Zatanna
Shadowcrest
"Come here, sit in my lap," she said to Thomas, who walked over to be lifted. "Today, we learn meditation." It was never too early for him to learn the basics, and she hoped that his calming presence would help her focus. He leaned back against her. "Think about something that makes you happy. Remember the elephants?"
"Tilda?"
"Yes, Matilda. Remember how she waved her ears at you?" He smiled and nodded. "Good. Just think about being there. Being on Daddy's shoulders while we walked around. The giraffes and the lions. Cotton candy and ice cream." He was relaxing, listening to her voice. She put her hands on his head – he was happy and focused. "Raelc ym dnim."
Slowly, she could feel the muscles in her neck and shoulders start to loosen. The thoughts faded, focused only on the feeling of being with her favorite little boy. She smiled and drifted for the first time since the rooftop, able to purge the noise from her mind. Deciding not to test her student's patience, she kept the session short. Even so, she felt more centered once they finished. A few more goes and she might even be ready to try some real magic.
"Thanks for the help, sweetheart. You're a natural."
"See Dada?"
"Yeah, it's about that time. Let's head home. I bet he missed you today."
They arrived shortly before he did and waited for him in the library.
"What did you two get up to while I was bored in an office?" Bruce asked when he entered.
"Oh, a little time at the park, a little cleaning at Shadowcrest, and a little meditation."
He looked over at her. "You were able to meditate?"
She smiled and nodded. "With help. I think you'll find we're both very calm and ready to take on the rest of the day."
Leaning over, he gave her a gentle kiss. "Good. I know it means a lot for you to be able to do that. And you definitely need to be ready for the rest of the day."
"Oh, are we having an extreme training course this evening?"
"Gotta test out the limits of that armor," he said with a grin.
"You don't fight in yours."
"Sure I do. Every patrol night."
"Not the same."
"Excuse me, sir," Alfred said, entering with his phone in hand. "Master Drake has fallen ill and will be unable to patrol this evening."
"Anything serious?"
"No, sir. Just a stomach bug."
Bruce sighed and looked over to her. "Sorry. No training for us."
She put her head on his shoulder. "Guess I won't be the one trapped in armor this evening, after all."
"Hmm." Bruce grunted. "Not necessarily."
Raising her head back up, she looked over at him, seeing his mind working overtime. "What do you mean?"
"Hey, Alfred? You mind watching Thomas for the night?"
"Of course not."
"Uh...what is this about?" Zatanna asked.
He looked over at her with a smirk. "The next stage of your training: field trials."
"Field trials? What are you..." Her words cut off when she realized what he was suggesting. "You aren't serious."
"I'm always serious."
"You want me to patrol with you? You're crazy."
"Clearly, I married you."
She rolled her eyes and stood. "I'll get in your way and get on your nerves. No. I don't want you annoyed with me."
"You won't get on my nerves and you'll be helping, not getting in the way."
"I sleep at night, Bruce. I won't be able to stay awake."
"Caffeine."
Her mind started to scramble for ways to talk him out of his lunatic plan. "What about..."
"Let's eat. We've got a big night ahead," he said, standing and leaving her alone in the room.
Thomas hadn't even stood up for her, happily following daddy out and to the kitchen.
"Well. Guess I'll be getting my ass kicked."
Batman
Batcave
"Show me."
She held her beacon and communicator out to him. "Mask is in the car."
"Good. Let's go."
With a huff, she followed him and got in. He started his usual patrol route, keeping his scanners running. The rainy night was quiet and Zatanna started yawning a couple of hours in.
"Might need that caffeine soon. I run on toddler hours."
He reached into the console and pulled out a thermos of iced tea. "We can get something stronger later, if you need."
"Where? You going to roll us through a Starbucks drive through?"
"They aren't open late enough. You'll have to settle for something else."
She turned and looked at him. "You really take this thing through the drive through?"
"Sometimes. Get great service, too."
He drove on, keeping in contact with Kate while she ran the drones in alternating patterns.
"Nothing here, guys. Sorry your first patrol is a bit slow, Zee."
"No complaints. If Bruce would stop poking me awake, I could get some sleep."
"Stay sharp. Not every criminal takes the night off when it's raining," he said, poking her again. As if on cue, the police scanners came alive with reports of a group of vandals near the mid-town high school. "Should be a good test for you."
"Yipee."
When they were near the scene, he pulled the car over and got out.
