Cirque de Grayson
By CidGregor
Rated K+
"No."
Starfire pouted. "Please?"
"No."
"But Raven--"
"No."
"But I--"
"No."
"You are not even letting me finish!" Starfire shouted through the door, crumpling the flier in her hand.
"I'm trying to save you the trouble, Star," Raven muttered back, barely audible. "I promise you, there is absolutely nothing you could say to coerce me into spending the hottest day of the summer cooped up in a tent with thousands of people watching a bunch of performers try to wow people with cheap stunts and domesticated beasts."
Starfire made an annoyed face. "Hmph! Very well then! Perhaps the next time you wish me to accompany you on an outing of amusement, I will refuse you!" And she stalked away from Raven's bedroom door, wiping sweat from her brow as she went.
Raven had been right about one thing: the summer heat was rather uncomfortable. Not that she wasn't used to it, of course – her Tamaranian sun could get quite intense at times as well – but one thing she had learned in her time on Earth was the difference between 'hot' and 'humid.' Starfire decided 'humid' was one of the few things she disliked about her new home.
She wandered into the Main Room, where Cyborg and Beast Boy were sitting in front of the television, gamestation on, pounding each other into pulp as usual. Starfire approached them casually, smoothing out the flier she held.
"I am the GOD of Superhero Smackdown, BB, you are NOT gonna pull this one over on me!" Cyborg announced.
"Said the tortoise to the hare!" Beast Boy grunted back.
"…Beast Boy, the tortoise WON in that story!"
"Yeah, he…wait…SHUT UP, you're tryin' to distract me!"
"Friends?" Starfire interrupted, holding up the flier. "Would you perhaps be--"
"Can't talk, kicking butt!" the pair said in unison. And after a pause, "JINX!"
"You owe me a soda, bolts-fer-brains, I said it first!"
"Like hell you did, grass-stain!"
Starfire's face fell. She wasn't going to pierce their bubble anytime soon. But she still had one last hope…
She found him in the gym as usual, working on his aerial moves. As she entered he was swinging by his grappling hook from a wooden support beam across the ceiling. She watched for a moment as he pulled his legs up mid-swing, and to her wonder, he hooked his foot into the handle, released his hand, and hung upside-down by one foot as he swung. He stretched his hand out at the bottom of his swing, and for the first time Starfire noticed an empty bottle in his path. His hand reached for it…the distance closed rapidly…
At the last possible moment, however, his foot slipped from its hold, and he fell face-first into the mat. He punched the ground with a frustrated growl as he pulled himself to his feet, but he calmed as he noticed his friend, and smiled at her.
Starfire smiled back. "That would appear to be a most difficult maneuver," she said.
Robin nodded. "I've almost got it, I think…just need a bit more practice. What's up, Star?"
Starfire held up the flier in her hands. "There is a most wonderful show at the edge of town called a 'circus!' I have seen them on the television, but I have never attended one in person! Would you like to accompany me, Robin? It would be a most wonderful activity with which to take our minds off of the unpleasant temperature level!"
Robin's smile slowly faded as he stared at the flier. Along the bottom was the trademark three-ring stage, where costumed elephants and their riders marched. Just above that was a pair of human cannonballs crossing each other in an X-shape in midair. And at the top, frozen in mid-swing…was a trio of trapeze artists, garbed in bright red and green uniforms.
"The people of the flying trapeze seem most similar in appearance to you, Robin!" Starfire said cheerfully, oblivious to his sudden mood shift. "Would it not be most amusing to--"
"No."
Starfire halted, her face falling. "You…do not want to go?"
Robin shook his head and turned away. "Sorry…I just…don't like circuses…"
"Whyever not?"
"I just…don't, all right?"
Starfire seemed to deflate. "Why does no one wish to go with me? Do I have the body odor?"
Somehow Robin managed to chuckle through the sudden cloud of gloom. "No, Star, it's not--"
"Have I the cooties?"
