june dent

“It is,” She greatly regretted not seeing more of them, she’d have to watch a few on youtube later, probably with a large glass of wine and a tub of ice cream beside her.

“Well i heard you and him had been practicing magic together,” He had mentioned that the night he died, her story seemed to have a few cracks and Zatanna internally felt a little smug catching her in it. “And from what he mentioned it sounded like you two did that a lot,”

June’s smile faded, though her expression registered nothing but wariness and concern that Zatanna would admit to such knowledge aloud. “If he has told you, that must mean you are trustworthy enough to keep such things to yourself.” She sighed. “After all, the use of real magic is illegal. I do hope you understand, given your estrangement from Zach, why I would not be open with such information.” If the wife of the mayor was known to be practicing illegal activity, it would land them all in very hot water. Such things were easy to get around in so-called magic shows, where tricks could be explained by elaborate skills in sleight of hand.

Smiling, she took another sip of her water. “How nice to know we won’t have any secrets between us.”

“Good.” he nodded, “That’s good.” She needed to be healthy since he used her in shows, of course Zach knew he loved her… But the logic behind the thought with no emotion following made it a difficult notion to hover on. He couldn’t even bring himself to think on why that should be concerning, it was odd to say the least. “That’s good too.” he said with a nod, “Well, better than that, sorry I just… I don’t know.” he cleared his throat, “I can’t feel anything.” he looked at June, appearing totally calm, “Nothing at all.”

“I know,” June murmured, lifting a hand so that her palm gently pressed his cheek. “It is still new. Everything is still new. It will take time to adjust to this. It took me some time, darling - even me.” To anyone on the outside, she cared purely and deeply for those around her. It was only partially true. However, it was also much more true than she wanted to admit. “Do not think on it now. All right? It isn’t important.” 

He lifted one hand and brushed her hair back, tucking it behind her ear. Both of them spent a good deal of their lives focused on the goals they shared, on what they wanted to build, and he too rarely looked at her and saw his June, much like he no longer looked in a mirror and saw only himself. The burst of emotion she’d shown for Zach made him look.

“He will. He’s always been eager to do as we ask of him.” And shouldn’t that be even more true when he owed his very life to June?

His brows furrowed and for a moment he just bowed his head. “You and I don’t know each other very well, Mrs. Dent, but Harvey and I go back. I can’t think of a man who’d be less at fault for something like this. What happened wasn’t your fault. Sometimes…” he sighed, “sometimes people slip through our fingers.”

In his long tenure with the GCPD, Jim had been unfortunate enough to see many awful things. Some stuck with him. There were names he’d never forget. Names of people he felt like had died because he hadn’t done enough, wasn’t good enough or fast enough. Nothing anyone ever said would make him forget those names. He didn’t expect anything he said to do it for June, either.

Zatanna took one sip, nothing seemed off about it though it would rather strange if it did, and also make no sense. Maybe she had become a little paranoid, she took another sip trying to not think about that possibility too hard. “Ah i see, his shows were very good, i didn’t get the most chances to see them but i’m glad for the ones i did catch,” An innocent enough answer from June she supposed.

“So when did you start mentoring him?” The question was more why but that would sound more accusatory than she wanted to be for the moment.

“Oh, that is quite a shame.” June also took a small sip of her water, but then she set it aside. Zach had told her everything about Zatanna and the conflicted past they shared. It was part of why he’d been so vulnerable when they’d first taken him in. 

The tone seemed to take her by surprise. She sat up a little straighter and smiled, her hands folding in her lap. “I believe he views Harvey as more of a mentor. He looks up to him. I try to be their support.”

“That’s not my place to say, ma’am.” If her tone bothered him, it didn’t show. Grief did all kinds of things to people and he’d seen the whole gauntlet. It wasn’t his place to judge her for hers. A young man had died. Anger seemed more than fair.

As she apologized, he shook his head. “Don’t think anything of it. If I took it to heart every time someone raised their voice or said something I didn’t like, I would’ve quit thirty years ago.”

It was important to remember two things: everything she did and said reflected on her image. June knew that well enough. However, it was just as important to show that she was human. Flaws were important. Excusable flaws were the best sort. 

