Nightwing couldn't help but pace impatiently while waiting on Gotham PD to arrive at the scene. Zatanna had been in pain all day and Alfred had taken her to hospital. Dick wanted to go but the bat-signal was spotted over Gotham, and Bruce was out of town.
"Calm down Nightwing," Robin was standing over the tied up crooks. "Everything will be fine!" Dick knew he was right, it was normal for labour to come a few weeks early when there were multiple babies involved. The last few months had been crazy. Bruce insisted they move into Wayne Manor full time and had arranged a room to be redecorated for the twins. Zatanna had grown weaker and weaker throughout the pregnancy, and her bump had gotten so large she sometimes needed help standing up or moving around. Alfred had been more than happy to help her with whatever she needed and insisted she did nothing but relax. Everyone had been over the moon when a scan revealed the twins were boys.
Dick couldn't help but worry, especially noticing that the scars from the bite marks never fully healed and that Zatanna was getting increasingly weaker. She was pale and drawn most of the time, barely able to eat enough to keep her and the babies healthy, and now she was having minor contractions all the time.
"They're here, fill them in on what happened, I'm going to make a quick call," Dick leapt up the building and pulled out a phone when he reached the rooftop. He dialled Bruce's cell.
"I'm on my way back. Alfred called. I'll be at the hospital in two hours." Dick hadn't even managed to say anything before the call ended. He dialled Alfred next. "Alfred, what's happening?"
"Master Richard, I do believe this time it is no false alarm. I would have called but I believe you were working, correct?" Panic started filling his mind. Zatanna was actually in labour this time! He was going to be a father.
"ROBIN WE'VE GOTTA MOVE NOW!" He yelled down into the alley.
Zatanna screamed. All she wanted to do was punch the nurse who kept telling her it would be okay, just to breathe. She had gone into labour at week 35, early for a regular pregnancy, but rather normal with twins. She had had limbs broken, been electrocuted, been tortured, fought through all sorts of magical attacks, but none of them compared to labour pains.
"We can see his head, just one more big push, come on now!"
"ZEE!" Dick burst through the door as Zatanna screamed out again, trying to push, and found himself running across the room, grabbing her hand, and instantly regretting it due to her death grip. She was pale with large dark circles under her eyes, beads of sweat were running down her face. The last few weeks had been a struggle with the pregnancy. She had been very weak and found it difficult to move around.
She screamed out again and felt a mild relief. The nurses bundled something away, a doctor joining them. Zatanna could see people's mouths moving, but all she could hear was a mild ringing in her ears. She was all too aware that there was no baby crying. Dick, while holding her hand tightly, was staring dismayed at the nurses and doctor to the side. She didn't have time to question anything as the other baby started coming. Again she screamed and pushed, tears streaming down her face. She still couldn't hear cries from the first baby.
"Why is he not crying?!" She managed to scream out as the doctor said she was nearly done. Relief washed over her body and she collapsed against the bed. The second baby was delivered and rushed away, the room was still silent except for the doctors.
"No... no... Dick what's wrong, what's happening to our boys?" Zatanna was practically screaming, trying to pull herself into a sitting position. Dick put his hand on her shoulder, holding her down against the bed. She could see the emotion building on Dick's face and saw a doctor shake his head.
"No... this can't..." She clenched her fists fighting back tears. She didn't care how weak she was, she wasn't going to let her babies die. She stopped fighting against Dick and took his hand in hers. "I love you…" She closed her eyes and focused.
"nepo ruoy sgnul dna htaerb seibab!" Dick's eyes shot down to her in shock as two little coughs sounded from across the room, followed by sharp wailing cries. She opened her eyes and smiled weakly. Dick was tearing his eyes between staring at the babies and Zatanna.
"Two healthy baby boys," Two nurses with small bundles in their arms walked towards Zatanna and Dick, their smiles dropping from their faces as Zatanna's heart monitor started beeping rapidly. They turned as the doctor's rushed over, moving Dick away from Zatanna. Someone hit a cardiac arrest emergency button, a nurse told him they were taking the babies to be cleaned up, and everything seemed to slow down. Zatanna's smile was still on her face when her heart-monitor flat lined. Nurses rushed into the room with a crash cart and Bruce and Tim's faces appeared at the door. Dick was being gently ushered towards the door, Bruce walking towards him to help the nurse. He couldn't take his eyes from his wife lying motionless in the bed.
"Clear!" The heart-monitor still flat lined.
"Dick, you don't want to see this, come on," Bruce was pulling him back by the arm.
"Clear!" Still flat lining.
Everything suddenly turned a shade of grey. The doctors and nurses froze, even Bruce froze. A deathly silence filled the room.
"She's going to die," Klarion was sitting on the window sill, his head in his hands. "and it's your fault." Dick launched himself across the room in blind rage.
"You! This is your fault! All the stuff you put her through, all the stress and pain she endured because of you!" He lashed out to punch Klarion but his body froze. Klarion's head shot up, his red demonic eyes glaring into Dick's blue ones.
