A week passed as he kept constantly checking his phone to see where Zatanna was. He knew where her house was; now he just needed to catch her abuser in the act. Now he was doing training with a gun. The gun rage was loud as he held the pistol up and aimed it at the target. Pressing the trigger the bullet went straight into the dummies head. He had been at this for an hour straight with no break. Only now were his arms starting to cramp when someone tapped his shoulder. Putting the gun in his holster he took the ear covers off and turned around.

     His teacher was standing there with his hands on his hips. "There's a woman in the hospital right now and she's been asking for you Grayson" he said as Dick's face paled. "What's her name?" Dick asked as he gulped. He was really hoping it wasn't Zatanna Zatara. "Her name is Zatanna does that ring a bell?" His teacher asked as he sighed and nodded. "Go to her, you were doing well today anyways" his teacher said as he nodded taking the ear covers off and leaving the building.

     Putting his hat on he immediately headed towards the hospital. When he got there a Nurse led him to a plain room. The dark haired girl had a blood stained bandage around her right shoulder as she slept soundly. Taking his hat off he ran a hand through his hair. "Dick?" She asked in a whisper as her bloodshot eyes fluttered up. "H-He stabbed me Dick" she whispered in a pained voice as tears slowly began to stream down her cheeks. "Where is he Zee?" He asked as she looked away from him crying softly.

     Reaching forward he took her hand in his and squeezed it. "We were out and he just did it. Some people called the paramedics. I'm lucky I'm still alive" she said sniffling to look back over at him. "You know what you can come live at my apartment if you want. I mean there's two room's and it would be nice to have some companionship" he said as she gave him a small smile. After all she currently had nowhere to go and he was nice. "They didn't catch him, he's still out there looking for me" she said in a scared look.

     He could see the fear swirling around in her crystal blue eyes. Dick stayed with her for a couple hours until the Doctor released her. With the state she was in she didn't really need to be at the Hospital. If anything happened Dick would bring her back anyways. Arriving at the apartment complex she hid behind him the whole time. When they walked in she immediately let out a sigh of relief. "There's a bed and stuff in the second room so we won't have to buy any covers" he said as she nodded looking down at her feet.

     Then he noticed something shiny that caught his eye. Looking at her hand she still had that ring that he gave to her on. "You still have this? I gave it to you like four years ago" he said as she blushed a light shade of red. "Its late so I will make dinner. Anything in particular?" He asked as she looked up at him. Swiftly turning around she walked into his kitchen and began looking through the cupboards and refrigerator. Her left arm was the only one that didn't hurt like hell at the moment.

     The Doctor gave specific instructions to take painkillers after every meal she has. "Really Zee pasta?" He asked with a slight chuckle as she nodded looking down. Frowning he guided her face up to meet his gaze. "Look you can feel free to say whatever you want. I'm not like him, I won't hurt you for expressing your opinion" he said as she nodded again. "So Officer is that a real gun?" She asked after sitting on the bar stool watching him cook. "Yes Miss Zatara it is and I will make sure if that ass walks in here he'll get a bullet in the balls" he said as she let out a small giggle.

     It wasn't long until he put a plate in front of her before sitting on the stool next to her. They ate in silence as he wondered what she was thinking. All he wanted to do was protect her from getting hurt but he's failed so far. "Thanks Dick" she said standing up as he blinked a couple of times. Zatanna had finished eating and was now walking off towards the spare room. "Oh you can take a shirt from my room or whatever so you don't have to sleep in that!" He yelled from the kitchen as she headed to his room.

     Gently pushing the door open she flicked the light switch and looked around. The thing her eyes were immediately drawn to was the framed 'Flying Grayson's' poster on the wall above his bed. Shaking her head she quickly grabbed a T-shirt from his drawer and left. Her new room was spacious and exactly like his minus the washroom attached. Carefully changing she winced when having to move her shoulder slightly. After the ten minutes of slowly putting the shirt on she gently rested on the bed.

     Everything from today was flowing through her mind as she slept. The next thing she knew she was sitting up with tears streaming down her face. Looking around quickly she sighed in relief seeing that it wasn't a dream. Standing up she shakily walked to his room and quietly walked in. The clock read one-twenty-two as she poked his shoulder. He groaned as his blue eyes lazily opened. "I'm sorry I just had a nightmare" she apologized as he nodded patting the side of the bed next to him.

     Crawling onto the large bed she sunk into the soft mattress. Just knowing that he was there helped her breathe easier. Rolling over she buried his face into his back and clutched the fabric of his shirt tightly. He tensed for a moment before letting out a breath. Zatanna was just scared and he didn't mind. Her eyes fluttered open once again to see that Dick was gone. Sitting up she noticed a note attached to a plate of pancakes and orange juice. 'Went to the Academy; classes end at five I'll be back then -Dick' the note read as she glanced at the food he left.

