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thejusticelounge2012-09-16 09:24 am
bossymarmalade) wrote in thejusticelounge2012-09-16 09:24 am
Entry tags:
slipping
Zatanna woke up in a vaguely familiar bed, her arms clutching a throw pillow as if her life depended on it. Her entire body was now drenched in sweat, while her stomach felt as if it had been twisted into a knot. As her eyes adjusted to the room’s light Zee decided it must’ve been a nightmare, confirming this by turning over to find Clark still sleeping calmly next to her. Yet locating her slumbering fiancé did nothing to relax her nerves, if anything it only made her feel sicker. The more she reminded herself it had only been a dream, the worse she felt. The despair over her visions shortly pulled her down deeper into the nightmare like state.
Freeing herself from the clinging sheets and moving weakly to her feet, Zatanna felt her stomach lurch sharply in protest, “Oh fuck…” she whispered woefully, stumbling off to the nearest bathroom in her haze. In the dark hours of the night, Zee found her apartment was eerily quiet minus the small buzzing of a dim light down the hall. Shakily Zatanna’s hands fumble against the handle on the doorknob that leads to her hallway’s bathroom, yet eventually they manage to open the door. Smacking the light switch and tripping to her knees at the base of the toilet, she promptly vomited up whatever she had last eaten, probably something she’d had at the party.
Curling up to the side of the base of the toilet, Zee allows her dark hair to obscure her face from the light that shocks her senses into the groggy awaken state she’s been thrust into. As she lies on the cool tiled floor, she can’t help but be drawn back to the faint memories of the dream she had awoken from. Her powers had been pulsing and pounding against her skin- as if her body was the only thing to hold her back from losing control of everything now. Her will was weak the voices in her head echoed, her father’s voice had been one of them she knew, right alongside what she had often imagined her mother’s voice to sound like. They knew how easy it would be for her to fall to her powers, and in her dream she already had.
Silent tears trickled down her cheeks and mixed into her mess of hair that encircled her face. She curled her limbs closer to her body while her skin prickled as it had in the dream. She was losing control for real now- just like she had always feared, and there was nothing she could do to stop it now. Finally, Zatanna broke the silence with ragged sobs that echoed against the small bathroom’s floor.
The night had been a happy one, one of the happiest times Clark can remember in his life. His spirits were already high from the camaraderie of Kyle’s birthday party, and proposing to Zee nearly made him giddy with bliss. He’d lain awake for a long time after she fell asleep, reveling at her warmth wrapped in his arms and that he’d get to sleep next to her like this for the rest of their lives.
He’s not certain when his lovesick jubilation finally tapered off long enough to allow him to drift into slumber, but he awakens to Zatanna’s absence. Her absence, and the sound of her choking, of her sobbing somewhere nearby. Clark is on his feet and down the hallway at once, throwing open the bathroom door and crouching at her side on the floor. “Zee, what happened?” he asks, pulling her close and feeling the fever that afflicts her through the thin cotton of her nightshirt. Her face is damp with tears and sweat, and Clark shakes his head, bewildered at how she had become so ill when she seemed fine only a few hours ago. “It’s okay,” he murmurs, gathering her against his shoulder and rubbing a large hand over her back. “Did you have a nightmare? It’s okay now. You’re awfully warm though. Do you have anything in your medicine cabinet you could take?”
She struggles against Clark’s touch, but only for a moment. If anyone could be around her like this and walk away without a scratch it’d have to be the man of steel. As he held her close, his kind comforting words quickly distort with the haunting melody of the chanting voices that tell her how broken she is. “No…no…it’s not ok” Zatanna moans quietly, pressing her face against his shoulder as if to find refuge against the man who holds her now. The dazed reassurance she find in her fiancé only last for mere moments, for soon the helpless and out of control feelings return to her.
Zatanna pushes back against Clark as she feels the pulse of her powers presses against her skin, ready to burst free without a single Backwards word to release it properly. Clawing her hands against her hair and crumpling her elbows and knees inward she balls up her body as if physically closing herself off will stop her magic from slipping out unmanaged. ”It’s not a nightmare anymore…it’s real, and I’m going to hurt someone Clark. I’m going to hurt everyone.” She laments, her voice sounding foreign and manic as the words stumble from her lips in a panic. With a shaky breath Zee finally finds some courage to look him in the eye, slowly lowering her hands from pulling against her hair as she does, “I”m not sick Clark, I’m actually losing it. I’m losing it and I don’t know what to do.” this time her voice sounds distant to her, yet it’s far more familiar than the panicked pitch she had uttered seconds earlier.
