Bruce
Batcave
He could hear her complaining while he walked down the steps.
"It's kind of tight across the chest," she said.
"Is that better?" Alfred asked.
"Sure, fine."
Bruce walked into the suit chamber and leaned against the wall. "Looks good."
"Shut up, no one asked you," Zatanna snapped.
He laughed and watched Alfred make adjustments. Thomas was sitting in the batsuit case with Fluffy, playing with his boots and unconcerned with the fitting session.
"How does it feel?"
"Hot. I'm wearing a rubber turtleneck and I'm hot."
"It's not rubber. It's a layer of advanced, light weight Kevlar coated with a poly..."
"Shut up, no one asked you."
Alfred stood and looked her over one more time. "I think that should do it, ma'am. And here," he said, grabbing her hat and jacket.
"Great. Did you put Kevlar in these, too?"
"No, but if you'd like..."
"Please don't."
Alfred chuckled and started putting away his things.
"Ready to test it out?" Bruce asked, circling her and examining the suit. Alfred had kept with the mostly-black and white aesthetic, with a subtle fishnet pattern accenting it around the shoulders, sides, and waist.
"Test it out? Are you going to try to stab me in the neck?"
"Considering it. Alfred, you want to take Thomas upstairs?"
"Of course. Come, Master Thomas. Your parents are going to beat each other up for a while...like every normal, healthy couple."
Bruce headed toward the mat, pulling Zatanna behind him. She was fussing with the collar of the suit.
"You'll get used to it," he said. "Now, see if you can move."
"Breathing optional," she grumbled. Heading to the other end of the mat, she stood and stretched a few times before breaking into a dead sprint toward him. He readied himself to swing at her, but she dropped to her knees and slid under his fist. Twisting herself around, she was back on her feet in a flash, swinging a right and left that he dodged. She faked another left before kicking his right leg, sweeping it out from under him and throwing him off balance. Looking up at her from one knee, he grinned.
"Nice move."
"I fight better when I'm pissed."
He snapped his hand forward and pulled her feet out from under her. She landed on her back with a thud and a curse.
"You fight just fine in armor."
"I still don't like it."
"I do. You're safer. And it's sexy."
"It's not sexy."
He laid down next to her. "I'm your husband, so I get to be the judge of that and it's sexy."
She rolled over and got on top of him. "It's not fucking sexy," she said, pinning his arms down and biting his lip a little harder than usual.
"Fine. It's repulsive. I'm repulsed."
"I can tell." Her hand slipped down to pull his erection out from his shorts while her lips started to work their way down his neck.
"Not turned on. You're definitely not sexy."
"Damn right, I'm not," she said, taking him in her mouth.
"Fuck. Crane didn't purify your mind at all."
She hummed around him and he let his head fall back onto the mat. Nothing better after a long day. After several minutes of enjoying the feeling, he pulled her head back and flipped them over. Knowing Alfred's habit of sticking with what works in his designs, he quickly released the pants and torso of her armor and threw them aside.
"Already 30 degrees cooler," Zatanna said as he entered her.
"Shut up, no one asked you."
Zatanna
Wayne Manor
"Hey, Kent. Sorry to bother you. I wanted some advice on this whole inter-dimensional problem I created."
"We created it, Zatanna. We're all responsible."
"Well, regardless, I'm ready to do something about it. If you and Nabu could give me some guidance on what I might need to do, I would appreciate it."
"I don't think you know what you're asking, especially considering who you're currently allied with. She's already asked me for help."
"She who? Diana? She came to you?"
"No. Not Diana. Tsaritsa." Shit. "She came to me a month ago and asked if I could help the two of you..."
"I'm not working with that woman," Zatanna interrupted. "No matter what she told you."
"Are you telling me you didn't make a pact with her?"
"I...I did, but I don't intend to help her do anything. I intend to stop her."
"If you say so."
"I need to know what she asked you to do."
He paused, letting her worry for a little too long. "She asked how she could affect the rip between dimensions. She tried to give the impression that the two of you were working to close it, but she was lying."
"How else would she want to 'affect' it?"
