"Now would be a good time to show off, Dickface! Come on, come on, come on!"
Jason's gloved hand dropped from his ear where the communicator was nestled inside, his cerulean eyes surveying the area. It was suspicious…all of it. He didn't like the feel of the situation one bit, and he knew he needed back-up. The only problem was Nightwing's punctuality.
"Come on. I know Daddy Dearest taught you to be quicker than this!"
"I am going as fast as I can," Dick enunciated. "What is the situation anyway?"
Jason glanced around again, his voice shifting to a soft growl. "I can't even describe it. Something big is going down, Grayson. There's…there's kids."
Static reverberated with the airwaves before Dick hissed. "I'll be right there. I'm tracking your position and I'm just a couple blocks out…oh, no."
Red Hood's breath caught in his throat. "Dickie-bird?"
"There? Wha…What happened there?"
"We don't have time to carry on a Shakespearean dialogue, okay? I'll debrief you when you get here." Heh. Debrief…like I did last night. Dammit, Jay. Focus.
The first Boy Wonder didn't take much longer to arrive. Had Jason not seen him leaping on top one of the box cars of the train he was perched on, he'd have jolted at the surprise entrance. In his black and blue latex suit, he joined the other man, a dark brow cocked at him. "Jay, why the hell aren't you wearing your helmet or at least a damn mask? You want people to know who you are and come after you?"
Onyx locks fell back as the younger man's head was tossed back, a dark chuckle emanating from him. "I'd outrun them or turn the tables on them, Dickie-bird. Come on now."
Blue eyes rolled from behind his black domino before he crouched in the same position Jason was in, one knee on the car while the other knee was in the air, an arm slung over it. "So, you were going to debrief me?"
A smirk tugged on Jay's lips as he cast the older man a sideways glance. "Why, Dick, you exhibitionist! Right here in front of everyone?"
An unimpressed Dick's lips formed a straight line. "About the mission, jackass."
"I prefer my way better, but fine. I saw some suspicious crates being towed in. From my surveillance, those crates could contain nuclear arms. There's supposed to be some kind of deal tonight."
Wide-eyed, Nightwing shook his head slowly. "But…they have a performance tonight," he murmured.
"Hence the urgency. I have a plan, though. I'm going to do some sleuthing. You, Dickface, you're gonna go undercover. Blend in with the public, see if you can't gather some intel. Think you can do that?"
Dick leaned away from Jason, his eyes narrowing. "I have the suit and mask on and you want to be Sherlock Holmes. Yeah, that's legit," he hissed.
"I already called shotgun. Now, shut up and go change. I'll start my sleuthing."
Before his lover could leap, Dick reached out and grabbed Jason's gloved hand. "J-Jay?"
He rotated on his heel, his eyes soft as he looked at the other. "Yeah?"
"Don't do anything too stupid, okay?"
Jason couldn't help but scoff, leaning to kiss his forehead. "Love you too, Dick." With that bit of sentiment, he hopped down from the train car and began closing the distance between the train and Haly's Circus's circus tents, being as stealthy as possible.
Dick watched as Jay ducked behind a cotton candy cart before he dismounted as well, ducking into one of the carts of his old home to follow his lover's orders.
Once Jason knew he was well out of Dick's range of sight, he resumed a normal position, walking as if he belonged with the other performers. There was one person he was looking for in particular, and judging from the tubby guy running at him dressed flashier than Elton John, he didn't have to look far. "Mr. Haly," Jason said, offering his hand while the other turned off his communicator with Dick. "Pleasure doing business with you."
"Mr. Todd," the other man greeted, taking Jay's hand in between his two white-gloved ones. "Everything is prepared for the 'main event' this evening. The old girl is being set up as we speak."
"Good," Jason nodded, glancing around at the other performers. The fire-breather was a bit too close for comfort, so he side-stepped. "Do you have my costume?"
The stout man nodded once, a gloved hand framing his chin. "It's in the back. You sure you want to do this, son? The consequences could be…fatal. It's what killed his parents."
"I have a bailout plan just in case." When his eyes met the astonished brown ones of Mr. Haly, his lips curled in a smug smirk. "I've been trained to think on and off my feet."
"Mr. Haly! Two minutes to show time!"
The tubby man's body shook as his hands gripped Jason's sturdy shoulders, twirling him around and pushing him off towards where the elephants were being prepped for the show. "Get changed, my boy! We haven't time to waste!"
Dick shoved his hands in the pockets of the jean as he searched for a seat amongst the packed bleachers of the circus tent. Hundreds of people were there, most of them families with children. Families…that if Jay's intel was right could be destroyed this very evening…at the same place his was.
His palms were sweaty and his heart was racing. Sure, he'd gone back to the circus many times to see his old friends, old "family." He never stayed for a full show though. There was no way he could, knowing the dangers those he cared about put themselves in, knowing one false move or one tampered rig could take them away from him too. Damn Jay for subjecting him to this, damn him.
