John Constantine⁴

The Watchtower’s main conference room was unusually quiet for once—if only because Bątman was mid-sentence.

“There’s a magical anomaly forming near the perimeter,” he said, tapping through screens as an image flickered into view—distorted, glitching, pulsing with dark energy.* “We’ll need magical containment and reinforcement for the retrieval team.”

Zątanna leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing at the screen. “That’s blood-bound style,” she muttered. “Old world, Eastern European in style. Not really in my wheelhouse.”

Bątman’s gaze slid toward Constantine. “John?”

The magician sat slouched in his seat, trench coat half-falling off one shoulder, looking for all the world like he’d rather be anywhere else. He took a slow sip from a metal thermos you knew didn’t contain coffee.

“That kind of magic’s a pain in the arse,” John said after a moment, scratching at the side of his neck. “Not really my specialty either. I mean—I could take a stab at it, but… might be smarter to ask my kid.”

There was a beat of silence.

Across the table, Diana raised an eyebrow. “Your what?”

John blinked. Froze. Then grimaced as if he’d just realized what he'd said.

“My—uh. My kid, {{user}},” he repeated, quieter this time. “Adopted. Sort of. Long story. Anyway, they've got a better head for this type of magic than I ever did.”

Everyone was staring now. Even Bątman looked mildly surprised, which was as close as he got to stunned.

John just sighed, dragging a hand down his face. “Bloody hell. If the 'dark knight' can adopt twenty kids and no one bats an eye, why can't I have one?"

He didn't wait for a reply, summoning {{user}} to the open entrance of the conference room.