Before the Justice League.

Dick Grayson watched from the sideline with a little hint of annoyance. The eight-year-old wanted nothing more than to be up with his parents on the trapeze swing. Unfortunately for him, he was stuck on the ground babysitting his ridiculous, stubborn twin sister instead of performing the routine he and his father had been practicing for weeks. He crossed his arms over his chest in indignation; it wasn't his fault that she kept insisting that she was ready to perform when she clearly wasn't. Why was he stuck on the ground then?

The crowd cheered as his mother, Mary, performed a graceful pirouette before being caught securely by his father, John. Dick's glower intensified; he wanted to be up there, not stuck on the ground. With a huff he turned to remind his twin how annoyed he was with her but she was no longer behind him. He frowned, his irritation giving way to puzzlement. He had expected to see her sulking from her earlier argument with their parents. He casually peeked behind a few empty crates to see if maybe she had curled up behind them. Much to his surprise, he found the clothes that she had been wearing that afternoon in a crumpled heap but his sister was no longer inside them. If he hadn't known any better, he would think she vanished into thin air.

"Rose?" he called out warily, unsure if she was playing a prank on him. "Rose, this isn't funny. If you are messing around with the clown's props then you're gonna get it."

He half expected to hear her impish little giggle from the folds of the curtain in response. Instead, all he heard was the crowd cheering for his parent's acrobatics once again. He placed his hands on his hips, his unruly hair falling in his eyes as he tried to scan the backstage for Rose. Just when he all but gave up, a twinkle caught his eye. A twinkle that was much higher than it should be for someone who had been given strict orders to stay on the ground. Climbing steadily up the ladder to the platform was Rose. She had ditched her clothes for a sparkling, ruby colored leotard and red tights; her dark hair was pulled back into a loose french braid, strands falling out around her face. Dick couldn't make out her face but if he could he would see it set with determination and a touch of resigned rebellion. She was going to perform tonight whether her parent's wanted her to or not. Her brother was the only one that seemed to have made the realization that she had never practiced at the height her parents were performing at and she had never performed without a mattress beneath her.

"Hey! Wait!" he shouted loudly, sprinting over to the ladder. "Someone help! She's not a part of the show!"

She looked down at him for one solid second before continuing her climb. No, she was already in this far; she would finish and then suffer the consequences, whatever they may be. She reached the top and hoisted herself up. She had one chance to get this right, one chance to prove herself. The pads of her bare feet made contact with the platform. She stood tall and proud, watching her mother gracefully leap from her swing for her father's waiting hands. John Grayson's face fell as looked up at his swing. Something was wrong… He went to alert Mary but paused as he spotted a tiny figure clad in red.

"Rose? Rose, whatever you do, stay put," he called out carefully just as his wife let go of her swing for her favorite trick. "MARY, NO!"

Rose had about ten different, witty one-liners ready to call out but before she could decide, there was a series of snaps coming from the swings. Her eyes widened in horror as she watched her father's swing give out, sending him plummeting to the ground. She let out a scream but it was drowned out by her mother who had already been mid flight when her husband's rope snapped. Mary and John Grayson would unfortunately not survive this fall. Rose collapsed at the top, tiny hands reaching out, too afraid to look away as her parents hit the floor with a sickening puff of dust surrounding them. She didn't have to hear the gasping and crying from the crowd to understand what had happened.

"NO!"

Rose flinched as her brother's voice rang out from beneath her and her twin knelt next to his parents. Her stomach twisted with the thought that their death was directly caused by her. If she hadn't distracted them, they would probably have jumped to safety. Now, because of her selfish actions, she had directly caused the death of her parents. Her eyes widened as she came to grips with this fact. She caused this horrible accident. If she had stayed where she had been told then her father would have easily noticed the weakening rope and changed his plans. It was all her fault and her brother would never forgive her.

She wanted to climb down but it was almost impossible for her to move. Her legs refused to budge, no matter how much she wanted to be on the ground with her family. The eight-year-old curled herself into a ball for an immeasurable amount of time. As a matter of fact, if Dick hadn't alerted the authorities that he saw her climbing up to the platform she would likely have been up there until it came time for the circus to leave again. She was finally pulled from her trance by a voice calling her name.

"Rose? Rose Grayson?" A man called out gently to her. "I am Officer Gordon. I'm here to help you down."

She peered at him. How long had she been up here? He stepped onto the platform and very gently lifted her into a seated position. He sighed, looking at her with nothing short of sympathy. It made her stomach twist again as his looks reminded her of the reality of the situation she was in. She let out a tiny whimper and pulled her knees up to her chest.

"Listen," the officer began gently, "I understand you are frightened but we have to get you down. Your brother is waiting for you down there. Can you climb onto my back and hold on to me? I can get us both down safely if you can hold on."

