Sell you a Bridge chapter 270

June 6th 2016 The Nightside 9:00 PM EDT

The  severity of the situation was kind of undercut by Zee's yelp as she  realized her mom had been resurrected bare ass naked and threw a quickly  conjured cloak over her, turning to glare at me as she noticed me  looked. I averted my gaze, pretending to be distracted, though I  couldn't help but mentally high five myself. If Sindella was anything to  go by Zee was going to age pretty gracefully. I shut down that thought  pretty quickly though, given the bond between Zee and I an the  irritation I could feel coming through it.

Jim stepped up  next to me. "So, not to detract from the moment, but are all the rituals  you get from your power so...busy? This is the first time I'd seen you  use one of them myself, and that was incredibly flashy and dramatic.  Most mystical workings don't bother with so many effects."

I  paused. "Actually...yeah. Same with the ritual I used to convert the  girls into elves. To be fair my power brings spam to life, and spam  emails are all about hype. I makes sense that the rituals produced from  them would be over the top and flashy. That's what the spam writers  would be focusing on." I hadn't really considered that the magic might  be different, but given the weird variances in my ability it wasn't a  huge shock.

As we talked, I watched Zee throw herself on  her mother and begin to sob uncontrollably, barely understandable words  between her tears. Sindella looked shocked and a little confused, but I  was guessing she could sense her daughter's nature because she adjusted  to the teenager clinging to her pretty quickly. I imagined she had seen  plenty of crazy shit in her life anyway, plus dying of cancer isn't the  type of thing you lose track of so she probably knew she'd been dead.  She just held her daughter, making quiet shushing noises and stroking  Zee's raven hair as she wept.

I looked over and saw Taylor  staring at her like he'd seen...well, a ghost. I figured that I should  give him time to get his head on straight, so I stepped up to introduce  myself to my future mother in law. I suspected I'd like her better than  Zee's dad. I probably couldn't like her much less. When she heard me  approach she looked up cautiously and I just smiled, holding up my  hands. "Miss Sindella. It's nice to meet finally meet you. My name is  Morgan O'Malley. Your daughter is my..." I trailed off. How did I  describe what Zatanna was to me? Girlfriend? Fiance? Lover?  "Everything."

Zee buried her face in her moms chest a bit  deeper to hide the blush I could feel anyway, but I could feel that she  knew I meant it. I pulsed some love over to Drea to make sure she didn't  feel like I was ignoring her, but all I felt was pride and reassurance.  She loved us both, and loved how much I cared for each of them.  Sindella, for her part, raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's certainly a  weighty statement young man. I suppose I can't very well throw stones at  the lengths you'll go to. Resurrecting the dead mother is a strong  move. That'll earn you some brownie points."

Her voice was  soft and gentle, with a crisp accent that reminded me of the more  upscale brits I'd met like Jim and Julian. There was a slight bite to  her voice that might have been traces of a different accent. I assumed  Turkish. I smiled widely at her teasing. "Well sure, I have to go out of  my way to dote on her or she gets all overbearing and whips me into  shape. I think it should be pretty clear who wears the pants in our  relationship."

Zee jerked her head up and glared at me.  "You bad mouth me to my mother again and I promise you I'll be wearing  pants for the next few years, and I'll make sure Drea does the same.  We'll see how funny you are when you haven't had sex in fourteen  months." Her lips were twisted into a scowling pout that I could see  twitching as it tried not to become a smile as she said it.

I  put my hands up in surrender. "Yes dear. No need to go for the jugular I  was just kidding." Since she was teasing I didn't mention that she  would probably lose her mind going that long without sex. We hadn't gone  more than a few days without sleeping together in a long while, and I  was pretty sure her species actually needed it to stay functional.  Granted she could always sleep with Drea, so it might be best not to  push her.

Sindella giggled, a sound that was odd to hear  from my girlfriends mother, especially when I noted that she was only in  her mid twenties. Being dead for sixteen years was pretty good for the  skin apparently. "Alright you two. As cute as your flirting is I'd like  to get to know my daughter and her...whatever word you would use. I have  questions, not least of which is why you now have pointed ears and  purple eyes. Those can wait for a bit though. For now I should probably  go get dressed. Does anyone have some clothes I could borrow?"

Zee  looked down at herself. "I...um, my measurements aren't exactly  standard, especially since I became a heavenly punishment elf. Maybe  Artemis could lend you some. I'd ask Drea but honestly she's so top  heavy even I don't fit into her clothes properly." She frowned  unhappily. "I'm such an idiot. Of course a resurrection spell that used  bones wouldn't create clothing. I should have thought of that. I'm sorry  mom. It must be so embarrassing to stand around wrapped up in that  stupid conjured cloak. That thing won't even last more than ten minutes  or so."

