Shared Rent?

Do I consider myself lucky or unlucky?

Most men would kill to have a chance to meet Zatanna, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that it is a wet dream for many, but here I was… worried instead of happy.

It was never good luck to run into heroes and villains this often, especially when I am in the Bronx. I can think of only a few heroes and villains who had their place of origin in the Bronx.

And Zatanna wasn't one of them.

"Is everything alright?" She asked, confused as to why I was suddenly so quiet.

"Ah, yes. It's just that you have an interesting name."

She smiled at this, "Yeah, I get that often."

She shook her head, "But seems like luck isn't on our side today. The places are either too bad or too expensive."

I nodded but my mind was at a totally different place at the moment.

She is Zatanna Zatara, so why is she struggling with money? She has been a part of Justice League and even the Titans, money shouldn't be a problem for her if she was on Batman's payroll.

Unless she wan't.

"Should we look around a bit more?" She asked.

This wasn't that bad then. If she wasn't part of the Justice League yet then I had options.

Zatanna was someone that was better to be a friend with than being an enemy.

She had strong magic and her story was interesting, besides she wasn't the strict hero so her morals weren't as strict as the others.

Something that I can respect.

Deciding to answer her question, I nodded, "We can… no we should do that. After all, we do need a place to stay."

In my mind, I was facing a different dilemma.

I knew that this was a chance that was presented to me. And wasting it would be one of the stupidest things that I can do.

"Rent is the biggest issue with these nice houses."

She wasn't wrong, it was the major issue that we were facing.

"It would be great if we could have shared the rent-"

At her statement both our eyes went wide and looked at one another.

"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" She smirked, making me nod a little.

"I believe so."

…

…

The Justice League, Earth's mightiest heroes, lounged comfortably in their iconic meeting room at the Watchtower, a sprawling space station orbiting the planet. 

The room was dark, only lit up by the green and white rays, courtesy of the holographic displays and monitors lining the walls. 

Most of the time, the place was not filled. Only a few of the heroes were present at a time, but surprisingly, this time around, almost everyone was present –except two.

Green Arrow and Black Canary.

All sitting encircling the classic League round table.

At the head of the table, Superman kicked back in his chair, his vibrant blue and red suit a stark contrast to the relaxed posture he adopted.

Taking a seat beside him, Wonder Woman sat wondering the reason for the meeting. She was one of the most famous members of the league among the public –mostly because of her appearance and the strong woman personality.

Across from Superman, Batman reclined in his brooding vigilante attire, aware that everyone was waiting for him to explain the reason for the meeting. The Caped Crusader meanwhile stared at the person next to him.

Perched beside Batman, The Flash fidgeted with impatience, spinning his phone around the tip of his fingers, certainly aware that this little action was annoying the Bat.

Green Lantern leaned back in his chair, simply waiting for someone to start speaking. Hal Jordan's recent mission had him tired and in all honesty, he wanted to go back as soon as possible.

Next to Green Lantern, was the king of Atlantis, the strongest being of the Ocean –Aquaman. Arthur recently finished a business deal and given he had the time, he decided to drop by the League headquarters.

Sitting to the edge was the one responsible for keeping all their satellites running. The man that was more of a machine than a human –Cyborg.

And finally, the one with the most regal sitting posture, the shapeshifting, telepathic hero –Martian Manhunter.

And as they waited for someone to finally speak, Batman decided to explain.

"Scarecrow is dead."

This small statement had a massive effect in the room.

"How?" A curious Wonder Woman looked at the capped Batman, "Murdered or accident?"

"Neither." The Bat shook his head, confusing the League.

"Then how?" Cyborg asked as he went through the countless news articles on the internet trying to find something relevant, but to no success.

"It was a heart attack."

This drew a lot of confused looks from the members.

"The man that is a master of toxins and is a genius in anatomy and biology wasn't able to find the underlying issues with his health?" The half robot asked, unconvinced by the statement.

"It is said that doctors are often the worst patients, maybe that's what happened with him? He didn't consider those possible symptoms?" The Flash added, making Superman nod.

"He has been in touch with those toxins for so long that it might have finally taken a toll  on his body."

"But do you really believe that the master of toxins wouldn't have taken that into consideration? He has been in this field for ages, it makes no sense that he didn't consider the possibility of falling for those toxins one day?" The king of Atlantis asked.

"Did you go through an autopsy?" Hal asked, making the Batman nod.

"It all comes out to be a normal heart attack." The leader of the league said.

"Anything out of the ordinary lately?" Superman asked but Batman shook his head.

"Then it isn't an issue to worry about, is it?" Wonder Woman asked, "We should focus on the issue at hand that Canary and the Green Arrow went to solve."

They all nodded, agreeing that they had another major issue at hand. But Batman was still not satisfied with dismissing Scarecrow's death as a heart attack.

'Kate did tell me about Scarecrow fighting with a guy the night before his death…' He thought, a bit suspicious of the things, 'I might have to look into this matter later… Or have Dick investigate it.'

"For now, let's await the news from Arrow…" Martian frowned, "If the news about Starro's return is true… Then we will be in big trouble."

And he was right.

An issue beyond Scarecrow or even the Joker was Starro.

The Conqueror.

…

…

Zatanna wasn't a hero at the start, she was just living her life.

She is someone whom if I keep close will be a great help for the future.

And neither of us are going to be home twenty four seven, so it is not such a bad option.

Besides, it will save us a lot of money. And the reason she isn't worried about living with a normal man is because she isn't normal to begin with.

Because of that, she isn't scared of living with me although we just met.

She is confident in her ability.

"I guess… that works?" I said, contemplating the possibilities that might go wrong and for now, but there weren't many.

"Then that's perfect!" She said happily, "Now we can get one of those nice looking places."

I chuckled and nodded, "But how about we get some food and talk a bit about ourselves first? We have been moving around a lot and I believe you must be just as hungry as me."

She sighed, "I came here on an empty stomach, so yeah I am hungry. And besides we can know a bit about ourselves over food, since we will be sharing rent."

I nodded, "That will be great."

After all, I do need to get every possible information about her if I am going to live with her.

Plus it never hurts to spend some time with a pretty lady.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

[[A/N: Read 25+ Chapters Ahead: Pat reon.com/Greedyfrog]]