The Other Side

AN: IMPORTANT! This is my first fanfic, and I would appreciate it if everyone understood something. This story is something my friend and I came up with and is more of a test run for a similar story she is planning to write. However, her story will be with her own characters; not Batman and crew. Critiquing is appreciated, but please, no flames. The characters will NOT be the same as the original. Also please understand the story is more about day-to-day life. There will be occasional crimes to be solved, but I am not very good at writing such things, so this is more of what happens behind the scenes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, or any of the other characters; however, my friend and I do own the general stupidity that occurs in this story.

Prologue: The Beginning That Never Started

Rookie Detective Jack Napier had been down on his luck for the past few years. After all, nobody wanted a happy-go-lucky personality with unorthodox methods working murder and hostage cases. His bumbling and borderline imbecilic behavior made people reluctant to hire him on for anything- not that he had that personality anymore these days. Careless is the word that describes him best now. His Work was the only thing he had left to live for, and that was becoming scarcer by the day. A looming depression threatened to destroy him if he couldn't find SOME form of humor in his life, and soon.

Having been rejected for a case yet again, Jack sought out something that could bring back some happiness. He had found a poster stuck to a lamppost, advertising the Haley's Circus performing in town. If anything could lift his spirits, it was the lights and laughter of the big top- Especially the clowns. It would have appeared that the powers that live above were finally smiling on him.

Or rather, not…

For all the joy and laughter that each performance in that carnival house could give, no one would have expected what the finale would bring. A family of acrobats took the center ring and wooed the audience with their death defying acts without the safety of a net. This final act would not end in applause.

Jack stared in horror as the two acrobats fell to their death as their only son, Richard Grayson, watched in stunned silence from his high post. As the crowd hurried to the crushed couple on the ground, screaming and panicking, Jack looked up at the boy who still clung to the support beam of the trapeze. The boy had just become an orphan.

The detective suddenly felt a tug at his heart and clutched his chest when the circus boy screamed in protest at his parents' death. He felt for the boy. He recognized that pain.

Detective Napier slowly worked his way through the crowd, not to see the two fallen performers. No, he'd seen enough of that. He kept his eyes locked on the boy and made his way to reach him.

"Chaos seems attracted to me!" Thought the detective as a flood of sorrow drowned his mind. The world slowed around him and his vision became blurry. "Why did I even come here? I didn't want to see this. This is just more of the problems I already have."

Jack froze in his thinking. The boy's mournful crying began to echo in his ears, and it became all he could hear. The detective shook his head to regain his mind and to realize- he was on the trapeze' support beam. By some unseen force, the detective had walked through the crowd and had climbed to the trapeze where the young Richard Grayson was perched.

"Uh-oh! I know I do things on impulse, but now what?" Jack thought. He sheepishly reached his hand out to touch the weeping child. "At the very least, I'm up here. I can't walk away from this if I wanted to."

"Here, Boy," said the detective with a broken voice. "Richard is your name, right?"

Richard's body was pressed against the pole with his face turned away. Jack's cracked voice, while startling, did not move the boy and he said nothing in response.

Clearing his throat, Jack tried again. "Let me help you down."

Still, Richard did not move. He only continued to cry relentlessly.

Jack cleared his throat, almost choking on his own tears. "Ok, ok. Don't sweat it. I can wait…" With that statement, he pulled himself onto the perch next to Richard and waited.

From down below, the Gotham Police Department and other emergency response teams were hard at work clearing out the crowds and removing the bodies that were Richard's parents. Commissioner Gordon looked up at the trapeze support beam that Richard and Detective Napier were still occupying.

"Are they ever coming down?" Gordon pondered out loud to Detective Harvey Bullock. "They can't stay up there all night, can they?"

Bullock marched up next to the commissioner, adjusting his fedora as he scoffed, "Ehh~ knowing that clown, he's probably just stuck up there with the kid."

Gordon gave Bullock and scowl. Scouting to a fireman crew he called, "We need a ladder! Pronto!"

In the span of the same hour, the boy had gone from grasping the support pole to clinging to the detective. There wasn't much else to hang onto after all. "Heh-heh…" Jack forced a chuckle. "Funny how I don't have kids to say I'm good with them, yet you little monsters are always sticking to me…" A short, mouse-like giggle was Richard's response.

