Author's note: I don't know whether I'll be able to put anything up during the holidays (places to go, people to see) so here's another snapshot. For the moment, it's the one before last, but it just means that I haven't written a 14th yet – doesn't mean it's over :o)

This one ties in with the JLU episode This Little Piggy, where magician Circe turned Diana into a pig, and the price for turning her back into Wonder Woman is Batman sharing his darkest secret. "Something that when given, you can never take back. Something … soul-shattering." So he sings a jazz standard, onstage, with a lovely voice. Love that one. It seemed too good not to milk it for all it's worth, so I wrote this :o)

Disclaimer: I don't own Am I Blue, nor Kevin Conroy's rendition – greatest WTF moment in all of JLU, by the way! :D – but I do own DC comics and Warner.

Oh wait. I don't :P

Snapshot Collection

12. Song

Am I blue … Am I blue …

"I thought I made myself clear, Zatanna."

The magician crossed her arms across her chest and challenged the Bat-Glare as best as she could.

"And so you did, Bruce. But you specifically said I couldn't keep the video Circe recorded. You never said anything about the soundtrack."

She wasn't going to back down on it. Not with Wonder Woman actually siding with her on that one. Diana had made herself very clear, too.

"Can't you at least turn that off while we're having this discussion?" Batman growled in his coldest, darkest tone. Zatanna smirked.

"No. I don't know what ticks you off most – the song, or the fact that you can't turn it off with magic, like I can – but it destabilises you and it serves my purpose."

"Zatanna, I –"

Batman's voice trailed off and he cast a sharp glance at the half-open door. Zatanna hadn't heard anything, but trusting his hard-trained senses, she poked her head out in the corridor.

The Flash was standing there, perfectly still – for once – and looking dumbstruck. The magician was tempted to wave a hand in front of his eyes just to see if it would get a response.

Batman muttered something very unsavoury under his breath.

"How long have you been there?" Zatanna asked resignedly, pointedly ignoring another oncoming Bat-Glare behind her.

"L–long enough," Flash stammered, his gaze jumping from her to the tall, dark figure behind her. "Bats? Was that really you singing?"

"No," Batman shot back immediately, in the same tone as he had asked Zatanna to turn the music off. Apparently the big scary voice didn't always work on everybody, because Flash appeared unfazed. Or rather, gradually turning back to normal.

A broad grin began to stretch his lips.

"So that's what you had to do. I always wondered."

"Wondered what?"

Zatanna was immensely glad to have Batman behind her. Her own grin was becoming harder and harder to hide.

"Oh, you know, that business about Circe. Diana told me the main thing, but she just told me you had to go through some trial or other. She didn't mention anything about singing. Great voice, by the way."

There was the slightest sigh behind Zatanna. "I suppose you're off to tell everyone?"

Flash winked. At Batman.

"Nah, I outgrew childish stuff like that. What d'you think I am, twelve?" He paused, and the glance that the magician risked over her shoulder confirmed what she suspected: a deliberately pointed look from the Dark Knight. Flash cleared his throat.

"Yeah, okay, I'll admit I'm really not the most mature one around here. But look at it this way: at least I didn't laugh at ya. That's how much I grew up." He peeled back his glove to look at his watch. "Oh, jeez – gotta go, I got a date on surface in ten minutes. As not-Flash. Bye!"

Zatanna held onto her top hat as he sped off down the corridor, leaving a gust of wind in his wake.

When she turned back to Batman, he seemed to steel himself for the continuing discussion. So they both started a little bit when a cheerful voice came through their com-links, "Hey, Zatanna, right? Don't let Bats scare you into deleting this thing, it's gold!"

"No way I will," she replied with a smirk only Batman could see.

The song ended, silence filling the room. His eyes narrowed.

"I suppose blackmail is out of the question."

"You suppose correctly," Zatanna retorted, coldly.

The Mexican stand-off could have lasted a long time, as neither adversary was willing to turn their back on the scene. One hundred and eighty-five seconds stretched painfully. Zatanna's eyes began to water …

And then a huge laugh exploded in their com-links. A wild, hearty laugh, broken in places by shaky intakes of breath that sounded as though they were never going to be enough to fill the lungs' quota of oxygen.

Both Zatanna and Batman deflated slightly. The tension eased off with each passing second.

In the end, Batman gave a terse nod, and Zatanna knew she had won. She tilted her head to the side and said with a slight grin, "So … You're gonna tell him that his com-link's still on?"

Batman smirked.

OF COURSE HE WILL. And he'll scare him to death :P

I always wondered how Diana came to know about the business in the Amphitheatre. I guess Zatanna must have told her at some point, but I prefer to think she did keep a record of this and showed it to Diana. Hence her knowing Am I Blue. Of course, she could have just known the song before, but honestly, don't you prefer Diana watching and listening to the whole thing?

"What d'you think I am, twelve?" Oh Wally. Don't you ever grow up too much :D

Next up: When Batman meets the man Wally introduces as his uncle, he can't help a slightly puzzling feeling of déjà vu.