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youngjusticeslut · 4 months

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A Heart That Yearns is Never Lonely

Fandom: Young Justice Links: AO3 // FF.net Characters: Dick Grayson, Zatanna Zatara Ships: Chalant Disclaimer: I know Chalant is not my usual bread and butter, but when it's your Roomie's favorite ship and she asks for a fic for her birthday/Christmas, how can you say no? So I tried my best! Rating: T+ (Implications of sex and one-night stands) Word Count: 3,837 words Summary: “The impressive trick is how you got something so specific from Zatanna, without revealing who or what it was for.”

“We have a history.”

How Dick convinced Zatanna to make him a Glamour Charm.

When Kaldur brings up the notion of how they’re going to disguise Artemis and fold her into their ruse, Dick knows that he has to recruit Zatanna— to an extent, at least.

Kaldur is against the idea, initially. There are other routes they could take, like the traditional one. Dye her hair and slap a few prosthetics on her. Except Artemis makes a face at the prospect of dying her hair, which admittedly is hilarious. Faking her own death and lying to everyone she loves? Didn’t even take a moment to convince her. Dying her hair? Now that was a line she wasn’t enthusiastic about crossing. Plus, with her cosmetic skills, Dick isn’t exactly optimistic about her ability to apply prosthetics on the daily.

(He made the mistake of mentioning that last part out loud. It earned him a jab to the ribs so hard it left a bruise that didn’t heal for weeks.)

Besides, Dick likes to be thorough. Why go the simple route and open up a can of worms, when there were other, more proficient, ways to go about this that were less likely to lead to discovery. Hence, how Zatanna comes into play. Granted, he isn’t quite sure how she comes into play quite yet, but with her knowledge and expertise, he’s sure there’s a solution to their problem that doesn’t involve three hours of Artemis complaining and more bruises in his future.

Plus, wheedling a favor out of Zatanna always has its merits. So really, it’s a win-win situation.

The real challenge here is finding time to fit in her busy schedule. Between League duties, her three night a week gig at the Magic Shack, not to mention her natural elusiveness, tracking her down always proves to be more cumbersome than need be. But Dick is persistent, and so he finds himself waiting by the stage door at the Magic Shack at exactly 11:04pm, four minutes after Zatanna’s set ends and right as she’s making her exit.

The door flies open two minutes later. Zatanna steps outside, having changed out of her stage costume and wearing a simple dress that, to Dick’s disappointment, leaves far more to the imagination than her performance costume. Dick pushes himself off the wall he’d been leaning on, throwing up a hand in greeting. If Zatanna’s surprised to see him, she doesn’t let on. She just mimics the hand gesture and closes the distance between them.

“What an honor. My second-favorite bat has come to pay me a visit.”

Dick raises a brow. “Second-favorite?”

“Tim makes a mean cup of coffee.”

Ah. There’s that playfulness that he missed. Unlike Barbara, where jabs were a contest to come out victorious, or Artemis, where banter could easily turn violent, Zatanna is different. There’s a looseness there, a sense of casual enjoyment that didn’t last longer than you needed it to. No strings, no commitment. Not if you didn’t want there to be. Dick’s missed that.

“That he does. Afraid I didn’t make it to the show, though. Was it good?”

“Three standing ovations, six bouquets, and only one marriage proposal,” Zatanna says, the corner of her mouth tilting upwards, suggesting a coyness to her smile.

A strand of her hair has come loose from her ponytail. Dick tucks it behind her ear, letting his fingers glide underneath her chin as he brings his hand back. “So, slow night.”

“I’d say.” Zatanna brings her hand up to his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “It’s good to see you. Haven’t seen you at the Watchtower in a while.”

“We just keep—”

“—missing each other,” she finishes for him, removing her hand. “Bats says that you’ve been working on something behind the scenes.”

Dick grins. “Been keeping tabs on me, have you?”

“Feeling seems mutual. How many tries did it take you to find me on my free night?”

