Zatanna
Between Dimensions

There was no stopping it once it started. They were moving through time and space and energy at a rate she didn't think possible...and Bruce was stuck in the middle of it, screaming as the spell fought against his presence. He's not supposed to be here. The spell hadn't been expecting a third person to be in the circle and it had immediately tried to dispel him, but it was too late...he got sucked in with them. She fought to put her arms around him and protect him as they tumbled through nothingness for what could have been moments or hours. His scream continued when she felt them slowing, coming back into existence as quickly as they had left. They landed outside of a small run-down building in the snow. She had no idea if they were where they were supposed to be, but she was relieved that she could tend to Bruce now that they weren't moving. He was writhing on the ground, screaming as he thrashed his head and grasped at her arms.

"Bruce? Bruce! Oh, fuck. John, help me."

"Help you what? I don't know what's wrong with the fuckin' idiot." He turned around and started to light a cigarette.

"Goddamn it, John! Please! Bruce...I'm here." She placed her hands on his head and tried to read his thoughts, but they were a jumbled mess. Tears were streaming down her face while she watched him struggle. She had focused so much on letting the bad guys in that she hadn't thought to keep the good ones out, and now Bruce was suffering for her stupidity. "I'm sorry...I don't know...please..."

Constantine finally knelt down next to her and put his hand on Bruce's forehead, cigarette hanging out of his mouth and face serious as he probed his mind.

"He's a bit stuck between worlds. Give it a minute and see if he can stumble his way in the right direction."

"Is there anything I can do?" Her tears were falling onto Bruce's face, his head cradled in her arms.

"Keep talkin'. He hears your voice and is trying to get to you."

Leaning down close to his ear, she lowered her voice and started to speak.

"Find me, Bruce. You always find me. You found me in Vegas. You found me at the party. You found me in the warehouse. Find me now. I need you. Just you." As she continued to whisper in his ear, his thrashing eased and his groans became less frequent.

"It's working. He's almost settled," John said quietly, hand still on his forehead.

"Za...Zee?" Bruce's voice was weak and his eyes were still closed, but he was still now.

"Yeah, I'm here." She leaned down and kissed his lips as John removed his hand.

"What happened?" Bruce mumbled against her mouth. "I heard you."

"Let's get you somewhere warm and dry and I'll explain." She helped him stand, and he leaned heavily on her shoulder. It took him a few steps, but he finally started to steady himself while they made their way down a dark street. There was light coming from several blocks ahead, so they headed toward it, hoping to find some civilization. The Gotham City of this dimension was clearly smaller and less developed on the outskirts.

"I see some people. Let's ask around for a place to eat and stay the night," John said, leading them to a small group gathered on the first well-lit corner they approached. Zatanna stayed back, holding onto Bruce and quietly whispering spells to keep him calm. His eyes were wide, but he appeared to be recovering quickly from the mind scramble he had experienced. "They said there's a diner three blocks this way," John said, leading them toward more lighted streets.

They arrived at the diner and sat down in a booth. She wasn't hungry, but ordered a cup of hot chocolate and some pie to keep the owners appeased that they weren't just taking up chair space. Bruce still seemed disoriented, so she ordered him a sandwich and water. Constantine just lit another cigarette and sat staring at them.

"How are you feeling?" She asked Bruce, once the food had arrived.

"A little better," he said, taking a bite. "Where are we?"

"Gotham City...in a different dimension," she said quietly, to avoid being overheard by the very curious waitress hovering near them. Bruce slowly turned and looked at her.

"This...is what you've been working on?"

"Yep."

"You really are insane."

"Yep."

He rubbed his forehead for a moment as he thought, pushing his half-eaten sandwich back. Zatanna ate her pie and waited for the speech to start. It was good and the hot chocolate warmed her back up.

"So what exactly are we doing here?" Bruce finally asked, apparently foregoing the lecture for now.

"Well, Zee and I were going to save the world. Not sure what you're doing here...other than mucking this whole thing up for me." Constantine said. Bruce turned his head and glared his Batman glare until he shut his mouth and leaned back in the booth.

"We're here to recruit some people. Magicians like us to help stop the being that we shifted here. If we coordinate things right, I think we can win this time instead of just pushing our problems onto someone else." Zatanna said, looking into Bruce's eyes as he studied her face. He seemed tired and overwhelmed. "Maybe we can finish this in the morning. I think we should all rest. That was a pretty nasty ride."

They both nodded. The waitress returned to the table, so Zatanna pulled out her credit card and handed it to her.

"What's that?" The waitress asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"Oh, sorry love. She's from outta the country. You'll need local currency, darlin'," Constantine said, narrowing his eyes at her.

"Right. So sorry." She turned her head and looked back in her purse. "Yenom morf siht noisnemid." The whispered spell worked and conjured money that looked slightly different from what she was used to and handed it to the waitress.