"Mask on. Let's go up," he said, grabbing her around the waist and getting on an adjacent roof. There were three men working their way through a car lot, taking baseball bats to the windows and headlights.
"What's the plan?"
He glanced over at her before sitting down on the ledge. "Go take care of it."
"Yeah, that's not a plan."
Pulling out his scanner, he checked the rest of the area. "They're not going to stop unless you stop them. Go take care of it."
"Is there a reason you're trying to get me killed?" He opted for silence, watching the vandals continue on their path of vehicular destruction. "Fucking crazy," she mumbled, walking to the ledge.
"No magic. It's training night."
Sighing, she floated down to the street. "This doesn't count, I don't have a grappler."
"Could have taken the fire escape."
"Shut it."
She took a deep breath and walked toward the lot.
"Keep an eye on her for me, Batwoman."
"Got it."
At edge of the destruction, she hopped up on the hood of one of the vandalized cars.
"Excuse me, gentlemen. Would you mind stopping?"
The trio paused their spree and looked over at her. "Well, goddamn. Looks like our lucky night, boys," one said.
"Look, it's late and I should be in bed. Could we just skip this whole pervy bad guy shtick? The cops will be here soon."
"Why don't you come on over, sweetheart?"
Zatanna laughed. "I'm not terribly sweet, but if you want me to come over, I guess I will."
She hopped down off of the hood and slowly walked toward them.
"I like your outfit," the closest thug said.
"Ew, it's really creepy when you say it," she responded, positioning her feet into a fighting stance – shoulder width apart and the right slightly behind the left. The men lined up across from her, gripping their bats.
"Take them out," he said quietly in her ear. She reached behind her back and flipped him off.
The first of the over-confident men stepped forward and she quickly snapped her leg up and broke the arm holding the bat. Batman winced at the sound of the bones in his forearm shattering. The thug cried out and hit the ground.
"Fuck! You broke my fucking arm!"
"Well, you had it right out there. I didn't even have to kick very hard."
"You crazy fucking bitch, we're going to kill you," another one of the idiots said, striding forward and readying himself to take a swing. Zee bounced on the balls of her feet, waiting for the right moment. When he swung forward, she easily ducked under the bat and brought her fist up into his gut, drawing a dramatic "oof" sound from him as he doubled over.
"Slow. Next." The third man took a swing that missed by about two feet. "You kidding me? My kid has better aim than that."
She threw a quick series of punches that all hit home, dropping him with one last elbow to the temple. He was out cold. The man with the broken arm was still whimpering and cowering, but the gut-punched one was regaining his bearings. He rushed at her, trying to grab her around the shoulders, but she spun out of the way.
"Did you pay these guys to be incompetent losers?" She muttered to him over the line.
"Stay focused."
"Zee, you have three more coming in from around the corner. They heard the commotion. One has a pistol," Kate said.
"Watch your back," he said, standing to get a better look. He wasn't going to move in unless he needed to.
She was finishing off the last guy, busting his nose before bringing her knee up to his groin. It was a move that they both agreed was very, very off limits on normal training nights...at least since that second session they'd had. Hearing the incoming group, she turned and readied herself again. They were shouting various "get hers" and "fuck yous". The gun-wielder held back, so Bruce kept an eye on him while she dealt with the others. She was varying her moves and, unless he was mistaken, genuinely enjoying herself. He even heard her laugh when one of them tripped over his own feet and knocked himself out when his head smacked against a brick wall.
"Damn. Doing my job for me. Thanks, dumbass," she said.
When he dropped, the guy hanging back pulled his pistol out. It was grappled from his hand before he could even take the safety off.
"I could have handled that," Zee complained.
"Wrap it up. Cops are close," he said, dismantling the gun and tossing the pieces down to the ground.
She flipped forward and caught the last guy in a vice grip with her legs, twisting him to the ground and choking him until he was unconscious. Standing and looking around, she dusted off her armor.
"I think I'm finished," she said quietly.
"Get back to the car."
She beat him there, zapping herself into the passenger seat in an instant. He fired up the engine and roared toward downtown. Her leg was bouncing, still amped up from the adrenaline, and she would occasionally cast a glance his way.
"Tried some stuff," she eventually mumbled. "Keep 'em guessing and whatnot..."
"Mm."
Zatanna
Batmobile
Is it a bad sign when your trainer is deafeningly silent after your first real fight?
