Sell you a Bridge chapter 54

Shadowcrest July 20th 2010 8:30 PM EDT

Zatanna's  room was...girlier than I had expected. Not pink and frilly or  anything, but the baby blues mixed with the midnight blue and the silver  accents were all made up of decidedly feminine stuff. She had several  stuffed animals on her bed, which was well made and tucked in and her  midnight blue blanket was a big fluffy throw with a unicorn rearing up  against a sky full of stars.

She  flushed a bit when she saw me looking around. "Sorry, I wasn't  expecting company so I didn't really clean up." I was confused as to  what the hell she meant because it looked incredibly clean to me, but I  caught a small motion and noticed her use her foot to push a lacy black  thong under her bed. I chose not to mention it and tried even harder not  to blush like kid with a crush when I noticed how skimpy the thong was.

I  cleared my throat and stepped up next to the bed, shooting Zee a  questioning look which she responded to with a nod before I sat down  then patted the blanket next to me awkwardly. I tried to keep my tone  businesslike as I spoke, but I'm not sure I managed it. "I guess I  should fill you in on everything that's happened. Some stuff I won't be  able to tell, because it involves secrets of people who aren't me, but  I'll do my best."

I  proceeded to fill her in as best I could. Starting with what happened  to Reggie and his family (sans names of course) then my encounter with  the Talon, meeting Jim, stealing the knife, Annabel, Madame Xanadu,  Blood, the Shadowpact, there was just so much to tell and despite  editing out the few details about my powers and that only Artemis knew  and being a bit vague I found myself confiding in Zee completely.

It  felt...nice. Trusting someone like this. It hadn't been too long since  Annabel had betrayed me, but I'd kind of missed the feeling of being  able to talk to a girl this way, and Zee's dad was a hero, so I knew she  wasn't going to try to sacrifice me to make me her braindead ninja sex  slave. Probably. Regardless it felt good to get everything off my chest  and even better to see the fascinated and impressed look on her pretty  face.

I  briefly considered telling her everything like I had Artemis, but I'd  long since come to the conclusion I'd gotten stupidly lucky telling  Artemis. I'd been so desperate not to be alone in the superhero world  I'd made what otherwise might have been a stupid mistake blurting it out  to the cute neighbor girl, and while it had turned out well, Annabel  had proven that to be more of a fluke that anything else.

Even  without knowing about my powers though, Zee's clear lust for adventure  was showing, because her bright blue eyes were shining with excitement  as I described all the situations I had been in. I almost invited her on  a job with us, but I didn't think she was quite excited enough to turn  to a life of crime. I felt like she might get there though. After I  finished talking I looked at her quizzically. "So are we ok? I know this  is a lot, and now you're in danger because of me." I wasn't sure if the  fact that she was in danger had registered yet.

She  just waved it off "Oh don't worry about it. There are more defenses on  this place than you can imagine. Your mentor bypassed the passive stuff  and got you out before the active stuff was online, but I can trigger  the active defenses when you leave and an actual god couldn't get in  here. I wish I could go with you honestly but daddy would lose his mind  if I up and disappeared like that." She worried cutely at her bottom lip  as she tried to think of a way to come with me but eventually gave up.

I  chuckled at that "So I take it you won't be turning me in for any of  this stuff? I was a bit concerned your conscience would push you into  tossing me to the cops." I gave her a rueful grin, but she didn't return  the smile. Her bright blue eyes were completely serious as she reached  out to take my hand. I felt my heart race a bit as the soft skin of her  fingers ran over mine when she squeezed. This close I could smell her  lavender and chamomile shampoo and just the scent of it was kind of  intoxicating.

Her  voice was entirely earnest as she looked into my eyes "You did  something very brave to help a friend. And since I'm your friend too I  can't exactly complain about loyalty. Sure your career choice leaves  something to be desired, but you clearly care a lot about people in your  life and I would be a pretty crappy friend if I didn't learn from your  example." She smirked again. "Besides it's not like I'm robbing places  with you, as long as you don't tell me details how am I supposed to know  what you do with your time."

I  laughed at that. "Fair enough. I was mostly worried you would hate me  for the whole crazy ex girlfriend wanting to kill you thing." I flushed a  bit at that. Zatanna hadn't asked why Annabel wanted to kill her, but I  figured she might have guessed I had a bit of a crush. I figured since I  was already laying out my cards here I might as well push a bit  further. "She...uh, might be a bit jealous. Of how close we've gotten  since she...um, well since I thought she died. Which she didn't... so I  guess we just broke up."

