Homecoming
Zatanna honestly wasn’t expecting him to hug her. Nevertheless, it took a great deal of effort not to just melt against him; she remembered times when she’d done so, at night when she’d been assaulted by dreams, and she would not let now be one of those times. She didn’t cry. The fear was mostly gone now, since she could feel him there and hear his voice. Dick was very much alive, and that made everything okay.
She could feel the hint of humor in his voice vibrate through his chest, and it made her smile. Just one of the many things she remembered loving about him, she supposed. Zatanna took a deep breath, composing herself, trying to reciprocate. “I am so an airhead. This time, at least.”
And now it was probably time to explain herself until she was blue in the face. (Of course Dick could figure out what her issue was without hardly trying. Typical.) “…w-well. Of course I was. I have to figure out what stuff’s been going on while I was gone, right? Like…more of the Justice League being off-world than I’d anticipated, for example. Or the great Boy Wonder being…d—” her voice cracked without her meaning it to, embarrassingly and she lowered her head even further against Dick, holding onto him a little bit tighter. She wouldn’t say it. Saying it when Dick was holding her breathing and heart beating seemed like bad karma. “…i-it’s all anybody would talk about. Robin this, Robin that, but…” and once again she felt completely stupid for jumping to conclusions and not making SURE to verify that he was okay with Wally before surprising him like this.
“I-I tried comming Wally to…to make sure, because who believes stupid rumors without proof, right?” she tried a small smile to lighten this up, somehow. She didn’t want to start crying. “…we should really get on fixing the range issues with those things.” Because it’s not like it had been her fault for only hearing what she expected to hear. Of course not.
Zatanna had to be honest, she loved when Dick got like this. It was selfish and dumb of her to think about this now, but he had always been one of the most comforting people she’d known…when she’d needed them. Black Canary was great for therapy, but she rarely gave hugs. M’gann tried her hardest but was always just too awkward. Artemis was a great friend, but horrible at comforting people. And Batman…well. He’s not exactly the touchy-feely type. But Dick…he was always there, giving her what she needed when she needed it, whether it be space, or a hug and calming words.
She couldn’t imagine a life with him gone.
Dick held her tighter and she briefly wondered why before she noticed something was…off. About this. Zatanna and Dick had grown very used to the feel of each other over the years, and something about him was wrong. Maybe it was that he didn’t seem to put as much strength into his support as he did before. Maybe it was because he was obviously taller…and maybe more gangly? No. A growth spurt did not account for this much muscle loss.
…was that a rib she just felt?
“…No. Everything is not okay.” Her eyebrows furrowed and she pushed lightly against him to look him in the eyes. “Since when have you been this skinny? And…pale…and…” concern dominated her features and she brought a hand up to Dick’s cheek, feeling how his face was thinner, and it wasn’t just her imagination. “Dick, what happened? What happened to you? Why would people think you were…?”
Shit.
Dick pulled away immediately.
He’d completely forgotten about his physical condition. No way Zatanna wouldn’t have been able to feel his thinner body after such a long hug.
What had he been thinking?
“Nothing!” he protested immediately, then sighed as skepticism overcame concern on her face. “Look.”
…How the hell was he supposed to explain what had happened over the last five months?
“You’ve been gone for a year, Zee. A whole lot of shit has gone down, but it’s over now, okay?” Dick raked a hand through his hair, sighing in defeat. “And… I just haven’t been feeling too well, so I’m skinnier than when you left. It’s not that bad.”
It’s a little worse, but.
It’s over now.
That’s what’s important.
It’s over.
“People thought I was dead, huh?” he sat back, crossing his legs so he could look at her properly, but far enough away that she wouldn’t be touching him anymore. His shoulder hunched, draping his loose shirt over his chest in a way that she couldn’t see the outline of his ribs anymore. “That’s odd. I’ve been patrolling regularly. Only missed… oh.”
The rumors must have started while he’d been in the hospital.
“Um.” It would probably be the worst idea in the world to tell Zatanna that. “I was out of commission for a while though. Got injured pretty bad. Nothing too bad!” he hastened to reassure her. “Not even nearly fatal. Just took a while to recover is all. That’s probably when the rumors started.”
Those were the rumors, right? About Robin being dead or something?
“And Batgirl wasn’t around, so the criminals probably thought something went massively wrong when it didn’t.”
Dick grinned at her, hoping to let the subject drop here.
“Is that why you came running by in the middle of the night?” Robin lifted his arms, gesturing to himself. “I’m fine, see?”
He dropped his shoulder, tilting his head. “It’s been a long time since I last saw you.” His smile was soft. “Your hair got longer.”
Zatanna didn't buy his story for one second. This was just like him; make it seem like it wasn't as bad as it was, and then change the subject. Her first inclination was to grind him for the truth, but she knew that there wasn't any point. If Dick didn't want to tell her, trying to get more out of him would just make him withdraw and get angry. So she resigned herself to giving him a stern glare that let him know she didn't believe him, and telling herself that she would find out. Somehow. Whether it be from Dick, or somewhere else.
She knew that she'd been gone for a long time. And she knew that Dick would probably get hurt at some point; it was a part of the lifestyle. It happened. Heck, she'd gotten hurt more than once on her travels; gotten into scuffles, helped people when they needed it, all sorts. But this...this was something bigger. The discrepancy between the rumors she'd heard--did he have a twin? was he captured? was he dead? did each of those rumors mean something?--meant this was bigger. Dick's unwillingness to tell her what was wrong meant that this was much bigger.
Zatanna sighed. "Dick..." she pleaded him with her eyes, hoping to give him one last chance to really tell her what had happened. But of course, he didn't. Another sigh. "...yeah. It got longer. I've been gone for a while, and sometimes I've had to go without a barber."
Zatanna stood up off the floor and held out her hand to Dick to help him up. "Sorry for...knocking you on the floor. I was, uh...not thinking."
