Wow it's been a while… sorry for the slow updates. School's a jerk. But now that we've only got a week of finals till freedom… fanfiction time! :D (though I'm warning you now that this chapter's got a bit of fluff, but not much actual plot. And its short. But more update soon, so…)

"Grandma Lilya? Hello?" Robin called out, pulling back the flaps of the small tent, which lead to the fortune teller's table. Grandma Lilya's specialty was palm reading. She wasn't actually related to anyone at the circus, but she still insisted everyone call her grandma. The name stuck.

The elderly woman smiled at him, motioning for him to sit down. "It's good to see you after all this time! My, how you've grown! And you look so much like your mother did!" Richard smiled, both happy and sad at the mention of his mom. Everything about the circus was now bitter sweet…

"So, Mandy said you wanted to see me?"

"Of course I do! It's been almost forever since I saw you last in person! And you're impossible to get a hold of, too! Must be your gypsy blood!"

"Half of it anyway…" He said with a shrug. Sure, his father had been proud of his Romany heritage, and Robin was too. But since his mom wasn't at all gypsy, the boy wonder was only half gypsy, leaving him open to all sorts of teasing from some of the less savory circus members. Didikai, Poshrat… whatever they called him, it meant the same thing: half breed.

"Aww, still letting the rude ones get to you?" Grandma Lilya asked, "Be proud of your heritage!"

"I am, don't worry I am!" Robin said with a laugh. "It's just… interesting, you know?" She smiled, nodding. "So… how did you guys know it was me, anyway? That I was Robin, I mean."

"It wasn't too hard to figure out. One day you leave the circus, then suddenly a few months later there's a kid wearing your family's colors swinging around the city you were last seen in pulling stunts only you would dream of attempting? Not too difficult of a puzzle at all. Heck, even little Jessie figured it out right away, and she was what? Three? She saw you on TV when I took her out to a diner. She pointed right at you and said, 'That's Dickie, The flying boy!'"

Richard smiled at the thought, glad to know that he was thought of in the months following his sudden departure. After all, they were all he thought about. "Do you remember the day I gave you your first reading?" Grandma Lilya suddenly asked.

"When I was five? Sort of. I remember being excited, but then worried about some bad omen or something…"

"That bad omen? I recall a large creature flying down above your head, causing its shadow to fall across you. A bat."

"Go figure," the boy wonder said, smirk tugging at his lips.

"But your reading came true I suppose."

"What was it?"

"I read from your palm, that you would fly higher and longer than anyone else from your family, but would receive little to no applause. I remember it so well, because it was such a strange reading."

"I suppose it did sort of come true, to an extent…"

"Your parents would be proud, Dick."

"Thanks, Grandma Lilya… I better get back to my friends. I left them with Miranda, which is a mistake in itself."

Laughing, she agreed, and sent him off, making him promise to come back and visit sometime soon. After agreeing, Dick continued down the path, set on finding his friends. "Oh, and Dick?" she called out to him, as he spun around, "Bring your friends with you! I'd like to meet them! Especially the green one, I've heard he's rather funny!" With a groan, Robin just shook his head, hoping that the last part was a joke. The alternative was the world being totally bat shit crazy.

After roaming about for a while, Robin finally spotted his friends, who were still at the animal cages with Miranda. "… because he was feeling crummy!" Beastboy's signature cackle echoed around them, as everyone else groaned at the utter lameness of his joke.

"I grew up in a circus, not the middle of the desert. I've heard that one too," Miranda said with a roll of her eyes. Looking up, she noticed who was coming towards them. "Hey, Dickie!" He waved, and she continued, "You've been missing it – Beastboy's been educating me on the fine arts of jokes, since, you know, I never interact with the outside world, and obviously have not heard such amazingly funny jokes!"

"Really now?" he bantered back, slipping into a familiar pattern. "That is so unfortunate! Thank goodness Beastboy knows so many good jokes! If not, you might've been doomed to be unfunny forever!" Cyborg grinned, ready to join into the banter—after all, it was at BB's expense. That just made it better!

"Duuuudes! I am totally funny," The shape shifter in question whined, simultaneously managing to fall off the bench.

As everyone laughed, Raven deadpanned, "Smooth, Beastboy. Reeeeeeal smooth."

"Hey!" As everyone laughed, Raven couldn't help but feel a sense of pride, knowing that she had made them laugh, especially taking pride in the smile adorning the boy wonder's face. Sure he had laughed before, but it was nice to see him completely free from worry. Here, at the circus, his home, there was no need for secret IDs, or secrets, or pressure. No need to keep up appearances, or be the epithet of responsibility, or fight crime.

Here his smile was one-hundred percent genuine, and you could tell by the spark in his eyes, which had finally been unmasked. Sure, getting him here had been some work, and some memories being dug up were rough, but they all had each other. They were friends. Family, even, and surrounded by the family of their leader. They were invincible.

Or so they thought.

*Soooo, wada ya think? do you love it? do you hate it? do you wish to go back in time and warn yourself not to read it? let me know! Flames are welcome! I is a pyromaniac! Virtual cookies for all reviewers!