Young Justice: Poseidonis

September 24th, 2010

Even though I’d realized what was coming a moment before Zatanna said it, I was still absolutely floored by her words. I mean, who wouldn’t be? It was quite an announcement to make. Zatanna. Pregnant. With my children. The next generation of the House of Black

My grip around Zatanna’s waist tightened, drawing her body closer against mine and pulling a soft squawk of surprise from her lips. This was huge news. Good news. Great news, even. Like most wizarding families, we Blacks had long struggled with issues of fertility. Most generations, we made up for such things with potions and rituals, but such things were finicky and oft came with their own downsides.

A child so soon into our relationship was a wonderful sign of things to come. Were we back home, the news would quickly be spread to the rest of our extended family and Zatanna would have spent the next eight or so months in the safety of one of our well-defended properties surrounded by all the care, affection, and medical support she could possibly need. Those couples still hoping for more children would redouble their efforts, hoping to ensure the next generation was able to grow up knowing the support that only family could provide.

That Zatanna and I were not yet married would have been an issue, but not an insurmountable one. Fortunately Zatanna’s blood was pure enough for the standards of my family. Her mother had not been a witch of note, but she had been a witch, as had all four of her grandparents. We would have been swiftly married and dates would be subtly altered to assure all outsiders that there had been no breaches in propriety.

But it was also a disaster in the making. Because we weren’t back in the Plane of my birth. I was the only Black here, and, while I had made a number of connections, I lacked the sort of influence my name commanded within wizarding Britain and even the wider world. Zatanna’s care and safety was my responsibility and mine alone, as would be raising our eventual progeny to understand the meaning of their name and respect the countless generations that came before them.

The magnitude of it was frankly terrifying. I had felt secure slowly building my strength, securing my holdings, and establishing myself, but such sluggish action was no longer appropriate. Zatanna and our future children deserved no less than my utmost efforts. What I had now was appropriate for a single young wizard fresh from Hogwarts, but not for one with plans to build a family for himself. No Black would ever grow up in such relative poverty.

I opened my eyes and looked down upon the witch held in my arms. Zatanna’s eyes were still squeezed tightly shut and she looked scared. Vulnerable. There was a certain tension in her shoulders, an air of fear and surprise like that of a spooked animal radiating of her.

There were a lot of things I could have done and said then. I could have told her how much I loved her. I could have reassured her, calmed the fears lurking within her heart. I could, and perhaps I should, have asked her to marry me.

I did none of those things. Instead, the first words out of my mouth were a curse as I suddenly remembered another key factor. “Merlin’s beard,” I swore, “your dad is going to murder me, Zee.”

Zatanna’s eyes opened and she peered up at me through her dark lashes. Some of the tension in her muscles faded as she stared up at me, our eyes meeting and my arms around her holding her in place like a vice.

She let out a weak laugh. “He’s probably going to try. I…I haven’t told him yet. I wanted you to be the first person I told.”

She still sounded so hesitant. So vulnerable and afraid. My arms loosened slightly and I cupped her cheek with my right hand. She leaned into my touch and I tilted her head back, allowing me to lean down and capture her lips with my own.

Our kiss started off light and gentle, a brush of lips on lips. Zatanna was hesitant at first, and then suddenly she was kissing me back with an almost desperate, feverish hunger. My hand slipped around to cradle her neck and the back of her head, and her own loose grip around me tightened until we were all but crushed together, our bodies squeezed together with only the thin barriers of our clothing to separate us.

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Zatanna finally pulled away, but her eyes never left mine. “You’re not mad?” she asked softly.

I shook my head. “How could I be? It is a surprise, to be sure, but far from an unwelcome one.”

“Really? Even though…” she trailed off, seemingly unable to finish her thought.

I kissed her forehead and pulled her against me, her chest smooshed against mine even as I made sure that I did not exert any undue force on her belly. “I’m going to be a father,” I whispered. It didn’t sound real. “How could I possibly be angry with you, my love?”

