Both hands on her hips, Zatanna looked up with a grin. “Totally not. And you totally didn’t plan on ambushing lil’ ol’ me, I’m sure. As a matter of fact…while we’re confessing…I totally didn’t plan on challenging you either. Just minding my business.” She teased in a sing-song tone.
"I would never dream of it.” Dick reassured, a breath of laughter slipping past his lips, “This is just all so very innocent and non-threatening.” Moving his hand slightly, Dick scooped a good amount of snow into his palm as he smiled sweetly. “I mean, no one could hit this pretty face with they wanted to either.”
“Uhhhh–” She looked behind her, down the hallway, shoulder rising. “Idunno.” Zoe almost sounded sad, sitting up as if to take off in search of her mom–or her father himself. But the motion of Dick sitting next to her caught her eye, the young girl falling back on her butt again, smiling wide as she handed Dick a blue crayon. “What do you draw?”
Dick felt the corner of his lips twitch downwards as he watch the kids adjust herself, eyes darting around like she was looking for her parents, but he was quick to correct it. “I can draw anything.” Dick chirped happily, “Things like birds.” He tilted his head as he sketched the symbol that was across his nightwing uniform. “Or bats.” He then drew out the bat symbols he had seen on Bruce and Jason’s chests.
"--- Of course I do.” Dick flashed a grin, scooping up a handful of ball and compacting it into a ball. “Reminds me of being back home kinda of. Plus...” He shot the other a mischievous look before pelting the snowball at her. “You can do this!”
The high definition image of Dick Grayson tinkering with the camera was the first thing to cut on the screen. A half eaten bowl of cereal appeared next to the keyboard briefly before the acrobat finally focused the frame onto only his face and shoulders. His feathery locks of hair were freshly cut and brushed neatly out of his face. It actually gave of the impression that he had always looked this neat and put together, rather than being windblown from bounding and flipping all over the place.
“There we go.” His voice was equally as bright as his smile, “You know, you’d think the smart house would make these things easier to use or at least leave some instructions laying around.” His hands waved casually as he spoke, the only able to stop him was the momentary pause to shovel a quick bite of cereal into his mouth, surprisingly managing to maintain a level of charm.
“It’s almost Christmas.” Dick noted, almost absentmindedly, as he looked back at the webcam. “You know, Clark, you seem like you were a big time Christmas guy. You have a really jolly vibe.” His smile twitched at the corner of his mouth before he leaned back, his eyes flickering downwards. “Had.” He corrected himself. “I’m a big Christmas kind of guy myself. It gets even better on those rare few years that I’m not working. Trust me, back when I was a cop, holiday task force was a nightmare.”
Brushing his fingers through his hair, Dick leaned back in his chair. “Being a mentor, teacher, ya know. Guiding people. It's crazy to be doing it again. I mean cause… I don't know.” He paused for a moment as he smiled sullenly, “I gotta lot of questions and no one who has answers. How am I supposed to do these kids justice if I'm second guessing myself? And I never second guess myself.” For an acrobat, second guessing was a good way to end up splayed on the ground. Splat.
Looking up at the camera, Dick studied the camera lense carefully, as if he was trying to find something that he was looking for. Or someone. “I miss having you around, Clark.” He admitted, “I miss a lot of things. Alfred making hot chocolate in the batcave. Jason jumping around with the decorations. Babs under the mistletoe.” Dick trailed off with an boyish grin, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah... There’s just a lot to miss.”
“Don’t get me wrong though. There a lot of new things here. New people. This girl Illyana --- Man, she’s a real knock out. I’m her secret santa this year so I gotta try to make her see that I’m totally awesome. Oh. And with kids like Kate and Zach running around here, it makes me want to teach how to cause trouble just so I can see the look on Diana’s face. Kate wants to learn to flip around the place and I’m glad to show her the ropes. Hopefully she doesn’t get a face full of dirt though.” He held up his fingers as they cross over, “And then there is Floyd. You probably knew him from Bats. Deadshot. I’m not entirely sure why he is here but you’d be surprised. He’s a good guy, so much as he’d hate me for saying that. He is. It’s just... his life choices... ya know --- involve a lot of explosions and ya know. People dying. I guess that’s where me and you have that large capacity for hope. Hell, you wore around on your chest.
