America - 2004

Heeled shoes clapped loudly against the polished floor of the Hall of Justice. Flash and Superman looked up from their conversation as Christine entered the main room of the heroes quarters.

'Back so soon Christine? I thought you were going to be gone for a week?' said Flash, greeting their friend. The woman's long silver hair, used to hide her day time identity, faded to black and her purple eyes merged to blue.

'They were less of a challenge than I suspected.'

'Good to hear the world is once again safe.' said Clark, letting her pass them to reach the zeta beams. The years had passed quickly since Batman had introduced the vampire to the League. Under the circumstances, the heroes had taken the irregularity of the situation into their stride. At first they had been dubious about her, the legends of her kind haunting their judgement. But she had the trust of the Bat and therefore they accepted the young immortal as one of their own.

Four years later they had got into a routine. The League would go about their business, all the while keeping their eyes and ears open for news of strange deaths. When news reached them, Christine would be dispatched to deal with the creatures. Very occasionally she needed the aid of the heroes to remove civilians from harm's way; but for the most part she was very throe in her work. As of yet the world was still in the dark about the existence of vampires.

For the most part Christine seemed to enjoy her place with the heroes, she joined in with their social gatherings and she made the time for any of them should they wish for advice. But there was something the League could sense about her, especially the women; a weight in her eyes, a sorrow. They suspected that perhaps it was a side effect of seeing so much death.

OOoOoOoOoOo

Christine sat down gracefully into a chair at one of the watch towers computers. It was one of Batman's many anal instructions that she should write up a report of her mission. She normally didn't mind too much; the others in the League had the same task. But today she was tired, the past crushing her; as this date did every year.

She let her hands lie motionless on the keys as she stared, unseeing at the large monitor. Eight years had passed since she had been forced to flee her homeland and abandon everything she held dear. After 108 years of life, no pain had ever equalled to that day.

Gloved hands were placed on the chair either side of her shoulders.

'I thought you would be gone longer.' The deep voice soothed her troubled mind, if only a little.

'And miss a moment to spend with you.' She turned her head to looked up at the cowled face, he looked concerned, he often looked concerned.

'My reports tell me you were a bit ruthless today. More than usual...was that really necessary?' His last question lingered in the air like a bad taste. The moment she had torn the heads from the vampires bodies she had hoped it would not get back to Batman. He agreed that these creatures needed to be dealt with and that there was only one way to deal with them. But he didn't like it when she used more vulgar techniques of dispatching them.

'You've been keeping tabs on me?' she teased in the hope of lightening the air but to no avail, his face remained sombre, waiting for an answer. 'I'm having a rough day.' She stood, deciding to leave her report for later, although apparently Batman already knew what had happened, she would have to find his hidden tracker in her uniform later.

'I had noticed.' She walked around him but he took her hand gently, 'I've also noticed you always have an off day when April third comes around.' She didn't fight him. Their relationship was a strange on; it wasn't romantic, for both knew relations between an immortal and a human would end badly; even if that human was The Batman. But she did care greatly for Bruce, and he her. Her face was no stranger to Wayne Manor (Alfred was very fond of her). They had become each other's anchor to sanity.

'You know you can tell me what's bothering you.' he said and she turned back to look at him, bringing her hand up to touch his face. She loved him it was true, but there were some things even he would not understand.

'Something's are best left in the past my love.' He nodded, respecting that someone who had lived as long as she deserved to have some secrets.

'A distraction then? There's a Circus in Gotham, just for this week. I could get us tickets for tonight.' He didn't fail to notice how she stiffed her posture. 'Christine?'

'I'm sorry.' She refused to look him in the eye, 'I'm tired and I'm not a great lover of the Circus.' She pulled away and left the room, leaving the world's greatest detective once again clueless.

OOoOoOoOoOo

Had it been any other even he would simply have forgone it. But he had intervened in a fight between a mob boss and the circus owner earlier that day. Their young boy had been so excited to see Batman, the look in his eyes had made Bruce want to return. So here he was, alone, watching Haley's Circus perform. He was actually enjoying himself; he could almost forget his worries about Christine.

'Ladies and Gentlemen, now would you put your hands together for the one and only, The Flying Graysons!' The spot light flew up to the stands above the crowd. 'John and Mary Grayson, along with their son Dick are about to perform a feat that only they are capable. The quadruple summersault!'

