Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics or the CW TV shows Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrowor any other characters or elements pertaining to the mentioned franchises.
Atlantic City
"When was the last time that you actually were in a circus?" Helena teased as she entered the warehouse with Dick.
"It's been a while but Mr. Haly wants me to perform again; it's been almost ten years since my parents…" Dick looked down sadly for a moment.
"I know." Helena held his hand in assurance. "I'm here for you, Dick."
They both looked around the boxes with circus equipment such as cages, trampolines etc. "Mr. Haly? Are you here?" Dick called out.
A few moments later, an elderly man was limping forwards from the shadow, dragging two oxygen tanks on a cart behind him, attached to a breathing mask on his face. "Oh, my God…" Helena whispered.
Dick looked disgusted at the sight of how miserably the man he had known since childhood, the best friend of his parents, looked. "Mr. Haly, are you…"
"Sorry how this all came together, Richard but I don't have much time; damn tumors are eating me from the inside and I… I need you… I need you to make sure you have this before the cancer finishes the job…" He handed Dick a rolled up sheet of paper. "The deed… to everything on the road… the circus… is now yours, kid…"
"What?" Both Helena and Dick gasped.
"Mr. Haly, I can't accept…"
"Can't accept this why?" Haly laughed quietly. "Too busy being the "big-time hero"?"
Both Helena and Dick were surprised, yet again. "What the…? How do you know…?"
"I watched that kiddo grow up and learn how to fly." Haly smiled in pride. "The others may not have known what he does but I always have. And I know it's not who you were supposed to be, Richard. Especially since I've always planned to let your parents take over my legacy."
"You wanted to give my family the circus?" Dick gasped, stunned.
"I… I've made a lot of mistakes over the years, Richard." Haly looked at Dick like if he was being proud of his own son. "And I have a lot of regrets. But my deepest regret is what happened to you…. To your parents. Haly's were always supposed to be a part of who you are. We were your family… and I think it's time for you to come back… since I don't have much time left… there's no one else I would entrust this legacy to." He handed Dick the will as he picked it and read it, tears forming in his eyes as he passed out, dying.
"Are you OK?" Helena asked as Dick was reading the will in the private jet.
"Yeah, I guess." Dick said hesitantly. "I… I just need to process this. That kind of responsibility…"
"I understand." Helena nodded.
"I'm sorry I hadn't told you sooner, I didn't know how to reach out to you." A red-haired woman in black tank top told Dick as she showed up from the room behind Dick's seat. It was Raya Vestri, Dick's childhood friend and his old crush, who has been performing in Haly's Circus even after the death of Dick's parents. "Look, can I talk to you in private? Please."
Helena narrowed her eyes, jealous but Dick smiled at her, assuring her. "It's gonna be OK, Helena. I promise."
"I hope I won't find you two screwing around when I get back." Helena joked as she went into her room but Dick noticed the hint of icy tone in her voice as he smirked.
Raya neared Dick's ear as soon as she was sure Helena was not listening. "Look, there's something Mr. Haly was gonna tell you but he didn't have much time left, OK?"
"I think I know more than enough…"
"No, you don't understand." Raya hissed, visibly frightened. "A few weeks ago, someone showed up, I don't know who but he basically threatened Mr. Haly to get you back into the circus."
"What?" Dick scowled. "Why? What does it have to do with me? What do they want from me? Who are they?"
"I don't know. I didn't want to confront him because I was afraid I'd get into trouble but now that he's dead…" Raya's eyes were full of fear. "I'm afraid that if you return to the circus, you won't last a day."
Dick chuckled as he held her hands. "Raya, look, I can take care of myself, I promise."
Raya nodded. "I don't doubt that… but I just want you to know that you need to watch your back." The proximity at which they were was making the atmosphere tense as they were about to near their lips but Dick stopped himself.
"Whoa… maybe not when Helena is around. She'd kill us both."
Raya giggled. "Better go to your girlfriend before she skins me alive."
Dick and Helena both groaned in their bed as someone knocked on the door. "Mr. Grayson? You have a phone call."