“Far too many,” he muses, drinking in her features. She looks good. Better than good, really. Performing suits her, it brings a light to her eyes that’s been missing for far too long. He means to tell her that, one day. “Hoped that I’d get to catch a glimpse of you in your stage costume.”

“No free shows, I’m afraid.” Zatanna removes her bag from her shoulder and Dick instinctually holds his hand out. After she’s removed her compact and lipstick, she gives him the bag to hold while she touches up her makeup. Once she’s re-applied, she holds the mirror up to check for any flaws. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company tonight?”

Dick hands her bag back once she’s done, then shrugs. “Maybe I just wanted to see you.”

Zatanna laughs, shakes her head. “As much as I’d like to believe that’s true, I think you’d be doing us both a favor if you got to the point. I’m a busy woman, and now you’re cutting into my evening.”

“Already a step ahead of you, Zee.” He nods to his car, a shitty Toyota that’s far too old and yet his pride and joy, because it’s all his. “Let me take you to dinner.”

“Tempting.” Zatanna takes a step towards the car, and then sits on the hood. “Nice ride. Bats getting cheap on you?”

The opposite, actually. Bruce had offered him any car he wanted for his eighteenth, but Dick refused them all. He had a meager amount saved up over the years, and he spent every penny of it on this car. Not even the top of the line could compare to the feeling when he earned the keys himself.

“Does it meet your approval?”

“Afraid not. You know my standards.”

“That I do.” But even Dick knows that Zatanna can’t pass up a free meal. She wouldn’t be working so many shows if she didn’t need the money. He opens the car door and holds his hand out for her. “You have the night free, and I missed you. It’ll be like old times.”

Zatanna takes his hand, but doesn’t yet move from the hood of his car. “Getting warmer.”

“Alright, you dragged it out of me. I have something planned.”

This piqued her interest, just like Dick knew it would. Zatanna plucks herself from her perch, gracefully standing again. “Ding, ding ding. We have a winner. Should I change?”

Dick unzips his jacket, revealing a blue button-up, ironed to perfection. “Naturally.” He’s pleased with himself that he’s thought this far ahead. She was always a sucker for big gestures. He’s happy to see that still hasn’t changed.

“A moment, please.” Zatanna lets go of his hand, and he gives her room to work her magic. “Rennid rof ydaer teg!”

A cloud of smoke envelops her, and a moment later her casual dress changes to a satin blue halter, the exact shade as his shirt. Her hair is now down, freshly styled, and the air around her smells like cherries, almost like the perfume he’d bought her for her sixteenth birthday.

Dick is unable to tear his eyes away from her, which isn’t great, considering there’s a lot he still needs to get done tonight. For a moment, and only a moment, he wishes that he could forgo the whole mission and give in to his most selfish of desires. The same desires that beg him to reconcile, to try them again, foolish and illogical as it would be. But instead, he just holds out his hand again, nodding to the car door. “Your quick-changes have gotten better.”

Zatanna takes his hand and enters the car. “You’d be surprised what extra training can do for a woman.”

“Oh, of that I have absolutely no doubts.”

—

To her credit, Zatanna only asks Dick three times what sort of plans he has in store for them that evening. It’s cute, really, and it gives him a chance to quiet her with kisses on her hand as he drives and tells her she’ll see soon.

Just after midnight, he parks in front of a warehouse and cuts the ignition. Unable to help himself, she casts a a quick look at Zatanna, whose palpable confusion is worth every second it took to set this up.

“When you said dinner…” She doesn’t finish the sentence, but Dick can only imagine what he pictured. Manhattan, maybe. Somewhere smoky and exclusive where she could order a dry martini made with top shelf liquor. Or a cozy Italian joint, where the owner would obviously know him and serve them a menu de jour.

“Where’s your sense of excitement, Zee?” Dick steps out of the car and opens the door for her, pleased that she readily gives him her hand when he offers his. “Don’t you trust me?”

“Less by the minute. Tick-tock, Grayson.”

