Zatanna walked into the precinct and pretended not to notice the eyes that trailed behind her.
"Ms. Grayson," the receptionist smiled.
"Elaine," Zatanna beamed, "How are you? How are the boys; Michael and Jeffrey?"
The receptionist walked around the desk and embraced her, "The boys are great! Michael's turning eight next week, I'd love if the twins could come to the party."
"I have a show in Gotham next weekend, I promised Wyette and John they could tag along and visit some family we have out there but I know John's just dying to see Michael's new chemistry kit, he won't stop talking about it." Zatanna said swiftly switching the conversation even though she knew damn well John hated playing with (as he put it) Michael's prehistoric chem kit.
She groaned mentally, John's hobbies were always changing and always growing. One minute he loved science, the next he was peaking over Dick's shoulder to learn to hack, and with their upcoming trip to Gotham she just knew John would be itching to learn something new from Damian.
Zatanna had mixed feelings about Damian, she loved that he let the twins follow him around all day; though he called it coerced and ineffectual babysitting. Usually Wyette would wander off and find Alfred or Tim, if he was around, to entertain her but never John. He and Damian would spend the entire day together 'training' according to John.
At first, this didn't bother her; the twins knew who their parents were and what they used to do. They knew everyone's secret identity, well at least the Bat family and the original team, and in addition to that they trained at home regularly with their powers and martial arts.
What bothered her was that she didn't know what Damian was teaching him, because John was sworn to secrecy and it was apparently a vow he took very seriously; even at the ripe old age of seven. One could imagine why this could be considered alarming because Damian was trained by Ra's Al Ghul and the League of Assassins; most of the skills in his repertoire were crippling if not fatal.
Zatanna had proposed a quick fix to the solution; she wanted to telekinetically probe John's mind while he slept but Dick was adamantly against it.
'It violated his privacy', he argued.
'How much privacy does a seven-year-old need?' she countered.
Needless to say, it soon turned into one of those subjects they intentionally never brought up. She rolled her eyes at the thought and focused on what the short receptionist was going on about.
"Well maybe we could set up a play date." Elaine offered as she walked briskly to keep pace with Zatanna's long legs.
FLASHBACK.
"I'm not going mom." John said sitting across the table from Dick, playing a game of chess.
"And why not?" Zatanna asked.
"Because I hate playdates, I'm not a baby. I want to pick my own friends and hang out with them when I want to."
"Yeah mom, playdates are for babies." Wyette chimed in as she hopped on the stool and looked over her brother's shoulder.
"Okay well when you get a license and a say on what your daily calendar looks like, I'll take that into consideration," she said, "but since you have neither of those things, you're going whether you want to or not."
"You're just using me." John mumbled never taking his eyes away from the board.
Dick smiled broadly as he and Wyette turned to look at her in amusement.
Zatanna flushed and looked at her wrist watch impatiently. "You used my body for nine months and I didn't complain." she said. Dick cleared his throat and chuckled. "Often." she tacked on in a mumble.
"Dad, is she allowed to use that?" John asked genuinely.
Dick looked at Zatanna and the twins who sat across from him, Zatanna looked at him exasperatedly.
"Yea buddy, yea she is, which mean you gotta go and we have to finish this game later."
John frowned and Wyette beamed as she scooted over to his stool. "I'll finish it for you."
"This isn't fair." John wailed. "Why can't Wyette go? Dad can't you tell her not to take me?"
Dick's eyes flashed to Zatanna's face and away quickly as she narrowed her icy blue eyes at him. "Nope." he said. "She's the law in this house buddy and we follow the law."
John's face fell into a deep pout that had originally belonged to his mother. He was so cute it was annoying sometimes she thought to herself as she briefly thought about caving.
"I promise honey, after today I won't set you up on another play date." Zatanna said conjuring up his coat.
END FLASHBACK.
"Yeah, I'm sure John would love that. Just set it up with Dick anytime, you know you see him more than I do anyway." she joked.
Elaine laughed, "He is a hard worker." she said as they reached the office and she unlocked his door.
Zatanna strutted into the room, and sat on the edge of his desk. "I couldn't agree more."
"Should I tell him you're waiting in his office?" she asked.
"Don't bother, he'll know soon enough." she said nodding toward the door as Danny and Dick walked in.
"It'll be a surprise then." Elaine mused.
Zatanna grabbed Elaine's arm softly, "Elaine, what do you know about that new junior detective that's been assigned to Dick?" she asked.