Robin chuckled a little louder. "Cooties aren't real, Star, you know that."
"Then why do you not wish to go with me?.!"
Robin sighed. "Starfire, it has nothing to do with you, I just…need to train," he lied.
Starfire did not give up, however. She swooped in front of him again, and took both of his hands in hers. "Please, Robin? I have never seen a circus before, and I wish so much to go…but I do not wish to go alone. Please…please come with me, Robin?"
In the end, it wasn't her pleas or her gentle touch that convinced him. It was her eyes that clinched it. Those enormous and gorgeous green pools. His own gloom be damned, it was physically painful to think of those eyes full of tears.
"…Oh, all right, I'll go…"
Her mouth exploded into a grin. "Glorious!" she announced, squeezed her arms around him, and without even thinking about it she kissed his cheek with a loud smack!
"Ghrrkk…air…lungs…"
"Oh! My apologies!" she said hurriedly. "I simply could not contain my excitement! I shall go get ready immediately!"
And she was gone before he could fill his lungs again.
He took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy…
The crowds screamed and whistled at incredible volumes, cheering for the duo of human cannonballs as they loaded themselves into cannons at opposite ends of the enclosure, waving to the crowds around them. A few moments later, they disappeared inside the barrel of the cannons, a hush fell over the crowd, and their assistants lit the fuses.
"Oh, is this not exciting?.!" Starfire whispered to Robin as she clutched his shoulder. "To experience such things without the ability to fly must require such incredible bravery!"
"Y-yeah…bravery…" Robin muttered, trying to keep himself from bolting out of there and not looking back. He didn't like it here one bit. There were too many memories…too much loss that haunted him. But he'd promised Starfire that he would come with her, and no matter how uncomfortable he was, he would stick it out…for her.
B-BOOM!.!.!
The two cannons fired together, and as the crowd stood and held their collective breath, the performers inside were launched straight toward each other at frightening speeds.
Starfire gasped and bounced on the balls of her feet. "They are going to collide!"
Robin almost laughed. Almost. "It's okay, Star…just watch."
And just as Robin knew would happen, the duo did not crash into each other, but instead high-fived as they passed one another and landed smoothly in the safety nets set in exactly the right place to catch them.
Starfire cheered with the rest of the crowd at the feat, an enormous grin on her face. "That was most exciting, was it not, Robin?"
Robin nodded slowly. "Uh-huh…exciting."
Starfire turned to him curiously. "Are you quite all right, Robin? You have seemed rather uncomfortable for the duration of the performance."
"I'm fine, Star, it's…just the heat," he lied. God, how he hated lying to her…
"Ladies and gentlemen," the ringleader announced, her microphone booming, before Starfire could say more. "We will now have a short intermission before we begin the final act…the pride of our pack, and masters of the flying trapeze…the lovely Sisters of the Sky! The final act is in twenty minutes, so don't be late!"
The crowd stood up to stretch their legs, mob the concession stands, and take bathroom breaks as needed, and Robin stood up with them.
"I'm gonna…go get some fresh air," Robin said. He dug into his pocket and handed Starfire a crumpled bill. "Why don't you get yourself some popcorn or something?"
"O-oh…" Starfire said, surprised, and took the bill. "Thank you, Robin, I--"
But he was already gone.
Starfire frowned. He wasn't fooling her at all. Something was making him uncomfortable about this place, and it wasn't the heat.
She stood and hurried out of the stands, trying to catch up to the Boy Wonder, but he was nowhere to be seen. She considered flying to try to look for him in the air, but she remembered Robin telling her before they arrived that it would be best not to draw attention to themselves. So against her instinct she stayed grounded and searched on foot.
"Robin? Robin! Where did you go?"
