Tempest: Chapter Ninety: Conner Kent

AN: At last, we're here, the big one, the one we've all been waiting for.

She found it hard to focus as she continued down the street until reached the place she was looking for. Amara stopped to stare up at the sign, proudly proclaiming 'Gratia Art'. It was a new sign, she could tell. She hadn't been back since she'd first given the place to the artists' Oracle had helped out. But it wasn't like they could go around saying that Oracle helped them out, so that was how Amara became known as the only sponsor, which was fine, since she and Oracle were the same fucking person.

Amara sighed loudly. She could've gone to Harley, she would've understood…but Amara needed someone impartial, and that certainly wasn't Harley.

The door opened suddenly. "Amy?" Grace Merrit, one of the artists in charge of the place, was looking Amara over in confusion, taking in how she seemed to be vibrating apart at the edges. "Are you okay?" she asked finally.

"Um." Amara swallowed thickly, her throat dry. "I think I need some advice."

"Okay," Grace said simply, opening the door a bit further, "why don't you come inside?"

Amara twisted her hands together uncomfortably before striding past her, stopping short inside, waiting for Grace. Grace was so patient, directing Amara into a room with a stool, setting up an easel in front of her with a canvas and a tray of paints of varying colors.

"What's this?" Amara stared at it, bemused.

"Think of it like art therapy," Grace told her with a smile. "Paint and talk."

Amara picked up a paintbrush, swirling it into crimson and painting a streak across the canvas. "In January I started this girl, Zee—"

"How old's she?"

"Fourteen," Amara said and Grave nodded in understanding, prompting her to continue. "At the start everything was great, you know, she was great…she made my brother's disappearance more bearable and all that. I guess, I guess I thought everything was fine, even when I was always bracing for a fight but a friend just stopped me to tell me that she didn't think our relationship was healthy, that I'd been just been explaining things away—"

"Why don't you do this?" Grace interjected into her rambling as the crimson became Jupiter's Great Red Spot, surrounded by pinks and whites. "Tell me things about you that she doesn't like."

Amara swallowed, taking a deep breath. "There's one, my friends call it tactile fixation, it basically means that I'm acutely sensitive to touch. When I was younger, it just meant that no one was really all the surprised when I reached out to hold their hands, everyone understood because they knew it was me and it was normal for me…but she didn't like me holding anyone else's hands, like being together meant we could only be the ones holding each other's hands, you know?"

Grace leaned against a table. "I'm guessing that doesn't really help your sensitivities?"

"Not really," Amara muttered, remembering how Dick had touched her hand once and it felt like an electric shock…he'd been so concerned. "And I'm still doing work for Oracle, and you know how she operates in the grey area—" Grace nodded. "—Zee's never really like that kind of thing, which is probably because her alignment is lawful good and mine is obviously chaotic neutral, I mean look at me."

Grace snorted. Faint blues joined the canvas.

"And I'm always bracing for a fight, but I love her and—"

"Amy, I'm gonna give you some advice that's going to hurt," Grace decided, pulling a stool next to Amara. "When its good, it's great, but when its bad, it's terrible and it makes you doubt yourself and feel like crap, trust me, I've been there. She might be an amazing kisser and make you feel like you're floating on air, but always bracing for a fight's going to mess you up, emotionally and psychologically…you might even've started changing how you act so it sets her off less…it's not good for you."

Paint dribbled onto the floor.

"I also think you can recognize the signs of abuse because you've experienced it, but this is your first love and you don't want to put an end to it even when it might not be good for you." Grace took the paintbrush from her fingers, squeezing her hands kindly. "Sometimes both of you need a nice clean break to realize she's not good for you and you're not good for her."

Amara heaved a heavy sigh, hating that she thought maybe it might be a good idea.

Amy hadn't asked him, probably because she was dealing with so much stuff going on with her personal life right now, but one day very soon she was going to remember that hard drive she'd stolen from Cadmus and then asked him to hide.