She shook her head frantically. Not in response to if she could be trusted to hold tight to the officer but because she was so afraid to face her brother. What was going to happen to them? Where would they go? Would they be sent to an orphanage? How could she even look her brother in the face after knowing what she had done? Her face crumpled with tears and she scooted away from the officer who let out a startled gasp.

Rose's heart froze as she lost what little balance she had on the already cramped space. Without even enough time to scream or reach out for help, she went careening backwards into the empty air. Just as her gasp began to turn into a scream she thumped into something warm that wrapped her tightly against its chest. Applause broke out beneath them and for a split second her heart dared to dream that her father was her rescuer. Her hope was short lived though when she looked up to see the Caped Crusader himself, Batman. He offered her a small smile as he fluidly lowered them to the ground. After a soft landing, he placed her on her feet and knelt down in front of her with a hand resting on her shoulder.

"Wait here," he instructed gravely, looking above at the officer who had already begun climbing down. "Someone will be with you shortly."

"ROSIE!" a strangled cry called out on the opposite end of the circus ring.

She turned away from the hero for only a moment to spot her brother running around the scene of the accident as fast as he could squeeze through the crowd. She gasped in fear and turned to her rescuer about to beg for mercy but he was already gone. She had caused the death of her parents; surely the officer above her was coming down to have her arrested. She took one fleeting glance at Dick before taking one step backwards. He was far enough away where she might actually make it out. She could face being arrested but she could not face her brother, not after what she had done. So, with a big breath, she turned and fled. She raced to where she had hidden her clothes, and snatched them as quickly as she could before racing over to one of the exits.

She was lost easily in the crowd but she had to be careful. Her costume was designed to stand out and make her easy to spot. She frantically pulled her t-shirt and jumper on over her head as she sprinted through. She had no shoes with her so in a jumper, red tights, and bare feet she reached the cool night air. She had to hurry and find somewhere to hide. She began pulling on car doors frantically, hoping to find one unlocked. She let out a sigh of relief when she found one unlocked She was about to clamber inside when a hand with five very sharp nails yanked her away from the door. Rose was turned to face a strikingly beautiful woman. Her pitch black curls fell flawlessly over her shoulders, bangs brushing just above her bright green eyes. Her full lips were stretched into a scowl that did nothing to hinder the beauty of this woman.

"What do you think you're doing?" the woman hissed, "Don't you know not to touch things that don't belong to you?"

Rose panicked. Her mouth opened and closed several times before she heard voices calling her name. They were looking for her, and about to find her if she didn't act quickly.

"Help me," she pleaded. "I need to get out of here."

The woman paused to look behind her at the group of people forming outside of the circus tent. She turned to Rose with a hint of curiosity. "You Rose?"

Rose nodded emphatically. "Please, help me."

The stunning woman seemed to deliberate for a moment before opening the passenger side door of the car. "Get in."

"Thank you," Rose breathed as she rushed into the seat and shut the door behind her.

As cool as a drink of water, the mystery woman walked to the driver's side door and slipped inside. With a sigh and a look she started the car and said, "I'm Selina. Want to tell me what sort of mess you have gotten yourself into?"

Until the day Dick Grayson died he would never be able to forget the sight of his father lying in a hospital bed. To be truthful, there was probably nothing about that day that he would be able to forget.

The fall, well, it didn't kill John but it had left him unconscious and most likely brain dead. The doctors wouldn't say it to the boy, but even if John were to wake up he would never have the same mental capacity that he had before. If John Grayson were lucky, he would be mentally deficient for the rest of his life. He would be obviously unable to care for his children even if he did wake from the coma; which left Dick and Rose, for the briefest time, orphans bound for foster care. That was until a phone call came in to the front desk. A startled, however kind, nurse shortly arrived to tell Officer Gordon and Dick that the pair had been adopted before they could even be placed into the system. The mysterious adopter was none other than Gotham's infamous billionaire, Bruce Wayne.

Dick had just been introduced to his new guardian, who was now being briefed by Officer Gordon about the now missing Rose Grayson. The boy could barely think straight. His parents had just fallen to their deaths, his little sister had disappeared in the dead of night, and now he had a billionaire offering to adopt him and help find Rosie? None of this made any sense. Unfortunately for him, he didn't have time to worry about what was happening around him. No, his first job was to find Rose and then he could sort out the rest of the details. A hand on his shoulder stopped his racing thoughts.

"Don't worry, chum," Bruce's voice soothed and calmed the boy for the first time in hours, "we will find her. You two will be safe with me."

It was a promise that Dick would hold on to for years to come; long after he adopted the name Robin, and long after he left Gotham for the Justice League. Little did he know, the thing he searched for was always close by but just out of reach.