"That I don't know. Zatanna, if you really do intend to stop her, you need to know that there are risks that go beyond just altering timelines. You could cause instability that no one could repair, particularly if you're working with someone who doesn't have the same goals in mind."
"I told you, I'm not working with her. Just tell me what I might need to fix the rip."
"Power. Tremendous amounts of it. More than it took to open it."
"And where would I find that much power?"
"It's not about finding it. It's about recruiting it to help." With that, Dr. Fate hung up the phone.
Cryptic douche.
She put her phone down and leaned back in her chair. Recruit the help. She certainly knew powerful people, but what kind of power would she need here? Magic? Strength? Speed? Intelligence? All of the above?
"He could have dropped me a hint...like costume color or something," she said to Thomas. He was sitting next to her and sharing his cereal with an undeserving cat.
With a snap of her fingers, she pulled up a notepad and pen. Okay...powerful people who might be willing to help.
Magic: John, the Hell crew, Xanadu, apparently not Dr. Fate
Superhuman traits/intelligence: Barry, Wally, Dinah, Ollie, xoxoBRUCExoxo, Kate, Dick, Tim, Barb
God-like: Clark, Diana, J'onn, Arthur
Somewhere in between/mixture: Billy, Jefferson, Victor, Carter, Shayera
It was a lot of power, but none of them really deserved to be mixed up in her shenanigans. Except John. He deserved it. But she didn't want to get involved with him again, if avoidable. Regardless, her list didn't help her in figuring out just what kind of power she would need, so it wasn't much use yet.
Her alarm sounded, so she got ready to head back to the manor. Bruce was already home when she entered, sitting in the den and staring at the monitors with a scowl on his face.
"Hey. You're home early." Thomas went over and climbed onto his lap. "Everything okay?"
"Did you think I wouldn't notice you reset the satellites?"
"No, you pretty much notice everything."
"You said you'd stop obsessing."
"I'm not obsessing! But I'm also not going to sit on my hands and be taken by surprise." Their voices were rising and Thomas was looking back and forth at them with wide eyes. They usually avoided arguing in front of him.
"Zatanna, you told me..."
"I told you I'd let you help. I'd told you I'd keep you informed if anything changed. I never told you I'd do things your way on this!"
"So you're just going to do whatever you want, as always!"
"I'm going to do what I think is best. I don't see you telling Diana to stop her monitoring. Why is that? Because you still trust her more than you trust me." She stomped off and headed upstairs. "You should take your son with you to the meeting. He doesn't need to be around me for a while."
Bruce
Wayne Manor
Thomas was sitting teary-eyed in his lap, hugging a stuffed elephant he conjured halfway through the yelling.
"The 'do whatever you want' line was a bit much, huh?" He snuggled back against him. "Sorry, son."
"Mad?"
"Not at you." He kissed the top of his head. "Not at mommy, either. I just wish she'd..." What? He was still too used to everyone doing things his way. "Maybe I came a bit too hard out of the gate."
He turned to face the monitors again. Guess it wouldn't hurt to see what they picked up. Sifting through the feeds, he followed Tsaritsa's movements. She was a creature of habit. Work, home, work, home. He sped the playback rate up until he noticed something out of place. Hitting rewind, he zoomed in on the windows of her house. Around midnight, a glow came from downstairs. Not lights...something less natural. It persisted for about half an hour before flickering back out. From there, he could see her pass by windows and head to what he assumed was the bedroom. He backed the tape up further. She did the same thing every night...work, home, midnight glow, bed...day in and day out.
Could be nothing.
He'd seen Zatanna surrounded by a glow dozens of times. Still, he hadn't imagined Tsaritsa to be the most regimented person in the world. She was like a robot, following the same pattern without fail. He complied the clips and saved them to the hard drive while Thomas played with Fluffy.
"Want to go with me tonight?"
"Go!" He stood and came over to be picked up. Bruce took him upstairs and dug the League suit Zatanna had put him in the last time from the closet. It wasn't the easiest thing to put on a squirming tot without magic, and he still thought the bat symbol should be somewhere on the front, but he finally wrestled him into it and grabbed his bunny.
"Okay, let's head out, sorcerer."
