Be Dreaming

Saturdays are usually good for sleeping in. Dick found himself in a nice cozy situation. No work just yet. No need to rise early to make breakfast. Just a happy relaxing morning laying in bed. Although, there was an odd tickling sensation on his neck. A nip and a kiss shocked him to his core. Luckily, the familiar weight on his chest tipped him off to his current predicament.

"Is this another ghost hickey, I presume?" he laughed.

"Would you believe me if I said yes?" she smiled continuing to bite and suck on his neck.

"I've caught you enough times to know all the excuses you'd use, so no."

"C'mon baby. It's my birthday. Let me open my present," she purred grinding into him a bit.

Rolling his eyes, he pushed her off and flipped her over with ease. Climbing on top, he hovered over her caging her between his arms. He leaned in close to tease her with soft whispers.

"Only good girls get their presents. Have you been good?"

"Maybe. Have you been checking?"

"Way I see it, you've been a bad bad girl."

"Oh? I'm sorry, baby. Is there a way I can be put back on the good girl list?"

"That's up for debate. In the meantime, bad girls need to be punished."

"Well then, I guess I have no choice but to accept the judge's ruling," she smiled cupping his face.

"Oh for Christ's sake! Every single bloody mornin' with you two!" a new Scottish voice chimed in.

Dick and Zee froze in the middle of the bed. Quickly, Dick got up and looked around the room for the source of the voice.

"I mean seriously. There's such a thing as too much fuckin'. And that's coming from a goddamn rabbit!"

Immediately, Dick and Zee looked over the side of the bed and saw Pocus huffing out the door.

"Pocus?" they both asked.

The little bunny turned around with a confused look.

"What are you two lookin' at," he asked.

"YOU CAN TALK?!" the couple exclaimed.

"…Oh shite. You can understand me?"

"Secret?"

From behind, a pale blonde girl in a white hoodie appeared.

"What the hell?!" Dick screamed before taking the hidden birdarang under the end table and throwing it at the girl.

She merely tilted her head and let the weapon fly past and stick itself in the wall.

"Dick! It's ok! She's a friend….I think?" Zee tried to reassure her boyfriend.

"Secret!" the girl enthusiastically answered while giving a thumbs up.

"Ok will someone please tell me what's going on!?" Dick said standing up and pushing the covers off him.

"Secret!" she exclaimed covering her eyes.

"Huh?" Dick looked confused.

"For Christ's sake put some clothes on you two! For a couple of pet parents you both are completely daft!" Pocus scolded.

"Oh my God Dick! She's like twelve!"

"Well excuse me for not accommodating a freakin ghost in our apartment!"

A few minutes later, all parties were gathered in the living room. Zee put on another one of Dick's LSU shirts while Dick found some basketball shorts. Pocus sat on the couch while Dick and Zee stood around trying to sort out this whole situation.

"Ok let me get this straight. Seven years ago, on Halloween, you and Artemis went on a girl's night in New York. You ran into this guy named Harm who wielded Beowulf's enchanted sword and hunted you down. And this dude was deranged enough to murder his own sister, Greta who stands before us now," Dick recapped.

"Yup, and thanks to Greta, we made the sword reject him, and he should still be in custody. That about sums it up, right Greta?" Zee finished.

"Secret!" Greta replied nodding her head.

"Ok but that still doesn't explain us understanding Pocus. How did this come about?" Dick asked.

"Beats me, Dad. This is the first time it's happened."

"Dick, what kind of spell did you ask Nimue to put on Pocus?"

"Just a slow aging spell. Nothing more."

"SECRET!" Greta shouted before jumping up and down.

"So uh, is that all she can say?" Dick quizzically asked.

"Sadly, that word was the last thing she saw. So, yea, that's all she can say."

"Secret!" she cried waving her hands.

"We're about to play the world's most difficult game of charades, aren't we?" Dick realized.

"Greta, start slowly. What are you trying to tell us?" Zatanna asked the young ghost.

Taking a deep breath, Greta began her attempt at warning the young couple.

"Secret secret. Secret secret secret secret! Secret secret secret secret. Secret secret SECRET!" she exclaimed while huffing and puffing.

Befuddled, Zee looked at her boyfriend hoping he had any ideas.

"Well?" she asked.

"Uhhh Lassie's trying to tell us Timmy fell down the well again?" he answered.

Greta and Pocus both palmed their foreheads. She looked over the bunny rabbit pleading for help.

"Don't ya go lookin' at me Lassie. I ain't gonna be of much help," Pocus tried to deflect.

Greta rolled her eyes before looking pointedly at Zee. She stomped over and gestured her to stand up.

"Uhhh ok?" Zee said straightening herself.

"Secret Secret!" Greta exclaimed pointing at the yellow shirt.

"Oh uh yes it's a nice shirt. It's actually Dick's."