"That's twice what it costs," she said, handing some back. "But thanks for the tip." They stood and walked to the door.

"Shit, I've got to be more careful. No telling what's going to be different here."

"No worries. Just put on a charming accent and blame it on ignorance. Works for me," John said, leading them toward a hotel down the street. They walked up to the front desk. "Three rooms."

"Two rooms," Bruce rumbled behind him, giving Zee a warm feeling in her belly. John huffed and gave him an angry glare before he looked back to the man behind the counter.

"Right. Two bloody rooms." He threw more of the local money on the desk and tossed Bruce the key card once they were settled, walking away without another word. Bruce grabbed Zatanna's hand and led her to the room at the end of the first floor, opening the door and gently leading her inside before wrapping his arms around her.

"Thought you lost me for a minute, didn't you?" He mumbled into her hair.

"Yes. Please don't do that again."

"Promise. As soon as I know what the hell it was that I did." Releasing his hold on her, he walked to the bed and sat down, rubbing his neck and stretching.

"You walked into our circle right as we started to move into this dimension. It was my fault. I should have been more careful. I'm surprised it didn't kill you."

"Yeah, me too. It wasn't the most pleasant experience." He looked up at her with dark eyes. "Your voice was the only thing I could hear."

"Mmm...I've been told it carries," she smiled at him and walked to the bathroom, ready to wash away the memory of her house full of villains.

Bruce
Somewhere Weird

His head was still pounding and he felt nauseous, but he didn't want to worry Zatanna. Inter-dimensional travel was a bit of a bitch. He took slow, deep breaths through his nose while she showered, trying to shake the rest of the nausea before he vomited up his sandwich. When that failed, he flopped back on the bed and closed his eyes. He was about to fall asleep when he heard her step out of the bathroom.

"Are you okay? You look a little green." Her cool hand brushed against his forehead.

"I feel a little green. Don't suppose you brought some medication with you?"

"Stomach or head?"

"Yes."

"Laeh sih hcamots dna daeh."

"You're fucking amazing," he mumbled as the pain and nausea passed. When he opened his eyes and sat up, he saw her standing in front of him with a serious look on her face and her arms wrapped across her stomach. "What's the matter?"

"I uh...I'm not really sure," she said, sitting down next to him on the bed and rocking gently. He stood and took her hands from around her waist, but she quickly pulled them back and crossed them again, as if she were holding herself together.

"You're scaring me, Zee."

"I'm okay. The magic just feels wrong here. Like it's speaking a different language." She shook her head and closed her eyes tightly. "Hopefully I'll get used to it."

He nodded and went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. When he returned, she had gotten under the covers and was curled into a ball. He laid down close behind her and wrapped his arm over hers, squeezing tightly.

"Will you be able to sleep?"

"If you're here, yes," she said in a small voice.

"I will be."

Zatanna
Another Place, Same Arms

- Crying. Muffled crying and voices. Has anyone ever been this happy?

Once you get used to the voices in your head, it's disorienting when they start to say new words. Zatanna's voices had always been a throng of poetry and music mixed together. She heard it as a symphony...one that she directed as she used the notes to paint her magical score. Here, they were shouting at her...desperately pleading for her to hear them and tame them. It was loud, powerful, and demanding. If ever she was going to lose control, it would be in this place.

"You awake?" Bruce asked. She must have stirred as she came around, giving her away. His voice was a welcome change to what she was hearing in her head.

"Mmm hmm. How are you?" He was still wrapped around her from behind, so she couldn't see his face, but his lips were pressed to the back of her neck.

"Good. Feeling fine since you patched me up. You okay?"

"Still off, but I'll live. We have a lot to do today." She shifted and turned to face him in the bed.

"You'll have to catch me up. I missed the planning sessions." His voice was quiet, but there was a bit of an edge to it that made her think he wasn't thrilled about being left out. Too late now.

"So, I told you last night we're recruiting other magicians in this dimension. I actually think you might be well suited for that."

"Why?"

"Because we're recruiting me. You're just the man for the job." She raised her eyebrow and gauged his reaction.

"Recruiting you...as in the other you. This place's you."

"You've got it. It would be a lot less jarring if you showed up than if she saw me walking at her."

"Most people find me pretty jarring," he said, smirking. "Where would I even look for you...her...in this dimension?"

"That's were we get really high tech. See if there's a phone book in the drawer."

Rolling out of bed, he started going through the drawers while she went to the bathroom. When she came back out, he was flipping through the pages of a book, face confused.

"This is nonsense," he mumbled. "I've never heard of any of these places."

"Not surprising. Different dimensions are going to be the same, but not the same. Did you find my name?"

"No, but I found mine. I'm...a lawyer?" The tone of his voice made her laugh...he sounded both shocked and revolted.