“Yeah --- And then there’s Zee. Magician girl is something else, let me tell you. She’s a lot like me. Orphaned. Put into shoes she’s not ready to fill yet. A real trooper. You’d love her spark. Ya know, just like you loved my spunk.” He laughed at that thought. “I just want to make sure she’s okay through everything. Like how you looked out for me.”
“Well, Clark. It’s was good to have this chat, but I have a present to deliver. So do me a favor, yeah? If you there is such a thing as the afterlife or whatever and you wanna sixth sense me. Help me figure out some answer here. You left too soon, Clark. I still need ya.” Dick sighed as he stood up, adjusting the camera before showing the present he had, “Merry Christmas, Supes.”
--- And for a minute he thought she was going to be a new student here. They were rolling in younger and younger as it seemed. Whew. “Oh yeah? Hopefully she hasn’t been gone long.” He chimed in return as he crouched down near the kid, looking down at the book she was drawing in, “If there is one thing I, the great Dick Grayson, loves --- it’s definitely coloring. I’m a master at it really.”
“Unless you’re allergic to insect stings. Then it’s deadly…” Brows furrowed as she continued tending to his wound. Not many people got her weird humor and Dick wasn’t probably into that either. “Ouch.” She hissed as she cleaned his wound. “Okay so I know you say you’re a big boy and you can take care of yourself but this is infected, Dick. You need some anti-biotic cream or something.” She grinned and then added. “All this eligible bachelor talk about you that I hear and no one to fix this up for you.” She shook her head. “Tisk. Shame. Aaaand there you go. Good as new. Just make sure you add the cream again tomorrow for the next few days. If not, I can do it for you.” She had been trying to take the attention from herself so that he wouldn’t see the tears but alas, she was caught. “The joker.” She whispered and leaned back. “I’m still sorry. It’s awful what you’ve been through.” She listened to him, agreeing with the part about living for them. That’s what was doing. She looked away after he wiped her tears and sighed before looking back up at him. “See? I have every reason to want to be like you. I lost my family too. I have no one. I want to be as strong as you. I want to push through it like you and on most days I think I’m doing a good job but then there are days I really miss my father.” She wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and smiled softly at Dick. “We’re gonna be okay. Right?”
"You know, I used to have a lot of people that were around taking care of me.” Used to. The thing with being solo was also that it meant taking care of yourself, by yourself. Now there wasn’t Alfred on hand to boost his spirits with a bad pancake and his medical know how to put him back together again. Babs wasn’t there to sass him back into some sense. Bruce --- well that part of the story was obvious. Painfully so. “Zee.” Dick felt something hit him when he met her gaze. Pursing his lips as he realized had been through what it feels like to be alone. Two orphans. Man, the world really had a twisted way of doing things. “You got me.” Dick smiled lightly in return, “And we’re gonna be alright.”
“Sorry.” She whispered,blowing softly on his skin. “I feel sometimes that if you warn someone, they expect it and they move so I figured this would have been easier. Did I hurt you?” She pulled away and wrapped the tissue into another. “I’m not sure if I think it’s cool.” She admitted, rotating her finger over his body so he could turn and she could tend to wound. “I’m just going to check on this. Make sure it’s not infected.” She kept her tone gentle and then added. “I think it’s brave. I think it must be rough and I appreciate everything you’ve done for Gotham and well, the country. I think that…” She paused and kept his gaze,stopping herself from cleaning his injury. “Your brother?” She didn’t know that. “Oh. Dick….I—” She took a deep breath and shook her head before proceeding to clean the cut. “I’m sorry you lost your brother. I can’t imagine….” She tucked in her lips and sniffled as a few tears trickled down her cheek. “No one should go through something so terrible.” She had lost her entire family from one day to the next. Kind of like Dick. It was terrible and she understood his pain was more than what was on the surface.