And Conner, being someone who didn't exactly excel in hiding things, had just buried it, not quite knowing what else to do. Luckily, he'd been smart enough to wrap it in a towel first.

"Conner! Wait a second!"

He came to a sudden stop suddenly to look M'gann in the eyes.

"Can we…" She licked her lips like she was coming up dry, "can we talk a sec?"

Conner looked down at the hard drive in his hands. Amy was easier to talk to, she knew what it was like, growing up in Cadmus, and she understood the need to get away from everything that stimulated him and figuring out who you were on your own.

With M'gann it had always been a struggle that he'd made sure not to let show.

But Amy didn't need the hard drive immediately.

"Okay," he said, standing in front of her, "what did you want to talk about?" He could guess.

M'gann sighed softly, interlocking her fingers. "Look, I know things have been…weird between us lately." Weird was an understatement, awkward was probably more accurate. "And I wanted to say…I'm sorry for my part in it."

"Huh?" Conner stared at her in total confusion.

"I gave you the name Conner because I had a crush on the character with than name in 'Hello, Megan'," M'gann admitted, flushing a little greener. "I even use the name Megan in school because I loved her character so much…and when I saw you for the first time, I immediately fell for you, but I didn't stop to think about how young you actually are, how little you understood about the world and about the choices you had."

Conner decided to not be offended by that.

"You're going to find someone who rocks your world and…and I want to see that happen, as your friend." M'gann swallowed thickly. "If you want to still be friends, that is."

Conner's eyes softened and he reached out to pull her into a hug. "We'll always be friends, M'gann, I promise."

She relaxed, winding her arms around him. "You're kinda my best friend, Conner."

Conner smiled. "You're kinda my best friend, too." They parted from one another. "Now I'm gonna go give this to Amy and watch her pretend like she didn't completely forget about it."

That earned him a laugh. "Tell her to take it easy, will you?"

Conner saluted. "Will do, but you know Amy, always on the move…which makes a lot of sense since she's a speedster's daughter, I realize."

M'gann laughed him off but once he'd gone, she braced an arm against the wall, breathing in and out sharply. She'd been having such terrible dreams lately, all around Conner, and all involving him covered in his own blood and frozen in a pod like the one Kaldur, Wally, Robin, and Amy had said they'd found him in.

Bile rose up in her throat. She hadn't seen something so awful since…Mars.

"No," she whispered to herself, "don't think about that."

She couldn't even begin to talk about that tragedy…fabricating a tournament to become Martian Manhunter's protégé had made it easier to talk about, but she couldn't tell her friends what had really happened on Mars…not even her Uncle J'onn could do that.

"Its fine," she murmured to herself, "its not real. Conner will be fine."

But would he?

By the point Zatanna realized she'd made a mistake, she was in far too deep and it felt less like she was the one in control and more like someone else was in charge and she was just a passenger. It was the worst feeling in the world and she knew that there were some parts of her that had always…disapproved of the things that Amy occasionally did and maybe she'd known that it wouldn't work in the long run…but this was worse.

Saying all the things that had only just barely crossed her mind only with a sharp-edged knife that was driving in slowly but surely over time…Zatanna could see how it hurt Amy and even with all her doubts, that was what she'd never wanted.

To see how she sometimes tensed up like she was readying for a fight when she saw Zatanna, how she always seemed on edge, even hiding something as simple as homework for her new art history class because she didn't want Zatanna to say anything about it, how wary she was when they kissed.

It never used to be like this.

Zatanna wanted to sob, she wanted to hit things. Was this how her father felt stuck inside that helmet while Nabu did as he pleased?

She should've never tried that spell, something had gone wrong and Zatanna didn't know how to fix it, she didn't know how to regain control. She couldn't even scream for help even when it was what she needed the most.

