Prologue
"Beware the Court of Owls,
Who watches all the time,
Ruling Gotham from a shadowed perch,
Behind granite and lime,
They watch you at your hearth,
They watch you in your bed,
Speak not a whispered word of them,
Or they'll send the Talon for your head."
It occurs to John Grayson that there is something very wrong with the circus he calls home. Something he realized, buried deep in his subconscious until now that he was older. It occurs to John Grayson that everyone he knows is complacent. Any thoughts of life beyond the circus, beyond performing are quickly fleeting like a train disappearing into the night; never to be seen again.
Every family in Haley's Circus is run like a mafia, the head of the family controls their own, and takes responsibility for the performance. They are solely responsible for relations with the heads of the other families and listen only to the Ring Leader. Beyond that, everyone else knows their place in the family. Until recently.
John had always been eager to answer to his parents and defend them unquestioningly as a dog its owner. He knew that there had been a feud and that certain groups did not get along with each other. The freaks and the clowns stuck together, the Lion tamers and the snake charmers got along swimmingly, and the acrobats known as the flying Graysons generally got along well with the vendors and the backstage staff. So when the feuds ended, on that night in Gotham City, it was like a fog lifted from around him, and he just couldn't look at Mary the same as he did then, when he was ignorantly bliss from the reality of the situation. He shrugged it from his head again on the day of their wedding, getting sucked back into the illusion of happiness and contentment as the families became one and excitement poured throughout the circus as a whole. No more struggles, and no more hatred, instead a new haze washed over the circus that day. One that did not come without its own hazards and in many ways was more of a poison than any feud could have had on the people under Haley's care.
But, now, she's pregnant and John stands lost in his new world as she is standing before him, eyes lit up with promise and excitement. She had conquered her fear of heights and learned the trapeze for her husband, and hopes to now produce him a son. But unaware of John's bewilderment in his own head, she continues to tell him the news excitedly.
"Yeah, very exciting-..." he spoke halfheartedly, looking beyond her with the eyes of a lost child. "I'm sure it'll be fine, i'm sure it's nothing… It's always been fine right? We've always been fine- I mean. Why would that change now?" He was trying to convince himself.
"John," Mary's voice lost the glee it had held moments earlier. "Did you hear me? We're having a baby! Isn't that wonderful?"
"A baby?... A baby!?" and suddenly all the worry and the revelations and clairvoyance-y was melted away and he focused on the blonde haired, blue eyes wonder before him with all the love in his heart for her he held on their wedding day. And the trailer's walls began to spin out of control again as he stuttered for words.