Disclaimer: If I owned this, do you seriously think I'd be trying to come up with new ways to eat Ramen? nuh uh. DC owns all it's characters.
Well, let's see... several people don't want Robin/Zatanna, and others are shocked at her coming. Well, I have to say this. She's not in here long, just to be used as a foil. And how she gets things to work is fun. This is I think the only time we get into her perspective. Dick really needs someone his own age to talk to for a bit, that's all. I'm a dick/babs fan but in YJ we don't know if he has a crush on her yet. Just remember Dick's personality when he responds to Zee okay? And in this world he kinda likes her. *hides from angry people*
Without Me
Ch. 13 – Play-date
Zatanna turned to the boy calling her name, curiosity trying to hide on her face. Her father asked her the previous night if she wanted to use her free Sunday to see the League's headquarters for a personal favor to the Flash. Of course she said yes, without listening for a moment to the request. When she learned what it was, she knew she agreed too quickly. Flash wanted her to hang out with some kid from an alternate universe. Her dad was supposed to help the kid find a way home if there was one, and she was supposed to baby-sit.
At least that's what she thought she'd be doing. No one told her the boy was around her age and really cute. And his voice… She just had to hear him sing later. Still, Robin was quite a girly name.
She took a moment to take in the sight in front of her before answering him. A Wonder Woman shirt underneath his jacket didn't add to his credibility, but those baby blues creeping out from behind those sunglasses did. Oh yeah, this one was a keeper. Did her dad have to send him back to his home dimension? Couldn't she just keep him with her in Vegas? She'd get him a more manly shirt and name there.
Zatanna gave him a warm smile at last. "Hi. Um… how do you know who I am?"
"Ahhh…." Robin's slack jaw was adorable. The blush on his face was also promising. Quickly the boy pushed his glasses back up his nose and nervously rushed forward to greet them. "Sorry, forgot for a moment. Hi. Name's Robin. The kid from a parallel world you've heard about. You two working on sending me home, right?"
Zatara looked down on Robin, a slight amount of disapproval on his face. Zatanna wanted to roll her eyes at her dad, but reminded herself she had to be on her best behavior if she wanted to ever come back here. This cave was just too cool! "Yes I am," her father stated. "I'm Zatara."
Robin politely took his hand, shaking it. "Robin. But you knew that. Batman call you over?" The kid did a quick look around unconsciously, deliberately trying not to look at Zatanna out of nervousness. She suppressed a giggle. Too cute.
"The Flash actually." Her father's eyes were becoming colder towards Robin, and the boy could tell. Nervously he took his hand back and tried to stand a little straighter while bowing his head a bit. "Now how do you know my daughter's name?"
"Ah, um, well…" Robin rubbed the back of his head, trying to calm himself while thinking. He glanced at Zatanna again, his face reddening a little and a smile coming out at the corners of his mouth. A reflex. A good one. Keeper!
After a breath, Robin explained. "In my world, you brought Zatanna over to our team. We've hung out a few times and she's gone on a mission with us too. Not a normal thing I assure you," the boy added as Zatara's eyes became dangerous. "Only when necessary or when Batman deemed them safe enough. Besides, she's a pretty good magician on her own. Saved our tails a few times."
"Really?" Zatanna's face broke into a broad grin. Her dad may be her best friend, but he did everything he could to protect her, mainly keeping her away from the superhero biz.
"Yeah," Robin continued, grinning at her. "And after a little training, you pack quite a punch. Artemis told me you were really good on a motorcycle too. And you never freaked out in a fight, kept your head together and the plans you came up with were—"
"I see." Zatara's tone ended the boy's rambling. Robin knew he had to tread carefully in front of her dad. It was too bad he stopped. Zatanna wanted to know more about her other self and how soon it'd take for her to go out into the field. "Well, then I believe we should hurry to send you home without delay."
In an instant, Robin's whole demeanor changed. He suddenly became serious and focused, nodding silently to her dad and ready to do whatever he was asked. It was painfully obvious in that instant he wanted to go home.
Zatanna sighed and stepped to the side to watch. Not like she could help much anyway. When she turned away, Robin jerked his gaze towards her. "Hey, aren't you gonna help?"
Both magicians blinked at his suggestion. As much as Zatanna wanted to, she wasn't quite to her dad's level yet. Zatara glared slightly. "My daughter isn't ready for this level of magic."
"But she is ready for a few of the preliminary spells though right?" Robin grinned. "Nothing like on the job training. I'll be a test dummy."
Everyone stared at Robin, shocked at his offer. Zatanna gaped in disbelief. "You honestly don't mind a rank amateur casting spells on you?"
"You'll do fine. I trust you."