As usual, he was taken from his arms as soon as he arrived, entertaining everyone until the meeting started.
"Bruce, tell us what you need from us in Gotham," Clark said.
"Nothing. And I don't mean that lightly. I understand you wanting to help, but if any one of you were exposed to the toxin, it could be devastating."
"We'd take precautions."
"I know. And I trust you all with my life, but if those precautions failed...even once...I can't take that risk."
Diana nodded. "We saw how Bruce reacted when he was exposed and how quickly he took out his team. If it were you, Clark, or me? I understand not wanting to take that risk."
Clark shrugged and leaned back from the table. "Fine. We'll do it your way."
Bruce winced at the statement. "It's not just about doing things my way. If anyone else thinks I'm being unreasonable, you can speak up and I'll listen."
Probably should have taken that stance at home.
"I think you're being rightfully cautious," J'onn said. "I doubt most of us in here could even name our worst fears or how we would react if we faced them."
"Zatanna's rendered her unable to use her powers. What if it made one of us all the more powerful, but with no control?" Victor asked.
Clark finally looked to him. "I guess that wouldn't be ideal. Okay. If you feel like we can help, tell us. Otherwise, we'll let you take the lead and stay out of Gotham."
"Thank you. I appreciate that you all want to help."
"I help!" Thomas offered.
"You can help all you want. Monitoring duty tonight. Be ready to stay up until one."
"Okay."
"Monitoring duty is sorted. We can move on," Bruce said. He listened through the rest of the meeting, pleased that not a lot else was going on that required his attention. It was divided enough already. When they wrapped things up, he grabbed Diana's arm and pulled her aside. "Got a minute?"
"Of course," she said, reclaiming Thomas. "Meetings are always better with you here, little one."
"Zatanna's been using my satellite feeds to track Tsaritsa," he said once they were alone.
"That's a good idea. She shouldn't be able to detect that."
"Mm," he nodded.
"What?"
"Nothing. I was reviewing what had been recorded so far and noticed a pattern. Have your sources said anything about a light downstairs every day at midnight?"
"No, but having a light on at midnight isn't strange."
"This isn't light from a bulb. She's using magic. Every night at the same time."
Diana thought for a moment, brow furrowed. "She's a magician. She could be doing anything. Meditating, seance..."
"I know. It might be nothing, but will you have your people look into it?"
"Sure. What did Zatanna say about it?"
"I haven't told her yet. She's...she was busy when I left."
"Well, she'd be the best one to tell you what she might be up to. I mean, that's why she was using the satellites, right?"
He nodded. "Yeah. That's why. I'll see what she thinks and have her stay in touch with you."
"Sounds good," she said, handing Thomas back over. "Are you okay? You seem distracted."
"There's just a lot going on. Thanks, Diana. I'll talk to you later."
He headed home, worried she would ask more questions if he stayed. Zatanna was in the library and walked over to take Thomas from him.
"Hey. Did you have fun?"
"Help," he said, laying his head on her shoulder.
"I'm sure you did."
"Zatanna, I..."
"Can we do this later? I don't want to make a habit of arguing in front of him."
"I wasn't..." She turned and walked away toward the kitchen without letting him finish. "...going to argue. I was going to apologize. For starting a fight for no real reason."
The books didn't have any input on his apology, so he went to the kitchen and joined in a very silent meal. Ah, yes...just like old times. He hadn't really missed the old times. Even Thomas was giving him the silent treatment. When they finished up and cleaned the dishes, he picked his helper up.
"He wanted to monitor with me a while."
"Clean pajamas are on his bed," she said. "Night, sweetie." She kissed Thomas's cheek and walked away.
Yeah, I think waiting until morning to talk is a good idea, too, Zee.
He went to the monitors and started pulling up his feeds. Thomas settled in with his blanket and Fluffy, ready to watch and help him spot anything out of the ordinary. He usually only spotted the stray dogs and cats running the streets at night, but it was nice to know he was paying attention. He'd learn what to look for when he was old enough. They made it to almost 10:00 before he got too tired to stay awake. Bruce took him to bed before finishing his monitoring until Tim relieved him at 1:00. Zatanna was asleep and firmly on her side of the bed, cocooned in the blanket. He didn't care to respect her space, so he moved in close behind and wrapped his arm around her.
