*I don't own Young Justice, but I might own the inside of Robin's head, maybe?*

"Talking"

I AM SO SORRY! I know I haven't posted in freaking forever, but Life showed up and started hitting me with a big board that said "Welcome to the College Experience" and then summer rolled around and then Writer's Block set in like an unwanted stain. I will finish this story and I am not abandoning it I swear! I promise to have the next 3 chapters published before the end of the year. It might be sooner than that, but Hell or High Water I'll finish this story before 2015! Thank you so much for sticking around and for following this story, you people are seriously Astrous.

Just a quick reminder Kaldur and Raquel aren't in Robin's head, they went off to play Go Fish.

Okay, so here are the potential chapter titles for the rest of this story:

Chapter 8 – Home Again

Chapter 9 – Gotham Rain

Chapter 10 – Words (?); Bats, Birds, and Butlers (?)

Could you guys help me decide on the title for chapter 10? I have a poll up on my profile.

I bet, you can guess what this chapter is about…

- Warning Chapters 5-7 are Rated Teen for Violence and Terror -

Chapter 7 – Flying and Falling

Noise.

That was the first thing to hit them. A cacophony of car horns, sirens, music, talking, yelling, and Laughter wafted over them. Lots and lots of snorting, squealing, giggling, cackling, indefinite laughter.

Then the city came into startling clarity. Gotham, as the sunset and the city didn't stop to care. As the heroes stepped out of the dark onto the busy sidewalk lined with parked cars, they saw something incredible. A massive light blue three-peaked circus tent was taking up the lot across the street.

Shock consumed M'gann, Conner, and Artemis. They knew that tent, they recognized the sounds of the crowd and the smells that followed this circus around. This was Haly's Circus.

Robin didn't seem fazed as he look at the massive crowd began to enter the tent. "Come on, the show is about to start …" he said as he began to head across the street.

The teens stared another moment longer, before following after him. As they approached the crowd the team realized something was off about the whole situation. The crowd was blurred like they weren't really there, just a faceless mob of happy people.

"What's wrong with them? Why don't they have any details or characteristics?" M'gann questioned.

"Because they aren't important." Robin said stiffly and began moving through the crowd towards the entrance.

As they approached the tent, they could now see the sign hung above the entrance flap. Wally went green and then very pale "D-do we have to see this…"

"You promised the twerps, not me." said Robin with a small shake of his head "You must have known this was coming?"

"Some part of me really didn't want to know exactly what had happened to them, so I never pushed you on the subject. But I guess this was inevitable." Wally replied on a whisper.

The sign read: Tonight's Main Act: The Amazing Flying Graysons.

Artemis stared at the sign as realization dawned on her "…Oh god, this is- They- Jade told me the story when I was younger, but I never really knew- I didn't really understand…"

"What do you mean, Artemis?" M'gann asked.

"The tragedy of the Flying Graysons still haunts the streets of Gotham like a sickly urban legend." Robin stated "Come on, Richard probably saved us seats…"

They moved into the tent with the crowd; however M'gann, Conner, and Artemis recognized Mr. Haly where he stood just on the other side of the tent flaps. He wasn't a faceless blur like the crowd, but the expression he wore wasn't quite happy. He seemed to be scanning the crowd as if he was looking for someone. Artemis was about to ask Robin what was wrong with Mr. Haly when he let out a bark of noise and grabbed a kid in a hoodie who was about to go running off through the stands.

"Gotchu! Dick, the show's about to start! You have to stop running off like this! Mary and John are worried sick." Haly lectured as he glared holes threw the kid in his grasp.

"Sorry, Am vrut doar to see mulțimea din această seară. I didn't mean to make anyone supărat." [Sorry, I just wanted to see tonight's crowd. I didn't mean to make anyone upset.] The boy spoke softly, but the team could hear what the boy said and they recognized him immediately.

"Is that Before or After? I thought they couldn't get into memories." Connor stated his voice gruff.

"He's neither. Now come on Richard's saved us some seats, let's just get this over with." Robin replied as he pushed further into the tent.

As the team followed, they heard part of Haly's response to Dick. "Come on kid, don't pout. If you start making sad faces then nobody can stay mad at you. Soon you'll just be spoiled rotten…"

Once they caught up with Robin, he ushered them over to where Richard was standing near a row of empty seats in the middle of a section of the stands. The bench had markers on it indicating that it was reserved. "Aren't a group of memory people gonna sit here?" Wally questioned "'Cause I don't want some memory-person-thing trying to sit on me…"

"No, the family who reserved this bench was… unfortunately unable to make it that night so these seats will stay free." Richard responded coolly, he shared a look with Robin who moved to sit next to him.

Once everyone was seated M'gann had to ask the Masks about the circus. "Why are we here and what does Haly's have to do with Robin?"