The confidence in his voice all but convinced her to try her magic on him. He honestly believed in her! He knew she could do this. Instantly she looked at her dad, a begging smile on her face. Zatara instantly became unsure.
"Robin," Martian Manhunter interjected on their behalf. The boy looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "It is important there are no mistakes if you are to go home. It is best—"
"Sheesh J'onn! When are you going to learn you can trust us?" The boy turned on the Martian, not a single drop of fear on his face. Just an annoyed scowl. "Kids and teenagers are far more capable than you give us credit for. I've seen Zatanna in action back home, and she's still the least experienced out of the rest of us. She's great. Have a little faith in her will ya? And me while you're at it."
"Robin…" The tone in the Martian's voice told the girl they stepped in on an earlier argument, one Robin was still mad about. It must have involved not believing in him or something. But hearing this boy's faith in her and her abilities gave her confidence like nothing else.
"She'll do fine," Robin repeated, turning towards her father with a confident smile. "After all, her dad taught her everything she knows."
Zatanna looked between Robin and her father, knowing this would make or break the deal. Zatana raised an eyebrow at the boy, thinking. 'Please oh please oh please oh please,' she repeated over and over in her head.
Finally her father nodded. "It'll be good practice. Zatanna, the reveal spell if you would."
'YES! THANK YOU ROBIN!' she mentally screamed as she skipped back to their side. A little ways off, Manhunter gave an exasperated sigh, shaking his head. No wonder the boy had argued. Slowly she remembered the spell, and prayed she got it right. "Laever sih s'arua tasp!"
A flash of light and they could see the energy around Robin as clear as day. Strong and defiant, yet a gentle blue with a little sadness. It told them a lot about his personality. Stubborn and strong minded, this was a person not easily swayed. Emotional too, but more toward kindness and sympathy than rage. He didn't lose his temper often. And the size of it, well this boy had courage and confidence. Very nice indeed.
Her dad frowned slightly. "Not quite what I was looking for."
"Oops," Zatanna shrugged, not really feeling guilty.
Robin looked at his hand and the energy around it. "Is this bad? Looks nice to me."
"No it's not bad," Zatara stated. "Just not what we needed."
"Can I keep him?" She asked as a joke, which only made the boy blush a little. His aura had a few flares of pink in it now. Her dad gave her a quick glare. Instantly she stepped back. "Just kidding."
"Reverse it."
"Okay okay. Odnu tahw saw enod." The aura vanished in an instant. Thank heavens she could end all her spells easily.
"Cool." Robin gave her an encouraging grin. "Wanna try again?"
She grinned at him, then to her dad. He nodded. "Alright. Laever sih s'arua htap!"
In an instant, they could see the strong blue aura shoot off from Robin's back and back the way he came. They all looked beyond him to where it went, faster than anyone else could normally see. Zatara nodded. "Good job. If it continues at this pace—"
The blue light shot back towards them and to the kitchen area. "We should see his exact point of entry in five minutes."
"And you'll use that as a starting point?" Robin's attention was split between the light fleeing the kitchen then back down another hallway towards the bedrooms and Zatara. "Why not just ask? I know exactly where I was when I got shot here."
"Analyzing the exact point of entry and how you arrived here is key for finding you a direct path home." Zatara looked down on the two teenagers kindly. "I think this is all I'll need for a while. Zatanna's lessons haven't gotten to this point yet, so why don't the two of you go have some fun?"
Zatanna and Robin exchanged glances and smiled. They shrugged almost in unison before heading off. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. Want a sandwich first before I show you around the cave?"
Zatanna grinned. "Sounds great. Breakfast kinda sucked this morning."
Robin looked over to her in curiosity as he led her to the kitchen. "Breakfast? It's practically lunch time. Where are you from?"
"Vegas. What, didn't know?" She grinned impishly at his bewilderment. This kid was just too cute.
"Geehh… not really. Batman kind of triple encrypted his files after the last time I hacked them. Only met Zatara two times before meeting you back home, and there wasn't really any time to get the 411 from you on our expeditions." Robin actually looked sheepish having to explain himself. "We kind of kidnapped you for the first one anyway. Your dad almost wouldn't let you out of the house again."
Zatanna laughed. "Sounds like Dad alright. But I bet your dad's the same way. You really Batman's kid?"
He gave a small huff before a smirk. "Yes and no? I'm adopted. My Batman took me in as his ward when I was eight, but we finalized the papers a few weeks ago. Kind of like a Christmas present to Alfie, and us. We… er… it was just hard for either of us to officially become family.
"Though if you look at our history we practically are. Have been for a long time in a way." Robin looked away, blushing a bit while thinking about it. Zatanna thought it was cute how he got embarrassed so easily. "Not calling him dad though. That's just too weird."