She'll forgive me for knocking her out and drugging her, but this she punishes me for.
Zatanna
Wayne Manor
She had considered sleeping on the couch in the library, but didn't want to be too far from Thomas during the night. Instead, she scooted as far as possible onto her side of the bed and fully wrapped herself in the blanket. It didn't work. She woke with Bruce draped around her, as always. When she tried to squirm free, he tightened his grip.
"Mm. Not getting away that easily."
"I'm not in the mood to argue."
"You're barely awake. How can you be in a mood at all?"
He stayed where he was, pulling the blanket back and running a hand along her arm.
"I'm sorry I messed with your stuff," she said, finally breaking the silence.
"I don't care if you mess with my stuff. I overreacted. I just..."
"Don't want me doing anything."
"Well, when you say it like that, you make me sound unreasonable." He was trying to be funny. "Using the satellites was a good idea. We should have been doing it this whole time. I'm sorry I've been so controlling that you felt like you couldn't ask."
"I don't want to sit around and wait for her to make the first move."
"I know. It wasn't fair of me to ask you to." His lips found their way to her neck. "I trust you. And I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry, too."
"I went through the footage and saved some things for you to review. Might be nothing."
"Okay, I'll look at it. Thanks." The door creaked open and Thomas came in, carrying his blanket, elephant, and followed closely by a cat. "What did I tell you about magicking your way out of bed?"
He ignored her, floating his stuff onto them and trying to monkey his way up the covers until she finally grabbed the waistband of his pants and yanked him the rest of the way. He settled down between them.
"Does he do this often?"
"No, because he knows he'll get in trouble." The cat laid down next to him and purred. Bad influence. "It's not like it's a big deal if he comes in here, but if he decides to go wherever he wants, or if we're in here..."
"Thomas?" Bruce lowered his voice to "stern" level and Thomas looked over at him. "Did you get out of bed without permission?"
"Ya."
At least he's an honest troublemaker.
"You can't do that, son. I know it's easy for you, but that doesn't mean you can break rules."
The crocodile tears started almost immediately. His daddy never got onto him, because he usually saved all of his little boy antics for her.
"Okay, dada," he said through the tears. "Sowy."
Bruce sighed. "I think we're all a little worn out right now."
He was right. They were both getting upset too easily and Thomas was sensitive to it.
"I know. I'd be less cranky if I could meditate."
"You're not cranky. You're tired and stressed. Let's see if we can make San Francisco happen late this week. I know it's a work trip, but it would be a change of pace and scenery."
"With everything going on?"
"Especially with everything going on. It's not like you can't have us back here in an instant, if we need to be." He got up and headed toward the bathroom. "Besides, you promised to take me to your favorite restaurant there."
She smiled and picked up a still-dejected kid. "I get mad at you and you're over it in five seconds."
His guilty eyes gave her a pitiful look. "Mad?"
"No, neither of us are mad. You just need to be a good boy and follow the rules...particularly when it comes to magic. That's lesson number one: just because you can, doesn't mean you should."
"Pa-cake?"
"You had pancakes yesterday. And you're naughty, so you're getting whatever Alfred wants to make."
Their oatmeal and fruit was waiting for them when they got downstairs.
"Good morning, ma'am, Master Thomas."
"Morning, Alfred. You might get a couple of days off this week. Bruce wants us to go to San Francisco."
"And you're taking Master Thomas?" He looked disappointed, rather than excited for some free time.
"Yes, I think so. Just think of how much you'll get done without us in your hair."
He made a grunting sound and continued on with his meal. Bruce came down shortly after and broke the same news to him.
"Well, I suppose Mr. Fox will be delighted." It was clear that he wasn't equally thrilled.
"You know, if Alfred wanted to come, too, we could have a date night while we're there. And he could enjoy the time away from Gotham. If he wants to."
His eyes brightened and glanced between them. He shrugged. "If it would work best for you, I could come along." Standing, he gathered the dishes with a small smile on his face. "Shall I make flight arrangements, sir?"
