The New Generation: Earth-53

Zatanna lifted her eyebrows for a moment, blinking at him. "Uh... oh, no reason," she said, waving a casual hand at him. "Just a feeling I had. You know, because I'm magic and all that. Really." She cleared her throat, then straightened herself out in her chair and leaned forward with her hands on her knees. "So... what's up?"

---

Rose bowed her head, utter a long, deep breath. "Oh... I was under the impression that people in a relationship weren't supposed to keep secrets from each other. Well, I mean important stuff anyway. Guess I just felt... obligated, or something. It's not really a big deal, though, it wasn't like you dragged it out of me... kind of feels good to get it off my chest, really. So, uh, now you know, in any case."

"Oh...alright than," Neal said as he looked towards Zatanna. Part of him wanted to investigate further, but the rest of him knew that he just needed to speak to Zatanna before she completely changed her mind. "Something strange happened today and I'm not really sure how to process it," Neal confessed. "I ended up confessing to M'gann that I made Rose act the way she did that one night, she was disappointed at that," Neal confessed before quickly moving on. "However, I also learned that she apparently has had some crush on me....and still does."

---

Zoe shook her head. "Plenty of couples keep secrets from what I've seen. Granted they aren't always good secrets, but some things its okay to keep private," Zoe explained. "I mean I'm an open book for the most part, but I won't lie to you. There are a few things that if you asked I wouldn't be able to answer them, just because I'm not ready yet. Nothing to do with you," Zoe confided as she looked towards Rose. "Just whatever we go through, don't feel like you should change for me."

"Oh... huh. Well that part I didn't know..." Zatanna muttered under breath. She paused a moment, holding a finger to her lips and thinking. "Well, to be fair, I was technically the one who did that to Rose, you were just sort of... there. Guess it's not that much of a difference, though, we might have actually gotten a little too carried away. But forgetting about that... she has a crush on you, huh? Well, I figured as much... but you're with that Cheetah girl, aren't you?"

---

"Right, sorry, I guess," Rose said, with a small shrug. "I'll remember that for the future. But it's not like I went and blurted out some deep dark skeleton in my closet or anything... just that my mom had a bunch of stripper friends that we used to hang around with sometimes. Nothing really terrible. I mean... it isn't terrible, is it?"

"You may have started it but you know that I helped, I definitely wasn't trying to convince you to stop either," Neal said before finding another chair to sit down on so that he wouldn't be the only one standing. As Zatanna made her last comment Neal just stared at her for a moment. "You knew? Why didn't you say anything?" he asked. Of course he knew the reason, had Zatanna said anything she'd practically be telling Neal to ask the girl out. Zatanna wanted him to make his own choices. "And yes I'm dating Cheetah now and we're both really happy. That's part of my problem now. I feel like M'gann doesn't want to be as good of friends.....but maybe I'm just reading into it too much," he admitted before letting out a quick series of coughs that seemed to come from nowhere.

Great, now he was getting sick too.

---

"No you're right, I'm sorry too. I guess I just felt bad, almost like I tricked you in to telling me or something. I'm just saying that you don't have to tell me everything if you don't want to," Zoe said as she looked towards her girlfriend. "And no it's not a terrible thing, it's just a career. Hell my dad practically kills people for a living, I'm not one to judge."

"Of course I knew," Zatanna said with a snorting laugh, as though she couldn't believe he was asking it. "I mean, come on, it was incredibly obvious... for anyone other than you apparently. But me saying anything would have been practically forcing things, and I'm just an innocent bystander. For the most part." Holding a hand to her chin, she inhaled a deep breath and thought for a moment. "Well, since you're with Cheetah, it's not like you can do anything with M'gann, even though I'm sure she still has feelings. A crush isn't something you just get over with the snap of your fingers, especially at your age. My advice would just be to see how things go... and, you know, try not to just blatantly dump the super strong girl with claws for another girl."

When Neal began coughing, Zatanna lifted an eyebrow. She reached into her desk drawer a second later and pulled out a bag of cough drops. "Need one?"

---

"Heh, that's true," Rose said, in response about Zoe's dad. Being a stripper didn't really compare to professional killing or something like that. "So yeah, it's alright. And a lot of those girls are pretty cool, too. But, uh... anyway, what were we talking about?"

"I guess she just always acted shy around me, I thought that it was just the way she was. I never thought that she would actually have those kind of feelings for me," Neal admitted as he thought about Zatanna's words. He appreciated the fact that she was being straight and honest with him at least, she always did that with him. "I mean, the only thing that I can do is go about as normal right? Cheetah's great and I'm really happy being with her, I can't just change things because M'gann has feelings that she kept to herself," he added before letting out a small sigh and sinking in to his chair. "God I didn't need this today."

