Are we... going home?
The caravan bumped as it jostled its way through unpaved pathways. Beside them, trees sped by like blurs, branches occasionally scratching against the windows.
Screeeeeech. Screeeeeech. Like nails against a wooden coffin.
"Dick, honey," his mom called from the passenger's seat. "You okay?"
Dick's head shot up at his name. "I'm fine, mom. Promise."
"Raya tells me you've been acting strange. Is it because of that headache you told me about?"
Dick smiled slightly. Of course, his mother would remember that throwaway comment. Sometimes, he didn't know what he would do without her.
-...I don't know either. I never knew.-
"Yeah, well, Raya was exaggerating. I'm just... excited, that's all."
And he was. At the sound of the name Gotham his heart had skipped a beat. And the voice inside his head grew louder, almost too loud, and he had had to sit down.
But it didn't make sense- he had never been to Gotham before. Sure, they had planned for a trip when he was a kid, but the crime rates had turned Mr. Haly away from the dark streets. He'd said there could've been accidents (whatever that meant.)
But somehow, Gotham seemed familiar. Like...
Home.
"Home," Dick murmured, somewhat by accident.
"Hmm?" His dad asked. "Did you say something?"
Dick blinked in surprise. "What? N-no." He put his head between his arms again. The other voice was growing too loud...
Suddenly, the caravan pulled to a stop. Around them the other caravans parked too, some carrying tents and poles, others just carrying people. The colors on them looked very stark against the darkness before them.
Dick looked into the black city.
"Well," his father said, "welcome to Gotham."
He slung his bag over one shoulder. They walked tightly in one pack, as if they feared they would just disappear once they were left behind. But Dick felt safe.
He knew, if he were in trouble, someone would save him.
But who?
He will always save me.
Dick's father gripped his hand tightly.
"Dad," Dick laughed, "I can take care of myself."
"There are strange stories about here..."
"That's what they are. Stories. Criminals wouldn't dare touch us in such a big group!"
Dick's father shook his head. "Criminals aren't the worst of it. I'm talking vigilantes."
Vigilantes?
...Vigilantes?
"Oh, come on, that's just a myth!" The contortionist scoffed.
"What vigilantes?" Dick asked.
Raya shook her head. "Just some stories about a dark shadow that flits about at night, taking down thugs and bad guys."
"Not just some stories," Bryan defended. "It's real. Crime in Gotham has gone down for the first time in decades. Why do you think my dad allowed us to come here now?"
"It's not all good things. There's been a rise in costumed freaks around here as well."
"Costumed freaks? You're one to talk, Jimmy!"
The conversation drifted off to another topic, mostly about Jimmy's sad love life and his sad clown life as well. Normally Dick would've joined in, but his mind was elsewhere.
He looked to the rooftops.
In the back of his mind, in the front of his eyes, he saw the image of a great black shadow watching the horizon. Behind it, was a little red-and-yellow blur.
And then they were gone.
They arrived at the site where they were going to set up. Trees ringed the edges, all sorts of dark and shadowy forest-types- Dick had never seen such trees before. His feet longed to climb them.
They split up in groups and went to work on setting up the tents. Dick was busy helping his parents put in the poles, but his mind was almost going haywire. Something about this place they were in was making him sick.
He almost remembered it...
I lost everything here.
And he felt sad, as sad as you could be when you had no idea why you were sad, but he also felt incredibly angry.
Someone had taken this away from him. And he couldn't even remember what he was missing.
I lost everything here. But it was here that I found you.
"Dick?"
He shook himself out of his reverie. "Yeah, mom?"
"Mr. Haly wants us to meet the police commissioner," his mom replied.
"Police commissioner?"
"He's not taking any chances. I think you already know about the state of crime in Gotham."
Treading down a hastily made path, he wound his way to where the Big Top was being set up. He could see Mr. Haly standing next to a man in a police uniform. The sun glinted of his glasses.
He wiped his hands of his jeans to look slightly more presentable, and jogged down to meet them.
"-our best," the policeman said, as Dick drew nearer. "There's no guarantee that we'll be able to keep your circus entirely safe, but we hope to."
"Ah, commmissioner, no need to be so serious! We'll have a few extra safety precautions- after all, we have more than a few strong men!"
Mr. Haly let out a belly laugh, before noticing Dick on the sidelines.
"Dick, my boy! Come and meet Gotham's police commissioner. He'll be helping us stay safe."
Dick looked at the police commissioner, and his stomach dropped. The voice inside his head went crazy.
Ask him to help me! Ask him to help!