Elaine put her nose in the air, "Well I know he's here from Louisiana, he said it's because he's looking for a change of pace but I think it's because of personal reasons. Lauren; the chief's wife, told me that he placed him with Dick on purpose though, wants him to be under a good influence. Probably because of his bedside manner or lack thereof, he says whatever he wants when he wants. It's a little unnerving." Elaine rambled on.
"You don't say," Zatanna mumbled, remembering how clumsy he'd been when he dropped off Dick's package. "Thanks Elaine, I'll catch up with you later. Don't forget to set up that play date with Dick, when you get the chance."
Danny saw her first and stood rigidly, "Mrs. Grayson," he said as he stopped walking altogether.
Dick looked up from the folder in his hand and smiled sheepishly. She nodded towards him but looked at Dick and cocked a brow in response.
"Ramirez, why don't you go grab a coffee?" Dick suggested.
"Yes boss, it was nice seeing you again Ms. Grayson." he said before slinking away.
"Am I in trouble?" he asked semi-seriously as he started closing the door to his office behind him.
She smiled, "Not nearly in as much trouble than you're already in. That package has dark magic written all over it. Dick, do you know what you're getting yourself into?" she asked seriously.
"No I don't, so I thought I would have a magic connoisseur check it out for me." he said walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her waist.
"That box is packing some serious heat. It's old school stuff, it could take me a while to hack and even then, it might not play nice." she warned him.
"Well those personal effects used to belong to my new junior detective's former superior. He disappeared under very suspicious circumstances, some would say supernatural even."
"Huh, is that right?" Zatanna replied absentmindedly as he brought his lips to the crux of her neck and her fingers started to entwine themselves with the hair at the nape of his neck.
"I just need you to see if you can locate him, his department has already exceeded the budget allowed to search for him and it's literally like he vanished Zee, but if he's alive you're the last chance we have of finding him."
"Okay, I'll try." She agreed absentmindedly.
"That's all I ask." he said, the sounds muffled into her neck.
Zatanna laughed and placed her hand on his chest, putting space between them. "You're not off the hook yet Detective, so I'd appreciate it if you stopped trying to seduce me."
A smile exploded onto his face, "I can't, I miss you," he said as he held on to one of her hands now.
"Then maybe you'll come home sometime soon." she countered, holding his gaze.
Dick frowned, "You know I want to be there Zee."
"I know, but wanting to be there and being there are two separate things Dick." She reminded him.
He sighed and brought a hand to his forehead. "All these cases; there's too much to do here."
"Well there are things to do at home too," she hinted as she kissed him on the lips suggestively, smirking as his hands rand down her spine and lingered at the lip of her skirt. She backed out of his embrace and watched as his face fell slightly.
"I'm not opposed to doing things here either." He muttered semi-seriously, as he mischievously eyed the desk besides them.
Zatanna smiled radiantly, "Not even in your wildest dreams Detective. Besides I'm sure John and Wyette, you know our children, would love to see you for more than just the 20-minute car ride to school in the mornings."
"So let me get this right, you're offering sex as an incentive and using our kids as a guilt trip to come home?" He asked.
She smiled mischievously, "Is it working?"
"Maybe." Dick smirked before his eyes darted back to the pile on his desk.
"There are other people on the force Dick. Use them." she ordered as the alarm on her watch went off. She pulled away from him and sighed. "I've got to go." she said.
"Okay." he said gently squeezing her hand. "You win, I'll try."
She gave him a resigned look and sighed, "You make loving you so hard sometimes." she said as she kissed him on the lips and smiled as he tightened his grip around her waist and prolonged the kiss. Her fingers knotted themselves in his hair as their breathing picked up. As he tilted her head back gently to deepen the kiss a quiet moan met his lips and made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. She put a restraining hand on his hand as she broke the kiss.
"Don't make me come down here to beg Dick." she said breathlessly, before giving him a mischievous smile. "Dinner. Tonight. Be there."
He smirked, "Okay I'll be there, but just so you know, I like it when you beg."
She smiled wistfully as she pulled the door open to leave, "I know detective." she said before strolling out of the office.
He watched as she walked out of the precinct and turned back to sneak a glance at him. He waved and she smiled in response before waving, winking, and disappearing around the corner.
Danny came back with an extra cup of coffee in hand, "You've got a little," he cleared his throat awkwardly, "lipstick on ya."
Dick brought his thumb to his lips, and chuckled at the dark rouge left there. "She's making a case." He clarified.
"I imagine she's pretty good." Danny said handing Dick the coffee.
Dick smirked and took a long sip of his coffee. "Yeah but I'm better."
"Huh, so what's it say that you've got another stain on your neck and collar?" Danny asked.
Dick touched his neck and rubbed the rouge between his fingers and smirked. "It says she's serious. So we'd better get to work."