It’s not long before she’s retreated back against herself, her hands now pressing close against her mouth in an effort to stop any misspoken spell that could be let loose at any moment. The voices are back and now gleefully report on her failure, not only in containing her magic but in also remaining a controlled individual for her new fiancé. She’ll soon be all alone they whisper to her, soon with nothing but herself to blame for her emptiness. “I’m sorry.” Zee cries, tears rolling white hot against her cheeks now.
“Losing what, Zee?” Clark doesn’t understand, but as a member of the League, he’s seen enough attempts at mind control to be suspicious of outside influence at once. He soothes Zatanna with his hand brushing through her hair while he scans her body with his x-ray vision, looking for some kind of microchip or invasive alien technology. There seems to be nothing present that doesn’t belong, however.
Clark stands and lifts Zee, supporting her under one arm and guiding her toward the front door. She denied being sick, but between her vomiting and fever, Clark is skeptical of her self-assessment. “Nothing to apologize for. You must have eaten something bad at the party, maybe picked up a virus from someone else who’d been sick. Maybe you’ll feel better if we get some fresh air for a few minutes.”
She doesn’t bother pushing back when he starts lending her away from the bathroom, her legs feel weak under her but with Clark’s arm around her she feels stable enough to continue on. The pulsing of her powers has stopped for the moment and for a brief second she even dares smile, “I’m feeling better already…” Zee dreamily whispers, leaning her head against him as they continue down the hall.
By the time they make their way past her bedroom the voices have started their whispers once more, sending her shrinking back down,covering her ears with her hands now. They tell her outside she’ll only make things worse, outside she can hurt more than just Clark, outside is where everyone is and where she no longer belongs.“No, no no no no….” Zatanna moans, pulling back from Clark as hard as she is able to, “I can’t go out there, that’ll make it worse. Please don’t make me go out there.” she’s crying again, her voice a hiccup between sobs of protest as she finally admits what’s gotten her so worked up “I’m losing control of my powers Clark.”
It seems for a moment Zee has calmed down, but it’s short-lived. Clark follows her as she falls back to the floor, clutching her ears as if she can hear something he cannot. “I’m not going to make you go anywhere you don’t want to go,” he assures her, clutching her wrists and then moving to cup her face in his hands. “I just want to help you. Are you sure you aren’t—”
He can’t hide the flash of fear on his face when Zatanna reveals her loss of control. Clark is vulnerable to magic, and the situation suddenly seems quite dangerous. But he’s determined to stay at her side, to help her through it. “We’re going to figure this out,” he promises, hugging her close. “Fight it, Zee. What could have happened in the past few days to make you lose control?”
“I don’t know, I really don’t know Clark.” Zatanna spoke softly as she scrubbed her eyes tiredly. Panicking had gotten her nowhere so far, and for the moment the voices that had been plaguing her had grown quiet, for whatever window of peace she had to start figuring out what was wrong with her before she hurt someone. Smoothing back her hair from her face she looked back up at Clark, trying her best to be ready to fight back whatever had caused her to lose her control. “It must be because I’m sick,” she soon decided, leaning into her fiance with a sigh, “I haven’t come into contact with anyone who could throw off my powers and I’m hardly ever sick…that’s got to be-” what felt like a swell of her power crash over her before she could finish her sentence, causing her to arch back away from Clark, soon quickly curling in on herself once more
“I’m going to hurt someone,” she cried, pressing her head against her knees, “I’m going to hurt you!” The possibility of her powers fluctuating wasn’t all that was acting up again, Zatanna’s stomach lurched sharply like it had when she had first woken up. Scrambling up to her feet she rushed back to the bathroom as quickly as she could.
“Kal-El,” he called, using the name he knew couldn’t be confused or misheard. ”I need you at the Cave. Now.”
Clark holds his hands out as Zatanna flings herself away from them, wanting to hold and comfort her but not wanting to restrain her. “You would never hurt me,” he says softly, and he believes it. He believes Zee’s love for him is stronger than whatever is threatening her control, and he knows his love for her surpasses it beyond measure. “But maybe we should get you to the Watchtower and see if the medics can help sort this out,” he suggests, reaching for her once more.