Her father had always warned her to take care when invoking the gods in spells. Zatanna should've listened better but after how Amy and Artemis had to watch her back during that one mission…she'd been desperate to get more powerful quickly.

Her mouth was currently busy with Amy's. Amy felt more relaxed than she had in awhile and Zatanna was doing things to her that made was earning her small noises against her mouth, Amy's hands tangling in her hair.

Zatanna couldn't do much and maybe Amy wouldn't even notice. Her fingers twitched at Amy's hips, tapping out in Morse code: Help. Help. Help.

She swore as she lost control again and her hands -moving against her wishes- moved to crush Amy against her chest.

"Mm," Amy mumbled against her mouth, "what's all this for?"

Zatanna kissed her again. "I know things haven't been great between us…I wanted to do something nice for you."

"Nice for me?" Amy repeated dubiously. "By kissing?"

"Mm-hm." Zatanna kissed her again, relaxed and lazy, her fingers started tapping again.

Please, Zatanna thought, please notice, please help me.

Amy did notice, and she moved slowly, grabbing something on her desk, then she snapped it up, aiming it at Zatanna's head. Zatanna wished it had collided, but the god possessing her body was faster and more powerful.

A pained sound escaped Amy's lips as it tightened its grip on her wrist, forcing her to drop the collapsible baton that Zatanna remembered her saying that Harley had gotten her. It clattered to the ground and Amy drove her head painfully against its, forcing it to release her so she could grab the taser on her desk and zap Zatanna's body.

"Ow," it complained without inflection. "That hurt."

"You're not Zatanna!" Amy's expression was stormy and then horrified. "I let you touch me! I let you kiss me!"

It huffed in amusement. "Don't worry, this body is Zatanna's, but, you know, she's not the one at the controls, so to speak."

That just pissed Amy off more. "Who the hell are you?"

"You can call me…Apep." Its mouth stretched into a smirk, noticing how Amy's hands were shaking around the taser. "Having a hard time holding that?"

"Shut up!" Amy snapped.

"If there's one thing I've learned about you, daughter of Poison Ivy," it hummed, "its that most poisons you're impervious to…a gift from your mother no doubt…but I've been attempting to poison you for months and it hasn't worked…but neurotoxins on the other hand." It grinned widely. "I coated Zatanna's lips with just enough to affect your aim."

Amy growled. "That won't stop me."

"Oh, I know." Zatanna could feel how her teeth were shifting, two sharpening like a serpent's fangs. Oh, no, please no. Amy lunged forward, teeth bared and fist aimed right for Zatanna's face, but neither of them were quite so lucky.

It caught her easily, knocking her legs out from under her and using her surprise against her, fangs sinking into her throat. Amy tried to throw it off, vainly, struggling against its grip until the venom's neurotoxic effect had flooded through enough of her body to make her go limp.

It lowered her to the ground, amusingly brushing the hair out of her face. "I've always been a great fan of Black Desert Cobra venom…it will make this process so much easier…sacrificing you and your little girlfriend here should be enough to appease the gods into releasing my godly form from the Duat. Zatanna Zatara wanted power and I gave it to her, now it's time for her end of the bargain."

And just as Amy's eyes rolled shut there was a loud roar and the sound of shattering of glass.

When Amara came round once more, she could barely move her body, which was only slightly better than when she'd passed out. She was against something warm, a warm body, a warm body that was getting wetter by the minute. She could hear the thing in possession of Zatanna's body chanting not too far away.

Amara pried open her eyes at long last and was immediately horrified and terrified and wanting to scream and cry all at the same, because underneath her was Conner, so pale he was almost grey, and there was blood across his midsection that was currently painting Amara's chest and cheek red.

"No," she whispered in trembling horror. "Conner…Con-wake up, please, please wake up."

He just slightly stirred and Amara choked slightly, relieved that at the very least that he was still alive. Amara didn't think she'd take it if Conner was dead, Conner who wasn't even (technically) one year old. "Please don't die," she begged.

