Yay! I'm finally cranking this out! Sorry it's so short, I feel like this is mostly a prologue considering the story is really about what happens after the Graysons' murder. Yes, this is a prequel to Where's the Justice (which if you haven't read you should totally read (and review) 8D) but it isn't necessary to understand at all.

Also, to Robin Wingster, yes, I finally posted it! You should be amazed! XD So yes, this is dedicated to her. (shamless advertising) you should go read her story The War of the Bats in the Batman section.

Any dialogue in italics is English (for this chapter only) since the main language being spoken here is Romani (which I won't even attempt to actually write (French is hard enough)

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize, I don't own.

Warnings: Death.

Suggested music: God Bless the Child by Michelle Featherstone.

Haley's Circus, one of the most well-known circuses in the world (right up there with Cirque du Soleil and Ringling Brothers). It has everything from satiric clowns to lion tamers, from tight rope walkers to fire walkers. What really made Haley's stand out, though, was its acrobats, its trapeze artists. Like most performances, it was a family act; a husband and a wife.

They perform death defying stunts nearly a hundred feet above the ground daily. Of course being trapeze artists, this wasn't unusual. What was unusual was the fact they did it without a safety net. This isn't the only thing that makes them strange though. No, what really got everyone was that several years before another person had joined their normally two person act. The couple's young son had begun to participate in their acts more and more every season.

If one hadn't been interested in the acrobats performing without a net they were now drawn in by the young child who was performing stunts most adults wouldn't dare to attempt (let alone even be able to). The family was called the Flying Graysons.

oOo

Dick smiles happily as he weaves his way through the crowd. Circus music is ringing in his ears and chattering of the people that bump into him is making his heart beat faster. This was the night! The show was going to be big and Dick can't be more excited. The young acrobat smirks to himself and falls on his hands. He decides to not make the crowd wait and walks backwards on his hands towards the tent.

A few of the children see his costume and his act and get excited. They tug at their parents shirts and draw attention to Dick. When he hears someone gasp quietly he smiles to himself. The spotlight was made for him. He can't wait for the show tonight!

The young acrobat dances through the crowd for a while longer before he hears calls coming from the big top, "The show is about to start!" Dick isn't very good at English yet but he's heard those words enough to know that that's his cue to head towards his trailer. He throws a wave at the crowd who had been watching him and vaults himself off the ground and over their heads.

They gasp and momentarily stop to stare once again as he does one back flip, then two and three! Dick knows he can pull off a fourth (he's one of the few in the world who can and is proud of that fact) but he saves it for the show that night. He smirks as he tumbles through the door to his trailer.

"Dick! There you are! I've been wondering where you've been," Mary Grayson scolds her son gently.

"Sorry, Mami, I was entertaining the crowd," He crows happily and gestures with his head towards the door. Dick sits himself in front of his mother and lets her mess with his hair (though it isn't without a scowl on his face).

"More like showing off, you mean," John Grayson teases as he himself enters the trailer. He kisses Mary on the corner of her mouth and ruffles Dick's hair.

The only female Grayson smacks her husband on the arm, "John!" She cries angrily though her lips are twitching, "I just fixed it."

"Come on, Mar, you know his hair looks better this way," John tries to soothe his wife though he winks at Dick when he thinks she isn't looking.

"I saw that John Grayson." Dick giggles at his parents and throws his arms around his Mami's waist.

"Come on! The show's about to start!" The young acrobat chirps and tugs at his mother's waist earnestly. John and Mary trade smiles and John swoops down to pick up the eight year old. He holds him to his chest and Dick squirms, trying to get free.

"What's the hurry, little Robin? " John teases as his son's laughs start to quiet down, "You think you can escape from me?"

"Yeah!" Dick exclaims, smirking at his mother. When his father loosens his grip slightly, the young acrobat twists and tumbles out of John's grip and cartwheels once his hands hit the floor.

"Very good," Mary praises her son with a small smile as he bows, "Now let's really give them a show tonight."

"Yeah!" The young acrobat crows again.

"Alright, Graysons! Fall out!" John smiles and Dick takes his cue to prance out of the trailer towards the tent.

"Hurry up, Mami! Dat! Or we'll be late and Pop Haley will be mad!" Mary turns and smirks at her husband.

"Can't keep him waiting can we?" John chuckles.

"Little ball of energy, don't know where he gets it." The man muses and Mary rolls her eyes at him.

"Of course not."

OoO

Bruce sits calmly in the crowd, munching on a thing of popcorn. He ignores the socialite woman sitting next to him favor for the show happening in front of him. The circus music surrounding him is overwhelming and effectively drowns out anything the woman (Lisa?) might be saying- which gives him a reason to not have heard when she asks later.

