Young Justice: Gotham City

October 11th, 2010

For as pleasant as it had turned out to be, the night did not last much longer after that. I was tired, Zatanna and Blake were tired, and we were all well satisfied and ready to turn in. I slipped away for a minute, donned some pants, and summoned Glynda––no use letting my mana go to waste, since it should be back by morning––before returning to bed.

It didn’t take long after that to fall asleep. Zatanna and I cleaned us all up with a series of spells––as much as a three-person shower sounded delightful, it was far too late already and Zatanna had school in the morning––and by silent agreement we cuddled up together at the center of my large bed.

Zatanna lay spooned against me, her body soft and warm against my chest, while Blake lay on her other side, her face tucked into the crook of Zatanna’s neck and their chests pressed together. Zatanna was clutching the cat faunus against her chest like a favorite toy, and Blake seemed to be enjoying the treatment, molding her body against Zatanna and tangling their legs as much as her bonds would allow.

I’d unbound Zatanna’s arms, but she hadn’t bothered to remove her ribbons. Meanwhile Blake remained blindfolded and with her legs bent at the knees, though the ribbons holding her arms and legs spread widely apart were gone. Zatanna or I would have removed them if she asked, but she hadn’t and I saw no harm in leaving them in place.

There would be matters to discuss and news to catch up on in the morning. It was probably important to at least somewhat formalize our situation and establish expectations, and I wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t upset Zatanna by doing something silly. I was pretty sure she was enjoying everything I’d done so far, but I needed to be sure. Plus I wanted to hear all about what Zatanna had been up to from her, not just Raven’s report, and I had no doubts she’d be pestering me for stories about my past week just as soon as she started thinking about something other than sex.

I was honestly looking forward to it. I really needed to buckle down and focus on figuring out some way to share memories between my Blueprints and their originals, but until then I actually had some photographs I could show Zatanna this time. Not very many––I’d only remembered about my scroll well after we’d visited some of the more picturesque scenes––but that was still more than none.

Furthermore, I couldn’t wait to introduce her to some of my new summons. Particularly our new servants once I had enough mana to summon them. I’d need to limit how many I brought out at first––there wasn’t really all that much room for them to stay at the moment––but I had a feeling that Zatanna would greatly enjoy having some of those elves around.

Next time I left, I was going to make sure that Zatanna was well protected. Raven was both skilled and highly competent, but she was just one woman. I still needed to decide exactly which summons I’d be leaving behind, but it would probably include at least a handful of the generic elves and one of the dragons. Maybe even Tyrande, depending on how potent her healing was compared to that of the unnamed priestesses. Anyone that tried to hurt her would quickly come to regret it.

Hmm, was I going to need to prepare identities for all the random elves? Probably not. There was no real reason for any of them to go out in public, and it wasn’t like they’d be able to blend in with the muggles. Though figuring something out for Peach, Amber, and Mavria would probably be a good idea.

Maybe just the first two––the impression I received from Mavria’s Blueprint told me she was unlikely to want to go anywhere. I’d need to go talk to Mera again. Hopefully she’d be alright preparing some paperwork for me. And I really needed to remember to create a Blueprint of the queen when I got the chance. Not only was she both a powerful witch and a skilled teacher, but it would also be good to have a replacement for if the worst should befall her. I had a feeling Zatanna would be heartbroken to lose her mentor.

I shook my head and let the thought drift away. That was also a problem for tomorrow. I lightly stroked Zatanna’s belly. It was still flat and smooth now, but soon…soon…

What felt like moments later, I was torn from my dream––a hazy blur of flying spells, flashing colors, and cat-eared dragons––by the loud blaring of a telephone. Not my phone––it was…somewhere in the house, and probably out of battery regardless––but rather Zatanna’s. I recognized the pounding notes and first few words of some muggle song that Zatanna had set as her ringtone. Something about celebrating muggle explosives.

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It was still early. Very early, even. I’d set up an alarm spell to wake us up so Zatanna wouldn’t be late, and it had yet to go off. I opened one eye and saw Blake blearily trying to look around, her ears twitching. It was mostly dark in my bedroom, but I was pretty sure the look on her face meant she’d forgotten she was wearing a blindfold.

