AN: 'nother story! Hopefully this one will be my longest yet, I'm hoping for at least 10 chapters.
I don't own anything. Unfortunately :(
Rated K
Wires Break, But They Can Also Mend
Nine year old Richard "Dick" Grayson smiled as he looked out onto the trapeze. He had been looking forward to this all day. It was finally time to practice his routine with his family. They were the Flying Graysons, the best acrobats across Europe. They were part of Haly's Circus, the circus' only acrobatic act.
"Can we go now, Mami?" Dick asked his mother, Mary Grayson.
'Wait until your father gets here," Mary responded, looking across the circus tent for her husband.
"Fine. But he better get here fast!" Dick exclaimed. Dick grinned as he spotted his father hurrying toward them a few minutes later.
"TATI! Up here!" Dick called excitedly. John Grayson climbed up the ladder with a smile. When he reached the top he kissed his wife and gave his son a hug before preparing to jump. In the Flying Graysons they always jumped from oldest to youngest, John, Mary, then Dick.
John jumped, twisting in the air before hooking his legs around the bar with his arms outstretched, waiting to catch Mary. Mary then jumped, doing a flip before grabbing John's arms. John then threw her to another bar before catching Dick after his backflip.
They continued like this for a few more hours, gradually drawing observers from the ground below. From the tent's flap Jack Haly, the circus master, watched the family of acrobats with pride. He could easily say they were his best act, and dreaded a day when the family might leave his circus.
Hours later, when the Graysons retired to their trailer, their son was bouncing around refusing to sleep. Dick insisted that he was too excited to sleep. After all, their first act in America was tomorrow in Gotham.
"But I can't sleep, Tati! Our show in Gotham is just tomorrow! I'm too excited!" Dick protested.
John shared a smile with Mary before proposing his idea.
"Maybe a bedtime story will convince you?" Dick paused for a moment considering the new variable. After a few more moments he decided that a story was worth going to bed. Dick bounded over to his bed and jumped in, pulling the blanket up to his chin. He turned his big blue eyes up to his father expectantly.
John laughed and walked over to sit down on the edge of Dick's bed.
"So you know how we're performing in Gotham tomorrow, right?" John began.
"Of course! It's not like we're in Metropolis!" Dick scoffed.
"All right, all right! Anyway, there's this legend of a man who lives in Gotham. He fights crime in the streets every night. The criminals he cached always say they never saw it coming. They say they see a giant black shadow descending on them, like a human bat-"
"A bat? But that's impossible!" Dick interrupted. John laughed again.
"It's Gotham! Nothing is impossible. And no more interruptions! Let me get on with the story! So, this man-bat thing. They say he's always dressed in black. They never see him until it's too late. These rumors have been going on for a while now. He's been spotted more recently, and the people in Gotham say that this man is in with the police commissioner. The criminals the bat puts in jail are always brought in with injuries, and their clothes look like they've been punctured with sharp objects, maybe like throwing stars or boomerangs. But there's this one villain that's been running around Gotham. The Joker-"
"The Joker? That sounds like some sort of clown or something. Why would any villain call themselves that?" Dick interrupted again.
"I don't know, son. Now let me get back to the story! The Joker is some of Gotham's lowest scum. They say he's insane and he lives in the Arkham Institute for the Criminally Insane. He's caused the bat multiple problems. But the bat guy always seems to win, either by tricky methods, or outsmarting the Joker. When the GCPD get to the scene, the man is always gone leaving the Joker, or any other criminal behind unconscious and bound. They call this man the Batman,"
John ended the story, saying the last two words ominously. Dick laughed his eyelids drooping from tiredness. John got up and kissed Dick on the forehead.
"Good night, Mami, Tati," Dick said yawning.
"Good night, my little Robin" Mary whispered, also kissing Dick on the forehead.
AN: Have I earned a review? Please say I do! And my I do, I mean review! I want at least five reviews, and then I'll post the second chapter.