“A month…” He processed that, appearing too calm and feeling too calm and knowing he shouldn’t be so calm yet unable to scourge up the emotion to worry… bizarre. “My dove… Eddie should have looked after her.” he blinked slowly and looked over at June, the movement sluggish, “You… missed me?” he asked, knowing the question was stupid but unable to not ask, even in this emotionless state.  

“She has been well taken care of, sweetheart,” June assured, covering his hand with her own. She recognized what he was feeling. It was something she’d experienced herself, before June’s emotions had slowly risen to the surface and she’d been forced to reconcile them with her own state. It would take time for him to feel more normal. “I missed you more than I can express. It hasn’t been the same without you. Harvey... he is going to be so happy to see you again.”

She stepped into the house without a word, taking a peek around her surroundings, she doubted there would be anything out of place in the townhouse but still was a good idea to keep alert. 

She took her seat at the end of the couch closest to the door in case an exit had to be made quickly. “Sure i’d love something to drink, feel free to surprise me i’m not picky,” She kept her face neutral and waited to be handed a glass, she didn’t really care what as she had no plans to drink it. She leaned forward, “So i am wondering a few thing and was hoping you could enlighten me to the answers, and the first of those things is what caught your attention to Zach in the first place?”

“Oh... well...” June paused, but then settled on a clean bottle of sparkling water. It was too early for wine. And she also made a habit never to drink during social functions - there was nothing tackier than a glass of wine in someone’s hand when their picture was taken. Of course, if a man were holding it, people would simply call it distinguished. 

Appearing surprised, she sat opposite of Zatanna and crossed her legs at the ankle. She laughed. “His charm, of course. I saw one of his performances. I thought he was very talented, and he was so good at connecting with his audience.” 

“They’ll believe as we tell them,” he agreed. Harvey watched her closely for a few moments before going to her again. He closed his hands around her arms. “If this is what you want, the city will fall in line with it.”

It was one thing they could control. She could bring Zach back to them. Harvey could play it off as the return of a savior - one they were so close to he was practically a surrogate son. They would be so lucky to have him back. A void filled.

If the city didn’t fall in line with June’s wishes, then she had her own way of making sure they would. Although she was doing her best to not use too much magic, risking suspicion, she also knew it couldn’t always be avoided. 

@enchant-the-moone

Everything felt stiff, like he’d spent too long in bed and exercised too much all at once, the fatigue had him all but collapsing into a chair the moment June got home. His head drooped but he forced it to rise and looked at her, taking deep breaths through an open mouth, as if unused to the gesture. 

“H-how long?” he asked after a moment, “I swear it feels like only a second…”

“Not very long.” June took a seat next to his chair, reaching over to cover Zach’s hand with her own. “Not long at all. One month, perhaps, and it was the longest month I have ever known. I wanted to bring you back sooner, but everything had to be perfect.” 

@enchant-the-moone

A question had come to mind, actually many, where did he get access to information on that type of magic, when did he get the confidence to do that, and where did the malice against someone or some group to even think about doing that spell let alone actually doing it, he meant for that effect to happen, just not the whole city, and there had to be a source for all of that, and the one place she could think of would be June Dent.

She would look into it more privately as well but perhaps a talk was in order, she dressed in her old blue coat and threw the hat on as she left her home, she was dressed for business, superhero business. Her knocks on the door were firm, *thud thud thud* she face conveyed no emotion other than focus. 

“June i believe we need to have a chat, this might be a long one,” 

When June opened the door, she seemed nothing but surprised to see Zatanna there. The words were met with a blank stare, but then she nodded and stepped back, gesturing for her to come inside. “I imagine there is much we have to discuss.” 

Their townhome was light and airy. June let Zatanna to the sitting room and gestured for her to take a seat. “Would you like something to drink, Zatanna?” She asked politely. “I hope you aren’t like Zach and only drink soda.” Zach talked about his cousin often, but there was clearly tension existing between them. When it came down to it, she saw little to fear in Zatanna - but that didn’t mean she would underestimate her.