A/N: While Dick is attending to his annual trip to the circus, Tim disobeys and follows him, getting into major trouble on two fronts. Without realizing, by revealing that Tim is his biological brother, Dick has placed Tim in grave danger from a source they have dealt with before. Will Dick be the last Flying Grayson, again?

A Circus Boy Returns Home

Part 5: Mother Nature's Proposal and A Bird Flies the Coop

Samantha heard a voice in her head that was not her own. It was strange and ethereal. It had the quality of being other worldly, and yet it didn't come from another world. As Samantha was contemplating how this voice came to her, a strange glowing orb entered the room that she shared with her husband, Timothy Drake-Wayne. Tim was busy elsewhere in the Manor and wasn't aware of this development, and yet the voice was compelling her to go to the garden.

"Why must I go there?"

~You are chosen.~ the voice said.

"Chosen, I do not understand."

~You will, my child,~ the voice replied, the voice oddly sounding like a conspirator whose voice was dripping with honey on their tongue, and yet appeared to be sincere.

Samantha didn't take any notice of it, since she was not trained in such matters. She followed the voice's instruction. The voice led her to a different part of the garden, away from prying eyes, hidden in a small grove of trees. It felt isolated and alone. Samantha couldn't tell why this spot felt oddly strange to her.

"Remove your clothing," the voice compelled her. "Nothing of mans must touch the earth."

Samantha once again followed the voice's suggestion.

"Now, sit, sit so I may taste you."

'Taste me," Samantha was confused.

"I am the Mother, and I must know you fully," the voice once again compelled Samantha.

Samantha sat on the ground, feeling it beneath her in a way she did not expect. "You will shed blood soon," the Mother stated.

"Yes, my cycle will be in three days," Samantha was awed that the voice called the Mother was aware of this.

"On the first night of your cycle, you must come to me. Let your blood touch me, and I shall grant you what you most desire."

"How is that possible?"

"Know that it is, Child," the Mother stated. "For you are a grand healer and must shed blood in order to heal what is broken. This body is broken. It will take many moon cycles for it to heal. Your cycle begins on the full moon, does it not?"

"Yes, it does," Samantha replied.

"On the full moon, come to me, in this clearing, and shed your blood for me."

Samantha did not say another word.

"Now, lie down," the Mother compelled her. "And I shall share more of my secrets."

Samantha did as the voice instructed, letting that voice enter her mind. The tendrils of thought intertwined into the deepest parts of her, showing all her potential, showing her all that she desired and more. And yet were they her thoughts or the thoughts of another. It was hard to distinguish between the two. All throughout the exchange, the being that had coaxed her did not show itself

"Now go, bring your mate to me when the time is right."

"My mate?"

"The one that you have chosen as your husband," the voice stated. "Your desire for him is great. It will be moments like this when the heat will come upon you, and you will not be able to resist, daughter of the sea and earth."

"I do not understand," Samantha questioned.

"Take heed. If you should take him when you both are not purified, there will be consequences."

Samantha did not understand what the being was referring to. How could there be consequences in the need for love? Nor with the desire to love one's husband? Samantha would have to puzzle it out later. Her children called within her mind to let her know they were hungry. Samantha got dressed and went back to the Manor. She was not aware that someone had been watching her.

'I don't like this,' Virgil stated to himself. 'There is something going on that isn't right. I can sense it, and yet I do not understand how I know. It must be something about my past, and who I am. I could sense whoever was behind that voice, is not who they say they are.'

TTT

Meanwhile, Tim made up his mind. Samantha had coaxed him into waiting for at least a day. To rush head on soon after Dick had left, seemed foolhardy. If Tim had caught up to him, Dick might just send him back home. Not to mention he might even say that Tim had imagined what he saw. Tim, however, couldn't get Haley's frightened pleas out of his mind. He needed to tell Dick about Barbara. Something was going on with her, and it wasn't good. 'Samantha will understand,' he thought. 'She knows how close I am with my brother, and no phone call will do it. He'll just tell me to deal with it myself, but I'm not sure if what I observed was even right. I should stick around, but that means the circus will move on and Dick might move with them. He doesn't usually stay very long, but something's not right there, either. Why would Dick leave soon after his daughter was born? Nothing makes any sense right now.'

Tim wrote a note, grabbed the backpack he had packed earlier with some clothes and his uniform, and headed down to the cave. He might as well grab a car from the motor pool, one that would give him speed and stealth. Chances were, if he couldn't get a hotel room for the night, he could always pull into a rest stop and sleep in the car so save time. It was a long road ahead to get where he was going.

Continues with Part 6