This chapter has been updated as of 9/3/17. I think it's a big improvement over the previous one and thank you to all who have stuck with me.

"Mommy! Daddy! You have to wake up!" The young acrobat begged who had since climbed down from the platform but Mary and John Grayson wouldn't wake up and comfort their screaming child ever again. Mr. Haly with a heavy heart pulled him away from his parents while kicking and screaming. "Pop, make them wake up. Please!"

"I'm sorry Dickie. I c-can't." Haly said while shedding some tears. Bruce Wayne had watched the boy with complete sadness while painful flashbacks flooded his memory. It was like watching his eight year old self all over again begging for his mother and father to wake up and not leave him alone.

"See? I told you coming to this dumb circus was a bad idea. Can we leave now?" Linda said rolling her eyes not at all caring about the now dead acrobats and their crying son. Bruce didn't hear what she was saying though. He was too focused on the boy. "Brucie, I want to leave now!" Linda said whining like a two year old while getting up and literately pulling Bruce out of the circus tent. Meanwhile Mr. Haly sat on one of the now empty bleachers rocking and trying all he could to calm the sobbing child. Once the police finally arrived and started getting questioned, he stayed by the boy's side trying all he could do. Suddenly someone started pushing and shoving people still trying to get out or look at the dead bodies.

"Move it people. Coming through!" Came a black haired female in her mid 20s wearing a grey business suit with her hair tightly in a bun.

"Sorry ma'am but you can't come through here." An officer said.

"I'm Edith Mare from Gotham Social Services here to take Richard."

"Take Richard? Where?" Haly asked.

"To Gotham Juvenile Detention Center."

"A detention center?! Are you out of your mind? The poor kid just lost his parents and you want to put him in a place for juvenile criminals? They could kill him!" Jack continued shouting.

"There is no other choice sir. The orphanages here in Gotham are all full and we have no place to put him."

"Leave him here with us then. We can take care of him just fine."

"I'm sorry but I'm not about to leave him with a bunch of carnies traveling from town to town."

"You got a problem with us lady? You have no idea what we carnies can do to people who disrespect us." A woman that was part of the knife throwing act said getting angry.

"Connie calm down. I'll deal with this." Haly said after calming everyone down. "Why can't I adopt him?"

"As I said, he has no blood relations here and I'm not about to leave him here." Edith said rolling her eyes and stopping while the other circus members glared at her. "I don't have time for this. Richard, you are coming with me right now."

"No! Please Pop, don't let her take me. I promise I'll be good." Richard cried hugging Haly as tight as he could.

"I…I'm so sorry Dickie. There's nothing I can do."

"That's right. Now come along this instant Richard." Edith said pulling Richard off of Mr. Haly and dragging him to the car.

"Wait, can't you give us a chance to say goodbye?" Jack said trying one last effort to say goodbye.

"You had your chance already. Now come along Richard."

"But I have to get my stuff and Peanut. It's all I have left now." Dick said pulling against Edith's grip.

"You won't need any of that junk as there's no room in the center for it."

"The kid just lost his parents and is being taken away from his home. The least you can do is let him take his stuff." One of the circus acts said.

"I think it would be a good idea ma'am." A cop said who had been listening to the whole conversation.

"Fine. But you better be quick or you can forget about taking your stuff. Do you understand me?" She asked and Dick nodded running out to his trailer with some circus acts following him. Richard grabbed a little travel bag and stuffed all the things he could including his 'Flying Graysons' poster, a picture of his parents, his new costume, and of course Peanut. Once he had as much as he could, the circus people gave their final goodbyes.

"Richard, let me see your palms." Tanti the fortune teller said. Dick put his bag down and gave his hand to her.

"Oh my. Richard, I know all may seem grim now, but I see you have a bright future ahead of you. I see a man and his four sons who will come and love you just as much as your parents did."

"R-really?"

"Yes my child. You just have to be brave and be patient and he will come for you. You'll help heal his heart from the pain he's suffered as well."

"Okay. I will." Dick said giving Tanti one last hug. Finally he got to Jack who gave him a big hug.

"Don't worry Dick. No matter what happens, you'll always be a part of this family. We'll see you again soon Dickie. And don't give up hope. This man will come for you. I've known Tanti for a long time and she's almost never wrong in her palm readings."

"I told you to be quick! Now let's go!" Ms. Mare said and with a heavy heart, Dick grabbed his things and followed her to her car waving goodbye to his circus family. Once they were out of sight, Dick started crying again and hugging his beloved stuffed elephant tight.

