V.- From highest hill to deepest dale
Dick Grayson took a deep breath and jumped into the void.
Then he turned and grabbed and swinged and jumped again. And turn and grab, and swing and jump. Turn, grab, swing, jump.
It was like flying.
It felt even better.
The trapeze was a blur, as he himself was. A red and green and yellow blur, flying without wings, defying gravity law. He was the Flying Grayson, the only one left. And he had to live to his parents memories.
"Hey, Dickie, rehersal time is way over!" Called someone from the world below.
Pongo, the clown. His real name was Hans.
He was his family now.
"Five more minutes." He said under his breath, letting himself swing a little more.
He remembered this weird Wayne guy, the one that offered to be his ward and take care of him. Far from the circus. But he told him out. He asked... No, he begged for him to use his influence to let him return to the circus.
And so he did. And thanks to Bruce Wayne now he was Pongo's surrogated son.
He was in the circus, doing what he was born to do. And even if he knew he would have lived a rich guy life with this Bruce Wayne... well, when he heard children like himself gasp in awe and wonder while he flew... it was all he needed to know he was alive.
He grabbed the trapeze and swinged, back and forth, back and forth...
And then he let go, going up and up... and bending... his body spinning in the air like if he was swimming.
And then he let himself drop, arms wide, eyes closed...
His breath held, his heart went to his throat and his blood froze... The fall never was so long, really, 88 pounds drop quite fast in fact. But it always felt as if, for some seconds.. or even the merest fraction of a second, the time stopped and he, Dick "the flying" Grayson, held suspended in the air.
Then he dropped again, letting the net rock him gently, caress him while it stop his free fall.
He had begun using the net in his rehersals to Pongo's relief. Now it was his particular therapy. He knew what it felt to fall like that, he knew what his parents could have felt... and, after a time, he had begun to loose his fear.
Pongo run to him.
"Boy, every time you do this you stop my heart."
"Oh, Hans, don't be overdramatic!" He said, jumping to solid earth, where he didn't belong.
"The day you have to take me to the hospital in an ambulance, then we will see who is being overdramatic."
He smiled at him and let the clown guide him off the big tent. It was really misty and cold outside.
"Do you think they will be coming on a night like this?"
"Of course they will, my little flying bird." Was Pongo's answer as he put his yellow cape over his shoulders. "People needs their dreams most than ever on a night like this."
Dreams...
That was what they were.
It was as nice a thing to be as anything else.
"Go to the caravan before you get cold." Said Hans, bringing him back to reality. "I've got to go see the lions. They are nervous."
And so he left.
Dick was headed to the caravan, really... he had homework to do and was hungy enough to rumage through the kitchen all by himself... But something caught his eye.
Something lost in the woods.
He couldn't tell with such a thick mist but...it seemed to be a little red bird, lost... alone... afraid...
So he changed course, heading for it.
It was not what he expected when he found it. Or more apropiately, when he found him.
"Running away with the circus? -He asked to the boy dressed in red and green just like himself.
The boy spun around, gasping.
"Holly...!" He seemed to be looking for an apropiate word. He gaped a few times before giving up. "Holly!"
Dick smiled to his obvious fan.
"You know we already have a Flying Grayson, do you?" He said, signaling the F and G on his chest. "Anyway, what does this R stand for?"
"Robin." Said the boy, looking around, disturbed.
"Oh, of course."
"Are you me?"
"Not at all."
He seemed relieved. And Dick felt bad, because, suddenly, he knew what the boy was and what he had to tell him.
"You know who am I, Robin?"
He moved his head, indicating he did not.
"I'm Dick Grayson."
"But you said you were not me!"
"And I'm not. Because you are Robin."
"But I'm also Dick Grayson."
"Are you sure?"
The boy took off his mask, revealing only another mask under.
"What the...?"
He tried again, revealing another mask. And another, and another...
He stopped, fear all over him. Then he breathed deep, calming himself.
"Tim was right. This might be a dream."
Dick shrugged.
"Who's Tim?"
"The other Robin."
"Oh, Is there more of you?" Dick turned around, looking for more Flying Grayson impersonators. "Where are they?"
"I lost them..." He admited.
"We can look for them. And then you can all come to the circus. You'll be hungry for sure."
"The circus..." He said, dreamingly. "You live... in the circus?"
"Of course. Pongo adopted me after... well, you know... "
"But Bruce..."
"Wayne? I refused. The circus was the only thing that mattered."
"Oh."
He seemed to understand.
Dick put a hand around Robin's shoulders.
"Don't feel bad. Surely you are also happy."
The boy shrugged and Dick smiled, confidently.
"Come on. We can look for your friends. I'm sure they went to the heart."
"Yes! That's were Tim said we need to be!"
"Then, let's go. That Tim of yours seems to be a wise one, uh?"
Another shrug.
Dick knew he was just adjusting to the idea of knowing he could be him instead of being Robin, so he tried to be happy for the both of them.
"Come, on! Let's go look for the Robins!"
And, knowing were to go without really knowing the woods, he guided the poor, afraid and worrying Robin to the heart of it.
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---Security code aproved---
---...---
---Voice scan aproved---
---Wellcome, Master---
---/Status of subject /report.---
---Subject constants: altered---
---Subject byorhythms: altered---
---cerebral functions: altered---
---checking revealed:---
---cardiac rythm: abnormal---
---adrenaline levels: high---
---subject state: not estable---
---hold experiment---
---warning---
---warning---
---hold experiment---
---:ignore---
---/continue---