"Oh! So you admit you've been stealing my shirts!"

"Oh boo hoo, your girlfriend is wearing one of your shirts. Do you have any idea how many guys would love to be in your position?"

"SECRET!' Greta practically screamed while pointing at one particular point on Dick/Zee's shirt.

"Ohhhh I get it!" Dick realized.

"Care to enlighten us, oh great detective?" Zee rolled her eyes.

Dick approached his girlfriend and pointed at the same spot on the shirt.

"Louisiana. Who do we know in Louisiana with a connection to the mystic arts?" Dick smiled.

"Ohhhhhh Nimue! We need to go see Nimue!" Zee finally caught on.

"SECRET!" Greta cheered!

At that moment, the emergency Batwave tone rang from Dick's phone. He ran back into the bedroom to pick up the call.

"Nightwing here."

"What's the situation in Bludhaven?" Batman gruffly asked.

"I dunno. I just woke up."

"Look outside your window."

Dick parted the curtain to look outside. People were rioting out in the streets. Storefronts were on fire. A pair of cars just crashed into the lampposts causing the drivers to climb out of their cars and start fighting each other.

"Oh, it's bad," Dick realized, "What's going on?"

"Witnesses are claiming to see demons. Some have even said to have been possessed by their worst nightmares."

"But nothing's out there. Is this a large-scale fear toxin exposure?"

"Negative. Air quality is clean. This could be something magic related. Doctor Fate is incapacitated."

"Wait what?!"

"Fate is unconscious. But he locked himself inside the Tower. Is Zatanna ok?"

"Yea she's fine….wait a minute," Dick said as the gears turned in his head, "Zee?"

"Yes?"

"Be honest with me. Have you been feeling weird lately?"

"Uhhh, well," she squirmed.

She looked over at Greta who only put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows.

"Secret…" she scolded gesturing towards Dick.

Zatanna looked back at Dick who sent her a stern glare.

"Ooooo Mama's in trouuuble!" Pocus teased.

"Ugh ok fine! I've been having nightmares and cold uneasy feelings for a while now. I keep hearing and seeing Greta and all things considered I think she's been trying to warn me of something. And I guess that something is happening right now," Zee admitted.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Dick asked feeling hurt.

"I just, I didn't want to worry you. I wasn't even totally sure of what was going on. When my dad mentioned it-"

"Hold on! Your dad warned you too?"

"Well, yea…"

"And you didn't think to tell me!?"

"I mean I wasn't even sure what was going to happen. Plus, it's magic related I guess and-"

"And that means I'm not important enough to know about it?"

"Wait wait I did not say that!"

"NIGHTWING!" Batman interrupted, "We need riot control on a global scale now!"

"On it. Suiting up now. Zatanna's got a lead in New Orleans, so she'll be following up with that."

Zatanna flinched a little. Dick using her full name as opposed to her pet name meant she was in real trouble. He was pissed.

"Acknowledged. Do what you can and report back. Batman out."

Dick shut off his phone and quickly made his way to the bedroom to suit up.

"Dick, please."

"We'll talk later," he harshly interrupted, "I've got a city to keep under control. Go with Greta and see Nimue. Get to the bottom of this."

He turned around taking the last word. Zatanna sighed defeatedly and looked to Greta.

"C'mon. We better hurry."

"Secret," she nodded empathetically.

*DING A LING*

"Nimue? Nimue are you in here?" Zatanna yelled into the store.

"Zatanna child! I was wondering when you'd show up. We are in some deep shit right now," Nimue answered.

"I'll say. Things are crazy out there. I was hoping you'd know what's going on."

"Secret!" the ghost chimed in hoping to be noticed.

"Oh right! And this is Greta, a ghost I befriended," Zatanna introduced.

"Hello little one. Lemme guess, sudden death, only saw one word, and now she's stuck with said word?" Xanadu deduced.

"Pretty much."

"Lemme help with that."

"No need Nimmy!" a thick Yorkshire accent interrupted, "I've got this one."

A gruff blonde man with a trench coat and a cigarette in his mouth stepped into the parlor. He approached young Greta and held his hands above her. Closing his eyes, he spoke an indecipherable incantation as a yellow aura surrounding the white ghost. Suddenly, young Greta was no longer pale. Her cheeks filled with color once again as the aura faded.

"Alright poppet. Give it a whirl," the man smiled.

"….Hello? HELLO! OH MY GOSH. ZATANNA! I CAN TALK! I CAN TALK!" Greta cheered.

"What the heck?!" Zatanna said stunned.

"Ah no need to thank me," the man said.

For a second, he took the cigarette out of his mouth and eyed Zatanna head to toe. She felt his gaze on her and pulled her blue coat over her chest.

"Uhhh can I help you?" she asked.

"Well well. You've certainly grown up haven't ya, Zat-Zat."