As his coughing continued Neal went over and took one, quickly popping it in to his mouth. "There anything else that you think I should know before I run in to another disaster?" Neal asked as he began to suck on the cough drop.

---

"You know I've never actually known any strippers. I knew some prostitutes that were informants for my dad, but never any strippers," Zoe admitted as she stared up at the ceiling for a minute. "And to be honest I don't really remember what we were discussing. We seem to digress a lot on this."

"Mmm, nothing that I can think of," Zatanna said, with a thoughtful breath. "At least, so far as I know. Not that I'd be surprised... you're quite the ladies man, aren't you?" She gave him a small wink, spreading a smirk across her face. It was almost like she knew something that she wasn't telling him... "So, how's your day been anyway?"

---

"Yeah... we really do," Rose said, scratching her head. She thought a moment, trying to remember their previous train of thought before going off on a tangent about strippers. "I think we were talking about finding a bar to go to or something?"

The more that Zatanna spoke the more that Neal couldn't help but start to think that she wasn't telling him something. Zatanna just had that look on her face, that devious glint in her eye; the same one she had when they had pulled that prank on Rose. "My day's been good, very good actually," Neal said as his eyes continued to focus on his mentor. "Cheetah and I had some nice quality time together," he said before watching to see how she reacted to that statement.

---

"BAR! Right! You said that we should go to a bar or something for a date! Because I brought up a fancy restaurant and we both agreed that wasn't really our scene," Zoe said before scratching her chin and shrugging. "Man, why do I have the feeling you and I are going to have some really wacky conversations in our time here?"

Zatanna held her grin, as she casually reached over to the table next to her to grab a half full wine glass. She sipped from it briefly before setting the glass back down. "Oh I bet you did," she said, knowingly. With one leg still crossed over the other, she gently kicked her foot back and forth, while ever so slightly sinning her rotating chair from side to side. "You know, it's pretty amazing how her mutation kept her new fur to only the less irritating areas, don't you think?"

---

"Probably because we totally are," Rose said, smiling widely. Every moment spent with Zoe was her new favorite moment. "So... yeah, I don't suppose you actually know any good bars? Or... a way to get a couple of spotless fake ID's?"

"OH MY GOD," Neal said as he looked right at Zatanna. His eyes weren't filled with anger, more like surprise that Zatanna actually knew. "God did you walk by while the door was open!?" Neal asked in surprise before burying his face in to his hands. God that was embarrassing. He was pretty open with Zatanna, but he didn't actually want her to see him doing it!

---

"You're kidding right?" Zoe asked as she looked over at Rose. "Did you not pay attention to anything that I did the other day? My dad taught me how to get a fake ID when I was like thirteen. I have like thirty different ID's for myself. I can easily procure two for one night for a date," she added with a wink in Rose's direction. "I'll just need a day to contact my friend."

"Uh.... yeah, sure, we'll go with that," Zatanna said, giving a small, affirmative nod as Neal buried his face into his hands. It was a lot less embarrassing than the truth. "Should really remember when your door is open..." Or remain conscious enough to realize when someone's walked through it and is taking pictures of you. "And stop being so ashamed, this is me you're talking to, remember. Auntie Z. For the love of Hotah, give me five."

---

Rose's lips curled into a wider grin. This girl really was fucking amazing. Just thinking about all the mischief they could get into together made her insides sing. "That'd be awesome," she said, sitting up straighter on the bed. "We could go out tomorrow night then. I mean, if something catastrophic doesn't come up. Like rampaging mutated wildebeests in downtown Cleveland or something stupid." At this point, though, she wouldn't be surprised. "Where should we go?"

"I could have sworn that I closed it!" Neal said in annoyance as he pushed his face back up from his hands before looking towards his teacher. Of course his annoyance quickly stopped when she insisted that he be upbeat. She was right of course, he could never get annoyed with her. Zatanna way way too cool to hold anything against her. Neal quickly got his arm up before giving a quick high five towards Zatanna. After a short time Neal asked one question. "Who is Hotah anyway?"

---

"Well, let's assume that everything is going to be okay for the time being," Zoe said happily as she thought about what kind of a fun night they could have if duty hadn't called them out. "At the same time I'm hoping for a mission soon. I need to show the rest of your teammates that I'm not someone to be trifled with," Zoe admitted as she glanced back at her weapon. "If people take you lightly, that's when they start trying to take advantage of you," she said in a low voice before thinking about Rose's last question. It was a fair question after all. "Well, I don't really know any popular bars. But I guess that we could just go out and try to figure things out as we go," she suggested.

"Closed or not closed, grats on losing the V-card," she said, with a small laugh under her breath. "Ah, my young apprentice is growing up so fast..." She paused a moment, thinking back to the mental images she'd already stored of Neal and Cheetah. When she finally came out of her trance, she blinked a couple times and sat up straighter. "Oh, Hotath. Just one of the mystical deities I worship, who may or may not have something to do with where my magic comes from."

