I hadn't expected her to actually live in gothon. With the crime rate and the reputation a power cell carries with it, Gothom definitely isnt a friendly place for one. But it was definitely a gotham address on the letter. And she couldn't have picked a more perfect place to meet.

Both good and bad memories flood my head as I glance around at the circus performers. It's not Haley's but the memories are there none the less.

"What now? The letter just says here. It doesn't say where here. She could be anywhere!" For some reason Wally's phrasing bugs me. I ignore the slight irritation in favor of looking up at the circus tent set up in the center of the fair ground.

"We enjoy a day at the circus. The letter is signed 'Enjoy the show'. She wants us to watch the acts." I flap the letter in their general direction as though that would prove my point, but all it accomplishes is bringing sceptical looks to my 'escort'.

"And why would she want us to do that? I thought she wanted to talk. I'm starting to think this is all an elaborate game Mr. Wayne put together to entertain his pet project." So many nerves hit. Definitely not feeling the aster.

Wally nudges Artemis in shock. Her tendency to be judgmental without all the facts is nothing new but this...She usually shows some form of remorse for her comments.

Not now. For some reason she truly believes that i'm a bad person. She hasn't known me, well the Richard Grayson me for more than two hours and yet she has accumulated so much hate for me that it could rival Superman's hate for Darkseid.

After a brief moment of shocked silence I respond to her comment with a flat tone. My face and voice void of any emotion.

"Bruce would never bring up my mother for something like that. He knows how harmful hope can be and would never play with it. If this does turn out to be a goose chase it was not put into action by him. I don't know what it is that has you filled with hate but I have done nothing to warrant it, and nor has Bruce Wayne."

I turn away before the blonde has a chance to respond. I'm betting dangerously close to losing my temper.

Everyone had a trigger. Something that no matter how much they trained they would always rile up emotions. Bats' trigger was his parents. If you brought up his parents he would immediately change the subject, and if you press on he would soon lose his temper. How he responded to this lose of control depended on how you spoke.

If you spoke out of pity for the man left behind, he more often than not called you out, told you in a very stern and loud voice that he did not want your pity, and continued to go off on you until you no longer remembered what it was that had upset him. If you spoke out of honor to the great people that the world was robbed of, he would leave the room without a word and wouldn't be seen again for some time.

The mention of my parents did rile some emotion from me, but never to the point of me being unable to hid it. The only thing I have ever encountered that angered me the way Bats got with the mention of his parents is when someone questions his morals.

Bats saved me after what happened to my parents. He helped me bring Zocco to justice, gave me a place to live, let me fight crime alongside him so others wouldn't have to suffer through what we did. When someone trys to portray him as a bad person, questions his motives, tries to tell me that he is anything but a hero. That's my trigger. And Artemis is getting dangerously close to triggering it.

Thankfully she remains silent, though I can feel her glare on the back of my head. I make a mental note to reopen my file on the archer and try and dig up what ever tragic past she went through to taint her view of wealth so much.

Kaldur apologizes again on the archers behalf and I give him an understanding and sympathetic look. He looks like he's regretting the decision to bring her along but we both seem to realize that there was no other reasonable choice and decide to move on from the dilemma that is Artemis.

I purchase the tickets, being the only one with any real money. I didn't mind but it took quite a bit of convincing to get Kaldur and Artemis to accept them. Both refusing for very different reasons..

We found our seats easily enough. I sat between Wally and Kaldur, Artemis taking the seat to the right of the atlantian. It was strange to be in the stands of the circus rather than the ring and I spent the majority of the ten or so minutes of waiting for the show to start fidgeting uncomfortably in my seat. I figured it would only get worse when it finally did start and the thought of sitting through the trapeze act was...unappealing.

Wally must have noticed my discomfort because he nudged my arm gently to get my attention. He asked if I was ok and I gave him my best attempt at a reassuring smile and a thumbs up.

My smile must not have been very reassuring because he gave an almost equally awkward smile. He fidgeted a bit trying to think of something to make me feel better. I can't help the small giggle at his frantic attempts to keep my mind from my parents.

He smiles and starts to tell me stories about the many pranks he pulled with his friend. I can't help but smile. He seems so happy when he talks about our escapades. I intrude right after he finishes the story about how I switched the sugar with the salt. I decide to tease him a little getting a bit more then I had expected from him.

"You and you friend seen close~" I giggle and he blushes. I hadn't expected a blush. I had expected him to joke or laugh it off. He smiles sadly and looks down. I just blink in confusion for a bit.

"Yea...He got me out of a really dark place...I'm not sure where I would be right now if it wasn't for him…" He looks up at the roof of the tent and I can tell his thoughts are elsewhere. I wanted to ask him what I had done. What he meant by a dark place. What had happened and why he had never told me. Then I remembered how proud Wally was. He would never want someone to know he was in pain, physical or emotional.

"...Does he know all that?" a ask hesitantly. I'm not sure if i'm crossing the line as Richard Grayson. He's shared so many personal stories with the equivalent of a stranger already. And he'd done it to make me feel better. My words bring him back to the here and now and he looks back at me and sighs.

"Probably. I didn't tell him, he has a million and one problems of his own to worry about without adding mine, but he has a way of knowing things. I just wish I could help him with his problems the way he helped me with mine…"

"How...How do you know you haven't…?" This conversation is getting progressively more uncomfortable but something pushes me onward. Something stops me from changing the subject. Wally stares down at the ring but he doesn't seem to actually be looking at it. Hurt bubbles up in the pit of my stomach at the resentment that appears in his eyes.

His voice is gruff and strained but laced with sorrow when he speaks. I barely register the show starting as I stare at my best friend in shock, regretting every decision i had ever made.

"He has a thing about keeping secrets. It's hard to help someone sort though there life if they don't trust you enough to let you in it."