Conner didn't answer her.

Wonder Woman was manning the Watchtower for any off-world communications from Leaguers currently on missions off Earth -mostly she was just dealing with Flash and Green Lanterns and the Hawks- with the Manhunter issue that the Green Lantern Corps had been dealing with for a few months. She knew Barry liked off-world missions as much as everyone else, but he had a family to look after and most Leaguers didn't have that luxury. Still, Hal had recommended him and the Hawks for a reason, and it wasn't because Barry was his best friend, though that helped. And it wasn't like the Earth's Green Lanterns were going to be back anytime soon, given the looks on John and Hal's faces the last time she'd seen them.

Still, Wonder Woman wasn't expecting to really deal with anything major when a crackle came across the communicator.

"—hel—please hel—"

She frowned. "This is Watchtower, please repeat. Who is this?"

"Storm—" the voice was whispering she realized, "Storm Chaser, please, please help…I-I don't know where I am and, god, Superboy, Superboy is –there's so much blood, and—"

Steve had said Amy had stopped by recently to ask a few more questions about him and Vandal Savage, but she hadn't actually seen the girl, not in a long time. But she didn't think she'd ever heard her so scared…and Conner, the kid was only half-Kryptonian and he still possessed so much human weakness.

She started tracking her comlink immediately. "SC, tell me what happened!"

Why on earth was she pinging in Egypt of all places?

"Zatanna—" she broke off for a long moment that Wonder Woman thought the connection had been severed. "—I don't know, she's possessed or something, it called itself Apep, please, I don't know how much longer Conner's got!"

"We're on our way," Diana promised, sending out a transmission to one person in particular. "Doctor Fate, I need you and I need Zatara on board."

Kaldur wished they'd stop missing out on all the action, it made him feel like he was just a sidekick rather than a leader of his own team of heroes…but at the same time, he was also glad he hadn't been involved.

"Zatanna," Robin repeated dubiously, mouth gaping, "possessed?"

Wonder Woman considered them all. "Yes, by the Egyptian god Apep, a god of chaos…from what Zatara said, it looked like she was trying to make a deal with Isis, but got the wrong deity."

"Zatara?" Artemis asked loudly. "Don't you mean Doctor Fate?"

Wonder Woman's mouth thinned into a line. "Doctor Fate has temporarily relinquished control of Zatara's body because they are both in agreement that this needs a tender touch and an explanation from a father. He will replace the helmet when all is said and done."

"What about Conner?" Wally pressed, his cheeks were wet -all of theirs were, really, excepting Kaldur but his eyes were shining too brightly to be anything but a brave front- "He's not-he's not d—" His voice cracked and broke over the word 'dead'.

"No, no," she was quick to assure them and Raquel leaned forward to brace her hands to her knees and M'gann actually sobbed in relief. "His situation is critical, but we got to him in time. He's been placed in suspended animation to heal from his injuries."

"Suspended animation?" It seemed Robin was only capable of repeating words, as in shock as he was.

"But that's just science fiction stuff," Wally insisted, "none of it's been proven!"

Wonder Woman smiled sadly. "Superman brought a pod over from the spaceship he came to Earth in. Krypton was a great distance from Earth and he didn't age a day from the time he entered it to the time he left it after it crash landed. Batman and the Atom are doing what they can to reconfigure it for healing, but he'll still be out of commission for a while."

"Define 'a while'," Kaldur's tone was commanding but his words were desperate and Wonder Woman heaved a sigh. "Days? Weeks?"

"Try months or years…I'm sorry," she said fervently.

It hit them all like a train and they all swayed where they stood, overcome with shock and pain. It was only slightly a step up from having to drag a bloodied Amy from Conner's body as she sobbed and clung weakly, the neurotoxin still working through her system. It took Batman murmuring softly in her ear to calm her down -something Wonder Woman thought was ironic, since he and Amy always seemed to be at odds, but Bruce was a father, there were some things he understood better- enough to allow them to sedate her and get the antivenin in her.