Dick grinned before waving his hand nonchalantly. “It’s fine.” He replied, “A little stinging hasn’t killed anyone... I hope.” Opening his eyes slightly, the acrobat watch the spell caster rotated his body. Raising his arm, soft orbs examined the still redden skin around the old cut in his side. “I got that when I made a quick trip back to Gotham.” He admitted quietly, “Deathstroke.” Tensing his muscle slightly, Dick prepared himself silently for the sting of the anti-biotics. His head dropped slightly as he listened to Zatanna, only looking back at her when she paused. “It’s okay. It wasn’t your fault.” He reassured. It was the Jokers fault. He was the one that took Jason when he was so young, so vulnerable... he was just a kid. “I’ve had my share of loss. You just have to live on for the people you lost, you know? I owe them that.” His parents. Jason. Everyone he had ever lost. Granted Jason has another in itself. Back from the dead. “So don’t cry, okay?” Reaching over, he swiped away the tears that had ran down Zatana’s cheeks, a bright smile tugging up at his features.
“That can be arranged, I can bite you for dessert,” she replied grinning mischievously. “Did you have somewhere in mind?”
"Well that works for you ‘cause there are plenty of people that say I’m real sweet.” Dick chortled, “Well if ya really want me for desert there’s a restaurant not far from here. But then again, I don’t know if you’re the type of person who prefers desert first.”
She watched as he stood up, glad that for a moment, the lack of lighting would at least hide her expression of worry. “Maybe?” She quipped back, eyes on the back of his head until the lights were flickered on again, causing her to strain her eyes before adjusting to the new setting. She was careful not to overreact but her expression was still softened as she observed him. “It’s okay.” She could handle it. Zatanna moved to the very end of the couch to give him enough room. She wasn’t made out of stone and so the young magician frowned as Dick revealed his injuries, sighing and standing to reach for the first aid kit that sat above one of the book cases by the fire extinguisher. “I get why you didn’t want me to see you like this, Dick but it’s not going to change how I feel about being like you.” She pulled the coffee table towards the couch, clearing it of magazines and newspapers before sitting down. Had someone told her months ago she’d be tending to Dick Grayson’s wounds, she would have laughed it off. “Here let me clean your face first.” Squirting some Hydrogen Peroxide onto a guaze she leaned in cautiously. “So, tell me what happened.” And gingerly began to remove the now dry blood off her mentor’s cheek.
Dick remained still as he watched the magician lean in close, his eye flinging close onto slightly at the feelings of cold peroxide against his skin. “Woah. That is definitely a doozy, Yeesh---” He paused as he refocused himself. “Well --- As cool as people might think it is to be Dick Grayson. I don’t want people to be like me.” It would be a sick thing to wish. “I mean think about it. On most files I’m registered as deceased.” Ever since the Court of Owls had dished out his identity it had to be that way. He had to be dead in order for him to live as he did now. “I’m tired for seeing memorials go up where ever I go too.” Pausing, the corner of Dick’s lips twitched upwards as he met Zatanna’s gaze, “My brother died because he wanted to be like me.” Rubbing his shoulder lightly, Dick rolled it as he let his eyes fall shut. He regretted reading those tarot cards those years ago. "I can’t do into detail of what I did.” Dick exhaled a soft laugh, “And that not because I’m embarrassed that I actually got clipped on a patrol. Classified. But, I can tell you that they were wearing sunglasses at night so they were very cool. Then I also kind of fell three stories down when a beam broke. It was a trip.”