She felt like she had done pretty well, all things considered – she was alive, at least. Didn't use magic. But Bruce was stone-faced and staring forward while he drove. Her hair was still dripping wet from the rain, so she ran her hands through it and whispered a spell to dry it out. They eventually came to a stop.
"What's here?" She asked, getting out and looking up at Wayne Tower. Before she could think, he flung his cape completely around her. She yelped when they became airborne, shooting up the side of the building so fast that it took her breath away. They landed a few floors from the top, where the building tapered out slightly. "What in the..."
He ripped her mask off and his lips stopped her words as he pushed her against the wall and pinned her arms over her head. Thrusting his hips against hers, he growled in the back of his throat.
"Fucking incredible." She gasped for air once he broke the kiss. He turned her and flattened her against the wall, putting his mouth near her ear. "That was fucking incredible."
"I didn't even..."
He pulled her head back by her hair and kissed her neck. "Fucking incredible..."
She hadn't expected this kind of reaction. It wasn't like she took down a dozen ninjas while blindfolded. In all, it had been pretty simple - a few inept street goons are child's play when your sparring partner is Batman. Still, she wasn't minding his form of praise, so she decided to shut up and go with it. He used his teeth to take his glove off and reached up to her ear, pulling the communicator out and tossing it onto the roof. Reaching down, he released their pants and hoisted her up onto a small ledge, bending her forward slightly and entering her from behind. There had to be some kind of interesting psychological reason for him wanting to have sex at his place of business all the time, but she wasn't going to dissect it – she was enjoying it too much.
He growled and grunted in her ear as he thrust in and out of her, sounding like a feral animal. She realized she was moaning loud enough that people on the street could hear her, if not for the driving rain and wind. When she came, her scream probably still echoed over the noise. Bruce came with her, groaning loudly before wrapping his cape around her again. He nuzzled against her neck and hugged her tightly.
"We need to get back out there," he finally said, sighing and pulling out of her.
Apparently, that was all to be said on the topic. He silently pulled their pants back up and picked up her communicator while she latched her armor. They returned to the car and she whispered another quick spell to dry them. He reached to turn the engine on, but she grabbed his hand.
"Hey, Batman? Don't tell my husband about this...he'll get jealous."
For the first time all evening, he cracked a smile behind his cowl.
"Let's go. The night is young."
Bruce
Batmobile
It was a slow night overall, but Zatanna had gotten in several more training sessions. She had done well...better than he could have hoped for. Never took so much as a punch or glancing blow. Her reflexes were honed and her strength was more than sufficient.
She let out a dramatic yawn on the way back to the cave. "I'm so tired I could sleep in the creepy elevator."
"Liar. Okay otherwise?"
She held her hands up and removed the gloves. "More or less." Her knuckles were reddened and bloodied in a few places. "Shit, that hurts. How do you do this all the time without padded gloves?"
"Callouses."
"Yeah, well if it's all the same to you...laeh."
He took her left hand and brought it up to his lips, brushing soft kisses along the healed skin. "Almost home."
She leaned back in the seat. "Good. I've missed my kiddo, but I'd like to get a couple of hours of sleep before he wakes up."
They arrived at the cave and hopped out of the car. Before they could make it to the shower, Kate walked over and stood in their way.
"Do you know what I do on monitoring nights?" She asked, an angry edge to her voice.
"Yes, you..."
"Scan communications, watch satellite feeds, monitor your vitals, run analyses and control the drones. The drones! You know what they do?"
"They..."
"Fly over the city. They give me real-time video of the streets, the alleys, the houses, even the rooftops. I watch the rooftops. Did you know that?"
Oops. "Kate..."
"So, it would be really super awesome if you could warn me before you go and fuck on one. Because I have no desire...none at all...to see my friends, my family, fucking on a roof!"
Zatanna glanced at him. "Oh, Kate, we..."
"Just a quick message would do. 'Hey, Batwoman...can you monitor the south end of town for a bit?' or 'Hey, Batwoman, we've got downtown, why don't you check on the airport?' or even 'Hey, Batwoman, we'd like to go fuck on a roof, so maybe you want to stay clear of the area?' No need for subtlety, really."
She crossed her arms and stared at them, out of breath from her rant. He was having a hard time keeping a straight face.
"We're uh...we're really sorry, Kate."
"Yeah, sorry Kate," Zatanna echoed. "It won't happen again."