Bruce was looking at all of them, trying to figure out what he missed. "Uh, sure. Early Thursday, come back Saturday afternoon."
"I will see to it," he responded, heading to the kitchen.
Zatanna laughed when he was gone. "Geez. When I told him we'd be gone for a couple of days, it looked like I'd ripped out his soul."
"Ah, okay. I was wondering what was wrong. You should know better than to threaten to take his kid away."
"I thought he might like some free time."
"Never. He wouldn't know what to do with himself. His favorite hobbies are taking care of Thomas, taking care of Zatanna, and taking care of Bruce...in that order, I've noticed."
She wiped Thomas down and let Bruce give him a kiss. "He thinks you're still upset."
Bruce grinned. "With him?" He took him and threw him up in the air. "No way." After several tosses, Thomas was giggling again and they had made up. He handed him back over and kissed her. "We okay?"
"Always."
"You sure? I could toss you in the air, too."
"Maybe later," she laughed. "Have a good day."
Bruce
Wayne Enterprises
He spent a chunk of the morning on the phone in negotiations with the team for coverage while he would be out of town. Getting them to cover was never the issue...it was sorting out who had which days. He finally got them on a group call to hash it out.
"I have a date on Friday," Kate said. "I'll cover Thursday."
"I have a date on Friday, too," Barb said.
"Well, can someone move to Saturday? I can't patrol and monitor at the same time," Tim complained.
"Fine," Barb huffed. "Let me see..."
Bruce drummed his fingers on the desk while he waited. "Anything else going on?"
"Got a new pair of boots from Alfred. They're comfy," Tim said.
"Did Zee like her armor?" Kate asked.
"She will when she gets used to it," he said. We're great at small talk.
"Okay, done. I'll cover Friday monitoring," Barb finally said. "Have fun in Cali, boss."
"We will. I can be back if I need to be. Don't hesitate to…"
"We know, we know. Just try to have fun."
He hung up and leaned back in his chair. If he slept on the plane, he could still patrol Wednesday night and only miss two days. It felt like a lot, all things considered, but it needed to be done. He'd been promising the tech crew for months that he would visit and hadn't made good on it yet. Now, he could keep his promise and hopefully give him and Zatanna some time to relax. Being in a constant flux between arguing and sleeping wasn't healthy. He pulled up his internet browser and searched for family activities to do while they were there. I've never even taken my kid to the zoo.
Jotting down a timeline, he planned out the two days. A few hours to tour the facility, a few hours of family time, a few hours for a date each night. Balance. He stuffed the list into his pocket and headed to his next meeting. Lucius was elated that he was finally going to see the facility, immediately calling his lead architect and making sure things were ready for touring.
"Will the whole family be visiting? There have been some requests."
He chuckled. "I'll see what I can do. Thomas will probably be an easy sell if it means he gets attention. Zatanna's been a little worn after her experience downtown, but it might be a nice distraction for her."
"I understand. I'll tell them to prepare for anything."
"Thanks, Lucius. Sorry it's taken me so long to get out there."
"It's alright. In fact, your timing is pretty good. We're only about a month away from opening up for business. You'll pretty much be seeing the finished project. The crew will like getting your seal of approval."
"Good. I'll be there midday Thursday. Tell them not to go overboard. I'm just another one of your employees."
Lucius smiled and headed back to his office. Bruce went back to his own wishing, as he always did, that he would find Zatanna there waiting to make proper use of his desk again. Disappointed, but not surprised, he sat down in the empty room and pulled up the Watchtower drone feeds.
"Hey, Bruce. Slow day at the office?" Victor immediately typed onto the screen.
"Busy morning, but finished for the day. Anything interesting?"
"Nothing. No traces of the toxin. Think maybe he's outside the city?"
"Maybe. Or somewhere well sealed."
"Or underground. Let me play with the settings and see if we can get creative."
"Thanks, Victor."
"You're welcome. Not that I mind the company, but if I were you and I had a gorgeous wife and kid at home, I wouldn't be talking to some tech geek on a computer in my down time."
Bruce smiled. "I guess you make a good point. Old habits die hard. I'll get out of here. Let me know if you find anything."