“Whatever delusions help you sleep at night.” Floyd shook his head, moving to hand Dick the water bottle before taking a seat on the floor beside the couch. “Hell if I know, but I’m inclined to believe you.” He had seen Dick’s acrobatics first hand–he was not about to argue. “Yeah, yeah. Otherwise people like me win and that’s just not allowed.” His gaze rose to the ceiling, annoyance clear in his tone–not necessarily directed at Dick–but more so vigilantes in general. “Right. You guys do the fun stuff and we stay here and study.” He clicked his tongue, chin dropping as he glared at the floor. “How are we supposed to learn how to save the world if all you’ll only see us as students?” He asked, sharpness in his tone and eyes as he looked at Dick. “We’ve all seen shit, Dick. We can handle whatever this city can throw at us–so why keep us cooped up here? Doesn’t make a damn lick of sense to me.”
"Delusions? I only get those when Scarecrow decides to roll into town unexpectedly.” Dick laughed, “And those aren’t particularly on my own accord.” Bright orbs bounced from the water bottle towards the sharpshooter as he took a seat on the floor nearby. Cracking a small grin, he shook his head slightly before taking another sip. “Otherwise people like me win and that’s just not allowed.” The phrase made Dick pause. Freezing where he was for a minute as he processed just what Floyd had meant before setting the bottle down and shifting so that he was seated on the floor next to the sharpshooter. “You’re a dork.” Dick laughed as he nudged the other’s shoulder. “People like you aren’t the ones that make idiots like me do what I do.” Sure, Floyd had done things. Things that Dick knew he didn’t argue with. But Dick didn’t hate him or find him an enemy. Huh, Jason would have had a riot meeting Floyd. They were so alike. Maybe too alike. “I never said anything about seeing you guys as just students.” Dick confessed as he flipped the water bottle, watching it land on the base when it hit the floor. “And if I say anything about being too young to fight then I’d be a hypocrite.” He laughed brightly. “But this isn’t Gotham, you know? This isn’t the grime that we both prize. People don’t need the cavalry coming in every night. Occupational the major baddie will pop up but that’s when we’ll send people out.” Granted even Dick sort of hated the system. “A lot of things don’t make sense now-a-days but sometimes you just have to roll with it.”
“Yeah. Your bad.” Harley sassed, shifting her weight between her right hip and her left. She crossed her arms over her chest, blue eyes like daggers as she looked at the boy. As he stalled, Harley didn’t know what to do. So, rising on the balls of her feet, Harley waved her hand in front of his eyes. “Hello? Anyone in there? Ugh.” She lowered herself down onto her feet. “I swear, they sent me to school with a bunch a’ dead people.” When he spoked, she rose an eyebrow. “I’m here for th’same reason that cha are. T’be a good person or some shit. Play th’game like a good lil’ dolly an’ be on my way. ”
Dick has always believed in redemption --- that people could changed for the better --- but this was even a stretch for him. When he looked at her now, he saw a product of the JOKER, someone who would gladly take a hammer to the back of someone’s head just for a good laugh. The self proclaimed CLOWN QUEEN OF GOTHAM. Did Bruce honestly approve of Harley attending the academy? Him of all people --- Hell, nevermind, he probably wasn’t even paying attention. “Wow there, how about we have more sugar than the spice right now.” Dick quipped in return, not quiet allowing himself to believe whatever she was saying. Maybe she was lucid, maybe she wasn’t. Dick wasn’t going to drop his guard to find out. “I see. Ya don’t seemed too thrilled about that.”
“Oy! Ain’t cha eva’ heard of lookin’ where ya are goin’?” Harley hissed, looking straight up at the person who had run into her. “I know I’m not that tall, but ya could still look out an’ down every now an’ then instead a’ running me ova; like a bulldozer! Ain’t cha eva’ thought a’ that?”
“My bad.” He started, but soon stalled when he layed his faze upon the other. Dick had thought people were joking when they had told him that Harley Quinn was attending the academy. Harley Quinn. The Joker's right hand girl. Dick felt the pain of a old wound kick him in the ribcage at the thought. Had Harley finally ditched the clown? Or were they going to be in for a bad repeat of the past? “What brings you here?”