His hand falls short when the distress cry reaches his sensitive ears. “Zee,” he says softly. “Dick is calling for me to come to the cave. He sounds worried.” He knows several of the children are housed at Wayne Manor right now: Bruce’s son, Billy Batson, and Stephanie Brown. If Dick is calling upon him, something must be very wrong.
Freeing herself from the clinging sheets and moving weakly to her feet, Zatanna felt her stomach lurch sharply in protest, “Oh fuck…” she whispered woefully, stumbling off to the nearest bathroom in her haze. In the dark hours of the night, Zee found her apartment was eerily quiet minus the small buzzing of a dim light down the hall. Shakily Zatanna’s hands fumble against the handle on the doorknob that leads to her hallway’s bathroom, yet eventually they manage to open the door. Smacking the light switch and tripping to her knees at the base of the toilet, she promptly vomited up whatever she had last eaten, probably something she’d had at the party.
Curling up to the side of the base of the toilet, Zee allows her dark hair to obscure her face from the light that shocks her senses into the groggy awaken state she’s been thrust into. As she lies on the cool tiled floor, she can’t help but be drawn back to the faint memories of the dream she had awoken from. Her powers had been pulsing and pounding against her skin- as if her body was the only thing to hold her back from losing control of everything now. Her will was weak the voices in her head echoed, her father’s voice had been one of them she knew, right alongside what she had often imagined her mother’s voice to sound like. They knew how easy it would be for her to fall to her powers, and in her dream she already had.
Silent tears trickled down her cheeks and mixed into her mess of hair that encircled her face. She curled her limbs closer to her body while her skin prickled as it had in the dream. She was losing control for real now- just like she had always feared, and there was nothing she could do to stop it now. Finally, Zatanna broke the silence with ragged sobs that echoed against the small bathroom’s floor.
The night had been a happy one, one of the happiest times Clark can remember in his life. His spirits were already high from the camaraderie of Kyle’s birthday party, and proposing to Zee nearly made him giddy with bliss. He’d lain awake for a long time after she fell asleep, reveling at her warmth wrapped in his arms and that he’d get to sleep next to her like this for the rest of their lives.
He’s not certain when his lovesick jubilation finally tapered off long enough to allow him to drift into slumber, but he awakens to Zatanna’s absence. Her absence, and the sound of her choking, of her sobbing somewhere nearby. Clark is on his feet and down the hallway at once, throwing open the bathroom door and crouching at her side on the floor. “Zee, what happened?” he asks, pulling her close and feeling the fever that afflicts her through the thin cotton of her nightshirt. Her face is damp with tears and sweat, and Clark shakes his head, bewildered at how she had become so ill when she seemed fine only a few hours ago. “It’s okay,” he murmurs, gathering her against his shoulder and rubbing a large hand over her back. “Did you have a nightmare? It’s okay now. You’re awfully warm though. Do you have anything in your medicine cabinet you could take?”
She struggles against Clark’s touch, but only for a moment. If anyone could be around her like this and walk away without a scratch it’d have to be the man of steel. As he held her close, his kind comforting words quickly distort with the haunting melody of the chanting voices that tell her how broken she is. “No…no…it’s not ok” Zatanna moans quietly, pressing her face against his shoulder as if to find refuge against the man who holds her now. The dazed reassurance she find in her fiancé only last for mere moments, for soon the helpless and out of control feelings return to her.
Zatanna pushes back against Clark as she feels the pulse of her powers presses against her skin, ready to burst free without a single Backwards word to release it properly. Clawing her hands against her hair and crumpling her elbows and knees inward she balls up her body as if physically closing herself off will stop her magic from slipping out unmanaged. ”It’s not a nightmare anymore…it’s real, and I’m going to hurt someone Clark. I’m going to hurt everyone.” She laments, her voice sounding foreign and manic as the words stumble from her lips in a panic. With a shaky breath Zee finally finds some courage to look him in the eye, slowly lowering her hands from pulling against her hair as she does, “I”m not sick Clark, I’m actually losing it. I’m losing it and I don’t know what to do.” this time her voice sounds distant to her, yet it’s far more familiar than the panicked pitch she had uttered seconds earlier.