Dick laughs, light and airy in a way it hadn’t been in a while. He closes the door and tucks the keys in his pocket before leading her to the warehouse and ushering her inside.

Once inside, Zatanna’s eyes crinkle, the confusion melting into annoyance. The warehouse contains the makings of an acrobatic escape, trapezes and platforms all around. Nothing too impressive, at least not to the ordinary eye. “Really? You brought me all the way here to.. What, watch you train?”

“Disappointed?” Dick asks, trying to hide his smirk as he takes off her purse and sets it to the side. He doesn’t give her time to respond. Instead, he hits a light switch on the wall, and turns a dial beside it. The halogen lights cut off, and for a moment, they’re in total darkness. Then, the room lights up with hundreds of tiny silver lights, glittering in a way that could only resemble a clear, starry night. “Would have pegged you better than to jump the gun,” he finishes, only a hint of a simper in his voice.

Zatanna can’t hide her awe, especially not as the room becomes aglow with soft colors. She’s obviously impressed, but crosses her arms over her chest and tilts her head towards him. “I still don’t see dinner.”

“You really can’t be patient, can you?” Dick rolls up his sleeves and kicks his socks and shoes to the side. “Dinner’s going to take a bit more effort to get to.”

It takes her a few seconds to understand what he means, but when she sees him chalk up his hands and walk over to a trapeze bar, her eyes go wide. “You can’t honestly expect me to—”

“Wow, Zee. Didn’t realize you’d become such a chicken.”

“Those are fighting words, Grayson. I can just levitate myself to wherever we need to go.”

Right. He’d forgotten about that. Still, not easily dissuaded, he hoists himself up onto the bar, and maneuvers himself so he’s hanging upside-down by his legs. He swings towards her, holding his arms out. “Don’t worry. If you fall, I’ll catch you.”

Zatanna scoffs. “I won’t fall.”

Hook, line and sinker.

“Prove it.”

She shoots him a look that’s somewhere between annoyance and determination before slipping off her heels. “If you tear this dress, I’ll kill you,” Zatanna warns, taking a breath to steady herself before taking his hands. “You’re lucky I’m hungry.”

“Atta girl.” Before she can change her mind, Dick holds tight to her hands and propels his body so the trapeze bar swings in motion. Zatanna’s involuntary shriek is like music to his ears, but he’s a professional, so he controls the bar and focuses on holding her up. Dinner is three platforms above them, so they have some work to do. “You see that platform on the left?”

Zatanna tilts her neck, just barely, and nods. “The one that’s way too far for my liking?”

“That’s the one. When I give you the signal, you’re going to jump onto it.”

“Are you insane? Only one of us is a professional acrobat and I can promise you, it’s not me!”

Dick laughs again. She could easily levitate her way out of the situation, but he likes that she’s been thrown off her guard and he temporarily has the upper hand— that so rarely happens. He swings a bit harder, and they get closer to the platform. “On the count of three. Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

“One… two…”

“You’re going to be paying for my weekly therapy sessions with Canary for months, Grasyon!”

“Three!” They hover just over the first platform, and Zatanna obediently jumps and lands on her feet, only barely sticking the landing. Dick follows suite a minute later, grinning from ear to ear. “A bit more practice and you’ll be ready for a gig at Haly’s.”

The adrenaline must have hit her, because Zatanna just grins back, a little breathless but otherwise unharmed.

“Ready to go again?” Dick nods upwards to another trapeze. “We’ll do a duet this time.”

Zatanna seems weary about having to go about this again, but she seems to have resigned herself to her fate, so she wraps her arms around his waist and nods.

Dick brings one arm around her for support, and then jumps up to catch the next trapeze. He kicks them off and swings through the air, making sure her grip on him is tight before letting go and holding onto the bar with both hands. “You doing good?”

“Oh yeah, peachy. Just another day in the life.”

“Then hang on!” When her arms grow tighter around him, he swings his legs up hard so they soar through the air. The lights twinkle all around them, and if you didn’t know any better, it almost seemed as if they were flying through the night sky. Dick sneaks a look down at Zatanna, and the fear has all but abated and instead been replaced with genuine joy.