"Just make it quick, OK?" Helena yawned as she kissed him.
Dick put on his pants as he opened the door and the pilot handed him a cellphone as a caller with a private number called him. "Hello?"
"I'm not normally one to give my name to a person I'm about to destroy… but I'm willing to make an exception for a certain "hero"."
"Who is this?" Dick scowled.
"You can call me Saiko… if I can call you "Nightwing"." Dick tensed. 'He knows.' "Pain is a powerful motivator… I gave Haly an incentive to tell me everything… Batman, Robin, Nightwing…"
"What do you want from me? Why are you doing this?"
"You will find out soon enough. Let's just say that the bill has come due." Saiko hung up as Dick glared at the phone.
Helena yawned as she woke up, looking at Dick. "Is everything OK?"
Dick looked at Helena, smiling. "Yeah, it's fine. Really."
Gotham City Cemetery
At the funeral attended Barbara, Dick, Raya, Helena and most of the members of Haly's circus who were old friends of Dick.
"He was a good man." Dick said sadly as he held the will in his hands. "But… why me? I never wanted to be in charge…"
"We're right behind you, Dick." One of Dick's old friends from circus assured him.
"You've got some nerve, Grayson!" A tall man in his 30s approached Dick with a bottle of scotch in his hand.
"Bryan, calm down!" Two people tried to restrain him.
"You think you can just stroll down in here and take it? Like the circus is just yours... my Dad's legacy to you just because he gave you a stupid piece of paper?" Bryan Haly yelled.
"I'm not here to take anything, Bryan…"
"Come on, Bryan, that's enough, you're drunk…" The people were dragging him away.
"Damn right you're not taking anything! I got news for you, Grayson, my Dad's not around to help you anymore! He's dead! You hear me?! He…" Bryan broke down in tears as he knelt down. "He's… actually dead…" The people around were trying to assure him.
"Poor man…" Barbara whispered.
"The old man loved Bryan. More than anything…" Dick whispered. "Honestly, I'm surprised he didn't entrust the circus to him."
"When Bryan had heard that Mr. Haly was diagnosed with cancer, he just couldn't handle it and grabbed the bottle." Raya explained. "Lot of people tried to help but…"
Dick nodded as he saw Bryan sobbing, burying his head to the ground.
"Did this guy who threatened Mr. Haly have a name?" Dick asked Raya as he accompanied her to her car.
"Never heard it… but he admitted that he was… some kind of a contract killer. I didn't know what to think, Dick." Raya said, frightened. "He said that he was one of the biggest in Chicago…"
"That was him?" Dick gasped.
"Yeah." Raya had tears in her eyes. "Jesus, I don't know what to think, Dick. First your parents, then Raymond, now this…"
"We'll get to the bottom of this, Raya. I promise." Dick smiled at her as she entered her car. "Just watch your back, OK?"
"You too." Raya smiled at him as she drove away.
Barbara approached Dick as she looked at him, worried. "You OK?"
"Yeah… I just remembered my parents… and Raymond, you know?"
"Raymond McCreary?" Barbara blinked. "He grew up with you and Raya, right?"
"Yeah. It's all just… dredging up." Dick tried to steady his breathing as the tragedies he had endured resurfaced in his mind. Raya and Raymond were once upon a time Dick's childhood friends but Raymond had died in a car accident. "Keep your eyes peeled, OK? If Saiko shows up…"
"We'll stop him." Barbara promised.
Nicole Fyff's House, Gotham City
"Well, you're doing better now, Laurel." Nicole chuckled as Laurel was shaking the frying pan, with the steak on it.
"If the house burns down, I'll be haunting you from the grave." Henry joked as he, Sara, Oliver and Riley with Mia were at the table.
"I should make a checklist what food to cook for my baby." Laurel teased.
"Mom, how long is it gonna…"
"Just a minute, honey!" Nicole assured Riley.
"I'm hungry as a wolf." Mia said, excited.
Laurel then got a call on her phone as she picked it up. "Hey, Barbara. Uh-huh. I see. OK." She looked at Oliver and everyone. "I can ask." She hung up, looking at everyone. "So, is anyone in for some circus next week?"