"And Zatanna?" Artemis asked thickly, her throat closing. "What about her?"

"None of this is her fault—"

"I know that!" Artemis snapped. "But what's going to happen to her?"

Wonder Woman blinked in surprise looking at all the kids before her. They were scared and horrified and so very young…they didn't deserve to lose a friend, not that young. But there they stood. The Team had forged them into some new, something strong. Bravery, in Wonder Woman's book, had always been courage in the face of fear.

"That remains to be decided, but her tampering with magic she wasn't trained for is what started this, so Zatara is making arrangements for her training to be continued…away from outside influences." There was loud complaining at that, but she held a hand up. "I'm sorry, that's all I know and as her father and teacher, Zatara gets the final say."

Robin frowned as they continued to ask questions, turning his attention through the other door where he could see his father's cape. He moved towards it, swallowing hard at the sight of Conner, pale and unconscious in a pod.

Amy was sitting next to it, wearing a button down that was way too big for her and had to've been a borrow from any of her father's clothes that had been left behind in the Watchtower…her own shirt must've been covered in blood (Robin shook off that thought quickly). She looked so small, drowning as she was in the shirt, trembling, eyes red. But even more surprising was how she was clinging to Bruce's arm.

They were getting along better than they had before, but Robin had never seen her desperately clinging to his father's arm. His father might've put on a cold front, but he'd always been very good with children and Robin knew that from experience. Bruce was patting her hand kindly where it was clenched around his arm.

"Your father will be off-world for a while still and I know Pamela is out of town for a conference and Iris is out of state, reporting on a story," he was saying quietly to her, "but I've called Harley, she knows what's going on, she's just picking up Ariel from school."

"What if it comes back?" Amy's whisper was ragged in her throat, eyes wide and terrified. "It knows where I live, and-and—"

"Apep is gone," Bruce promised, "Zatara and Doctor Fate banished him to the realm he came from, you don't have to worry."

But Amy looked like she was worried, she was very much worried.

"I want to stay with Uncle Ollie."

It had been years since Amy had called Ollie uncle, she still told people that he was her uncle, but she only had ever called him 'Ollie' in the past few years.

"I think that's something you'll have to talk to Harley about."

Ariel didn't know what was going on but it sounded like something bad had happened. Amy was a wreck, like had-to-be-plied-with-raspberry-tea wreck. Her room was a mess, her window shattered, blood on the floor. Ariel wanted to ask if she'd been attacked but Amy had seemed so miserable, lifting a black hard drive from the floor that seemed a bit out of place, compared to everything else in her room. Her shoulders had been shaking so terribly when she shoved it into a bag with some spare clothes and her laptop.

"Where're you going?" Ariel asked in confusion, only slightly bitter that she wasn't going to see her new foster sister during the designated two weeks a month she was in Gotham.

"I'm staying with my uncle for a little while," Amy said, lacing up her shoes.

"For how long?" Ariel tried not to pout but she didn't succeed.

Amy smiled faintly. "As long as I need. Ollie and Dinah agree that I need space from…everything."

"Amy…what happened?"

That small smile of hers fell away completely. "Well, my girlfriend and I broke up and one of my friends could be in a coma for a year or more so this is me, holding it together as much as I can."

Holding it together or bottling it down were a bit different, if you asked Ariel, but she still gave her hug before she disappeared into a car with a man that looked a lot like that famous guy from Star City. Harley waved until the car was out of sight before sighing sadly.

"Her girlfriend's a jerk," Ariel said sourly, "dumping right after her friend got messed up."

"No," Harley shook her head, "Amy and Zee had their issues, but that? That wasn't Zee's fault and it wasn't Amy's, either…it was just a really bad situation."

Ariel frowned, feeling like she wasn't telling her everything.