“I want to try something!” She yells, her voice shaky with excitement. “Etativel!” Zatanna lets go of Dick’s waist and floats in the sky beside him. “That’s better.”

“That’s cheating.” Dick raises himself so his torso is resting on the trapeze, his arms hanging over the bar. “This is the real magic.”

“Potato, potahto. The real question is, can you keep up?” She flies higher, and Dick has to scramble to put his hands back on the bar and spring close enough to jump to the next one. The higher ground was nice while it lasted.

Zatanna spins through the air, clearly much more comfortable, the skirt of her dress billowing around her. She’s fast, but Dick’s experience allows him to catch up quickly, leaping from trapeze to trapeze as he ascends. Zatanna meets Dick after he’d leapt to the third trapeze, floating so their faces are inches apart.

“Now this, I can get with.”

Dick catches his breath before lifting a hand to swipe his bangs from his eyes “Well sure, you make it look so easy. But skill,” he pauses, doing a single handed pull up from the bar. “Can be expressed in a number of ways.”

“Wow, the acrobat has arm-strength. Who would have thought?”

“Sarcasm duly noted.” He inches closer, watching how the lights reflect off the satin of her dress. It gives her a glow, one that suits her, and he has half a mind to tell her to consider finding a spell to give her a permanent shine that follows her every move. Instead, he says, “Nice dress, by the way. You look beautiful.”

Zatanna’s smile falls, only a little, but Dick knows her well enough to recognize the change. “Thank you. It was a birthday gift from… Zatarra.”

That is information he didn’t know. “Didn’t take Doctor Fate for a huge shopper.”

“He isn’t.” She plays with a tendril of her hair, avoiding his eyes. “He’s decided on giving me an hour a year with him. Zatarra, I mean.”

“You saw your dad? Zee—”

“It’s fine, Dick. I’m fine, I—”

Before she can finish, the magical glow around her suddenly vanishes, and she falls.

Dick’s reflexes are fast, he immediately drops down after her and grabs her by the waist, then hooks a leg on a trapeze and maneuvers them so they land on a platform. Unfortunately, he doesn’t quite stick the landing, and they both tumble to the ground. He does have the decency to force the fall so she lands atop of him; the last thing he needs is to crush her, she’d never let him live it down.

The fall knocks the wind out of them, but Dick doesn’t feel anything broken, so he calls that a success. Zatanna’s laying on top of him, but there’s no moaning or screaming, so there’s no red flags as of yet.

“Zatanna?”

“I’m fine. Just need to catch my breath.”

Dick rests a hand on her head before he can remind himself that he shouldn’t. It’s instinct. “Zee, you fell.”

“Happens from time to time.” She sits up, gets her bearings. “Flying takes a lot of concentration, and when you break it…”

“Down goes Zee. Got it.” Talking about her father must have triggered her. He’s naturally curious, he wants to know more about the how and why. Now isn’t the time, though. He’ll ask Artemis soon enough. The air feels a little too heavy, so he nudges her lightly. “Told you I’d catch you, though, didn’t I?”

It works, and the spell is back once more. Zatanna smiles and nudges him right back. “So you did. I owe you one.” She turns her gaze towards the ceiling, watching as the lights glimmer. “How did you find this place?”

“It’s back from my old Haly days.” He sits up so his knees are in front of him. “Can you keep a secret?”

Zatanna shoots him a look, as if the answer isn’t overwhelmingly obvious. “Depends how interesting it is.”

“I’m thinking about going back. I’ve been training here, a few times a month, when I have spare time. That’s what I’ve been working on, behind the scenes.” Not completely untrue. But it’s enough to bait the next part of his story.

Sure enough, Zatanna is thrilled. She’s grinning from ear to ear, that impish little smile that drives him crazy and used to garner him to do much of her bidding. “That’s amazing. Of course I’ll want front-row tickets to your opening night.”