The following week, Haly Circus
"I hope I don't look too ridiculous." Oliver said dryly as he used H.R. Wells's facial transmogrification device, disguising his real face for most of the people as he, with everyone else sat in their seats.
"This is a bad idea… why the hell we go here?" Henry muttered as he looked at his sister and nephew a few rows in front of them.
"Anything happens, you get them both out of here. We got this." Laurel assured him as Dick went on the stage and everyone applauded.
"Welcome everyone. My name is Richard Grayson… I guess I would like to thank you all for coming tonight… for supporting my parents. John and Mary Grayson. I've never been someone who's great at dealing with the things he'd rather avoid. Especially if one of those things is me. But as I stand here tonight, looking at all the hard work everyone at Haly's has put in… well, being here reminds me of that even though I have lost my parents, I'll never lose my family." Barbara and Henry smiled at him proudly. "And with that kind of support, there's nothing I can't deal with. So, thank you all for enjoying the show!" The crowd applauded as Dick left the stage.
Tatsu was scouring the backstage as Selina was on trapeze disguised as one of the acrobats, jumping and trying to amuse the audience as they applauded. "Everything clear up here."
"Nothing in the backstage."
"Wherever this Saiko is, he's got no idea, who he's messing with." Laurel growled.
Dick went into the backstage as an alarm bleeped on his phone. He went on full alert mode as he picked up his Nightwing outfit. "He's here!"
"Nicky, we need to go!" Henry picked his sister and nephew.
"What's going…"
"It's gonna get messy, we need to get out of here, now!" Sara ordered as she, Oliver and Henry were dragging his sister and nephew with Mia through the row of seats.
"Mom, what is…"
"Kids, just run!" Nicole looked at her brother. "It's happening again, is it?" Henry nodded quickly. "Damn it!"
Nightwing and Batgirl were on girders supporting the roof and trapezes as from above jumped down a man in ninja outfit and goggles, with gloves that had metal claws coming out from the wrists.
"Saiko!" Nightwing picked his batons and blocked Saiko's attack.
"Seems only fitting that in the end it's the same place, where it all started, wouldn't you agree, Dick?"
"Who are you?!" Nightwing demanded.
"It's all been building to this after all; the night, where everything changed."
"I don't know what's going on in your head but one thing is going to change for certain tonight!" Nightwing swished his baton, knocking Saiko back but he used his claws and scratched Nightwing in his knee as he knelt down. Katana ran at him with her sword as he blocked her attack and she kicked him back. "Let's take it outside, Saiko. Just you and me. No one else needs to get hurt."
"You still don't get it, do you, Dick?" Saiko laughed. "I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. You're only supposed to be the fiercest killer." He took off his mask and revealed his face, who Katana did not recognize but Nightwing gasped in disbelief.
"Raymond? But… you're…"
Suddenly, two gunshots hit Saiko in his shoulder and knee as he fell down as Nightwing looked up. "You and I both know that in our wheelhouse, death is rarely permanent, Dickie." The Red Hood said as he aimed his guns at Raymond; Dick's old friend, supposedly dead, now apparently turned into a psychopath.
Dick glanced up, noticing the Red Hood but turning his attention to his old friend, who had scarred face and his eyes looked the same but still, very different… full of hate and malice. "You didn't expect me to be alive, did you, Dick?" He threw two knives as Katana blocked one but the second hit Nightwing in his knee. Raymond jumped up on another ramp, dodging the Red Hood's gunfire. "They came from the shadows and took me, they kidnapped me…. They ruined me. They turned me into this… and it's your…" He pulled out a small detonator. "And this godforsaken place's fault." Selina jumped up and kicked the detonator off his hand but unfortunately, the trigger button hit the floor as the lighting collapsed, turning the circus on fire.
"No!" Nightwing yelled as everything was exploding.
So, what do you guys think about it?
This is inspired by The New 52 comics "Batman: The Court of Owls".
Please review and let me know if you are enjoying this so far.