Disclaimer: You know the drill. If you try to steal my story, I will kill you. If you try to steal Diana Rosa Crane, I will kill you. I do not own Young Justice or any of the scenes in the TV show.

Oh, and I feel like I should bring this up. Guys, we've almost made it to 15,000 views! Gosh, when I told my parents how many people read my story, they were in shock. I feel so proud, and so happy! It's only been 5 months since I started writing this, and published it here, but this is great! I love the support you guys are showing, and I love you all! You've been so supportive since day one, and so engaged in this story. That's all I could ever ask for.

In conclusion, if you steal from me I will kill you, and I love you all! :)

Mount Justice

November 8, 12: 19 EDT

"Okay, I get it. But why are you so concerned?"

Dick, and I were sprawled on top of my bed at the Cave. He was dotting my stomach with his index and thumb, seemingly playing a tune as if he was doing it with a piano. I was trying hard to not pay attention to the tingling he left on the skin he touched, but my efforts were strenuous. I soon decided that it was better to just relax into his touch.

Even though Dick was caressing me in a way that seemed loving, yet aloof, I was getting a bit upset with him. He decided to attempt at talking me into going out of my room to comfort Zatanna. Although I did not have anything against doing just that, after all, she's going through so much pain, I didn't see the reason as to why I had to do it. Artemis, M'Gann, Kaldur, Dick, even Conner had gone all out to say sweet things to her. Zatanna didn't need my help.

"Zee's my friend, and she's hurt." Dick sighed, playing a new song on my stomach. "You know how it feels to lose your parents."

I looked down at him, "Babe, I do know. But I'm also aware of how agonizingly uncomfortable we are with each other!"

"But wouldn't you want for everyone to try and comfort you? The more the merrier, right?"

"Just, shut up."

Dick went silent after that, but only for a little while. In those few minutes of complete tranquility, he decided to move up to my hair. He was twirling a strand on my hair on his finger. It was funny; Dick seemed amazed at how long my hair was, and how much of it could wrap around his pinky. He looked like a complete idiot, but it was cute.

Sometimes I wondered if we were moving too fast. Dick and I had this really intimate relationship, and maybe I was overlooking this, but it was rushed. I knew our relationship was rushed. We were confused, angry, sad, and afraid when we first kissed, which didn't really help the situation. We were both pretty impulsive, as well, so it was no wonder why we were laying down on my bed so comfortably against each other.

It was scary, though. I got the feeling we were going too fast, and that it would all just crash in the end. Like, a big shiny racecar going so fast it can't do the turn, so it crashes and burns up. Pretty much like a racecar, but more faster, and the crash will burn up brighter than a billion stars. In conclusion, if Dick and I kept being so incredibly quick with our pacing, we would just end up getting hurt. I did not want us both ending our relationship. It was so precious.

"D?" Dick gazed down at me, his blue eyes soft. "What you thinking about?"

I snorted, "How my boyfriend is a jerk that wants me to do things out of my comfort zone."

He glared, "Just, shut up."

Dick then leaned down to forcefully lick my nose, and I crinkled it with a small squeak. Oh god, that was so embarrassing. Dick didn't seem to mind though, as he only grinned at me as if I was one of those sweet children he saved from the Joker, or Bane. It was a cute look, and goodness, it almost made me believe that we weren't going too fast, and that it was all going to turn out well in the end. Almost.

The thing was, we were both only thirteen. I was going to be fourteen in a few days, and Dick in a little less than a month. We were old enough to take car of ourselves, strong enough to fight our own battles, and smart enough to go out into the crime-fighting world. But we weren't that wise when it came to matters of love, and I knew it better than Dick did.

So, maybe it was that I was getting increasingly anxious thoughts in my head, or maybe it was because in the inside, I was really a superhero, I don't know. I just got up from Dick's side, and started marching to my door. I heard a little shuffling from behind, and then almost deathly silent footsteps coming toward me. Suddenly, a twin set of slightly pale arms enveloped me from behind.

"Where are you going?" Dick asked.

"Where do you think?" I rolled my eyes, and tried wiggling my way out of his hold. My cheeks were burning, "I'm going to talk to Zatanna."

My boyfriend's eyes widened, "What? But I thought—"

"Yeah, well, I'm going to do it now."

"Why the sudden change of—"

"Don't ask questions if you don't want me to just not talk to her at all."

Dick stopped murmuring any words after that little comment, and I felt his hair brush my head as he nodded. He still wouldn't let me go. I twisted my body, wriggling, until I was face-to-face with Dick. There was a quiet intensity in his eyes, and if I stared a little further, it was the same one that adorned mine whenever I looked to him. It scared me.

I stood slightly on my toes, and leaned in to peck Dick's nose. He seemed to relax at that, and let his hold on my back go loose. It allowed me to pry his hands from around me, and go back to my original route of finding Zatanna's new bedroom. Even though I knew it was my own offering to comfort her, I was unsure of my ability to do positive progress with her. Zatanna was broken, so, so broken. I didn't know if my words could even start helping her.

"Good luck." Dick smiled.