---

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Rose remarked, pulling her legs inward and sitting Indian style. "I've always believed in carrying a big stick myself." She was of course referring to the famous phrase, but the way she said it actually sounded quite lewd... not that she would have picked up on it. "And, I don't know, I guess if we can't figure out another place, we could always go to the club I was talking about... I haven't seen any of them in ages, and I bet we could get a discount on drinks."

"Well thanks, it was definitely fun to get rid of it. You certainly didn't hear either of us complaining," Neal said with a smile as she watched Zatanna space out once again. It sort of creeped him out, considering that she was probably thinking back to her college days or perhaps when she lost her own virginity. Thankfully she soon answered his question about Hotan. "Ah I see, the source of your magic," Neal remarked before letting his words trail off for a moment. "Do you still have zero idea where my magic comes from?"

---

"Well, since I'm not super familiar with any bars perhaps we should stick to the club that you know. I'm sure you'd enjoy seeing them again.....even if they're dancing around while you talk to them," Zoe said jokingly as she thought back to what it might be like to have really good stripper friends. She'd never had one after all. "How does that sound for a plan?"

"Afraid not," Zatanna said, with a small shake of the head. "It's different for everybody, and frankly impossible to figure out unless you're someone like Doctor Fate, and he hasn't been around in ages. Nobody dumb enough to put on the helmet, you see." Of course they'd talked at great length about the helmet of Nabu, and the curse it brought to those who wore it. "I guess just don't look the magic horse in the mouth and all that. I mean, so long as you're not channeling it from, like, a demon prince or something."

---

"Hey, some o them have some pretty good moves..." Rose commented, joking right back. "I can do a double standing backflip and leap across rooftops, but I wouldn't know the first thing about swinging around on a pole... probably end up falling on my head, to be honest. But yeah, going there sounds good... it'll be nice to see them again. I wonder if they remember me at all..."

"Yeah, I can understand why no one would want to put on the helmet. You basically give up everything about yourself so that this Fate guy can take over to help the world. That's like the ultimate sacrifice," Neal commented as he recalled the lessons that Zatanna had taught him about the helmet of Nabu. "I guess I'm just curious as to where it came from, it'd be kinda nice to be sure I guess. I have to have the magic for a reason after all right?" Neal asked as he looked to his teacher. "I don't know of anyone else in my family that has ever had it."

---

"No I completely agree, pole dancing is a great way to burn calories," Zoe said although she didn't feel like commenting on how exactly she knew that. "And you shouldn't worry so much Rose. I'm sure that they'll remember you. Who wouldn't remember someone as cool as you after all," Zoe pointed out with a small smile.

"Well, could be your mother had it," Zatanna said, thoughtfully. "Even if she herself didn't know, it's possible that she had latent magic ability. Or, you know, you could just be the first, through some random cosmic event that allowed your body to channel magic. Hard to say really, but like I said, it doesn't really make much of a difference. Unless, again, you're chaneling it from a demon lord. That could cause problems."

---

"Uh... it is?" Rose said, tilting her head to the side in confusion. Zoe said that like she knew from experience... "I, uh... I didn't know that." She cleared her throat, then leaned back on her hands and took in a soft breath. "Well, the Fuego Lounge it is, then. Should have fun, and I can introduce you to the girls... I think they'll you. I'm not the only cool one in this relationship, you know."

"I guess that's true, I wasn't really old enough to ask her before she died," Neal admitted as he thought back to his mother's death. He had only been two at the time, barely about to turn three before she got sick. The only thing that he remembered about her were pictures and some random images, he had no concrete memories of the woman. "Well, I guess you're right. It doesn't really matter," Neal admitted as he looked back up to his teacher. Even Zatanna wasn't positive where her magic came from so why should Neal worry about it?

---

"Well I'm sure that they'd like me, who doesn't after all?" Zoe pointed out with a grin as she let a yawn escape her mouth. She was starting to feel tired but didn't want to quite voice that yet. She still wanted to talk to Rose after all. "Well, shall we call that a date for now?" Zoe asked with a large smile. "We can always do that than whatever we feel like afterwards if we still have some energy after all the dancing.....with our clothes on that is."

"In any case, though, you still handle your magic very well," Zatanna affirmed. "That's what's important. I have to say you've made for an excellent student so far, and I'm very looking forward to seeing you progress even further." Flashing a pleased smile at him, she reaches over to her desk again and grabs her wine glass. After taking a small sip, she glanced over at Neal and asked, "You want any? I won't tell."