"It has everything to do with Robin." the Robin mask said hollowly. "Do you remember when we had that small late-night camping jaunt a little after we became a team? It was a before Artemis joined, you had wanted everyone to tell you about why or how they became heroes. Well, this is the reason Robin exists today. Hell, this is the reason why all the Influences and Personas exist."

"Please, no more questions just enjoy the show i-it's truly extraordinary, until the very end." Richard said interrupting Zatanna before she could ask a question. Then the lights in the stands went out and the spotlight illuminated Mr. Haly as he approached the center ring.

"Welcome, Ladies and Gentleman, Young Adults and Children. To the most incredible of nights, to an event filled with Wonder and Magic and the Extraordinary feats of the humble men and women here with us tonight. WELCOME TO HALY'S CIRCUS, I truly hope you enjoy the show!" Mr. Haly's voice boomed out filling the whole tent. With a bow and a flourish of his hat, the spot lights went out, only for the main multi-colored tent lights to come on seconds later as gymnasts in bright colored outfits rode out standing on the backs of white horses. Music began to pour out of the speakers; it was just as bright and happy as the performers' movements.

And then something remarkable happened, the team forgot. They forgot the trauma of the last several hours; they forgot the tragedy and the heartbreak they had experienced only moments ago. They lost themselves in the bright music and incredible stunts performed before their very eyes by men and women of all ages in flamboyant costumes. Even though some of the teens had been in the show at one point they had never seen what it had looked like from the audience. They never knew the joy that could be felt or brought to others when they watched this circus perform. So the team forgot.

They forgot why they were there and they forgot the tragedy that was destined to follow. And the Personas let them. They let the young heroes enjoy the last performance that the Flying Graysons ever participated in.

After the fire breathers and the contortionists, after the clowns and the knife throwers, after the strongmen and the beast tamers, finally Mr. Haly reappeared to announce the grand finale act.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this evening has been truly amazing and now it is my great honor the present to you our final act. This family troupe is filled with some of the bravest and most daring people I have ever had the pleasure to meet. They perform feats others can only dream of doing while they soar five stories above our very heads and they do all of this without a net for protection. May I introduce to you the one, the only the AMAZING FLYING GRAYSONS!" As Mr. Haly exclaimed the family's name, the spotlight moved off of the center ring and was joined by a second one as they pointed up towards the tent ceiling where six people stood waiting.

All of them had the same golden bird emblem that both Before and After had on their leotards, however instead of a white backdrop, they wore red. They had black spandex pants or skirts over their red and gold leotards. Each one of them smiled in delight as the waved to the crowd below. The family was split into two groups, three people on each of the platforms at the top of the tent's main supports. In between the two platforms waited a double-barred trapeze, gently swinging in the breeze.

As the young heroes looked on they remembered why they were here and where here really was. They remembered as the looked up at the face of a young boy who looked identical to After, but he seemed to have the same demeanor and personality as young Before. The team couldn't watch, they couldn't watch what they assumed to be a horror in the making. Richard spoke softly "Don't look away just yet, the act is really something spectacular and this might be the only opportunity you will ever have to see it. So please, for Dick's sake, watch them fly."

The teens looked at Richard he was still facing forward, but what looked seemed to be tears shimmer over the surface of the plain, permanently, smiling mask. Without another word Wally looked back up to the smiling faces of his best friend's family, his gaze was soon followed by Zatanna, then Artemis. M'gann squeezed Connor's hand before they both look up as well. Soft music began playing gently as one of the men step towards the edge of his platform.

"Now let me introduce them to you. First we have Rick Grayson," as Mr. Haly called out the name, the man on the platform leapt off and grabbed the bar closest to him. Only seconds after grabbing it he was letting go as he flung himself out into open air, flipping as he did. Just as gravity began to pull the man back down he caught the next bar and flipped onto the platform where his brother's family was waiting for him. The crowd cheered only then to have Mr. Haly continuing to speak as if nothing had happened.

"Next we have his younger brother John Grayson," and this time the man who had be standing with the youngest boy leapt out to catch the swinging bar. Each time Jack Haly said a name one of the family members leapt off their platforms to fly through the air effortlessly. "Then Rick's wife, Karla Grayson and John's wife Mary Grayson. Finally we have Rick and Karla's son Johnny Grayson, and lastly but not least is John and Mary's son Dick Grayson. And yes folks he is only eight years old, but that doesn't stop him or any of his family from being professional Aerialists!"

Suddenly the soft music was replaced, by a much faster and upbeat song and the Graysons' flew. They began to leap out into the open air spinning and twirling as the moved fluidly from one bar to the next. The aerialists flipped, tumbled, and cartwheeled through the open air keeping in perfect rhythm with each other and the perpetually moving trapeze swings. They caught themselves and each other with hands, knees, feet and elbows as they glided without a care in the world. It was as if gravity and physics had no control over their movements. It was unbelievable and awe-inspiring.

Even the young Dick Grayson, possessed a phenomenal sense of grace and coordination that was on par, if not better than his family's. He could easily, put any hero with flight to shame, as well as any bird that dare challenge him to a contest.

