," Clark said. "Diana, I imagine." She nodded at his assumption.

"Zatanna, who can you hide the easiest?" Diana asked.

"John Stewart." The group looked at each other with surprise at her choice. "Without the ring, he doesn't put off any sort of abnormal energy that I can sense. We know magic is involved, so assuming that holds true for whoever is in that bunker, he would be the easiest to put a spell on. If things get hairy, he can go Green Lantern and get us out."

The choice was surprising, but brilliant. He looked at her and nodded. For the first time, he noticed how tired she looked; as if she hadn't slept in days. The plan was still too dangerous, but without any other leads, they were limited to doing it or sitting on their hands and waiting for something to happen.

"Alright, but you're calling him. It's your crazy idea." He gave her a small smile before turning back to the rest of the group. Diana was smirking at their interaction. He wondered how many times she had done the same thing without him noticing.

Some secret.

"Okay, let's move on to further business."

Zatanna
Watchtower

Now that it was real, she was petrified. She had been so sure Bruce would continue to veto her idea that she had completely forgotten about it until the meeting. It would have been daunting enough going alone, but now she was responsible for the safety of another team member. Barb took her to the monitoring room and sat her down in front of the communications console. She clicked on John's name and left them to chat. It was several rings before he picked up, his face appearing on the screen.

"Zatanna? You running coms now?" He smiled at her. They had gotten along well in the few times they had worked together - it was another reason she was comfortable taking him.

"Just when we're calling you, John. How've you been?" Keep it casual, just two friends chatting...and one asking the other to risk their life on a crazy mission she concocted.

"Good. Working a lot. What's up?"

"I have a favor to ask. I'm doing something kind of insane and need a partner in crime."

"And I'm just the kind of criminal you're after?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Afraid so. Do you have time to meet this week? I'll explain it all and give you a bit of a preview of what it feels like to be enchanted." She was talking fast, nervous that he would turn her down.

"Enchanted? Sounds...intriguing. Yeah, let's do Wednesday afternoon. I'll come to the Watchtower around 3, if that works for you."

"Thanks, John. See you then."

She hung up the line and pushed away from the desk. Now she had to figure out how to convince him to come along.

If I can convince Batman, I can convince anyone.

Standing and turning down the hall, she found Diana and Bruce talking.

"Is he in?" Diana asked as she approached. Bruce was trying not to make eye contact. It made her feel like she was in a weird high school drama, having an awkward encounter with an ex near the lockers between classes.

"I hope so. He's coming here on Wednesday afternoon to talk about it."

"He's usually on board, even if the stake are high," Bruce said. "Let me know when he's here."

She nodded and turned away, ready to be home with her jerk cat - at least she knew how Asshole really felt about her.

"Zatanna?" Bruce had followed her down the hall and gently grabbed her arm to turn her. "Are you sure about this?" He let his hand drop to his side and still didn't meet her eyes.

"No, but we don't have any other options."

He nodded and kept his eyes down. She decided he wasn't going to say anything else and turned away to transport home.

"I'm sorry I canceled last week." His voice was quiet. Not wanting to turn around and show her sadness, she continued to walk away.

"I understand. Ot Tsercwodahs."

Shadowcrest

Asshole came to sit on her feet while she read. Knowing she was going to be putting John at risk alongside her, she decided it was best to brush up on her invisibility knowledge. It was late, but she didn't want to try sleeping yet. Her nap nightmares were bad enough and now she had even more stress to fuel them. She called down every book she could think of on invisibility spells, casting magic over a large area, and maintaining it for extended periods while on the move. Several hours in, she felt like she was getting a better idea of what she would need to do to keep them safe. It wouldn't be easy and her exhausted state was going to make it even more difficult. Rubbing her eyes, she shifted and laid down on the couch. Asshole moved to lay on her hip and his purring lulled her to sleep.

- Her father's voice – Thank you so much for taking her on, Batman. I think she will be a great asset to the team.

- Pain. Nothing but pain. Screaming against the gag. Power draining.

- A voice...familiar...who?... Please forgive the interruption, my child, but do you remember me?

- Batman's face...bloody, broken…yelling words she can't hear

- Maroni leering at her from across the blackjack table...face slashed...teeth busted...the stench

- Vision fading...pain fading...light...warmth

She leaped up and off of the couch, sending the cat flying and hissing at her. Her body collapsed onto the floor and she drew her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth.

Was that death?

The cat came back over to her and laid down on her feet again, looking up at her while she rocked.

"Sorry, Asshole." She stroked his back and picked him up. For once, he didn't fight her when she cuddled him close. "Thanks."

Bruce
Watchtower

He looked at the clock: 8:15 pm.

She's not coming.

Turning back to the heavy bag, he threw his weight behind the punches. He wondered if she assumed he was canceling for good after last week. It wasn't what he had intended; he just didn't have his thoughts collected after their last morning together. Taking another break, he walked to his phone to text her. He typed the words, but couldn't bring himself to send it. Instead, he tossed it back on the bench and returned to the bag, resuming a vigorous pace. After another ten minutes, he gave up and unwrapped his hands. He took a cold shower and walked to the monitoring room where Tim was talking with Batwoman while she tried to track down one of the bombing suspects.

"Here, let me take over."

"Why? I thought it was training night." He continued to look at the monitor at Batwoman's tracker moving across Chinatown.

"Change of plans. Go take the night off."

He turned and looked at him for a moment before shrugging and pushing his chair back.

"Don't have to tell me twice. Thanks, Bruce," he said, gathering his things and stepping into the Zeta tube.

"Okay, Batwoman. I'm on watch now. Keep me updated." His mind focused on the screens, retreating into the safe haven of being Batman.