She could hardly hear herself in the crowds, however. There was no way Robin would hear her. Gently, so as not to hurt anyone with her superior strength, she squeezed herself through the crowds and toward the back of one of the smaller tents, where it was much quieter. Maybe Robin had gone this way as well, she guessed. She knew he wasn't usually one to hang around in large crowds, and this area was quiet and deserted. She made her way forward, eyes searching.
"…the money, you…"
Starfire's ears perked up at the faint voice. Was it Robin?
She hurried toward the sound, and it steadily grew stronger until she realized there were several voices.
"Look, I told you guys, I'm not interested…"
"Maybe you don't get the situation yer in, missy…"
Starfire was disappointed to find that neither voice was Robin's…but curiosity urged her forward. She peeked around the corner of the tent and found three people standing there arguing. Two of them were short, stocky men that Starfire could tell instantly were trouble. They had all the appearances of hired goons: dark clothes, rimmed hats pulled down over their eyes, and the bulge of a firearm under their coats.
The third person was the ringleader of the circus, still in full uniform. Her face was tightened into an annoyed frown.
"I don't care what you think I owe you," the woman said. "And I don't care what your boss has to say. You're not going to intimidate me into giving you money you didn't earn for some ridiculous idea of 'protection.' This circus has never bought into you gangsters in its entire history, and it's not about to start now."
"A shame," one of the men said to his partner. "Poor dame don't know da boss too well, do she?"
"No she don't," the other man agreed.
"Alright, doll-face…you don't want Zucco's charity, dat's your call. But accidents happen, toots. An' when dey do…you'll come crawlin' back ta us. And we won't be bein' quite so generous then."
The two men turned and left, snickering. The ringleader rolled her eyes impatiently and hurried in the opposite direction back into the main tent. All three were oblivious to Starfire's presence as she tried to make sense of what she'd seen. The men most certainly did not look like law-abiding characters, but she couldn't just go snatch them then and there…they hadn't technically done anything wrong. Or at least, nothing she could prove. But their words…they still sounded threatening…but it was hard for her to make sense of it, she was still so unfamiliar with Earth slang.
She stood there for nearly the whole of the intermission, thinking, until the ringleader suddenly spoke from within the main tent.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the final act is about to begin! Please take your seats!"
"Eep!" she squeaked. She'd completely forgotten about the show. And she never found Robin after all that…
Wait…Robin! Starfire realized. He will be able to make sense of the sight I witnessed! I must inform him immediately! Oh, I hope he has returned to our seats and not run from his strange discomfort!
She hurried back inside just as the ringleader was taking center stage.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, our grand finale! We are proud to present to Jump City tonight, the greatest display of aerial acrobatics you have ever seen! Please give a warm welcome to our beloved Sisters of the Sky…Lilian, Lilith, and Liliet!"
Starfire looked up to where the spotlights shone. Way up at the top of the tent, mounted precariously on a small platform, were a trio of women, each waving to the crowd as the ringleader called their names. All of them had perfectly toned, sleek, and slender bodies costumed in red and green outfits that strangely resembled Robin's.
"Prepare to be amazed and astounded as these beauties of the flying trapeze perform death-defying acts the likes of which you have never before witnessed!"
Starfire was not paying attention as they began their performance, however. She hurried back toward her seat, and just as she was halfway up the stairs, she encountered Robin heading down them just in front of her.
"Oh, Starfire, there you are," he said. "Listen…I have to…get back home. You go ahead and enjoy the rest of the show, I just…need to go."
"What?.! Why?.!" she nearly demanded, and was promptly shushed by the people in the seats beside them.
"I just…it's complicated, Star…I'll tell you later. See you back home."
Robin tried to step around her, but Starfire moved in front of him again. "But Robin, I must tell you something!"
"It can wait until later, Star--"
"It most certainly cannot!" she insisted, and again the people next to them insisted she shut up.
Robin narrowed his eyes. "Star you're making a scene," he whispered. "This can wait until--"
"No, Robin, you do not understand! There is evilness and treachery nearby!"