"Tell me she's okay," Iris' voice echoed over the phone, worry clear as day. "God, her and Wally…I should come back and ditch—"

"No, she's, she's not okay, she's very upset, but she's staying with her uncle…Ollie? For a little bit?" That bit confused Harley, because she didn't think that Barry was brothers with Oliver Queen and that was certainly something that would've made the news…unless it was his girlfriend that he was actually the brother of and she was just being nice, calling him uncle.

"Oh, Ollie, good," Iris sighed, "don't worry, she used to stay over at his place a lot when she and Roy were younger. She's the only one that can stand his unbelievably spicy chili…what about Wally? Where's he?"

Technically, Wally could be on his own for a few days, he was sixteen, after all, but somehow Artemis had managed to convince him to sleep over a few nights at her and her mom's place. Harley had met Huntress before, but it was something else seeing her out of her getup, in her wheelchair, being an actual mom had been a trip.

"Who would've thought," Paula had said tiredly, taking in the sight of Harley when she'd come with Wally (Ariel hanging out in the car, not fully understanding what was going on), "the pair of us, decent mothers?" Harley had smiled faintly at that, giving Wally a swift hug and a kiss to the cheek, waving him goodbye.

Conner had a crush on Wally, Amy had told her a few weeks ago with a wink. Wally had liked Conner a lot -not romantically, not with how he looked at Artemis-, so it must've been very shocking to deal with a friend being in a coma for months or even years.

"I think Artemis was worried about him because she convinced her mother to let him stay over for a few days at their apartment." Harley rubbed a hand against her head. She was getting the itch again. To go out, to dye her hair her trademark colors, and pick up that mallet of hers…the quiet life wasn't for Harley, no matter how hard she tried.

Pam made it look so easy, giving up villainy to take on a new persona as mother. Daffedoll had it all sorted, but not Harley. She liked her job, sometimes, she liked her life, sometimes, but she liked her girls all the time, and they were the only ones keeping her sane right now.

"Oh," Iris sighed, "well, that's good. I don't want him to be alone."

"Its been a shit year, huh?" Harley asked without humor.

There was silence on the other end for the longest time and Harley felt like a complete asshole, reminding Iris that her brother and sister-in-law were dead. "I'd hoped that would be the worst of it," Iris admitted weakly, "but I guess I was wrong about that." It almost sounded like she was steeling herself. "At least Conner had a chance to recover…others haven't been quite so lucky."

When Harley had found out the Flash was Amy's father, she'd done a lot of research on him, trying to dig up dirt on him, but the Flash as an all-around good guy. He was the Leaguer known for reaching out a helping hand first before anything else. There were so many articles about him sitting and talking with his Rogues. So many of them put such a positive spin on him, but there was one article that stuck out.

It was a report on the death of the Elongated Man, and the grief on the Flash's face as he held the body. It had happened shortly after the Justice League had formed…when people became less afraid and angry at their superpowered and heroic fellow citizens.

Harley got the feeling the Elongated Man was the one Iris was talking about now.

"It probably won't feel like luck for awhile, though," Harley admitted.

"No, but one day she'll be grateful for the extra time," Iris was too certain.

Harley didn't doubt it, but she also thought it would be a welcome relief when Barry came home.

Zatanna came around slowly, feeling like there was a weight in the air around her, a hum of magic that she'd never felt before.

She stirred at long last, blinking her eyes open only to balk and gasp, hands raising up to her throat instantly. She was surrounded by water! How on earth was she breathing?

"Be calm, Zatanna, you are safe here."

She looked to see a woman floating through the water with red hair that made her think of Amy but with blue eyes and an odd crown of sorts and a flowing kind of green dress. "Hello," she smiled, "I am Queen Mera. Kaldur'ahm has told me about you, about all his friends."

"Am I…Am I in Atlantis?" Zatanna asked dubiously. "How am I breathing right now?"

