Disclaimer: I own nothing

Time of the Month

Doll held her umbrella high above her head as she traveled gingerly across the rope, every step carefully placed with one foot in front of the other. She lost her footing, tilting left to right precariously before toppling and landing on the ground. It was their second day of setting up in the new town, and as one of the youngest performers, Doll was sent off to practice rather than help set up tents. She didn't mind. Setting up tents was boring. So instead she practiced her tightrope walking on a rope tied from one post hammered into the ground to another ten feet away.

It was only two feet off the ground, and good practice, but the rope wasn't like the nice one used just for tightrope walking that was at least a hundred feet up in the big top tent. This rope was frayed and scratched her bare feet.

Doll picked herself up and dusted off the shift she wore to practice in, picking her umbrella up. As she did, something flashed in her peripheral vision and she turned finding a red drop of liquid close to her foot. Another joined it. Curious, she tilted her head upward to the rafters of the practice tent but Peter and Wendy weren't using the trapeze. She was alone in the tent.

She looked back down and felt something run down her leg and when she lifted her shift, red liquid trailed down her calf. Dark, sticky red liquid that looked an awful lot like…

A blood curdling scream ripped through the circus grounds and everyone setting up were startled from their work. Dagger dropped the paint bucket he was using to touch up their sign so it splashed on Peter's head and he cursed, slipping in the paint and dragging the sign down with him.

Joker nearly dropped the post he was caring, swinging around so he almost cracked Jumbo in the head but the strong man ducked in time. Wendy, who had been hammering in the pegs to tie the tent rope to, jumped and the hammer went flying through the air, landing on the tail of Betty the tiger who let out an almighty roar, startling Beast and making her drop the lemonade she had been bringing everyone.

"What in the bloody hell was that?" Dagger asked as he hopped down from the ladder and picked the sign off a cursing Peter.

"Sounded like Doll," Jumbo said as he retrieved Wendy's hammer. Another scream followed the first one and there was a crash somewhere further in the sea of tents and then several complaints.

"Check that out will ya Dag?" Joker called. He and Beast made their way to the practice tent where Doll had been told to go. There were any number of things that could go wrong at a circus and Joker picked up the pace as each one raced through his head. He shoved the tent flaps open and Beast ducked under his arm as they searched for Doll.

They found her in front of her practice tightrope, sobbing her eyes out and clutching her shift in her hands as she stood there. Joker knelt beside her, taking her shoulders in his hands, "Doll, ey, Doll, it's Joker. What's wrong?"

Doll blinked her single blue eye shining with tears, "Joker! Joker 'M bleeding all over the place! 'M dying!"

"Bleeding? Where?" He panicked, looking her over. Head fine, arms fine, stomach fine, legs covered in blood….

Oh.

"I've got it," Beast stepped in and shoved a red-faced Joker from the tent where he was met with the other first tier members of Noah's Ark Circus.

"Is Doll okay?" Dagger asked worriedly and Joker nodded, "She's fine. Beast's in there with 'er. A bit of a scare is all."

"What kind of scare?" Peter demanded and Joker raised his violet gaze to the heavens, searching for strength, "A scare only the ladies deal with."

Wendy erupted into a fit of giggles and ducked into the practice tent to help Beast while Dagger's face went very red and he stuttered out an excuse to leave while Peter scrunched his face, "Gross. This is why I hate kids, always messing stuff up." Still grumbling he stalked off and Jumbo shook his head in amusement before following.

Joker prepared to leave as well and put on an extra burst of speed when he heard Doll yell, "THIS HAPPENS EVERY MONTH?!" Poor Beast. Poor Wendy. Poor, poor Doll.