They began dancing through the air, flawlessly and beautifully performing their craft. Bruce was mesmerised. 'And now, John and Mary will perform their next sequence, without the safety of a net!' The whole crowed sucked in their breath in excitement. Bruce watched Dick who was looking on at his parents in awe from the side platform.

Then the world became a lot darker. The smile on Dick's face became a look of horror as the ropes holding his parents snapped. Mary reached out for her son, calling out his name as she fell. The audience was silent until the bodies hit the ground; then the whole ring went to hell. As the crowd screamed and fought their way out of the tent, Bruce fought his way down to the young boy who sat broken on the platform in the ring.

OOoOoOoOoOo

'I presume you haven't seen the news.'

Sapphire eyes raised from their reading. The book was paid down in her lap for a moment. Her eyebrows tensed inward at her friends question. Bruce knew she didn't watch the news, or read the papers for that matter. As an immortal she had been warned long ago by her father not to intervene with human affairs. To try and save every human would soon drive her mad. But she was kind hearted and she couldn't stop herself from wanting to help and seeing all the pain and bloodshed reported daily, broke her heart. So she avoided it.

'You know I haven't.' Christine looked over to Alfred who was polishing the silverware in the corner of the room. He too raised an eyebrow at his Master. 'What's happened?' She placed the book at her side as Bruce came and sat on the other.

'Tell me, in all your years, did you ever think of having children?' Bruce was nervous, this wasn't a side of him Christine was used to seeing. Her eyes widened a little at his questions, wondering at his intentions.

'Why?' she said, avoiding the question directly.

'I went to the Circus performance last night. While I was there, there was a terrible accident.' She waited for his to collect himself and continue. 'You know what happened to my parents. When I took on my role as Batman, I swore I would never allow that to happen again.' Alfred had stopped his polishing, his attention fully on his charge and the young Miss.

'Last night I failed. And now, because of that, a small boy has lost his parents. He's alone.'

Christine had paled considerably and her jaw had tightened. 'Bruce what are you saying?'

'I had Alfred when my parents were murdered. He has no one. They're going to put him in an orphanage, unless...' Bruce bit his lip as he took a breath. 'I want to take him in, but I don't think I can do it alone.'

'Bruce' she breathed 'I can't get invol...'

'Involved with human affairs, I know.' Bruce interrupted 'But he's just a child Chris. We could give him a home.' Alfred had never seen Bruce like this, even when he was a boy. There was a determination in his eyes that had never been there before. Christine could see it as well.

'Bruce it's not that east to take on someone else's baby.'

'He's hardly a baby, he's 8.' Shock spread across her face.

'What...' she swallowed 'What Circus did you say?' Bruce could see something had started her.

'Haley's Circus.' Her lips pursed. ' Christine?' She stood, looking away from him.

'Make the arrangements. I'll do what I can to help you.' When she left, Bruce looked to Alfred.

'Any ideas?' The older man shook his head.

'All I can say Master Bruce, is I have faced some great challenges of the heart in my years. I can only imagine what challenges she had faced in all of hers.'

oOoOoOoOoOo

Fingernails taped against the garnet work tops in a nervous pattern. Christine didn't know how long she had been stood there in the kitchen, leaning on the side and looking out of the window. Bruce had left earlier that morning to travel the cities length to Gotham orphanage. She had had nightmares of burning buildings, screaming children and circus lights for the last week since Bruce had dropped the bombshell.

Her tapping continued but ceased as the car pulled back into the gate. She ran from the kitchen and into the foyer, just as the front door opened. And then there he was, short, slight, a tangle of black hair and watery blue eyes. All week she had been telling herself that she was being foolish, that there was no way life would once again entwine their paths. And yet there he was. Richard, her Richard, her baby.

A/N As promised here is the next chapter...however I do have a confession...I'm going on holiday next week so will be unable to update. However I will try and update this Sunday if I have time. If not, chapters will continue as usual on the 7th July. On another note how are you liking the story so far? From here on out, if you haven't already guessed, it will pretty much focused on Dick. Let me know what you think in the review. And maybe even your theories on what's going to happen! Karin xx