"This is your fault Dickie-Bird! You're the one that created those magic draining brats inside of her, not me!" He barely moved, narrowing his eyes slightly, but Dick felt himself fly across the room. "But I can save her."
Dick could only stare at the witch boy in shock. He didn't know what he was talking about, but he knew, deep down, that Klarion was right. Dick was the one who got Zatanna pregnant, and the pregnancy is what put her where she was. "If you can save her, do it already!"
"Tsk, it isn't that simple," Klarion jumped off the window sill, walking carefully around one of the doctors who was frozen in time. "I can recant her last spell, give her back the last of her energy she surrendered to save your offspring."
"Recanting the spell… would kill the twins," Dick stared at his wife as Klarion hummed.
"That is the case, not so uneducated in the mystic arts I see," Klarion was staring at Zatanna. "And I do believe she would never forgive you for making that choice…" Dick gritted his teeth as Klarion ran a finger delicately down Zatanna's cheek. He knew the witch boy was capable of saving her and then also saving his children, but Dick knew Klarion would never do both. And he was right, Zatanna would never forgive him if he picked her over the twins.
"Why… Why are you doing this? What do you gain from torturing my family so much?" Dick was struggling to fight back the tears. He was afraid to even go stand by his wife fearing the choice he would make.
"There is another way. A way they can all live," A sly smirk spread across Klarion's face. He was still standing by Zatanna. "I can revive her, with a portion of my magic, chaos magic. She is already slightly infected, but she will have to come with me," he smirked, eyeing the scars on her neck. "Or I can recant her spell and infect the children with chaos and take them, but I do believe you will have a very angry wife if that were to happen." Klarion couldn't hide his smirk. He was going to get his way, mainly because he knew Dick wouldn't understand fully what he was saying. He loved tricking people.
"Do it. Just save her," Dick was startled when he was suddenly back across the room, Bruce's arm still pulling him. A nurse shrieked when she saw Klarion on the window sill, Teekl in his lap. Bruce let go of Dick's arm, positioning himself, ready for attack, but Dick stopped him.
"Now now everyone, calm down while I do your job," With a simple flick of his hand, the doctors and nurses were pushed away from Zatanna. Klarion floated over to her, grinning maniacally. "Let's get you back to my world," He ran a finger down her cheek then placed his hand over her heart. Black strands of energy slowly moved from his fingers down through her chest.
"Dick we have to stop him," Bruce pushed against Dick, but was met with resistance.
"It's the only way she will live... you know as much as I do," Dick couldn't look Bruce in the eye, but managed to push him out the door just before a bone-chilling scream sounded from behind him. Zatanna was levitating about a foot in the air, strands of magic still flowing into her body from Klarion. Her fists were clenching and unclenching and her eyes were open. She fell into Klarion's arms, her scream stopping abruptly. Dick could see her chest rising and falling slowly. She was breathing. She was alive.
"Zatanna?" He called out, ready to run over, but Klarion smirked and shook his head.
"She's mine now Dickie-Bird," He laughed as a portal opened behind him, engulfing him, Zatanna and Teekl before disappearing in a flash of red light.
"What have you done Dick?" Bruce pulled Dick outside as Tim helped the nurses and doctors. He pushed Dick up against a wall, ignoring the clear misery on his face. "We could have saved her! We could have called in Doctor Fate!" Realisation dawned on Dick's face. He had made a serious mistake.
"He... was going to take the kids…" his mumbles were barely audible, "The kids…where are they?"
Mild relief washed over Dick as a nurse pointed to two small babies all bundled in blue blankets cocooned in a bassinet before wheeling them towards the door of the nursery. Bruce was talking to a nurse, arranging their discharge today, not wanting to risk leaving them in the hospital too long.
"Did you and your wife have time to think of names?" The nurse asked cautiously, knowing Zatanna was not around. Dick nodded and looked down at the babies. Tim bounced over beside him and smiled at Dick as the nurse passed one baby to him.
"This here is the eldest," She passed the other baby to Tim, "and the youngest brother"
Dick looked down at the small bundle in his arms and couldn't help but feel a little choked up at the big blue eyes staring back at him.
"Hello Thomas Grayson," He said softly, smiling as Thomas yawned. Tim smiled, rocking the baby in his arms lightly, "Be gentle with Zeth."
"Hey Zeth, I'm your uncle Tim," Tim laughed lightly as Zeth reached up with his tiny hand. The nurses showed Tim and Dick the special bottles that the babies would need to drink from for the first few weeks, and showed them how to feed them. The brothers were sitting side by side feeding the babies when Bruce and Alfred approached. Despite the difficulties of the day and the sad loss of Zatanna, Bruce found himself smiling.
"So, I finally get to meet my grandchildren?" He sat beside Dick who smiled. Zatanna and Dick had kept their name choices top secret.
"Tim has Zeth Grayson, the younger of the twins," He handed Thomas over to Bruce, "And that is Thomas Grayson." Dick could swear that in the entire time he had known Bruce Wayne, he had never shown that much genuine visible emotion until now.