The Beginning Part I
Summary: The moments between a father and son from the day Bruce decided to adopt Richard. Rated T for swearing a violence.
Author Note: I did the best I could on research and found quite a lot of information about the origins of Batman and Robin. So, it said that Robin, the youngest child of a family of acrobats, witnessed his parent's death which was performed by a Mafia Boss. I found that it said he was ten when this happened, but that would mean he had only been with Bat Man for three years. So, I'm going to notch that down five years to when he was five. I guess because of that you can consider the story a bit AU.
Warning: Swearing, violence.
.oOo.
What was this strange man doing to Mom and Dad's stuff? Dick thought to himself while he peered into the acrobatic tent where his parents worked. At his age of five, he had been being watched by Larry, the circus clown, while his parents were in the back getting ready for the show tonight. To his luck, he was able to slip away from the jokester to wish his parents a good performance or something along those lines.
He hadn't expected to see a strange man in their tent tampering with the trapeze equipment, though. At the same time, Dick was use to seeing odd men in and out of the circus for the guy who ran it was constantly hiring new workers to bet jobs done. As far as Richard was concerned, this was just another one of those men.
Juvenile hands let go of the tarp that made up the small tent. When Dick turned, he almost immediately ran into the body of a brightly dressed person with funny makeup. Oh, he knew he was going to get it.
"Gah," Larry explained, grabbing the boy's hand gently but firm. "Dick, you can't keep running off like that! This is a big place boy, you can easily get lost."
"I jess wunted to tell Mama and Papa to have a nice show," Dick explained to Larry, hoping the man would let him get off easily this time like he always did. "But they were 'dere."
He watched the big man sigh and he led Richard toward the main tent. They were of course going in the back way where all the performers and custom designers were. "They already left to the show. Honestly, Dick. If you keep running off like this, I will have to tie you to one of the elephants and leave you there. At least that way I will always know where you are."
"I get out," Dick stated rather bluntly. The sad thing was that Larry was almost certain the boy would. Either it was with vague skill in bending and twisting or perhaps the boy just had luck on his side.
"I know," Larry confessed outwardly. "Now hurry up, your parents get on in less than five. You still want to watch them right?"
Dick nodded. He had seen his parents perform the same routine thousands of times and each time it was more and more impressive. Most boys his aged dreamed to become astronauts or super heroes, but not he. He couldn't wait to be up there, in front of all those people, doing the same forms as his parents.
He stole one more glance behind him. He could see that from the tent, workers were rushing out with the equipment that they needed for the show. Dick wondered why it wasn't up yet but didn't focus too much on it.
Soon enough, Dick was standing from the side lines of the performing platform. He made sure to stand more to the side so that the audience could not see him and that the upcoming performers would be able to get out there without disturbance from him.
He could see his parents, both dressed in wild skin tight clothing, standing at what Dick thought to be, thousands of feet of the ground. He could have sworn he was his mother look at him and give him a slight smile which made Richard feel good.
It wasn't long until the Ring Master announced John and Mary the Magnificent Flying Acrobats to the roaring audience.
With two synchronized leaps into the sky, he watched his parents reach for the bars. They swung back and worth! They flipped, they turned, they swopped, and they caught! The crowd loved them and they loved the crowd.
Almost as quickly as the slow began, it ended with a loud "Snap"! The audience gasped as the two bodies hurled toward the ground. Dick wasn't quick enough to respond to what had happened and by the time he caught up two skulls were cracked against the pavement. Their falls were not caught by a net; no one thought they needed one.
Red liquid pooled under nether their bodies almost as quickly as Dick was running toward the limp bodies on the ground. He could recall screaming their names, which was most likely not heard over the sound of terrified people.
The crowd was quickly ushered out of the tent. It emptied surprisingly quickly despite the chaos. To Dick, however, it was hours and years until he was pulled away from the bodies by one of the few police officers at the event.
The blood of his very parents, the two who gave life to him, stained Richard's hands and where soaked into his pant legs from where he was kneeling. He screamed, cried and demanded to be let go. Words he was not even aware he knew escaped his mouth as the profanities tainted the air.
.oOo.
It wasn't surprising that after Dick had got quickly cleaned up and changed that he was able to slip away. Get by the police was simple but getting into the tent where he had last seen his parents alive was harder. Eventually, I got in without being detected.
He crouched behind some trunks which gave him a clear view of his parent's bodies. Well, the sheet covered corpse. There was the quiet talking of police officer and that snapping sound that a camera makes when pictures are being taken.
The Media had blown up with the news hit the public area. Reports from all new station of Gotham City had arrived in their fancy news vehicle with satellites on them and huge video cameras. The death of his parents didn't seem to be what was dragging people to the crime scene, however, rather than the weird looking man dressed in black. He had a cape and a funny hat that looked like they sort of have cat ears to Dick.
He had heard about him. He had heard about Batman.
Dick crawled closer, still behind the trucks of costumes. He could see Batman more clearly now. He was a buff man and the font of his outfit had a black bat. Richard would have normally been in aw if it wasn't for the fact; the reason he was there was for his parents.
His poor parents. Dick wondered if they were cold. He hoped they were alive and his was just a terrible dream the resulted in him eating to many carnival churros that day. His parents were actually very much safe and he was very much in his bed.
It wasn't until Dick stood up and smacked his head on something above him was he pulled out of his make believe, hopeful world. Luckily, none of the officers and Detectives seemed to notice the sound on his forehead hitting another object of mass or the small whimpering sounds he made soon after while he held his head in his palms.
If mom was her-, Dick found himself cutting his thoughts short. It had happened so soon, so recent. It sounded weird to him for he had never referred to his parents in past tense like he hadn't seen them for a while or that he had lost them permanently.
He looked up back toward his parents through blurry eyes from the pain, but what he saw made Dick's heart stop. Two icy black eyes were looking at him through the crack that he too was looking at him. Richard knew that this hadn't been a coincidence and Batman had not just been looking in his direction for the hell of it.
No, he knew Batman could see him.
.oOo.
Updates are like the weather here is Southern California; random and unpredictable! So, I will try to get up the second part of this "chapter" before the end next week. You know? To be honest, I do not know in the least how I am going to write Batman! I am so nervous that I will screw up his personality! Which might be a reason the next update with be a bit…Slower? I want to get it just right! I'm sure his alter ego, Bruce Wayne, would be a lot easier to write. (Feel free to offer your assistance on helping me capture his personality. Any tips? Ideas?)
Also, in the comic, Robin calls Batman, Bruce. I personally like Dad better but I want to know what you all think. I'd like to stay as close to the original way as possible but this story is sort of all about family, so I would also like the catch the perfectly!
Sorry, I'll stop rambling! Tell me what you think! (If there are any mistakes, I am sorry. It is almost two in the morning!)