"And now," the announcer went on in the background, "bear witness, as our sisters enter the most dangerous and difficult phase of their performance…WITHOUT the safety of a net!"
Robin sighed and shifted uncomfortably, and Star noticed his eyes never went near the trapeze performers as their ultimate death-defying routine began. "Okay, fine, what is it?" he said distractedly.
"I overheard two men arguing with the leader of the ring during the intermission," she said quickly. "It sounded as though they were demanding money from her, and--"
"Money?" Robin echoed, and suddenly he appeared much more interested in what she was saying.
"Yes. She refused them, and the men….I could not completely understand them, but it seemed like they were threatening her…"
Robin's face was slowly growing pale. "What did they say?"
Starfire wracked her brain, trying to remember the exact words. "They said…that she would come crawling back to them after…after…"
"Accidents happen?" Robin filled in abruptly.
"Why, yes, exactly! What did they mean by--eep!"
Robin suddenly grabbed Starfire by the shoulders, looking her straight in the eye.
"What else did they say? Tell me, Starfire!"
Starfire was thoroughly confused now, and more than a little fearful of this sudden intensity directed at her. But she pressed on. "They mentioned…their boss. I believe they said his name was…Zucco?"
Robin's eyes widened in sheer horror. "No…"
"Robin, what is…Robin?"
But suddenly he was no longer paying attention to her, but something far above the both of them. Suddenly all she heard was screaming. Starfire looked, and gasped. One of the trapeze cords had snapped in the middle of a swing, and two of the three sisters were hanging on for dear life by the remaining cord while their third sister, clearly the youngest of them, stood safely on the platform, staring in total terror, helpless. The circus staff were scrambling to get the safety net back into place, but they would never make it in time…
"No…" Starfire heard Robin's voice shake as he spoke. "Not again…never again…"
One of the girls' grip faltered, and in a split second Robin had fired his grappling hook into the tent's support beams. He leapt and swung just as she lost her grip entirely and began to fall the hundreds of feet to the empty ground.
Robin blocked out her horrible scream and prayed his swing could reach her in time…
But as he judged the distance, to his renewed horror, he saw wouldn't be able to reach her…she would fall just a few inches too low…
Unless…
Like lightning he swung his legs up and hooked one boot into the handle. He released his hand, and swung upside-down toward the girl, reaching his hand for her. He never had mastered the move in training…but now it was the girl's only hope…
"GRAB ON!" he screamed as he approached.
He had just one chance…this one chance…he reached…
With a loud clap, he caught the girl's wrist as she grabbed his, jerking the rope hard, but at last Robin managed to keep his foothold, and the twosome hung there, adrenaline pumping, but alive.
"T-thank you…oh God, thank you…" the girl wept below him.
Peripherally he saw Starfire fly to the other girl and grab onto her before she could fall, and deposit her safely on the ground before returning and lifting the sister Robin had caught from his grip. Finally she flew back up and freed Robin from his upside-down position, holding him tightly as she brought him down to the ground.
"Are you all right, Robin?" she whispered.
"Fine," he managed, and she could tell his voice was choked with emotion. The moment she set him down, he pulled free from her grip, and fled. After only a few moment's hesitation to ensure the girls were taken care of, Starfire followed.
Somehow, Starfire managed to completely lose track of Robin on the way home…or perhaps he wanted her to lose him. Whatever the case, by the time she returned to Titans Tower, Robin had sealed himself in his room, and whatever methods Starfire used to try to coax him out, he would not open the door for her or anyone else all afternoon and through the evening.
By the time night fell and the humid summer air had at last cooled somewhat, Starfire had given up. She knew something had happened to affect Robin immensely, something that she wasn't aware of, something below the surface of what happened at the circus that day; and that alone probably made Robin as reclusive as he was being, he was so private by nature. On top of how big it apparently was to him, she realized he probably needed time to sort it all out in his own head, and it would be wrong of her to keep pressing him before he was ready to talk to her about it.