Jack checked the ground bellow to see a fire truck heading their way. He had had enough time to think over what he needed to do once he and Richard were both on the ground. "Richard," Jack said, looking down as him. "I-I have a- friend. And… He's a good friend. I think you'd like him. He won't mind company. Would you- like to meet him?"

Richard looked up at Jack with question and then looked down at the ground far bellow. His lips trembled to create and answer, but his stuttering was cut short as a fire truck latter rose in front of them. Richard and Detective Napier were brought safely to the ground, whereupon Richard's knees caved and nearly dropped him on his face. The sobbing had stopped. But all the pain was still flowing quietly from his eyes.

With his mind made up, he walked over, explaining who he was, and what he was willing to do to help. The performers looked at each other, and then at their bosses' son, and agreed to send him with Jack, seeing as they would be busy trying to settle affairs at the circus and would be unable to be around for him much.

They helped him pack, and watched as Jack led the shock-ridden twelve-year-old boy down the street to safety. Convincing the GPD to let Richard go with him rather than the social services almost became a whole different nightmare for Detective Napier. Fortunately, Gordon new that detail as well, and greatly preferred the path of least resistance right then.

District Attorney Harvey Dent grumbled as the knocking on his door became a frantic pounding. Only one person was crazy enough to come calling at 11 p.m.

He opened the door, prepared to shout his frustrations at Jack, but froze when his saw his friend's tired, haunted face- or rather- more haunting than usual. Such an expression of true depression and wretchedness could only be the result of something never meant to be seen.

Before he could say a word, Jack spoke quietly, "Harv, I need your help."

Harvey froze. Out of all the stupidest nicknames Jack would call him, Harv was a name reserved only for the most desperate of times. He was about to be asked a favor -A personal favor.

Eyebrows creased as Harvey gathered his words, "A-anything, Jack. What happened?"

He watched as Jack stepped slightly to the side and put his arm around the shoulders of an equally haunted child. Eyes widening in realization, Harvey knew that whatever had happened to this boy, brought up bad memories for Jack.

"This is Richard Grayson. He's the son of the trapeze artists from the circus that was in town. They're-"He paused as his gaze trailed off momentarily. "He has nowhere to go. Could you- Could he- stay here? At least, until other arrangements can be made? You know the mess I'm in, or I'd keep him with me. I don't want him alone at the circus."

Harvey gave a small, sad sigh and looked from Jack's pleading eyes down to the scarred eyes of the child next to him. He couldn't turn them away. How could he? Jack was a living pain some days. Sure, Jack had given him plenty of headaches over the years, but as one of Jack's best friends (likely, only friend) he understood why. As for the boy staring blankly next to Jack? The poor kid looked just like the rookie P.I.

There was no reason, no desire, for him to say no.

"O-of course. Come in, I'll- um- perhaps you should both stay here for the night…

Jack gave him a grateful, if sad smile, and ushered Richard inside towards the stairs as Harvey shut the door. They managed to get Richard to eat a light meal, and into bed, and then retired themselves, with Jack finding his usual comfy place in the basement.

But there was no sleep for Jack. With his mind spinning at high speed with no indicator it would be slowing, he began to wonder and imagine what would follow after tonight. He replayed the night's events in his mind, eventually only able to think of one frightening, idea.

While he had sat up on the trapeze with Richard earlier, he had the time to look around. There was plenty to see from that height, but what now struck him as odd was the state of the trapeze set, itself. One cord of the trapeze swing was detached from the top bar, yet the cord was perfectly in tact. There was no sign of fault in the line, or any damage visible. It appeared the one side of the trapeze had merely slipped off its shroud shackle.

"Wait-" Jack sat up on his cot with an epiphany. "The trapeze was completely in tact, even the shackle that held it up was attached… There was no damage at all." He scratched his cheek thoughtfully and continued. "It looked like that swing slipped off its hinge altogether! What are the chances of someone forgetting to tighten that down?"

In all his wondering, he soon could only think of one word-

Murder…

How Jack came to think of this single word, he himself did not know, there was no proof for such a thing. But in the dark of the night, he was beginning to feel he had a new reason to wake up in the morning. Despite the past few hours' horrifying outcome, Jack felt a large smile stretch over his face as he thought out loud,

"This is going to be fun."

AN: Like I said, this is my first fanfic, but go ahead and review! But please, no swearing!