"Yeah," I sighed, "She's going to need it from now on."

So, I made my way through the darkened hallways of the Cave. It was around noon, but even then, there were no windows so no sunlight came into the carved building. It was eerily quiet, but it had been this way since the last mission. There was nothing new about the silence, and yet, it made my skin crawl with expected dread.

I felt my nerves feasting on my insecurities. I wasn't good at giving advice, and it had been obvious on so many occasions. I might be able to calm Zatanna down for a few days, but nothing more than that could be delivered. How was I supposed to comfort someone that had just lost her only family? The only people she loved in the whole world?

And, then, it struck me. Zatanna had lost the one person she loved with all her might, and the one person she would give her life for. When I was little, I had lost the one person I adored with all my heart, and the one person who I would have not stopped to think about giving up my life for. We weren't in very different situations, even if my father was living, and her mother was dead.

I knocked on the third door opposite to mine, and the sound echoed around the stillness of the hallway. I could feel my heart thundering in my ears, and the silence rung all around me. My palms were getting clammy and sweaty, which made me much more uncomfortable. Then, a choked voice came from the other end of the steel door.

"Yeah," A sniff, "Come in."

So I did. And I could say this, the room looked like a mess. There were a bunch of crumpled tissues in a nearby trash bin, more than I could count. The smooth bed sheets were strewn half on the floor and half on the unmade bed. The pillow was in its normal place, but even it seemed to have received a pounding by Zatanna's fists or her head.

Zatanna didn't look much better than her room. She still wasn't a sour sight, but some of her undeniable beauty had been dimmed by the turmoil inside. Her eyes were as red as they were puffy, and I could tell she was trying hard not to seem like she had been crying as much as she needed to. Zatanna's hair was still in their perfect waves, but they'd lost their usual shine to it. Her pale complexion was deathly white, and it was scary, her resemblance to a ghost.

I made my way slowly across the room, taking only baby steps as if not to frighten Zatanna. I felt like I was the hunter, trying to calm down the prey before I pounced on it. I knew I was intruding, and it was so terrifying because it was something I was used to doing, but not with my friends. Not like this.

"Hey," I tried sounding supportive, "A little dark in here, huh?"

Zatanna was giving me an odd look; as if she wasn't quite sure as to why in the name of the lord I was there in the same room as her. Maybe, if it had been me in her situation, I would have done the same. Even if I didn't feel great standing next to her, like I should run or hide, I needed to help her get through this. Zatanna had gone through something that I, somehow, felt like I could relate to.

"Yeah," She shrugged, "A little, I guess."

I nodded, "You settling in okay?"

There came another pause. I could hear Zatanna's shaky intake of breath every few seconds. The room was definitely dark, almost as much as the hallways outside. There was a central light on the ceiling, but it was off, and her two bedside lamps were almost dimmed to nothing. I took in some air, and let it out with a steady sigh. Zatanna was obviously not settling in okay.

"I'm settling in okay."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Every little response was forced. Zatanna obviously had some trouble choking in the sobs that were sure to be building up in her throat. Oh, god, how I felt sorry for her. She was so little, naïve, and that was because, no matter how great of a magician she was, Zatanna did not know the first thing about being an actual fighter. She surely didn't know the first thing about coping with a loved one's death, or loss. It just wasn't in her, yet.

"Zatanna," I fell for words for a moment, and the noise was defying. "Hey, you can let it go. It's all right in front of me. I won't judge."

But she didn't. She was much too proud, and much too strong to leave the little dignity that she had left after that screaming show she had when Zatara put on the helmet of Doctor Fate. So, Zatanna didn't cry. She just nodded, and did not meet my gaze. Well, I didn't expect her to.

I pointed to the floor, "Can I sit here?"

Zatanna nodded her head again, just once. So I sat down next to her knees, careful not to touch her so as to not disturb. It was bizarre, just both of us in a room alone, sitting in the tense silence. Normally, when I was alone with someone else in a room, it was with Dick, and we never had an uncomfortable moment. I was anxiously waiting for when this would be over. But I had to try to do at least something now that I was here with her.

"You and I are not so different, you know?" I shrugged nonchalantly, "We both lost the one family member we cared about the most."

This seemed to get Zatanna's attention. Her sullen eyes turned to me, the purple bags under her eyes highlighting the pale skin even more. Zatanna glanced down at me, looking as if the weight of the world was bearing down on her shoulders. And in a way, it was. Her father wasn't there to take care of her anymore. There was no one to shield her from the unbearable responsibilities of taking care of yourself.

"When I was six, my mother passed away. She had been diagnosed with cancer, and we were too poor to get her the money for the treatment." I clenched my eyes shut, "I watched her die, in her bed, and I was alone. My father wasn't there that night, but he never was. It wasn't that big of a surprise to me."

Zatanna didn't say anything, but then again, she didn't have to. Her eyes told me everything.

"I'm sure you know this, my dad is the Time Manipulator. He's the bad guy, the one who everyone hates. He wasn't there when my mom died, the only important person to me." I sucked in a tight breath, "So, in a sense, he truly is the bad guy in all of this. But that's not the point."