The billionaire enjoys the show as it goes on, thoroughly impressed by it (though he can't necessarily say he enjoyed the clowns after several encounters with Joker) and by the time it's nearing the end Bruce is making a mental note to thank Alfred for convincing him to come.

"And now for the Amazing, Flying Graysooonnnsss!"

Bruce follows the spotlight with interest as a man pushes himself off the platform. He grips the trapeze tightly but lets go at his peak and flips to catch himself on the other trapeze that's been pushed to meet him. The ringleader calls out the man's name but the billionaire's attention is on the next member of the family.

The two continue through their routine and look as though they are made for the air. Bruce briefly wonders if it's anything like 'flying' through Gotham but is distracted as the final member is introduced. The Dark Knight's eyes widen and his body tense as he takes in the small boy on the platform. Are they crazy? Letting a little kid do something as dangerous as this? All doubts are wiped away though as the child joins his parents in their aerial dance.

Bruce let himself relax as he watches the small family perform for the astounded crowd. He almost has a smile on his face as the child flips back onto the platform and turns to watch his parents' finale. Something feels off the vigilant though he can't figure out why.

When he hears the cords holding the trapeze snap, he finds out why. Bruce feels himself tense up and wants to do something as he watches the two acrobats fall but knows he has nothing on him that'll help. When the couple hit the ground and the child on the platform screams out in disbelief his heart drops. He's seen this before- he knows how it goes.

A faded sound like a gunshot echoes in the back of Bruce's mind.

oOo

Miss Cora, the circus's resident fortune teller, once told a much younger Dick Grayson that there is a moment in every person's life that defines them, that there is a moment when your world turns upside down.

Dick hadn't believed her until today.

As the ropes snap- the world slows down and the young acrobat swears that it falls completely silent. He can't hear anything or take in anything. Dick runs to the edge and watches as his parents fall. His Mami looks up at him with sad eyes and he can see the 'I love you' on her lips before she turns and looks back at his Dat.

The two hit the ground with a sickening crunch and Dick's whole world shatters around him. A scream is ripped forcefully from his throat. All he knows is that he needs to get to his parents. He briefly considers jumping- and he almost does it too. The urge to join his parents on the ground is overwhelming and become broken like them. To be with them again in a way he knows he never will.

Instead, he stumbles to the ladder and slides down it. He doesn't pause to look around to see if anyone saw, Dick homes in on his parents' bodies and starts running towards them. As he nears them he slows. His knees start to shake and his vision blurs when he sees them- really sees them. It looks so much different on the platform…

Screaming and sirens echo around him but he ignores it.

Dick doesn't know what exactly is going on around him and he frankly doesn't care. All he can focus on are the prone bodies of his parents lying before him- broken, dead. H's sobbing and the grief is overwhelming and though he doesn't like to cry in front of people he really doesn't care what anybody else is thinking right now. The only thing little Dick Grayson cares about right that second is that he's alone in the world.

He isn't aware when the police come and take the bodies away. He ignores the police officers who come to comfort him, their words are foreign to him but Dick's sure they don't actually mean anything. The acrobat simply sits in the middle of the big top and cries until he can't cry anymore.

In the background he can vaguely hear someone with a deep voice that doesn't sound like any of the police officers that he's seen or heard so far. Dick can't bring himself to care though until two strong arms envelop him awkwardly. He struggles at first but he find he doesn't have the energy left in him to.

That same voice whispers nonsense in his ears and Dick allows himself to cry into the man's jacket. The words are soothing and though he can't see the man's face (the tears and the image of his parents falling, fallingfalling block anything from really getting to him anyway). He finally lets himself be comforted.

OoO

Bruce holds the sobbing boy close to him and wishes he could've had a better reaction time. He wishes that this little boy didn't have to go through the same pain he'd had to all those years ago. This kid (Dick Grayson his mind recalls) can't be any older than Bruce was- maybe even younger. And as much as Bruce wishes he could do something to actually help the kid, take the pain away, the billionaire is clueless about what to do.

So he settles with holding the boy close as he cries and trying to comfort him (even though he knows Dick doesn't know English), "It'll be okay. It'll all be okay. I'm here…"

There you have it. Is it sad that my two strengths in writing seem to be angst and humor?

Yes, this is a full on chaptered story and unlike its sequel (WtJ) this has a set timeline and will be in chronological order ('cept for flashbacks if they happen o' course). This'll be fun.

Also, thanks to all of my supporters who alert/favorite/review for me. I love you guys and you're all awesome!

Please review and tell me what you think!

~Dawn