“Granted. There’s just one issue.” He pauses, looks up at the ceiling. “I wish I didn’t have to join as… myself. A Grayson, going back to Haly’s circus, it’s a lot of pressure.”

Dick doesn’t enjoy lying to her. He feels Zatanna’s eyes on him, and does his best to keep his face neutral. Most days she can read him like her favorite book, and he’s been laying the facade on thick. If she buys it and helps, he’ll consider it a success and another step forward in the mission. If she calls him out, he risks losing a friend forever.

“Dick Grayson wants to moonlight as an average Joe… sounds like you need a Glamour Charm.”

Bingo.

He turns so he’s facing her, cocking his head to the side in question. “A Glamour Charm?”

“I’ve seen it in one of Zatara’s old magic books. It’s supposed to be a charm that hides the wearer from those he chooses. Or.. something of the sort. I could look into it more, if you want?”

In his excitement, Dick reaches for her immediately, wrapping his arms tight around her shoulders. “It’s perfect, Zee!” It is perfect. A better outcome than he could have ever hoped for. “Thank you,” he says into her hair, allowing himself just a moment to reminisce in the scent of her shampoo before pulling away.

Zatanna holds her hands up, a warning. “I make no promises, but I can try. This is powerful magic, challenging to make and if it falls into the wrong hands, if something bad were to happen…”

“It won’t. Scouts honor.”

“Promise me, Dick.”

Dick tries to take her hands, to calm the steel in her voice, but Zatanna won’t allow it. Instead, she grabs his chin with her fingers, staring him down. “And say it backwards.”

The words shoot a pang of nostalgia through him. Silly as it was, that’s what they used to say to each other, back when they were younger and in love with the idea of love. If you said a promise backwards, it sealed it into existence. He hates making this promise, because he truly doesn’t know, but he needs to do this. For Kaldur. For the mission.

“I promise. Esimorp I.” He’s probably butchered the pronunciation, but it’s enough for Zatanna. She lets go of his chin and instead rests her hand on his cheek, cupping it gently.

“Now it’s a lock.”

They both grin at each other, but the feeling doesn’t settle like it usually does for Dick. It courses through him, burning, and she’s so beautiful with the lights all around her that he throws caution to the wind and closes the distance between them. His mouth is on hers in an instant, and she reciprocates hungrily, settling her arms around his neck to bring him in closer.

Dick’s mind is full of plans for the mission. The Glamour Charm will take a few weeks, which is enough time for him and Kaldur to figure out how exactly they’re going to kill Artemis. There are so many plans to make, so many thoughts, but at the moment, he doesn’t care to entertain them. Instead, he decides to clear his head and slips his tongue into Zatanna’s mouth when she grants him entrance.

Even though her hands are on him, grasping at his shirt, he pulls away, breaking the kiss. Dick catches his breath, making sure she’s looking at him. “This okay?”

“Yeah.” Zatanna’s just as breathless, her curls beginning to fall in her face.

“You don’t want to eat first?”

She shakes her head. Her hands don’t leave Dick’s shirt, and since he’s still hesitating, she slides her hands around his chest, moving to gently nip at his ear. “I’m hungry for something else,” she whispers right in his ear, sending a course of shivers down his spine.

It’s exactly the invitation he needs. Dick carefully unlaces the halter strap from her dress, bringing it loose before sliding it down. They have an unspoken agreement. One night, no less than three months apart. Time stands still, and for a moment they’re both teenagers again, catching up as if the future plays no purpose. They’re both lonely, hungry for something that only the other knows how to satiate.

Later, he’ll carry her off the platform and take her to the room in the back. He’ll grab her a proper dinner, and spend the better part of an hour running his fingers through her curls while she warns him not to get it tangles. He’ll marvel at the way she looks draped in only a sheet, and pretend not to notice as she starts to gather her belongings to leave before daybreak.

For now, this is fine. More than fine.

It’s perfect.

#young justice #yj #chalant #dick grayson #zatanna zatara #young justice fic #ariel's writing

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