"Or...we'll tell you before it does," he said, earning an elbow to the ribs.
"I don't even...I can't believe...ugh, I'm going home," Kate finally said, throwing her hands up and walking away.
When she was gone, he chuckled and grabbed Zee's hand, leading her to the shower.
"Are you ever going to give me a legitimate critique of how I did?" She asked.
"On the roof? Really good. Amazing, actually."
"The fighting, Bruce," she said, grinning and punching his chest.
He took his cowl off and tossed it onto the floor. "You talked a lot."
She stuck her hand out. "Zatanna Zatara, nice to meet you."
He grabbed the hand and kissed it. "Zatanna Wayne. Otherwise, nice technique. Careful of the area over your left shoulder – it tends to be a blind spot. Didn't hurt you tonight, but more skilled fighters in groups will try to take advantage."
"Okay, I can work on that."
Once she had shed her suit, they got in the shower and she let her head fall back into the stream. He pulled her body against his and kissed her again, slow and deep this time. Seeing her take the thugs down flawlessly had stirred something he didn't even know was inside of him: part Bruce, part Batman...a blending of his worlds that he never tried to explore. He kissed his way down her body until he was on his knees in front of her.
"I love you."
"I love you, too, but Bruce, I'm so tired my muscles might not..." Her voice faltered when he slipped his tongue down to taste her. She was right – her legs started to shake almost immediately. "How are you so damn good at that?"
He raised her right leg over his shoulder and lifted her, pulling her other leg around until she was perched on his shoulders and straddling him. She leaned her back against the wall, giving him full access. It seemed like an appropriate way to show his appreciation for the evening. Batman's kind of date night.
Moaning and writhing, she tangled her hands in his hair, showing her own appreciation of his reward. He spent as much time as he could, making her come twice before his back started to get tired. Once he helped her down and stood, he looked into her sleepy eyes and smiled.
"Fucking incredible."
She reached out her hand and stroked him. Kissing her again, he let himself come quickly to her touch. He needed the release, but he wanted her to know that every bit of this had been for her.
Let it never be said that Batman can't show gratitude.
"Bed? Please?" She said against his lips.
He nodded. "As you wish."
She was leaning heavily against him on the way upstairs and collapsed onto the bed as if her legs had failed her as soon as they entered the room.
"What time is it?" She mumbled into her pillow.
"6:15."
"Oh, please let him oversleep. Pretty, pretty please."
"I'll get him when he wakes," he said, getting into the bed next to her and pushing her shirt up.
"Oh. I can't, baby…"
He smiled and pulled the shirt the rest of the way off. "I just want to feel you," he whispered, laying his head on her upper back and hooking his arm under her shoulder, finding her hand so he could lace their fingers together. "Too heavy?"
"Mmm...nope. Night...morning...whatever."
Thomas most certainly did not sleep in. They were only in bed an hour before he woke, doing his usual routine of singing a nonsense song to the monitor until someone came and rescued him.
"Got him," Bruce mumbled, kissing across Zee's back. She wasn't even awake enough to respond. Thomas was sitting up and patting Fluffy's head when he walked in. "Hey, bud. Get some sleep?"
"Hi, Dada," he said, reaching his arms up to be carried. Bruce took him back to the room, where Zatanna had woken enough to put her shirt back on and roll over. "Hi, Mama."
"Hey, little man," she said with half-closed eyes. "Missed you. Come lay down."
Bruce handed him over and got back in bed. She cradled Thomas close and started to hum.
"You really think he's going to go back to sleep?"
"Let a girl dream. I'm so freaking tired." She resumed her humming.
He settled down next to them, putting an arm around her. "It gets easier, you'll see."
The humming stopped and her eyes popped open. "No."
"What?"
"No. I'm not doing that with you every night."
"I know that. I don't patrol every night."
She laughed. "I am not going to patrol every night you patrol. No. Absolutely one hundred thousand percent no."
He frowned. "We make a good team."
"Yes, but no."
"Once a week?"
"No."
"That's not much..."
"No."
He huffed and waited until she closed her eyes again. "Once a month?"
It took her so long to answer that he thought she had dozed back off.
"Maybe."
I knew it: she had fun. Smiling, he kissed her forehead.