"Don't worry, I won't hold it against you. Doesn't really help find me, though. I might just need to see if I can track myself magically and send you that way." The phone rang as Bruce continued to leaf through the book. Constantine wanted Zatanna to transport him to London and then New York to track down some of the usual magi suspects to recruit. She and Bruce would find her counterpart and get her to help in finding others. They met for breakfast at the same diner as the night before.

"You know, we might wind up anywhere if I just put a tracking spell on myself. I've been a nomad my whole life...never really had a home." She said, scarfing down her breakfast. For some reason, the weird magic of the current dimension was making her ten times hungrier than usual.

"You want mine too?" Constantine asked when she finished her plate. She shot him a glare.

"Shut up. This place is messing with me." Bruce put his arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer. "Let's go back to the hotel. We can transport from the room so no one sees us. Just be aware that I have no idea where any of us will land went the spell works. Be prepared to duck and dodge if you wind up in the middle of the interstate."

"That's comforting love, thanks."

"You could walk," Bruce grumbled at him. Once they made it to their room, Zatanna quickly zapped John to London before Bruce could punch him in the face for being mouthy. She told him to be ready to go to New York by Thursday and return to Gotham by Friday morning, when she would bring him back, no matter what.

"Okay Bruce, our turn. I'm going with you, but I'll hang back. Once you find me and make nice, explain to me...her...this is confusing...what's going on. If you think we're good, come grab me and we'll talk to her."

Bruce nodded, but seemed just as confused as she was. There was no doubt that the mission would be 90% winging it. With a deep breath, she grabbed his hand and summoned the foreign magic.

"Dnif em ni siht noisnemid." The glow engulfed them and the rapid movement she knew well took them aloft.

Bruce
Who the Hell Knows

They reappeared in a park in the middle of a city, but couldn't tell which city it was. Still holding hands, they slowly walked around the sidewalk, looking for signs to help orient themselves. A newspaper stand caught his eye and he led Zatanna toward it.

"We're still in Gotham," she said, paying for a local paper and scanning through the headlines. "Let's search. I must be around here somewhere."

Bruce took her hand again and led her toward a group of park benches. The area was almost empty, the cold weather keeping most people indoors. They would occasionally pass someone huddled on a bench, but after half an hour had not found her counterpart.

"Maybe I left? I might need to cast another..."

Catching sight of a small figure with raven-colored hair, Bruce cut off Zee's words and turned her to face a bench near a playground.

"I'd know that hair anywhere," he said, mouth close to her ear. "Why don't you go to that coffee shop across the street? I'll bring her in when she's ready." Zatanna nodded, eyes wide as she watched her other self sit a few hundred feet away. Once she turned to walk away, Bruce took a deep breath and started toward the bench. Fifty feet away, he came to a halt when he saw another, smaller raven-haired figure bounce toward Zatanna.

"Momma, wook," the small boy said as he held a tiny handful of snow out to her. "It no!"

"Sssssnow," she said back, smiling at the child.

"Ffffnow?" Zatanna laughed and nodded as he smashed the snow between his hands. "Momma, it cowd."

Shit.

He quickly retreated behind a tree another fifty feet away as his mind raced. There were a lot of scenarios he had considered in the last few hours, but Zatanna playing in a park with her son was not one of them. Looking around, he found another bench nearby that would offer him a good view of her. If he followed her home, he might be able to catch her outside without the boy; the last thing he wanted to do was scare her while she was with her child. After several minutes, the boy started to run toward an approaching man.

"Daddy!" He leaped into his arms and was instantly lifted, being spun around like a helicopter as he laughed.

"Hey, little man," an eerily familiar voice said as they came to a spinning stop. Zatanna walked over to him and reached up to kiss his lips. "Sorry I'm late. Got stuck on a phone call."

Me. I'm...we're...that's my son. Our son. He felt lightheaded watching the happy little family play in the snow. We have a son.

"Don't worry about him, he'd play out here all day if I let him. I, on the other hand, can't feel my feet." Zatanna said, smiling up at the alternate version of him. The Bruce of this dimension was thinner and had a well-groomed beard, but he otherwise looked the same. Pulling the collar of his jacket up, he slumped onto the bench, afraid his other self would spot him. They played for a few minutes in the snow while his mind raced.

"Sorry I can't stay long, but I'll be home in time for dinner. Need me to pick anything up?"

"Nope, we're good. Thanks for coming for a few minutes, anyway."

"Daddy, wook! Fffnow!"

"Yep, you've got fnow. I need to go, kiddo. See you in a bit. Love you guys." The other Bruce mussed the boy's hair and kissed Zatanna again before walking back toward the buildings across the street. Bruce sat and stared at them as their son went back to building a snowman a few yards from where Zee sat. Suddenly, the boy looked up at him and started to run in his direction with a smile.