After nearly ten minutes of this beautiful and sensational performance, the Graysons finally landed on the platforms only this time they were separated into a group of two and of four. Both Rick and John were holding one of the swings bars each on a different platform. Mr. Haly began to speak as the music died down "The Flying Graysons are preparing for their signature trick, the Quadruple Somersault. This trick can only be performed by the Flying Graysons, however little Dick Grayson is still too young to perform this trick and he will be waiting on the platform during this. Alright, as one final parting gift to you, the audience, the last trick of the night!"

The crowd was silent as the watched the two men leap off the platforms simultaneously, they swung out on the swings and let go, only to go somersaulting past each other as they performed the stunt. After four spins each, they caught the other bar and pulled themselves up onto it where they stood one foot on and one off, one elbow hooked around the swings wire the other hand waving to the cheering crowd below. The crowd was bellowing in excitement, but before they calmed down, the two women leapt off the platforms and performed their own set of somersaults. They too climbed up onto the bars mirroring their husbands' positions, however Mary waved to her son Dick on the platform behind her. Finally Johnny Grayson leapt off the platform and just like his family completed this final stunt flawlessly, soon he stood on the center of the bar in between his parents.

The crowd went insane, and around the heroes the people who were once faceless came into startling clarity all at once. One last time Mr. Haly came back onto the microphone "There you have it! Ladies and Gentleman the famous Quadruple Somersault, performed only by the Amazing Flying Graysons! Th-" Jack Haly was about to continue when one singular sound reverberated around the tent, louder than the cheers and clapping of the crowd, louder than the music and louder than Mr. Haly.

*KUR-THNAP*

This one sound deafened all others in the memory and the scene before the heroes became deathly silent.

Suddenly the main set wires that were holding both swings up, catastrophically failed in unison. And the whole world seemed to slow down around the team as they watch the Graysons begin to fall. They were standing and gaping at the falling family in acute terror and horror when they realized they could do nothing, but watch them fall.

Across the room from them a man with black hair and a dark grey suit came to this realization as well, his handsome face twisted into a pained and horrified expression. However his navy blue eyes were not looking at the Grayson family, but at the young boy atop the platform screaming for his mother as he reached his small hand out to try and grab his parents.

Rick and Karla both lunged for their son Johnny in an effort to try and save him from the fall. John tried to grab his wife, but she only had eyes for the young boy, for her son, who reached out to her in turn, desperate to save her.

As they began to approach the ground in the slow motion fashion this scene now moved in, the memory around the team shook once as if an earthquake had rolled through it. Then without warning the world went completely black around them and a little ways away was the stainless steel exit.

"What?" Zatanna gasped as if she had just come up for air. Tears slowly dripped down her face, now she understood why Robin never really left her alone after Fate took her father, because he had known what she was going through and didn't want her to suffer without help. God, he stood by her and helped her and she had always thought he just pitied her. She never could have guessed that he genuinely wanted to help her because he understood her agony.

Robin and Richard looked at each other, both had no face yet their expressions were clearly bewildered. "No clue…" both muttered as they looked around the now empty void they were standing in.

"… I'm not really upset that… that we didn't have to see that, but I don't think that should have happened. Memories shouldn't just shut off like that." M'gann spoke softly as her voice shook slightly with the rawness of the emotion she had felt; it shook her to her very core. Never before had she ever been so near such a deep and agonizing well of sorrow and heartbreak as that memory was to Robin, no Dick. She was leaning against Connor and he too, was glad she was there beside him. That memory, that tragedy, had been more than he could bear. He was still young in the eyes of time, but he did not think anyone could possibly bear the suffering brought on by the terrible deaths of the ones you hold dear.

Wally stood next to Artemis he had grabbed her and held her in a tight embrace, one she was happy to return to. Wally shook with emotion. He knew, he knew what had happened to Dick, but he didn't understand until just then, what kind of hell his best friend, his baby brother must have gone through. And then for Dick to just smile at him and the team to simply be able to do something like that after everything was possible the bravest and strongest thing Wally had ever seen.

As Artemis held her shaking boyfriend she came to the painful truth that Dick Grayson the weird brat she went to school with was Robin the Boy Wonder and she just let other kids bully him at school about being an orphan. The other kids made fun of him because of that. How dare they, how dare those arrogant, pompous, ungrateful, moronic whelps make fun of anyone for being a 'charity case'. How dare they make fun of her little brother about losing everything. She was going to put an end to them once she got back to school.

Robin was about to say something to the teen heroes, when without warning the steel door slammed open with a tremendous force and the vacuum like effect of the door pulled all eight of the unsuspecting occupants threw its metal frame and slammed loudly behind them.

So that was the end of chapter seven, I hope it was worth the year long wait. Thank you so much for supporting me and my crazy endeavor. Don't forget to go to my profile to vote on chapter 10's title.

Please R & R, hopefully you will hear from me soon~