---

"Yeah, it's a date," Rose said, grinning back at Zoe. "Definitely a date." And one that she was looking forward to more than, well, just about anything in her entire life. God, she could spend all day, every day with this girl and never get tired of her. Finally lying down on the bed, she held her hands behind her head and breathed in deeply, though Zoe's final comment forced a sudden laugh out of her mouth. "Ha, yeah... clothes on. Unless, you know, you didn't want them on. I totally wouldn't judge."

Neal's grin only got larger as Zatanna complimented his ability. She always knew just how to make him smile and he loved that. It hadn't even been ten minutes and he had gone from a worried wreck to smiling in just a few short minutes. "Well thanks, almost all the credit goes to my awesome teacher though. She sure knows how to make a guy listen," he said jokingly before looking at the wine and taking her offer. "Well.....I guess I could try a little bit and it couldn't hurt right?" he asked before holding out his hand to take the glass from her.

"And by the way I was hoping to ask something else. You mentioned that the other members of the Justice League had a pretty good impression of me...have you heard anything about how they felt about my first mission with the team?"

---

"Hmmm, you bring up an interesting point," Zoe remarked to herself. "I guess it might depend on what the club's policy on its patrons are...but I wouldn't mind wearing what I wore went I went undercover the other day," Zoe said as the edge of her mouth formed another smile. "I said it once and I'll say it again. I look damn good in a suit, even if I'm not wearing all of it at the time."

"Well, from what I understand, they were largely impressed with how you handled the situation," Zatanna said, with a small nod. "Specifically not jumping the gun and crippling Cheetah, who turned out to be just a victim of a larger scheme. They liked your restraint and thought you showed good judgement, and I have to say that I agree with you." She sipped from her wine glass again, then casually turned to pour Neal a glass of his own. "Here you are."

---

A grin spread across Rose's face, thinking back to when she and Zoe first met. "Yeah... you really do look good in a suit. Me, not so much. But you... definitely. Even when you're not wearing all of it, indeed." She chuckled quietly again, stretching out her arms briefly. "Not sure if I could pull off that look, though."

"Well I have to admit that part of that was just luck," Neal admitted as he watched Zatanna pour the glass for him. He had never really tasted alcohol before, so he wasn't even quite sure what he was supposed to expect. "When she attacked me I just wanted to get her away from me, so I used my magic to pin her to the wall. Once she couldn't attack me she started talking, that was when we realized that we weren't enemies," Neal said before taking the glass the Zatanna had poured. "Thank you," he said before taking a small sip from the glass. He really had no idea how to describe the flavor. "It's fruity.....but not in the way that I suspected it. I like it though."

---

Right when Rose finished her last sentence, a wicked grin slowly formed over Zoe's face. "You don't think you can huh? I bet you're wrong," she admitted before placing a single finger to her chin in thought. "You should borrow one of mine, if we match our styles I can guarantee you that ALL eyes will be on us at this club."

"It is great, isn't it?" Zatanna said, drinking down another sip. "My favorite brand. Best part is, I never run out. I can quite literally turn water into wine if I want, and it always comes out the same flavor. I'll make a whole bottle for you if you want... can share it with Cheetah sometime." A devilish grin began to form its way across her face. "Just be sure t close the door when you do."

---

"Oh you bet I'm wrong, huh?" Rose asked, propping herself up on her elbows. She smirked teasingly at her, exhaling deeply. "Hmm, well I guess there's really only one way to find out, right? I'll bet you quite literally anything that I look ridiculous in a suit, no matter how little of it I'm wearing."

"Water in to wine? Now where have I heard that before....no where important I'm sure," Neal said to himself with a shrug before taking a little bit more of the wine. He had always heard that you were supposed to go slow, drinking a ton at once is supposedly what gets you drunk. Neal had no idea if this was true or not, but it sounded like it made sense. "Yeah, well I guess the first thing they should of taught us in sex ed was to make sure that the door was shut," Neal said jokingly. "But in regards to your offer, thank you. I'm sure she'd love that."

---

"Sounds like we have ourselves a little wager," Zoe said as some enthusiasm really started to come to her voice. Zoe and her father made little bets with each other all the time. Sometimes it was about what would happen in the news, or something it was just a rock paper scissors game to see who did the dishes. They were silly and childish, but Zoe loved every minute of it. "You're on Rookie," Zoe said as her teasing tone returned to her voice.

"They probably just figured it was common sense," Zatanna remarked, taking another sip, this time finishing off the contents of her glass. "After all, it takes a special kind of couple to leave the door wide open when they're going at it. I mean, unless of course they wanted the whole world to see them.

---

"Oh you're on," Rose replied, gaining a devilish tone of her own. She never lost a bet, and didn't intend on starting now, even if she had to look horrible in the process. She'd show Zoe... Rose Wilson doesn't do suits. Not well, at least. "Name your terms, I'll take whatever you can throw at me. We can settle right now, too, if you want."