     The food was actually good and in return she made the bed and did the dishes for him. It was the least she could do since she was staying here. Most of the day she lounged on the couch watching the television. "Man I miss those little buggers" she said with a sigh. Since she's been stabbed and her crazy abuser slash ex-boyfriend was looking for her she couldn't leave. Usually she would be babysitting two twin girls at the moment. "If I had a daughter I would love her to bits" she said talking to herself.

     In fact Zatanna loved and adored children. She was excited to have kids when she was older. Especially a little girl, hell if she had a kid right now she would be happy. At least it would give her something interesting and fun to do.

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Waking up she immediately groaned wanting to fall back asleep. Wally had already left since he had earlier classes today. Eventually she dragged herself into the shower turning it cold so she would wake up. "He shit!" She yelled turning the handle so the water would go warm. A jolt like that was what she needed. Then again Artemis did this every morning when she needed to wake up. Her first class didn't start for another hour as she walked down the Gotham streets.

It was beginning to get a little chilly as a cool breeze blew passed her. Sighing she walked into a nearby coffee shop. "One caramel mocha latte" she said as the cashier nodded. Dishing the money out she paid and waited for her name to be called. The warm caramel drink made her body heat up. Sitting in a booth and just enjoying the peacefulness her steel grey eyes locked onto a certain person. A girl walked in as her eyes narrowed glaring at the person. "Linda Park" she grit through her teeth.

The girl was wearing the most expensive looking clothes. "Why does this bitch have to be here?" She asked groaning to herself. Just when she thought her day was going to start off good it hit a sharp turn like this. Quickly finishing her drink she recycled the cup and left. Arms crossed over her chest she bitterly walked to Gotham U. After seeing the two-faced bitch her mood immediately turned sour. The first class was just starting to piss her off. A blonde guy in front of her was tapping his fingers loudly on the desk.

Taking her pen she chewed the end of it trying to bottle up her anger. This lecture was just awful as she took down as many notes as she could. Minutes dragged on into hours as the lecture finally ended. Putting her note pad away in her bag she was the first one out of the hall. Phone buzzing she answered seeing that it was Wally. "Hey babe, how was that lecture?" He asked as she growled sitting on a bench out in the small park area. "Don't even get me started" she groaned pinching the bridge of her nose.

She made sure to bite her tongue about the whole Linda subject. "Well Brucely and I miss you" he said while petting the dog and watching television. Wally left super early and his classes were already done. Checking her watch she groaned standing up from the bench. "I have to go" she said making her way to the next building. He sighed until a grin made its way to his face. "So since you get out late I can pick you up right?" He asked as she raised an eyebrow. He always picked her up if his classes ended before hers.

The wind blew again as she looked at the rolling leaves. "Don't you usually pick me up?" She asked as it went silent for a moment. "I'm taking your car and you can't convince me not to byeeeeeeee" he said dragging out the last word before hanging up. Chuckling she shoved her phone back into her pocket and walked into the building. On Monday's she had a lecture and then a writing class. Her lecture started at twelve and ended at four. Now she was in her writing class pulling her laptop out.

This class was only three hours so she would get out at eight. Since her classes on Monday started later she got to sleep in. Rolling her eyes she listened to her professor speak while typing. Fingers gliding across the keyboard like it was nothing. So far from the two classes of this she's had it flew by. Eight o'clock rolled around as she finished the last sentence and put her laptop away. The students poured out as some walked to the parking lot. The one's that did took notice to the nice sportscar parked next to the curb.

It was her car as she opened the passenger door and stepped in. "Quit grinning like an idiot and drive" she said with her arms crossed over her chest. Wally enjoyed driving her fancy car around and she knew that. "Oh I picked up dinner" he said just as her stomach growled. Barking occured in the back as she looked to see Brucely there. "Why the hell is the dog in my car?" She asked as he sheepishly smiled stopping at a red light. "Well I didn't want to leave him at the apartment alone. He also wanted to see his Mommy after such a long day" he said batting his emerald eyes.

Reaching back she picked up the puppy and placed the dog on her lap. "Oh I got McDonald's if you were wondering what I got" he said with a smirk as she rolled her eyes with a small smile. Brucely's tongue hung out of his mouth as Artemis scratched behind his ear. "Thanks babe" she said leaning over and kissing his cheek before he started to drive when the light turned green. All she had to do was keep the Linda subject at the back of her mind and not mention it to him. That should be easy enough right?

Skycrystal23 ;)