Hope you like it, please review!
The first thing that Mallory noticed when they walked out of the house was the city skyline in the distance, and the miles and miles of hot, sun-baked earth between them and it. "Well," she said, looking at Constantine expectantly, "where is this guy?"
John jutted his chin at the open space in front of them. "Right there. It's a protection spell, used to hide things from prying eyes, but not to keep anything out." He started walking, and he hadn't gone four feet when he suddenly disappeared.
The girls exchanged a look, and Zatanna shrugged. "Why not?" she said, and she started walking, Mallory not far behind. There was a slight pressure when they got to the spot that John had disappeared in, like there was a difference in air pressure, and then they were through the invisibility shield, looking at a large camp, with tents set up around a large bonfire. There didn't seem to be any people around, but there were at least a dozen goats in a pin set up a little ways from the camp, and a few boards with hides stretched tight.
"The goats are for his spells," John explained casually as they walked towards the tents. Mallory winced at the thought of keeping something locked up until part of its body was needed for some demonic ritual.
"Where is everyone?" Zatanna asked suspiciously, looking around.
John didn't seem too bothered by the absence of life. "Oh, they're around here somewhere, luv, don't worry about that. Ain't you, Voodoo?"
There was suddenly laughter filling the air around them, seeming to be coming from all sides, and then the man appeared in front of them in a puff of purple smoke. He was tall, with a white stripe of hair down the middle of his head, the rest pitch black and twisted into dreadlocks. He was wearing some kind of fur on the collar of his floor-length, blood-red cape, and he had a wooden staff in one hand. The part of his attire that stood out, though, were the three human skulls he had strung on a green sash, tied loosely around his waist.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't John Constantine, coming to save the day. I guess the rumors are true. You are going soft, switching to the good side," the witch doctor said. His voice was deep and smooth, almost like he was purring out his words.
John chuckled. "No, nothins changed with me. You know I can't let you go about controlling children and using them as hosts for your friends. I have enough demons to worry about without parents coming to me to get their little darlings fixed up."
"You seem to be forgetting, Johnny, that as long as I have this," he held up his staff for emphasis, "you can't do anything to me."
John shrugged and flicked away a cigarette that Mallory hadn't even seen him light. "Maybe, but I'll sure give it my best shot." He clapped his hands together and spread them wide, muttering a spell under his breath. Doctor Voodoo held up his staff, and suddenly John went still.
"The staff. That's what he uses to control people," Zatanna murmured.
"So, get it away from him, and he'll be powerless?" Mallory asked.
Zatanna shrugged. "Not powerless, but stoppable," she replied.
Mallory nodded and narrowed her eyes. She reached out to the bonfire and, barely moving her fingers, she stoked it, causing it to double its size in a second. Voodoo jumped and eyed the girls suspiciously.
"Like I told Johnny, your magic won't work." He waved the staff at the fire, but nothing happened. His face showed confusion as he continued to try to cancel out whatever spell they had put on it.
Mallory allowed herself a small smile and lifted a finger, and the flames split into two hands, reaching out towards the villain's head. He dodged, but not fast enough to keep the ends of his hair from getting singed. One dreadlock was still burning like the wick of a candle when he straightened to face them.
Zatanna grinned and crossed her arms. "Really? No magic will stop you?" she asked.
He glared at them, pointing his staff between them. "Which of you did that?" he asked.
Mallory winked at Zatanna and said, "oh, I'm not a magician, I'm just here for moral support."
He glared at Zatanna,but before he could aim the staff at her, the girls split, Zatanna running behind John's frozen body. The other magician took the hit meant for her, and she uttered a spell that made the staff levitate. While it was up in the air, Mallory, who had been forgotten in the villain's anger, charged Voodoo and measured a punch to have just the right amount of strength behind it to knock him out without doing any permanent damage. He dropped to the ground hard, and Zatanna called the staff to her, undoing the spell keeping John frozen.
He stumbled a little when it was lifted and looked between his two companions and the unconscious enemy a few feet away. "Well," he said slowly, taking the offered staff from Zatanna and looking at Mallory, "I guess you're not as useless as you look."
Mallory grinned, taking the masked compliment without a retort. The three of them started back towards the house, and Mallory made a quick detour, unlatching the pin and letting the goats out.
"What was that for?" Constantine asked.
Mallory shrugged. "At least they'll have a chance now," she pointed out.
John rolled his eyes, but Zatanna smiled and linked arms with her friend for the rest of the walk. "All right, come on, we don't want to stick around for when his friends find out he lost this," John said, looking at the staff as he led the way back inside. They went to a room that had magic relics, and John placed his new prize on a rack that held about ten other staffs. "Well," he said, turning to the girls, "thanks for the assistance, I'll drop you off wherever you want to go."