"Good." It would be a start, anyway. Amazingly, Thomas did fall back asleep, so he held them until his alarm sounded, thinking of a good schedule for her patrol nights. They would need to be spaced apart and he would need to allow for her tours. Weeknights would be best at first, then on to weekends, which tended to be more active. He slipped out of bed and took another quick shower before dressing. When he came back out, they were awake and Thomas was sitting on Zee's stomach.
"One, two..."
"Fwee!"
"Four, five..."
"Sis!"
"Seven..."
"Ni...uh….ay!"
Zatanna laughed and tickled him, making him giggle along with her. Bruce felt a lump in his throat and tried to choke it back. A thought entered his mind...one that he'd never had before.
I'm so goddamn lucky.
"Nine..."
"Ten!" Thomas threw his arms up in the air before collapsing down and snuggling her. Zee finally looked up at him, her smile fading.
"Hey. What's the matter?"
He swallowed and blinked, realizing his eyes had started to tear up. "Nothing," he said, voice quiet. "Nothing at all." Kneeling down, he kissed Thomas's head before pressing his lips to hers. "I love you both."
Zatanna
Shadowcrest
Three days of meditation in a row. It wasn't a lot, but she felt like she could give things a trial run, so she sat down amid a circle of candles. Thomas was with Alfred. Bruce was at work. The cat was...she didn't really know where the cat was, but he wasn't there to distract her.
Focus, Zee. Make this work.
She let her breathing slow and closed her eyes. Reaching inward, she searched for the foreign energy that had been thrown into her by her counterpart. It was there, deep in her soul, waiting to be used.
"Tel em ees meht."
It didn't take long. The energy was strong and her mind quickly focused on an image. They were standing in a kitchen and talking. She couldn't hear them.
Focus.
Muffled sounds started to come through, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. Feeling the connection start to slip, she grunted and forced her mind outward.
"Help me get to you," she said, hoping they could hear. "I need help getting to you. Please. Help me..."
"Zatanna?" Kal's voice came through for the briefest of moments before she lost the connection.
Was he talking to me or to her?
She sighed and flopped onto her back.
"Well, that was a shitty effort."
It was a first try, but she was hoping for something more than a quick peek into someone's kitchen. They were together, probably discussing their strategy. It would have been a perfect moment to catch them in the same place, but she couldn't hold on.
Getting up, she went and grabbed a glass of water. Instead of focusing more on the other dimension, she thought about her patrol with Bruce. As much as she hated to admit it, she had enjoyed herself...and not just because of the roof and the shower. They helped, though.
He's trying to trick me into going out more by giving me amazing sex. Sneaky.
It wasn't going to be a regular occurrence, but something about the way he acted afterward made her want to pull that side of him out again...and not just for herself. He'd been in a different kind of mood ever since, smiling easier and trying out more bad jokes than usual. Maybe he'd needed a shakeup of the routine more than she realized.
She looked over at her candle circle and let her head fall back against the chair. Damn. I need to get my act together. Waving her hand, she snuffed the flames.
"What do you think, Shadowcrest? Do I need to call in some magical assistance?" The house creaked and got colder. "Not that kind...nice people. And don't act like it was all bad. You liked June. Don't try to deny it."
Who can you trust?
Her phone dinged and she read the text.
BBatson: "Got an idea. It blows, but it's an idea. I'll be at the meeting Monday."
ZZ: "Okay. Thanks, Billy."
An idea that blows was still better than what she had, so it was worth listening to. She shored up her wards and headed home, ready to think about something less intense. Thomas was always helpful for that. He was fully engrossed in a novel when she returned. Okay, not a novel, an art book of dinosaurs, but she wanted to believe he'd be a reader someday, too.
"Is like Dada's!" He said, pointing to the t-rex.
"Yes, it is. Your daddy has a t-rex. Which isn't even on the top 25 list of weirdest things about this family." The cat sat next to him, batting at the pages when he'd turn them. "You helped me connect with the other dimension last time...kind of. Care to make yourself useful again?"
"Mrrw."
"There's a Thomas there, too."
"Mrrrrrrw."
"So, just this one. You just like this Thomas and no one else."
"Meow."
Well, that's some real exclusivity.
"I guess he's lucky to have you. I guess. If there aren't any other options. He has elephants now, you know." The cat came over and sat on her lap to purr. "Thanks for being good to him," she said, stroking his back.
Relaxing, she watched Thomas play and let her mind drift. She was almost in a trance when she heard a voice – barely audible.
"Zatanna? We're trying...can you hear us?"