She shot Artemis a pleading look and our blonde  companion took off for her room to pick up some clothes for the elder  Zatara lady. After she was gone, Sindella turned to kiss her daughter on  the forehead. "Peace, love. A bit of nighttime nip is nothing compared  to the chill of the grave. I'm covered for now and there are clothes  coming. For now just let me look at you." She pushed Zee back, holding  her by the shoulders smiling proudly. "You're so beautiful now. A bit  changed I can tell, but I can still see myself in you, and some of your  grandmother too." Her smile fell. "I missed so much."

She  was immediately swept back up into a tight hug as Zee fiercely  contradicted her. "No! You missed a bit, but I'm only still young. We  have plenty of time together, you can still see me do more than a bit of  growing up, and you're back now. No guilt or regret. It's a happy day.  We're together again, as a family." She closed her eyes, lying her head  on her mothers shoulder happily as she enjoyed the peace of the embrace.

The  older Zatara seemed to have noticed something at that comment, and she  flicked her eyes around curiously. "Speaking of family, where's Gio? I  can't imagine him letting his precious baby perform a powerful and  presumably deeply unpleasant ritual all on her own. Did he help you set  this up?" Her smile was exasperated as her gaze roamed around the  courtyard, until it settled on a tall, dark haired form and stopped. She  stared for a moment before speaking. "Ah. Hello Johnny."

Taylor  stared back, silent for a moment, and when he responded his voice was  rough with emotion. "Sindy. You look good." He paused, a look of panic  stealing over his features as he looked at me. "Wait, is she healthy  now? Your ritual didn't bring her back with the cancer still in her did  it?" He clearly hadn't considered the possibility, and I didn't blame  him for the terror of worrying he might have to watch his first love  waste away to death right in front of him.

Luckily I was  smart enough that I DID consider that possibility. I gave her a quick  scan with aura sight, being very careful to avoid looking anywhere but  at her. Just like I'd gathered from the ritual details she was perfectly  healthy. I shook my head at him reassuringly. "No. It's fine. I just  double checked and she's alright." I didn't mention that I could have  cured her cancer anyway if needed. It didn't really seem relevant.

There  was a sound of a clearing throat as Sindella attracted our attention.  "If you two are quite finished I can answer questions about my health  for myself thanks." She turned back to Taylor with a fond smile. "I'm  fine Johnny, really. My body feels better than it has in months...or  probably quite a bit longer considering my daughter's new age." She  looked down. "Speaking of age, how old are you exactly darling? I feel  like a bad mother for even having to ask but aside from knowing you're a  beautiful young woman I find myself woefully underinformed about my own  child."

Zee just clung to her  side. "I'm eighteen, though I'll be nineteen in just a few months. It  doesn't make you a bad mother not to know, you weren't here but that  wasn't your choice. We can catch up on all of that now. As for daddy..."  She trailed off. "Daddy's been away. We got sucked into a portal a few  years ago, at least a few years over here, and he thought I was dead. He  chose to take up the mantle of Doctor Fate so he could keep the world  safe since I wasn't around to look after any more. I haven't been able  to reach him in the times we've spoken. Doctor Fate doesn't really  deliver messages."

That  was about the kindest way she could have described the series of events  leading to her becoming basically an orphan, and it somehow made me  even angrier that she was still making excuses for him to her mother  despite her pain at what he'd done. Sindella looked crestfallen, but I  could tell she was too overwhelmed to try to pick through that  information. I had a feeling Zee would be answering lots of questions  later but she just grabbed her daughter and pulled her close. "Oh baby,  you've been all alone haven't you?"

I  felt a swell of love from Zee over our bond as she squeezed back. Her  voice was soft and heartfelt as she told her mother. "Not for almost a  year now. I have the best family. A sister who cares about me, a  boyfriend who adores me, a girlfriend who takes care of me. I have so  many things in my life that other people don't get." She paused, seeming  unsure if she wanted to keep going, but she finally forced herself to  continue and pulled back, smiling up at her mother. "I even have a  daughter of my own, even if she was born through magical means instead  of biological."

Sindella's  eyes went wide and her brows flew up. "Well. That's...I'm not sure how  to respond to all of that. I'm glad you're happy at the very least. You  can fill me in on the details once we have some time to talk. For now it  seems your friend is coming back with some clothing and I'd very much  like to get dressed." It spoke to the crazy shit this woman had been  through that hearing her eighteen year old had a kid hadn't thrown her  too much once she heard it was a magical thing. Then again she HAD grown  up in the Nightside.

Artemis  did indeed come back and pass some clothes over, and I made a wall of  shadows so Sindella could dress privately. Once that was done she gave a  sigh of relief. "Well now. This has all been very exciting, but also  draining emotionally. I think we all need a chance to get to know each  other somewhere relaxing and pleasant." She turned to Taylor. "Say,  Johnny. Is the Arcadian Project still around?" I wasn't sure if I liked  his answering grin or not, but I supposed it was better than wounded  shock. Probably.