A vague memory flitted in his mind, as brief as the images on the roof. A conversation that he never had filtered into his ears.
"Who's this?"
"This is Gotham's police commissioner, James Gordon."
"Is he nice?"
A laugh sounded, low and grumbly, because he was using his other voice. "He's nicer than me at any rate, chum. Don't worry about him. He's one of the only people in this city I trust."
"Oh. ...You trust me though, don't you?"
The laugh was heard again, but this time, it was light. His real voice. "Of course I do, Robin. I'll always trust you."
"-Richard? Dick?"
Dick blinked his way out of his brief lapse. He felt a hint of regret, at not being able to stay. He seemed happy there.
"Sorry," he blushed. "I was... thinking of something else."
"Well, as I was saying, this is Commissioner-"
"Gordon," Dick blurted out. "James Gordon... right?"
Commissioner Gordon looked at him appraisingly. "Do I know you?"
Yes.
"No. I just, um... I guessed."
"You guessed?"
Dick felt unnervingly uncomfortable. Because he remembered this man- maybe not exactly, because he knows he never met him- but this man did not know him.
Maybe he was going crazy...
Mr. Haly clapped his hands together. "Well, we'd better get back to work, shouldn't we? Your parents are with Raya working on the trapeze, and they could probably use your expertise. As for me, I'd better see what Bryan's up to. He better not be flirting with Seraphina again." He winked at Dick, then trotted off to where Bryan was laying groundwork.
Dick swallowed a lump in his throat. He felt like he was being scrutinized under a magnifying glass.
"I... um... hi."
Commissioner Gordon raised an eyebrow. "Hi," he responded, not unkindly.
"You're a police officer?"
"I am," he said. "How did you guess?"
Dick blushed even further, but he grinned. People with a sense of humour can't be that bad.
"Do you... um, do you know anything about... vigilantes?"
The commissioner's face suddenly shifted, and Dick felt like he had stepped on a landmine.
"Why do you-"
"Dad!"
Both heads snapped upwards to the source of the voice. Standing to the left was a girl, around Dick's age, bright red hair tied up in a ponytail. The sun shone behind her, casting an orange-gold hue around everything.
Dick's heart pumped painfully in his chest.
"Barbara!"
The girl threw her arms around Commissioner Gordon.
"I told you to wait in the car."
"You were taking so long," she sighed, "I just wanted to check-"
Her words died in her throat as she locked eyes with Dick. For a moment, a scene drifted in his head of both of them. She had her head on his shoulder, and was saying something.
"Promise me you'll see me again."
"Barbara, this is Dick Grayson, one of the trapeze artists in Haly's Circus. And this is my daughter Barbara Gordon." Her father looked between them. "Well, I guess I'll leave you two alone..."
He slipped away, and still, neither said a word.
"...Hi."
She folded her arms across her chest, in a gesture like self-defence. "Hi."
I found you.
What could he say? Do I know you? Have I met you?
Do you know me?
"Do you like computers?"
She raised her eyebrows. "Is that your form of a pick-up line?"
"No," he corrected hastily. "It's just you look smart."
"I look smart."
"Right." His face felt hot. What was it about her that made it so hard to speak? "Well... do you?"
She smiled slightly. "Maybe."
"It's just, growing up in a circus and all, I never really grew up around computers."
"I'm guessing you didn't grow up around girls, either."
"What? N-no! There's Raya and-"
"I'm kidding," Barbara laughed, putting her hands up. "I'm the daughter of a detective. I would notice if there were girls around here."
"Yeah..." Dick swallowed. There was a twisting in his gut, and the voice was trying to tell him something.
She had the answers he needed. Of why the world was so strange.
Does she remember me too?
The sun was lowering in the hills. Barbara looked over to the horizon, and slowly shook her head.
"I have to go," she said. She smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Dick Grayson."
"It's nice to meet you too, Barbara Gordon."
She turned to leave.
"Wait!" Dick called. His voice rang out in the empty space. "Promise me you'll see me again."
She threw a look back, and in that very moment, he could see it in her eyes. The memory. It was real.
"I promise," Barbara replied, her voice shaking.
Then she disappeared into the sun.
Before I found you, I was lost
After I met you, I was found
And then I lost you, and then I lost you
And then I lost you...
Hey guys, I'm back! I hope you liked the second chapter of As Fate Would Have It. The italics are either what I would call 'Dick's second voice' or flashbacks to Dick's, well, real life. So do the usual- like, follow, and/or review! Thanks to those who have done these things, you always make my day. For now, have a good day/night!