Zatanna tilted her head and studied the man's face for a bit. Her eyes widened realizing who was standing before her.

"Oh my God…Johnny?!"

"In the flesh, luv. C'mere!"

Zatanna embraced the Englishman completely shocked at seeing her old friend again.

"Holy crap it's been almost like fifteen years since I've seen you! Ugh, you kinda smell though," she said pinching her nose.

"Apologies, luv. Been a bad week."

"It's true. Blondie and I here have been pretty busy," Nimue said.

"Ok seriously, what's going on?" Zatanna asked.

"Well, Zatanna, I'VE BEEN TRYING TO WARN YOU!" Greta scolded.

"Sorry Greta, but not a lot of the message gets through when you can only say one word," Zee apologized.

"Sigh, that's ok. Anyway, as Constantine and Xanadu here already know, someone has been searching for the Dreamstone."

"Dreamstone?" Zatanna asked.

"Yes," Nimue continued, "It is a powerful crystal dating back to ancient times. Only once, have humans ever tried to posses it. The stone has the power to turn nightmares into reality."

"Aye, and the last bastard who tried to wield it unleashed the bubonic plague across the land," Constantine added.

"So what happened?" Zee asked.

"A brave knight used Excalibur to split the stone in two. Merlin separated the two pieces keeping them in completely different dimensions to prevent anyone else from misusing the power," Nimue answered.

"And now, some bastard's got half the stone and is already causing chaos," John grumbled, "Even with half the power, he's already causing people to have nightmares and reveal their deepest thoughts. Luckily none of it is real, but they all will be once the two halves are reunited."

"Ok, so where's the other half?" Zee asked.

"I thought you knew?" John asked back.

"Why would I know?"

"Because your father has it. He's hidden it in Shadowcrest."

"He what? What the heck is Shadowcrest?!"

"She doesn't know?" he looked towards Nimue, "How does she not know of her own family's home?"

"What home?" Zatanna exclaimed, "The only family home I know of is my dad's apartment in New York!"

"Look," Nimue began, "Your father entrusted me with certain secrets that I am only allowed to tell you when you turn twenty-one."

"I AM TWENTY-ONE! AS OF TODAY!" Zatanna shouted.

"Oh, well then," Nimue sheepishly realized, "Uh basically your family owns a mystical mansion outside this realm of reality. Kinda like the Tower of Fate."

"Right right," John interrupted, "Your father kept an extensive library of mystical knowledge and a bunch of other artifacts. Most importantly, he's got half the Dreamstone hidden in there somewhere."

"Ok," Zatanna catching up to speed, "How does one access Shadowcrest then?"

"Normally your father or I guess a member of the Zatara family must summon it. As such, that half of the Dreamstone is probably safe for the time being….sort of," Nimue answered.

"Sort of?" Zatanna said, "What do you mean sort of?!"

"Well," John began, "certain guests over the years have been given access via enchanted keys. See normally, the house has a voice identification spell, but the key works as a sort of pass for guests to come and go. Isn't that right, Nimmy?"

Nimue shifted a little and turned away refusing to make eye contact.

"Nimue? What is he talking about?" Zatanna accused.

"I may have one of those keys," Nimue admitted.

"What?!"

"This was early on when you had just lost your mother. Giovanni needed a friend. I'd come over and we would talk over a bottle of wine. Nothing more."

"And where is this key now?"

With a flick of her wrist, a silver key with a ruby jewel embedded in the handle appeared in Nimue's hand.

"Honestly, I haven't used it in over ten years. I was supposed to give it to you on your twenty-first birthday so that you may register yourself into the house's compendium. I guess today's the day hehe. Happy Birthday, child," Nimue said giving Zatanna the key.

"Wow," Zatanna said taking the key, "You must have meant a lot to him."

"He is a good friend. At any rate, we must get back to business. John, you had mentioned a lead?"

"Aye. There are rumors of a Dreamstone shard being pawned around at an underground poker ring. Was bout to go investigate for myself."

"Another shard? I thought there were only two pieces?" Zatanna asked.

"A lotta stuff has happened over the centuries. Guess someone nicked off a piece," John said.

"I'll go with you then," Zatanna added, "I've got some card skills of my own. The two of us will increase our odds better."

"Sounds like a plan. Been meaning to catch up with ya anyway, Zat-Zat!"

"You still call me that? I was like six, Johnny."

"What can I say? It suits you."

"Let's just get going! Fate of the universe here!" she said rolling her eyes and pushing him out the door.

With the two magicians gone, Greta stuck around with Nimue.

"Was she blushing?" Greta asked.

"I ain't getting in the middle of that."

AN: Heyo! Sorry for keeping you all waiting. I had been a tad busy. Also sorry for very minor fluff but I decided we needed to get the plot moving again. So here's the big magical arc for Zee and yes, John has arrived haha. Hopefully yall will enjoy it!