If he would ever want to talk to me about it…
That last thought ate at her as she slipped out of her uniform and into her nightgown. She wanted so badly to be near him, both physically and emotionally. But now she feared he would never allow her to get that close…
She plopped onto her bed with a sigh and decided to let it lie overnight and try again in the morning. She pulled the covers over herself, laid her head on the pillow, and closed her eyes…
Knock knock.
She opened her eyes again in surprise. It couldn't be…
"Starfire? It's me…"
It was. Robin.
She climbed out of bed and opened the door. "Friend Robin…I had resigned myself to leave you be for the evening…"
"Yeah…" he said quietly. "Sorry about that…"
Starfire glanced down and saw a crumpled paper clutched in one of his hands, folded into quarters. "What is that?" she wondered aloud.
Robin glanced down the hallway in both directions, and then looked to her. "Do you mind if I come in for a minute?"
"N-no, not at all…" she said, and stepped aside. Robin slipped in and closed the door behind him. He gestured toward her bed, and they sat down beside each other.
"I'm…sorry for avoiding you all day…I just needed some time to myself for a while…" he told her.
"I assumed as much," Starfire said. "But Robin…what on Earth caused you such strain? Surely what happened at the circus is not all that different from what we normally--"
"I know. It…wasn't that."
Starfire saw his grip tighten on the piece of paper in his hand, then loosen as he raised it, and handed it to her. Starfire took it and unfolded it to reveal a flier. It was for a circus, though the date was marked several years ago. It looked a lot like the flier she herself had shown him earlier, except for the name written under the feature attraction.
"The Flying Graysons…?" she read aloud.
Robin nodded. "…They're my family."
Starfire's eyes widened in shock. "Your…family?"
"Yeah," he said, pointing. "My mom…my dad…"
His finger traced from the older woman, to the man beside her…and to the boy standing proud between them.
"…and me…"
Starfire stared in wonder at the young boy in the picture, and the name beneath it. "Richard…Grayson…"
Robin nodded. "I grew up in the circus…training with my parents to be a trapeze artist. I was…something of a prodigy, heh…I was matching my parents swing for swing by the time I was nine years old…it was a simple life, I guess, but…we were happy."
Starfire almost dreaded asking, but her curiosity urged her forward. "What…what happened to them?"
Robin's expression hardened. "Zucco."
"The name I overheard earlier?" Starfire guessed.
"Yeah. He…was trying to extort the circus' wealth…just like what happened today. And when the owners wouldn't give in…Zucco rigged the show. My parents…in the middle of the show the high-wire just…snapped. I was the only one who was…safe. I couldn't do anything but…watch them fall…"
Already Starfire was near tears. "Oh, Richard…how awful…"
"That's…why I was so weird today," Robin admitted. "Being there, it…brought back memories. And then hearing Zucco was there…walking free and up to his old tricks again…seeing those girls fall…it was like it was happening all over again."
He looked up at the girl beside him. "I…did a lot of thinking after that…and that's why I came here. You were there with me…you helped save those girls…and I realized you deserved to know the truth about it."
Starfire wiped her tears away forcefully. "Robin…Richard…truly, you did not need--"
"I know…but I wanted to. Because I realized something else as well."
He took her hands in his. "Star…you might not know it…but you helped me a lot today. You made me face a lot of my old demons, bringing me to that circus. If you hadn't done that…I wouldn't have been able to live with myself, knowing what would've happened. Those girls…they would've died today if you hadn't insisted on going. They're alive because of you, Star. And knowing that you're the reason we saved that family from suffering what my family has…I owe you so much for that…"
And before the overwhelmed girl could even begin to muster a response, his arms were around her, holding her tight.
"Thank you, Starfire…" he whispered. "Thank you…"
It was all she could do to hold him in return and try not to let the tears flow.
"You are welcome, Richard…"
THE END