Zatanna shifted in my arms and cursed softly, her voice barely more than a mumble. “Damn it, dad. Five more minutes.” She buried her face in her pillow and pulled Blake even tighter against her chest.

I considered just silencing the blasted thing, but my wand was on the bedside table and my arms were busy holding Zatanna. “Your phone’s ringing,” I whispered softly.

Zatanna mumbled something very rude, then turned her head to face the ceiling rather than her pillow. “Enohp ereh,” she said, her words crisp and firm.

There was a rustle of clothing, the clatter of something small hitting the floor, and then Zatanna’s phone whizzed into view, the screen glowing painfully bright in the near total darkness. It stopped in mid air just above Zatanna’s face and by its light I watched her squint up at the screen. “Why the fuck is uncle Kent calling me at…three fucking a.m?” she asked rhetorically.

Blake hissed softly. “Just hang up,” she grumbled “Sleepy time.”

“If it was anyone else…Blah, it might be important. But I swear to god if it isn’t…” she trailed off, leaving the threat unfinished. It took three attempts, but eventually she managed to jab the ‘answer call’ button with the tip of her nose. She quickly turned her head to the side and the phone dropped from the air, landing neatly on top of her ear.

“Hey Uncle Kent,” Zatanna said sleepily, her voice muffled by Blake’s hair. “Why are you––”

She fell silent, listening to whatever the speaker on the other side was saying. I couldn’t quite make out any words, the sound coming through the speaker too soft to make out from where I was lying. I closed my eyes and shifted my grip around Zatanna’s waist, my thumb softly stroking one of the ribbons stuck to her belly. I didn’t feel any need to listen in. If it was something I needed to know, I trusted that Zatanna would pass it along.

“Yeah, he came back last night.” Another pause. “He’s probably asleep right now, but if it's urgent.” A pause. “Yeah, not a problem. Why what’s––”

Zatanna gasped and sat up, dragging both Blake and I up after her with the suddenness of her motion. She snatched the phone up, pressing it against her ear and listening intently. “Say that again,” she said sharply, the last traces of drowsiness vanishing from her voice.

I leaned in, suddenly curious, and caught the tail end of Kent’s reply. “...supervolcano. We need all hands on deck now.”

I frowned. I knew what a volcano was, but I’d never heard of a supervolcano. Was it just a particularly big volcano? Or the name of some villain, perhaps? Superman, Wonder Woman, Supervolcano Man, that sort of thing.

Zatanna swallowed heavily. “Okay. We’ll be there soon.” She stiffly pulled the phone away from her ear and jabbed the ‘end call’ button. Then she dropped her phone onto the sheets and turned towards me, her eyes very wide. “Some villain tried to set off the Yellowstone supervolcano a few hours ago. Apparently it's not as bad as it could be, but the League is calling in as much help as it can.”

Ugh. This was what I got for helping out against those Injustice League people, wasn’t it? The reward for good work was more work.

I wanted to brush it off. To roll over in bed and fall back asleep. To hold Zatanna against my chest and drift off thinking of the child slowly growing in her belly.

But I couldn’t. Now that they knew I was back, not showing up would ruin whatever good reputation I’d managed to build with the heroes. Plus, Zatanna would be upset. She was absolutely going to try and help, and I certainly wasn’t allowing her to go without me.

I reached for my land bonds. The mana I’d spent on Glynda before bed was back. Good. I could work with that.

I sighed heavily and sat up. “You can explain what that means while we get dressed. Blake,” I snatched my wand and swiftly removed her blindfold and bonds, then summoned a dim ball of light to hover above the bed. “Go wake up Raven and Glynda, then grab us some tea and something from the kitchen.”

She nodded and rushed out of the room, either forgetting or not bothering to put anything on. I idly wondered what Raven would think of that, my lips pulling into a small smile. Then I turned back to Zatanna.

“Right. So, Yellowstone. That’s that park?”

Zatanna blinked at me. “Uncle Kent didn’t tell me much, but I’ll start at the beginning.”