"So did he call you Robin?" She had to know what was up with the girly name.
Robin blinked at her, then laughed, a little affection in his voice. "Nah, that's my mom's name for me. Dad made sure it wasn't my real name, but I like it all the same."
In the kitchen, Robin found the bread on the counter and started rifling through the fridge for sandwich pieces. Zatanna leaned against the countertop to talk more. "So what's your real name?"
"Huh?" He looked over his shoulder to her, confusion on his face.
"I mean, you know my name but I don't know yours." She gave him a knowing smirk. "Kinda puts me at a disadvantage." Robin hesitated to answer her, so she pushed. "Is it something really girly? Like Ashley or something?"
"Did anyone tell you my full situation?" The fact he didn't answer her question wasn't going to be ignored, but she hoped his would lead to somewhere.
Rolling her eyes she answered. "You're from an alternate reality where Batman raised you into a child superhero. No powers but was raised in a circus. That's about all I got."
"Here I'm dead."
The girl gaped at him. What? Robin continued, taking the last of the sandwich supplies out of the fridge and onto the counter so they could use them as they liked. "The big difference I see dividing my world from yours is when my parents died. Here I died with them. Robin was never born and I died a circus brat. And if you think that wasn't enough to change the world, you're wrong. Robin is apparently quite significant to the next generation of heroes.
"Not you of course," Robin insisted, trying to make things better. "I have absolutely no influence over whether you become a hero or not. I think you're the only one of us who's a direct blood relative to anyone in the League back home. I'm adopted, Roy's adopted, Wally's Flash's nephew by marriage, M'gann's J'onn's niece (don't know how), Kaldur's just an Atlantian citizen, and Artemis is faking being GA's niece. Kind of weird how that turned out isn't it?"
"Yeah, real weird." That was a lot of weird relations. Lucky her, being a literal child of a League member, though not one of the founders. Yet if her dad had any say in the matter, she'd never be allowed to go out and fight crime.
"So you'll probably be a hero whether I'm here or not." The boy grinned as he started putting together his sandwich.
Zatanna grabbed a few slices before continuing her train of thought. "But what's your real name?"
Robin looked away a little before answering her. She wasn't going to let him steer her away. "Look, I'm dead here. So it doesn't matter."
"If it doesn't matter, why won't you tell me?" Zatanna persisted, a grin on her face.
"I don't want you looking for my grave when I'm gone," he insisted, a slight amount of desperation in his voice. "You should only remember a living me, not a dead me."
"Then just give me a first name!" The girl waved her pieces of bread around as she spoke, not letting him back out of her question. "Robin's a girl's name. And you are not a girl. I really need to call you something manly."
Robin hesitated, obviously caught between something else and her logic. He closed his sandwich and mumbled, "Dick."
Instantly she felt offended. "What?"
"It's my name," he insisted quickly, trying to fix the hurt she felt. "Actually a nickname. But Richard just sounds too formal for me. I'm a circus kid. So I always went by Dick. Seriously. I wasn't calling you a—"
Zatanna laughed. This guy was too cute. He flushed bright red as she laughed. "It's not that funny!"
"Yes it is!" She grinned at him, poking him between the eyes just above his glasses. "You're funny. A girly name while fighting and an insulting one when you're not. That's hysterical."
Robin looked away, very embarrassed. "Oh shut up. I like my names."
"Not saying they're bad," she retracted between giggles, "just pretty funny. Why pick them? Why not Richie?"
Instantly she received a death glare over his sunglasses. "I've met 'Richie's'. They're real jerks. Besides, my dad called me Dick. I like it."
His tone told her that was the end of it, no compromise. "Fair enough. My friends back home call me Zee. Wanna try it?"
Her offer quelled the fury he had from being called 'Richie' and won her a smile. "Zee. What, was Zatanna not cool enough for you?"
She laughed at his joke. Easy to forgive. Keeper! She finally started making her sandwich. "It's just a little long. Zatanna Zatara's a bit of a mouthful."
"A nice mouthful." She laughed at his attempt at flirting. He was just too cute. She just might learn to like this play-date.
A/N: Hmmmm... think there wasn't enough magic bits in here? I felt like there wasn't enough. )=/
Well up to this point, only Batman's called him Dick so I thought it'd be a good idea for Zee to call him that, and bring up a fairly good/funny point about his names. yeah Zee keeps calling him a keeper, and he is, but I think she's more toying with the idea than going for it. Dick's just too cute.
As for Vegas being her home town, I'm making that up. When I looked, I wasn't quite sure where she was from so i just put her in Vegas. Oh, all her spells are just going to be normal semi-impressive sentences backwards unless I can find one in her arsenal.