"Daddy back!" Before Bruce could react, the child had covered the ground between them and leaped into his arms as he stood to catch him.

"Bruce, honey, what are you…?" Zatanna had started walking toward him, but stopped after several steps, eyes wide and body shaking as she looked at him holding her son. "Please...please, I don't know who you are but, please...let my son go."

The boy was playing with the zipper on his coat as Zee slowly crept toward them, hand out and eyes starting to fill with tears.

"Please...I'll go with you...just let him go."

Bruce carefully lowered the child to the ground and took a step back, holding his hands up while the boy reached for him again.

"Don't go, Daddy. Fffnow!"

"Tommy, come to momma." She knelt down and held her arms out to him, making him pout and walk over to her.

"Zatanna, it's okay," Bruce said quietly, "I'm not here to hurt you or your son. I need your help." He sat back down on the bench, still holding his hands up to her.

"Who are you?" Her voice was still shaking and she was clutching the squirming child, who was fighting to get loose.

"That's going to take a minute to explain, but I will. Maybe Tommy can finish up that great snowman he was working on while we talk?"

"Fnowman, daddy!" The boy exclaimed, pointing back to his work-in-progress.

"Yeah, fnowman," he smiled. "Can you finish building it? I want to see it."

"Ya! Momma, let go!" The boy fought his way free, but Zatanna's eyes stayed glued on his face.

"I'm Bruce Wayne, but I'm not your Bruce Wayne. I came from another Gotham City to find you. I came...I came with you to find you." She was staring at him like he was just as crazy as he sounded.

"Another Gotham City? Where?"

"A different dimension. Or, so you told me. I'm kind of a stowaway here." He placed his hands on his knees and rubbed them nervously. There was no way she was going to buy this story...at least not coming from him. Now I know how she feels when she tells me crazy shit.

"You said you came with me. What does that mean?" Her eyes were just as piercingly blue here as they were in his dimension and he had to fight the urge to wipe a tear from her cheek.

"The you from my dimension...my Zee...she's sitting in the coffee shop across the street."

"Zee?" She wrinkled her brow.

"Nickname. Guess some things are a little different here." Like our son.

"You call me Zanna here," she said, moving toward him and holding her hands out. She glanced around nervously for a moment before looking back down to him, a familiar glow starting to form at her fingertips. He held still when she touched his temples and closed her eyes. He caught sight of the large diamond ring on her left hand. Married. We're married and we have a son. "You...you've lived a different life."

She opened her eyes and ran a hand down his face and under his chin, thumb rubbing against a small scar near the left side of his mouth...a scar only a lover would see. Zee had teased him about it before, saying it wasn't from a fight, but an overzealous former girlfriend who sank her teeth into him. He'd assured her that she was the only lover he'd had who liked to bite. Zanna's hand lingered there as she studied his eyes. It was still her hand...her touch.

"A little different, yeah. Zee...Zanna...we need your help. Would you be willing to meet my Zee? She can explain all of this to you." Glancing around nervously again, she pulled her hands back and nodded.

"Not here. And not in a coffee shop. We need to go to my house. Tommy can nap and we can talk in private." Reaching in her purse, she pulled out a pen and wrote an address on his hand before walking back toward Tommy and the snowman. "Come in an hour. Make sure no one's following you."

She snatched the protesting boy up and headed quickly away, leaving Bruce even more confused.

Who would follow us here?

Zatanna
Coffee Shop
The Wrong Gotham

"Can I get you anything else?" The waitress checked on her again, but Zee just shook her head and looked back through the window. It had been nearly an hour since she sat down and she was getting worried that something had gone wrong. Just when she was about to get up and hunt Bruce down, he emerged on the other side of the street, jogging toward her...alone.

He quickly slipped into the booth next to her and pulled her close, stealing all of her warmth.

"What happened? Why isn't she with you?"

His head lowered to hers and he placed his lips against her ear.

"We're meeting her at her place. Something's off. She seems scared of something...paranoid." His voice was strained and he was holding her tighter than was really necessary.

"What else? Why are you so amped up?" His tension was pouring off of him in waves.

"I met someone else in the process," he paused long enough that she turned her head to look at him. "Our son."

She blinked at him for a long time before taking a breath.

"Our..."

"...son." He finished. As she continued to blink, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to her forehead, squeezing her even tighter while she tried to figure out what he was talking about.

"So not my son...our son." We have a son. I have a son with Bruce. He nodded and moved his lips down to hers, kissing her softly for the first time in weeks. After lingering there for a few moments, he pulled his head back and looked at her with an intensity that made her heart race.

"We're supposed to leave in a few minutes. You okay to do this?"

"Yes," she lied. They didn't have a lot of options at this point. "Let's go meet me."