DECODE {The Batman 2022}

Prologue

<October 22nd>

There was never a day that Zatanna wasn't on edge, not in Gotham. It was impossible to avoid the fear that came with living in that cesspool of a city. She'd grown up on the wrong side of town. Surrounded by orphans and freaks, she was destined to become a drophead or a prostitute. Some of her closest friends were both and now she never heard from them. She wasn't any different, in fact, compared to most people she knew, she was the weirdest one of all.

She had something that was a part of her, a part of her DNA — it was dangerous and hard to control. Despite all the odds being stacked against her, Zatanna was not going to let herself be eaten by the city. She would become more than what her father was, become more than the girl left for dead.

Zatanna walked the streets of Old Gotham unafraid of the shadowy night. She should've been. She was a young woman, in her required work clothes — which was seemingly next to nothing. A black mini skirt, a white tank top, and heels that were too tall to walk in. She should've been scared out of her mind, but Zatanna had something up her sleeve. Something no cop, no mob boss, no person would believe if someone tried to snitch on her.

She glanced up into the cloudy night sky. Her violet eyes were surrounded by glitter and black eyeliner. There in the sky was a large symbol shooting into the night, the bat symbol. It started appearing most nights in the last couple of months. Freaked every druggie and criminal in the area, which also helped her chances of not being messed with. Most nights the moon wasn't visible, but that symbol was. She glanced down at her watch, the sun would soon rise. Not like that was any better. She turned a corner and walked up to the iron-barred door of her apartment complex. She typed in her code and opened the rusted metal door.

Zatanna's apartment was on the top floor of an elevator-less complex. She let out an exasperated sigh as she pushed her door open with her hip and took the key out of the door. She turned around and shut the door. Her forehead pressed against the door. She may know that no one could really hurt her but that didn't stop the crippling anxiety that lived in her chest as she walked the streets at night.

"What's different and kind but ignorant and blind?" She jumped and turned around.

"Jesus Christ, Ed!" She leaned against the door. Edward, one of her only remaining friends from childhood, sat on her counter.

"Wrong, guess again." He smiled as he took a sip from a mug of coffee he must have helped himself to. His small sage green eyes were behind the glint of his clear glasses. His soft brown boyish hair was almost in need of another haircut. She pressed a hand to her chest and stood up.

"You can't just burst into people's apartments like that!" She scowled but the anger didn't really meet her eyes. She couldn't ever really be mad at Ed. They'd been through too much together. She pulled the icy white wig off of her head and took the wig cap with it.

"It's not bursting if I have a key." He said with a small grin growing on his thin lips.

She pulled pins from her hair, "Let me rephrase, what if I had reacted differently?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Then I'd be subject to a quick and terrifying end." He jumped from the counter and lifted another mug up for her to take.

"You're lucky I like you." She reached for the mug. She took a greedy sip and closed her eyes to savor the warmth.

"Why do they dress you like that?" He asked and for the first time since she walked through the door, he wasn't smiling.

"It sells." She unzipped her purse and lifted a stack of tips out and waved them around. "Don't look at me like that I can take care of myself." She walked past him.

Her studio was small, but it was hers and she worked hard for it. She stepped behind a curtain and pulled it for some privacy. She quickly changed from her work attire to her residency scrubs.

"I just don't get why you're still working there." He said a bit louder. One thing she knew Ed would never do is disrespect her boundaries. He stayed in the kitchen even facing away from her.

"Ed, It's just to pay for the student loans, kay?" She asked. She combed through her hair and put it up in a bun. "I've told you I'm just a bartender, they don't expect me to do anything but make good drinks." She rubbed her makeup off with a wipe and looked into the small mirror in front of her sink. He became quiet, was probably thinking too much for his own good like always. She splashed some water on her face and washed her hands. Removing her eye contacts she slipped on her silver-rimmed circle lenses. By night she was in a club by day she was working with some of the craziest inmates known to Gotham City. She pulled the curtain back and looked over to Ed.

His head was hanging and his hands resting against the island counter. She walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ed, I promise the moment I can get out of there I will."

He looked up at her. His eyes looked as gentle as they had been when they were kids. "You're too good for that shithole."

"We're both too good for this shithole." She nodded and took a sip of her coffee. She eyes the newspaper that was sitting in front of Ed. She grimaced. In big bold letters read, 'Mayor Don Mitchell destroys Bella Real in last night's debate.' She rolled her eyes and turned away from Ed.

"What?" He asked.

"I just hate that guy." She shook her head and moved away from the island. She reached into one of the kitchen cabinets and pulled out some bread. "You know he still shows up at the club almost every week?" She snorted out a fake laugh. "So much for some upstanding family guy. It's all a stupid facade."

Ed's lips quirked up only slightly as he watched her angrily put together a pb&j. "That's one of my favorite things about you," his voice was small as he looked down at the paper. "You aren't asleep like the rest of them." He pointed toward the window. Zatanna looked up from her sandwich. There were moments when Ed would say things like that. The kinds of things she heard inmates at Arkham say. It sent chills down her spine but she couldn't assume anything. It was her best friend, for Pete's sake! He couldn't do what those patients at Arkham did, he wasn't capable.

"Well, luckily that tabloid totally has it wrong." She shook her head. "Real actually destroyed Mitchell." She met Ed's stare. "I think she may really fix this place."

His head fell and he took in a breath. It took him a moment before lifting his gaze back up to meet her, "You never answered my riddle." He said, his smile growing on his lips once more.

She bit the inside of her cheek, "Well I was too busy trying to stop my heart from leaping out of my chest." She placed her hands on the counter, "Hit me with it one more time."

He stood from the rickety old barstool and walked over to her. Zatanna used to be taller than him, most of their lives she'd been the taller one, the protector — but now as a man and woman, he stood taller. He leaned against the counter right beside her, "What is different and kind but is ignorant and blind?" He asked.

She looked off to the right, her teeth finding the inside of her cheek. She'd never been very good at his riddles. Her eyebrows furrowed, "I'm too tired for this." She looked up to Ed.

"I'll let you mull it over." He walked toward the door and opened it, "I'll see you later, Zee." He was almost completely out the door but turned back around. "Hey how much longer do you have at your residency at Arkham?" He asked. He'd asked that a lot recently.

"I've told you already I'm there for at least three more years." She said and he nodded.

"That's good, that's good." He patted the door, "Don't miss me, Zee." He closed the door leaving Zatanna confused but, that was typical for Edward so, she had nothing to worry about.

A/N
sooooo, what do we think?!
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Much Love
- Savannah