A trumpet began blaring out a familiar circus tune and the curtains were drawn back for the performers to enter and begin their show. Dick watched split seconds of the performances, but he was too busy listening and looking for any clues as to this nuclear arms deal. All he heard were children laughing, calling out "Look at the tiger!", and whining about a treat of some kind. Hopefully Jason was having better luck.
His attention remained diverted until the lights went out, the Big Top submerged into a sea of blackness. Inside, his heart fell to his gut. This was it. Something was going down right then…and he didn't have Jason or his costume at the ready to do anything to stop it.
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we have a special presentation tonight…"
Shit. Shit! Here we go…
There was a long pause before anything was said again. The audience had fallen into a hush. All that was interrupted when a spotlight shone on one of the acrobatic podiums where a man in a flashy tuxedo, a gray skin-tight Kevlar shirt, and a crimson domino waved, holding a swing.
Gray shirt and red mask. Those things looked awfully familiar…
"Jason?!"
Jason beamed down at the darkened audience from his heavily-altituded perch, one hand on the bar of the swing and the other hand in the air.
Another spotlight flashed on and aimed towards the curtain, a large African elephant dressed in a sparkly pink cap and a flashy pink costume emerging seconds later. She waddled her way over to where a target was placed in the middle of the second ring when she stopped, her eyes peering right into Dick's. It was Zitka…his Zitka.
"Jesus, Jay, what the hell are you doing?" Dick breathed.
"Tonight," the announcer declared, "We are pleased to show you a one-time only act. Watch as the magnificent Jumping Jaybird performs several tricks before landing on Zitka and reveals a special message!"
Dick's breath hitched in his throat. Jason knew this is what killed his parents. What was he doing?
Jason flexed his hands on the swing, his eyes focused on the other swing and the podium. He hoped his short time as Robin prepared him for this. God, he couldn't bear it if he let Dickie down. Swallowing hard, he cleared his mind. With a roll of his shoulders and a crack of his neck, he leapt off the podium, swinging several feet off the ground.
Reflexes were kicking in for Dick. He wanted to hide, to run and beg Mr. Haly to end the trick. But he couldn't. If he broke Jason's concentration…well, it was a risk he didn't want to take.
As he approached the second swing, Jason sucked in a breath. He was trusting his momentum to carry him. Letting go of the first bar, he did a triple somersault in the air before reaching his hand out towards the second bar.
Dick ducked his head under his arms. "No," he whispered, tears filling his eyes. "No."
The audience cheered, causing Dick to perk his head back up. Jason had caught the second bar and was flying through the air once again.
This process continued a couple times more, the tricks increasing in difficulty with each pass. It was time for the big finale. All Jason had to do was grab that first bar once more after his trick…
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion at that point. Jason and Dick's eyes grew wide as they saw Jason's fingertips graze the bottom of the bar. Dick couldn't look away as Jason plummeted to the ground below. All he could do was scream. Jason fumbled around his belt, looking for something, anything to get him out of trouble. There just…there wasn't enough time. He shut his eyes tight, waiting to thud against the floor, waiting for every bone in his body to shatter, for his world to go dark.
But that never came.
What did come was a hot, tough, leathery embrace. He opened one eye to observe what miracle was occurring, one to see the face of Zitka. She saved him, broke her position to save him. She jerked her trunk to one side, helping Jason to climb on her back.
Dick's head was swimming. God, he felt dizzy. He wanted to pass out, puke…go to the hospital in case he was having a heart attack his boyfriend induced him with with this crazy shit. He better have a damn good reason for doing this, or he was getting a swift kick in the balls.
Jason mounted Zitka like a horse and waved at the cheering crowd before reaching for his trusty knife. He sawed at a rope that was keeping a large sign rolled on the pachyderm's back. The paper fell open, and the audience gasped. Grabbing a microphone that had been tucked in Zitka's costume, he read the sign aloud. "Richard John Grayson, I love you. I've always loved you and I will continue to love you so long as you'll have my crazy ass. Will you marry me?"
Dick's jaw fell open in astonishment. All that for a proposal? He risked his life just to ask him to marry him? His ass was grass.
"You just gonna leave me standing here looking like a damn fool, Dickface?" Jason teased through the communicator.
"I want to kill you."
"Is that a yes?"
"You could've fucking died, Jason."
"Is. That. A. Yes?"
"I love you. Do you fucking know that?"
"Answer my question first since you should already know the answer to yours."
"And you should already know the answer to yours."
"I crave affirmation, though."
"Fuck you, Jay."
"Once we get out of here, babe. Is that a yes?"
"What the hell do you think?"
"I think you're going to make a very demanding, prissy wife."
"All the better for a cocky, arrogant, tedious husband. Wait…why the hell am I the woman?"
"Have you looked in the mirror lately?"
"Your ass is mine when we get home."
"Oooh, role reversal. Kinky."
"Shut up and get the hell out here, hubby-to-be."
"Yes, dear."