Slowly, almost gently, my defenses were failing. I hadn't told the story of that night, and what I thought of my father in so long. It was like a scar, it was like me reversing time to when the scar was just being received in my body. The thing about time manipulators, is when we tell the story of a memory, it comes to live always as well as we remember it. And it hurt. It hurt so much.

"Then, what is?" Zatanna stared down at me. She was curious. At least, I was helping.

"I lost my mom," My voice trembled," And she was the only parent I had that truly took care of me. You lost your dad, and he was the only parent that took care of you. Your mom is dead, and my father…"

I laughed bitterly, and my eyes started stinging. "My father is one of the bad guys. So, our moms are dead, and our dads are alive. But both of our dads can't take care of us. They're too far gone."

After that, there was a deafening silence. I could feel Zatanna staring at my back as intently as I was glaring at the floor. We were both refusing to say a single word, and I don't know, but I welcomed it. I didn't feel the need to talk after that little confession. In fact, I had no intentions of having a little chat with anyone after my talking about our tragedies.

I traced the path of a fragile little hand making it's way to my upper arm. I turned around, and gave her a small smile. We had both gone through similar scenarios, just that one had happened more recently than the other. I knew what Zatanna felt like, and she was experiencing the same raw pain I felt years ago. In a way, it was nice to find someone who I could relate to.

"Thanks," Zatanna gave my arm a squeeze, "And I'm sorr—"

"Nah ah," I shook my head, "No apologies. Or else I'm going to be obliged to say sorry to you, too. I know people don't like that."

"Thanks."

So, we just sat. I wasn't sure how many seconds, minutes, or hours passed throughout all this. Zatanna and I weren't looking at each other, but we were both facing the cool metal door that still shone even with the dim light. I felt my eyesight zoom in and back out every once in a while, looking at the same color of the wall for a long time made my eyes tear up.

I sighed, and threw my head back onto the mattress. Zatanna was now lying down on her bed, twirling her hair with two fingers. I blew air from my mouth, making a farting sound. I quickly covered my mouth, that wasn't actually supposed to happen. But Zatanna didn't seem to mind, for she burst out into a few giggles before they slowly died down.

"I'm glad my embarrassment amuses you," I quirked an eyebrow.

Zatanna only grinned, "Can you make the sound again?"

I let out a chuckle, and pressed down hard on my cheeks. Soon, I was making as much gassy noises as I could manage. Zatanna was now full-on laughing, and clutching her stomach. I didn't know what she was finding so funny, but I was happy we were at least getting along. Maybe coming here wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Soon, Zatanna had joined my farting orchestra with vigor. She was barely taking any breaths in between her fun, and her face was tinting red. Just by looking at her, I felt light-headed. But I only laughed, because, what else was there to do? I didn't want to destroy the moment.

We were hung up on the farting noises for at least fifteen minutes before the joke became old, and our giggles subsided. I never could have even begun to wonder that Zatanna and I would get along, especially if it was over our shared pain. I guess there was a first time for everything, and this was one of those times. Zatanna was actually pretty fun to be around, and I suddenly felt guilty for holding such resentment.

"Look," I said, "I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you before. I know you liked Robin, but I was just jealous. I liked him, too."

Zatanna smiled sadly, "Yeah, well, I figured you liked him. You two are together now, aren't you? Look, what's in the past is in the past. I don't want to dwell on old crushes right now. We were having fun!"

"Yeah. For once, at least!" I laughed.

So, we spent the rest of the afternoon sharing embarrassing stories of our past. It was nice, being able to make another friend. I'd always been a sucker at being friendly to newcomers, but always loved to have a large group of buddies. Surely, this was one of the highlights of the day.

"So you actually kissed your goldfish?" Zatanna grinned mischievously.

"Don't laugh," I smiled, "But yeah."

It turned out that refraining from bursting into a fit of cackles was hard for Zatanna. She was laughing so hard she snorted, and that's when the giggles stopped coming. She was embarrassed, and I was embarrassed, but that was totally fine. It was a balance that I welcomed and loved and, gosh, I never wanted a friendship this fun to end.

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"How'd it go?"

I raised an eyebrow at the dark figured wrapped around the brown sheets of my bed. Dick looked like a burrito, maybe even a worm. It was adorable, and it was silly, but I loved it when Dick looked like the little circus boy he had always been. He was so lovely whenever he let that little sunlight shine out into the outside of his mind. It made me feel warm inside.

"It went surprisingly good." I sauntered over to him, "Your good luck wishes really did work."

"Thank God! Or else you would be dead meat."

"Glad to know my boyfriend has so much faith on me."

I whacked Dick on the backside of the head before moving into the bed with him. We were both giving off so much warmth that I felt like our sides were on fire. It was still nice, a bit uncomfortable, but still pleasant. Especially when Dick started to whisper sweet things in my ear, just his way of saying sorry for not believing that Zatanna would listen to me.

"You're beautiful," Dick murmured, "You're wonderful, you're—"

"Before you make me melt," I rolled my eyes, and snuggled more into his side, "Just take a little nap."

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