"Momma and Daddy are gone Peanut. They fell off the trapeze. I-it was that guy that was talking to Mr. Haly. I know it! I saw him before we went on."

"Keep it down back there carnie! The detention center will do you some good."

"What's a carnie?" Dick asked having no idea what she called him or why she did.

"It means you circus folk. We know all about how you steal money from people when no one is looking."

"W-we don't do that! Stealing is mean. And Pop doesn't let anyone do stuff like that."

"Oh I'm sure he does. You know what? How about we play a game? It's called being quiet until we get the detention center. It's been an hour since the accident and there's nothing me or anyone else can do to change it. You're gonna have to get over it. Understand."

"Y-yes ma'am."

Break*Break*Break

Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne arrived back home ditching his date saying he wasn't really feeling well. Currently he was sitting in his study just staring at the table in front of him. All he kept thinking about was little Richard. When he saw him on top of that platform, all he saw was a reflection of what he had went through all those years ago in Crime Ally.

"Good evening Father. Back early for patrol?" Bruce's eldest son Damian Wayne asked. Damian was the exact image of his father but had emerald eyes like his so called lover Talia Al' Ghul. Bruce didn't answer his son but just kept looking at his desk.

"Father?" Damian asked again and this time Bruce looked at him.

"Sorry Damian. Yes I have to do some patrolling quickly."

"I guess I'll go get…"

"No, this is something I have to do alone. Something…personal happened tonight at the circus."

"What's happened?" Damian asked now curious.

"Two famous acrobats were killed tonight. I couldn't assess what happened as Bruce Wayne but Batman will be able to figure out what exactly happened."

"Okay, two people killed. How is this personal for you?"

"They left behind a six year old boy who saw the whole thing in front of his eyes." Bruce said now getting up from his desk.

"Oh…I see."

"I have to find out exactly what happened. Something tells me this was no accident. I met them before the accident and they didn't seem like the kind of people that wouldn't check their trapeze bars before going on." Bruce explained heading for the clock that led to the secret entrance.

"Then why not let us help you?" Damian asked.

"It's the least I can do. This boy's parents deserve justice. Besides, Gotham needs you patrolling like normal. Otherwise the Bat-mobile might need to be cleaned extra hard this time."

"Fine." Damian said rolling his eyes.

"Oh and don't tell your brothers where I am. Tell them I'm in a meeting with the league." He said and opened the secret passage walking into the cave without another word leaving Damian alone in the study. Quickly he changed into Batman, hopped into the bat-mobile, and drove off towards the circus grounds. By the time he got there, the press was already reporting with Commissioner Gordon trying to shoo them away. Once he went back into the tent, Batman snuck in as well.

"Commissioner." He said making his presents known at last.

"Batman, good thing you're here. I hate these kinds of cases but two acrobats were murdered tonight."

"So I've heard. What have you got?"

"I've questioned most of the circus folks and they all saw John and Mary always check the ropes before they went on. Their son even confirmed that they went and checked it twice since he was performing for the first time with them. One of my men found that the rope was cut meaning it was sabotaged. Boy said he saw a man earlier walking around and bumped into them right before they went on."

"May I speak with him?"

"Too late. Social Services already took him away; to Gotham's detention center of all places."

"What?!" Batman shouted.

"Yeah, I don't like it either. Social worker said it was because they didn't have enough rooms in the orphanages. I'm going to check into that but that's all I can really do. I hope someone adopts him and gets him out of there fast." Gordon explained.

"Excuse me? Batman do you have a moment?" Jack Haly asked coming over.

"I'll go see if my team has anything else." Gordon said and left the two.

"Jack Haly." He said shaking Batman's hand.

"What is it Mr. Haly?"

"Well…it's about the Grayson's son Dick. His social worker put him in a detention center."

"I know." Batman said with a hint of guilt.

"The circus is the only real family that Dickie's ever had and now he's in a place with criminals. I want you to do something for me. Watch over that boy; just until he finds a good home. Our fortune teller read his palms and they said that a man and his three sons would love and care for him almost as much as his parents did. We have to move on in a few days and he's such a sweet lad. He's only six years old and doesn't deserve this. Please take care of him until this man comes." Even as Batman, Bruce didn't know what to say. Here was a man begging him to take care of two dead acrobat's son until he was rescued by this man.

"I promise I'll look out for him" was all Batman could say.

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