Zee  gave me a cocky half smile "Jealous huh? Of what? We're just friends.  Unless there's a reason for her to be jealous of me?" She was staring at  me intently now, and her cheeks were a bit flushed. Looking into her  eyes like this from so close was like falling into the mariana trench, I  felt like I would never reach the bottom, just endless perfect blue. I  swallowed hard and she scooted a bit closer.

My  own breathing picked up a bit. "I mean. I can think of a hundred  reasons for any girl to be jealous of you." I flushed when I realized  how that sounded "I mean, because you have so much going for you. You  can do magic and you're smart and funny and...beautiful." She averted  her eyes when I said that last part. "So I mean, I guess she does have a  reason to be jealous. Not that it really matters." I stared at her  perfect porcelain features. "Unless it does matter? To you I mean."

I  wanted to lean in, to press my lips against hers. They looked so pink  and delicate and soft. But I didn't. Zee was my friend, if she wasn't  interested I didn't want to push. She coughed a bit in embarrassment "I  mean, it's not like I haven't thought about it. Even before I saw you  without the mask, I though about it a few times. But daddy would never  let me have a boyfriend. Much less a professional thief. Not that you  would be, you know. My boyfriend. Or I guess maybe you would."

She  was stuttering a bit now, eyes darting across the room and focusing  everywhere but at me. I reached up, following some instinct I had no  idea I even had and caught her chin, moving her head so she was looking  at me. "You seem nervous. Don't be. Anything that happened here is your  call. If you aren't interested just tell me and I'll back off. If you  are, well your dad doesn't know I'm her now, so he doesn't need to know  next time either. If there is a next time. Which again is up to you."

She  stared up at me, her eyes bit unfocused as she leaned up and pressed  her lips to mine. The kiss was slow, tentative. No tongues or anything  just softness and the smell of lavender. As she gained a bit more  confidence she ran her hands up my chest, one of them sliding up behind  me to clench into a fist in my hair. The kiss lasted a minute or so, and  when she pulled back she was flushed. "If you were my boyfriend, and if  there was a next time, we could do more of that. Because that  was...nice."

She  reached up to touch her lips gently, as if seeing if the feeling of  them changed after kissing me, and the image of her like that, in her  t-shirt and jeans, hair in a ponytail and lips swollen from kissing me,  beat out every piece of magic I'd ever seen to become the most amazing  thing I had ever witnessed. I leaned back down to taste her lips again,  pulling her into my lap and making a mental not to pick up one of those  perfect lover courses with my power.

She  ground against me as we kissed some more using a bit of tongue this  time, but stopped and stared wide eyed at me as she felt me against her  ass. Her face turned tomato red "Um. Is that...wow. Those aren't usually  that big right?" I thanked every single god I could think of that I'd  decided to do those male enhancement pills during my month of training,  because she looked very impressed. But the shock seemed to have made her  come to her senses and she kissed me again sliding out of my lap.

She  paced to the mirror on her dark wood dresser and took out her ponytail,  putting it back in to try to keep her hands busy as she obviously tried  to calm down. "Well...that was...really nice. I'd like to do that  again. So you should come and see me when you can. I can text you when  daddy is out." She turned with a flush "But maybe next time we should  meet somewhere else. Not that I don't like having you here...this is  just a little soon. To be having you here. Not for the kissing. Because  that was...yes please."

I  laughed at that, thankful for those damn breathing techniques helping  me calm my blood flow and thing like a rational human being instead of  thinking with my dick. "It's fine Zee. I had fun too but yeah, I'd love  to take you out sometime. We'd need to go somewhere that isn't Gotham  though, because of the Court. Don't suppose you know teleportation magic  or anything?" If she didn't I would learn it, I didn't want to wait  until this mess was all over to see her again.

She  brightened "Oh, yes, I do! I can take one person with me as long as we  go somewhere within a few dozen miles. We can go to Metropolis. I've  never been but I've always wanted to see it. Daddy doesn't spend much  time there because Superman usually has it covered and it's pretty safe.  It would be a great place to spend the day together. I think he'll be  out on Saturday if you want to come see me?"

Saturday  was the twenty fourth, which made it the full moon, so having Zee in  Metropolis seemed like a good idea in case Jim and the others didn't  find Annabel. I smiled and stood up walking over to her slowly. "It's a  date." I leaned down to kiss her again and this time she melted against  me. I really wanted to touch her, but I didn't want to spook her again,  so I just enjoyed her body pressed against mine and the feel of her  hands in my hair. As bad as things had been lately, this made up for a  lot of stuff.