“Then you don’t want to, uh, end it?”

My smile froze. The hand still holding the back of Zatanna’s head tightened slightly, and the witch in my arms yelped as I pulled on the strands of hair tangled around my fingers. “No,” I said sharply, “Certainly not.” I paused and took a slow, steadying breath. “Not unless…unless there’s something wrong with…if you need…” my voice trembled slightly, my thoughts from earlier frozen in their tracks.

Zatanna rapidly shook her head. “No, no, I don’t want to. I just thought that, maybe you would. I mean, we’re not married. We’ve barely known each other for a couple of months, and––”

This time it was my turn to shush her. Our lips met again and I lightly suckled on her bottom lip, making her melt against me.

“Perhaps it hasn’t been that long, but it has been some of the best days of my life. I’d be honored to raise a family with you, my love.” I paused momentarily, nervously wetting my lips with my tongue. “I do not know your family’s traditions. Nor do I have access to many of mine. But…”

I paused again and took a deep breath. It was only right. I’d never expected it to happen like this. I’d always thought my parents or lord uncle would choose an appropriate match for me. I’d also never expected for things to go like this. That I’d be whisked away to a whole new world, my old home a distant memory I hoped to someday recapture.

I firmed my resolve. “Zatanna. Would you do me the honor of marrying me?”

Zatanna’s shoulders shook. There was a hint of moisture at the corners of her eyes, but there was a brilliant smile on her face as she stared back at me. “I still want to do things properly, but that’s not important right now. Of course I’d love to marry you, Hydrys.”

I’m not sure how long we sat that way, holding each other tightly and each lost in our own thoughts. My mind whirred a mile a minute, my occlumency struggling to keep up as countless thoughts streamed through my head.

There was so much I needed to do. As I was now, I was not ready to truly start a family. I was too weak. I was too limited. I did not have access to far too many of the things I needed.

Firstly there were the basics. My home needed to be finished, the wards strengthened until I could feel safe leaving my wife and children behind them with full confidence in their safety. I needed money and power, enough to ensure that none would dare to cross me or threaten that which was mine to get to me. And I needed stability, a life in which I could devote sufficient time to my children and ensure they had all they could possibly need or want as they grew up.

Beyond that, there was so much that I wanted to do as well. No Black should be raised without the care and support of our family. Ideally I would find a path back to my home plane so that I could retrieve certain books, artifacts, and, optimally, Blueprints of certain family members so that there would be those beyond me who could teach the children of our family history and traditions.

I also needed more lands. Green was a priority. Having a trained healer on hand at all times would be a must. Another source of Black mana would be excellent as well, allowing me to bring forth the numerous creatures of grimm whose Blueprints I’d acquired on Remnant. Furthermore, more lands very directly correlated to more power. Mana amplified even the weakest, crudest spells to new heights, and turned already powerful magics into ones that belonged in legends and history books.

More summons were also a must. Ideally, at least one powerful combatant with a wealth of experience caring for children and a skilled healer with experience treating expecting mothers and newborns. More than one would be even better. Perhaps my summons were not truly people, but they were reliable and it would be years before my children would be old enough to see the difference.

So much to do. So little time. Particularly since I was loath to leave the side of my pregnant soon-to-be wife. I sighed softly. And none of that mattered if Giovanni murdered me before any of that happened.

Zatanna echoed my sigh. “What the fuck am I going to tell dad?” she whispered.

I nodded slowly, thinking about everything I knew about the man, both first hand and from Zatanna. He was…not going to take this well. “That sure is the question, huh.”

“Maybe I could just, uh, not say anything?” she floated. “We could probably make like, an illusion to hide the visible signs, or something?”

I stared down at her. “I don’t think that’s going to work. And even if it did, it would only backfire on us later.”

She sighed heavily. “You’re probably right. But a girl can dream!”