It’s not long before she’s retreated back against herself, her hands now pressing close against her mouth in an effort to stop any misspoken spell that could be let loose at any moment. The voices are back and now gleefully report on her failure, not only in containing her magic but in also remaining a controlled individual for her new fiancé. She’ll soon be all alone they whisper to her, soon with nothing but herself to blame for her emptiness. “I’m sorry.” Zee cries, tears rolling white hot against her cheeks now.
“Losing what, Zee?” Clark doesn’t understand, but as a member of the League, he’s seen enough attempts at mind control to be suspicious of outside influence at once. He soothes Zatanna with his hand brushing through her hair while he scans her body with his x-ray vision, looking for some kind of microchip or invasive alien technology. There seems to be nothing present that doesn’t belong, however.
Clark stands and lifts Zee, supporting her under one arm and guiding her toward the front door. She denied being sick, but between her vomiting and fever, Clark is skeptical of her self-assessment. “Nothing to apologize for. You must have eaten something bad at the party, maybe picked up a virus from someone else who’d been sick. Maybe you’ll feel better if we get some fresh air for a few minutes.”
She doesn’t bother pushing back when he starts lending her away from the bathroom, her legs feel weak under her but with Clark’s arm around her she feels stable enough to continue on. The pulsing of her powers has stopped for the moment and for a brief second she even dares smile, “I’m feeling better already…” Zee dreamily whispers, leaning her head against him as they continue down the hall.
By the time they make their way past her bedroom the voices have started their whispers once more, sending her shrinking back down,covering her ears with her hands now. They tell her outside she’ll only make things worse, outside she can hurt more than just Clark, outside is where everyone is and where she no longer belongs.“No, no no no no….” Zatanna moans, pulling back from Clark as hard as she is able to, “I can’t go out there, that’ll make it worse. Please don’t make me go out there.” she’s crying again, her voice a hiccup between sobs of protest as she finally admits what’s gotten her so worked up “I’m losing control of my powers Clark.”
It seems for a moment Zee has calmed down, but it’s short-lived. Clark follows her as she falls back to the floor, clutching her ears as if she can hear something he cannot. “I’m not going to make you go anywhere you don’t want to go,” he assures her, clutching her wrists and then moving to cup her face in his hands. “I just want to help you. Are you sure you aren’t—”
He can’t hide the flash of fear on his face when Zatanna reveals her loss of control. Clark is vulnerable to magic, and the situation suddenly seems quite dangerous. But he’s determined to stay at her side, to help her through it. “We’re going to figure this out,” he promises, hugging her close. “Fight it, Zee. What could have happened in the past few days to make you lose control?”
“I don’t know, I really don’t know Clark.” Zatanna spoke softly as she scrubbed her eyes tiredly. Panicking had gotten her nowhere so far, and for the moment the voices that had been plaguing her had grown quiet, for whatever window of peace she had to start figuring out what was wrong with her before she hurt someone. Smoothing back her hair from her face she looked back up at Clark, trying her best to be ready to fight back whatever had caused her to lose her control. “It must be because I’m sick,” she soon decided, leaning into her fiance with a sigh, “I haven’t come into contact with anyone who could throw off my powers and I’m hardly ever sick…that’s got to be-” what felt like a swell of her power crash over her before she could finish her sentence, causing her to arch back away from Clark, soon quickly curling in on herself once more
“I’m going to hurt someone,” she cried, pressing her head against her knees, “I’m going to hurt you!” The possibility of her powers fluctuating wasn’t all that was acting up again, Zatanna’s stomach lurched sharply like it had when she had first woken up. Scrambling up to her feet she rushed back to the bathroom as quickly as she could.
“Kal-El,” he called, using the name he knew couldn’t be confused or misheard. ”I need you at the Cave. Now.”
Clark holds his hands out as Zatanna flings herself away from them, wanting to hold and comfort her but not wanting to restrain her. “You would never hurt me,” he says softly, and he believes it. He believes Zee’s love for him is stronger than whatever is threatening her control, and he knows his love for her surpasses it beyond measure. “But maybe we should get you to the Watchtower and see if the medics can help sort this out,” he suggests, reaching for her once more.
His hand falls short when the distress cry reaches his sensitive ears. “Zee,” he says softly. “Dick is calling for me to come to the cave. He sounds worried.” He knows several of the children are housed at Wayne Manor right now: Bruce’s son, Billy Batson, and Stephanie Brown. If Dick is calling upon him, something must be very wrong.