"Your mother's gifts." The voice that she hadn't heard in months made tears sting her eyes as she turned to see her father swimming through the water, much less at ease than Mera, with gills at his neck that had to be a spell.

"Dad!" She threw herself off the bed that she'd been resting on and into his arms. "I've missed you so much!"

His hug was tighter than she remembered, but that suited her just fine. "Are you…are you back now?" She hoped so. "For good?"

His face grew tight. "No," he admitted and her heart sank, "this is only temporary, until I've explained things to you and gotten you settled."

Mera patted Zatara's arm. "I'll give you the room, Giovanni."

And there she was gone, leaving the pair alone.

"I really screwed up big time," Zatanna whispered, "I don't know what went wrong—"

"Calling on the gods for strength is one thing, but opening yourself to possession is something else," Zatara said, sitting down on the bed with so much patience. "It's my fault, if I'd taught you more, you would've known better."

Regret and guilt bubbled inside Zatanna as she sat down beside him. "It's not your fault, it's mine, I was so desperate to become stronger that I didn't stop and think about the consequences and…" Confusion marred her brow. "What happened, anyways?"

"I believe your girlfriend was going to break up with after one of your friends made her realize how unhealthy you two were…Apep had been slowly gaining control over your body and mind and finally managed it completely, attacking her and Superboy when he came to help. It seems he intended to use them as sacrifices to regain his body—"

"Apep?" Zatanna was stuck on that. "But…but I did the spell to Isis, Isis of the serpent."

"Therein lied the problem," Zatara sighed, "Apep is the Egyptian god associated with the snake, not Isis."

"But Isis became a snake to get Ra's true name!" Zatanna insisted.

"Yes, but Isis is mainly attributed to the cow," Zatara explained patiently and Zatanna's anger died.

"They must hate me," she muttered into her hands.

"Amara understands it wasn't you to blame but she felt there were too many bells that couldn't be unrung," Zatara said carefully, though Zatanna was pretty sure Amy hadn't said those words exactly. "I understand she's taking a break from all things hero-related for awhile."

That didn't make Zatanna feel better, in fact, it made her feel worse.

"I want you to stay here, in Atlantis," Zatara continued. "Learn from your mother's people, train in her magic."

Zatanna's breath -or water, she supposed- caught in her lungs. "My mother was Atlantean? You…you never talk about her."

Zatara smiled sadly. "One day I'll tell you all you need to know about Sindella...but if there's one thing I know, it's that Queen Mera's magic academy will do you so much good, I promise." He squeezed her shoulder.

"But…my friends," Zatanna faltered slightly. "How long do I have to stay?"

"Until she's satisfied you've improved."

Zatanna scowled. "Sounds like a punishment."

"It is," Zatara arched an eyebrow. "But it was also an oversight on my part…things happened far too fast that I didn't consider how my leaving would affect your training."

"Is he letting you go yet?" Zatanna asked sourly.

"Not yet, but we're getting there," Zatara promised, leaning over to kiss her forehead. "Never doubt that I love you, Zatanna."

"Dad, wait—!"

But he'd drawn the helmet down over his head and Giovanni Zatara disappeared, Doctor Fate taking his place and vanishing abruptly in the light of a brilliant ankh, leaving Zatanna clutching at empty water.

How could everything go so wrong so quickly?

AN: I always knew we'd end up here, but some explanations for you guys. Part of the reason Conner is on ice is because the ship for him will end up being TimxKon and Tim's way too young and Conner's like fifteen, appearance wise. He's the only character in the Team that could feasibly survive a near-death experience like that without residual issues (Amy's pain, case in point) and eventually we're going to get into the Death of Superman and the Reign of the Supermen, so he needs to be out of the picture and see his world change and expand.

Zatanna and Amy will eventually talk, but its going to be awhile.

We're a few chapters away from the end of book 3's part one and there's going to be about a three month time skip between part one and part two.

As always: REVIEW!