Zatanna looked at Mallory and tilted her head. "You know, we're done with the fire, and they weren't expecting us back for a few more days," she said slowly. "How does a mini vacation sound?"
Mallory smiled and shrugged. "Sounds good. After everything that's been going on, I think a few days away from the League would do us some good."
Constantine's demeanor shifted a little, and he cleared his throat awkwardly. "I heard about the kid. I'm sorry it happened."
Mallory was actually surprised at how soft and caring his voice sounded, though he wouldn't look either of them in the eye. Zatanna smiled and gave him a hug. He stiffened at first, but then he allowed a hint of a smile to come to his face as he relaxed and returned it. "Thanks, but we don't need to talk about it right now," Zatanna said when she let go. She turned to Mallory and said, "where do you want to go?"
"Well," Mallory said slowly, thinking about what countries she hadn't been to yet, "we've never been to Europe before."
John groaned, his usual tough shell returning. "Oh, why don't you just bloody shoot me now," he muttered.
Zatanna put on her sweetest look and tilted her head at him. "John, do you feel like playing tour guide for the weekend?" she asked. "Please?"
He stared at her for a moment, then sighed loudly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, what the hell, you'll probably find yourself on the wrong side of things if I don't."
Zatanna grinned, making John fight a smile of his own. Mallory flopped into a chair in the corner while they continued to talk while they waited for the house to get to their destination. She had to admit that she wished that Zatanna and Dick had worked things out, but John made her friend happy, and it turned out that he did have a soft side, so it made her happy to see them together.
Three days later, Mallory and Zatanna were on their way to a zeta tube in Star City after John and the House of Mystery dropped them off there on the way to an exorcism. They each had two bags filled with clothes and souvenirs they'd bought on their trip, and their costumes at the bottom of the bags.
"This weekend was great," Zatanna mentioned as they walked down the street to a picture booth that was a few blocks away.
"Yeah, it was. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed, though. Not that John's house isn't cool, but I don't get how he sleeps in a different room every night."
Zatanna smiled a little. "Yeah, I'm missing the cave, too," she admitted.
They reached the zeta tube and Mallory let the magician get in first, turning away when the flash of light took her away, then she pushed open the booth and let the computer scan her. "Recognized, Inferno, 27," the computer announced. The light sucked her away, and the next thing she knew she was in the living room of the cave, Zatanna right in front of her.
"Come on, let's put our stuff away and report to the watchtower," the magician suggested.
Mallory sighed heavily. "Great, that's one thing I don't want to do: explain to Batman that we took a vacation while we were supposed to be working."
"We weren't supposed to be working. We finished our job, so all we were supposed to be doing was letting them know that the fire was out. They could have found that out on the news."
Mallory smiled. "You know, your logic is flawless," she said as they walked towards the training room.
When they got there, they saw Nightwing briefing the team on a mission, so they hung back in the doorway so they wouldn't interrupt. Mallory scanned the lineup for her brother, but her blood ran cold for a split second when she saw the Robin suit standing at the end. The head moved, tossing long, black hair over the person's shoulder, and Mallory realized that it was Jessica wearing the familiar suit. She exchanged a look with Zatanna, who had noticed the girl at the same time. Dick dismissed the team and they hurried off towards the hangar, and he turned to the doorway, crossing his arms.
"You didn't have to hide, you know. You do live here."
Zatanna smiled and they walked over and gave him a hug.
"Good to see you back on your feet," Mallory said softly. He shrugged, and Mallory added, "Jess, too."
He tilted his head. "Oh, you noticed."
"Yeah, it startled me for a minute. What happened?" Zatanna asked.
He shrugged again. "She thought that becoming Robin would help keep Jason's memory alive, and she didn't want– well, I guess that doesn't really matter. She's only had the title for a few days, and she was reinstated on the team yesterday."
"Are you sure it's a good idea?" Mallory asked.
"What? Her becoming Robin?"
"No, not just that. Her coming back this soon, coming back on the team, going back to working with Batman. Are you sure you know what you're doing, letting her come back? I mean, is she really ok?"
Dick sighed. "She's getting there. She's still having problems with Batman, but they'll work it out. And it's not like anyone's going to hold her to this. If she decides that she doesn't want to keep the title, she can give it up whenever she wants."
The girls nodded, and Zatanna cleared her throat. "Sorry to run, but we have to get to the watchtower and explain why we're three days late getting back. It's good to have you back, Dick." He smiled a little, and the girls went to their rooms to drop off their stuff and put on their costumes before hurrying back to the zeta tube to face Batman and whoever else they might find up there.