"The circus, Master Bruce?" says the butler, regarding the man in front of him with an inquisitive brow. "Are you certain about going?"
"I want to go, Alfred," he says tiredly. "I... I've been spending too much time indoors planning Jason's funeral."
Alfred purses his lips, nodding solemnly. "Will I be driving tonight?"
The butler is dismissed with a small wave. In return, the older man nods silently and leaves the room because he has a few more duties to attend to before retiring to bed. Bruce just sits at his desk with his head in his hands. He's tired and he prefers staying at home to going out.
Except...
He remembers the face of the young six-year-old named Dick Grayson. He had met the kid as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. He can still see the wide smile given to him when he was garbed in the Dark Knight's suit. It gave him hope to see such a young life so bright and undeterred by the gloominess of Gotham City.
And, later that night, he remembers the smell of popcorn, sweat, and city air.
Burned into the back of his mind are the dead bodies of the Flying Graysons and one young orphaned boy.
•••
Popcorn, sweat, and city air.
Even after all these years, the smell still remains. It smells exactly like the night Bruce Wayne watched the Flying Graysons fall. And it brings back memories because it was just a few days after Jason had died.
Bruce doesn't want to be here and neither do his sons but...
... tonight, they all need to be here.
They need to be here because tonight is for family. As messed up and awkward he and his sons are, they're family. Tonight, they're here because it's the right thing to do. And, deep down, they really do want to be here; all the more if it's for Dick.
With that in mind, Bruce watches Terry, Tim, and Damian because he has the sneaking suspicion that he's missing something. While the three boys are here physically, he can guess that their minds are elsewhere. The three of them keep glancing about and are only half-listening to Jason's ramblings.
Jason, on the other hand, is definitely here in both mind and body. He's also definitely noticed the odd behavior of the older boys. "What the fuck is up with you guys?" Jason asks, voicing Bruce's own thoughts in a more vulgar manner.
Before Bruce can reprimand him, Terry speaks up. "We're looking for someone," he answers, not tearing his eyes away from the crowd.
"Who?" Jason asks quickly. He recoils as if he had just made a mistake. Still, he stares with narrowed eyes at his older brothers.
"Who indeed," Bruce murmurs. For a moment, he thinks that they're looking for Dick because it's only logical that Dick would come tonight—if he's alive, that is; however, Bruce silently tells himself to perish the thought.
After all, Bruce had found blood on the very same night Dick disappeared. The blood sample he had taken had unfortunately matched up with Dick's. It meant that his son had fallen from a startling height and lost a lot of blood. He never told anyone about the match.
"I... Damian, we can tell them, right?" Tim asks, casting the blood son a sideways look.
In return, Damian gives a minute nod. He doesn't bother to spare a glance towards anyone or anything but the sea of people. It's just a little weird to see all the life in the dreary city of Gotham.
"Bruce, remember how the computers detected a slight abnormality in terms of transportation?" Tim says, trying to give the man a vague idea of the goings-on. He doesn't wait for Bruce to reply. "I think I've found the perp."
"Oh?" Bruce narrows his eyes ever-so-slightly.
"Our culprit is about 5'6", has black hair, and has a preference to the color black," the third eldest son says in a low voice. "Eye color unidentifiable due to a pair of heavily tinted sunglasses."
It takes the billionaire philanthropist approximately three seconds to get the gist of what is being said and it took Jason only half a second. Bruce immediately tells his boys to stop. Surprisingly, they listen.
"You think it was Dick?" Bruce asks. He frowns. "Are you sure?"
"You're joking," Jason says a little harsher than necessary. He's avoiding their eyes. "I don't believe you."
"Timmy"—the aforementioned young adult elbows Terry for saying that—"pulled up some security footage if you wanna check it out when we get home," Terry adds in. "It's terrible quality but it seriously looks like him."
Bruce purses his lips, his eyes scanning the crowd. "It's like he wants be found but is unsure."
Jason's brows shoot up. "Excuse me?"
Tim's eyes go wide and he blinks. "You're right," he says with a tone of amazement. "How did I miss it?"
"Tt. We must've been too caught up in the prospect of it really being Grayson," Damian muses. "It would've been easier to just use the tube and erase the logs—he's done it before to see West in the middle of the night once; however, he chose to create an unknown user and leave his tracks."
"And overriding the system? Anyone with access can do it with a few vocal commands," Tim murmurs. "Creating a new designation? Not exactly the easiest thing to accomplish—unless you're one of us, of course."
Jason frowns. "Wait, did someone hack into the, er, systems?"
"Right, I've forgotten, you've chosen to estrange yourself from our... family," Damian drawls. "Father informed us earlier today when you had snuck out of the house."
The once-dead male scowls. "Shut the fuck up," he hisses. He oh-so-maturely gives Damian the finger before shoving his hand back in the pocket of his jacket. Bruce is quick to scold Jason for his language. He then ushers the boys forward, telling them to start walking so they can find some seats for the show.
"Quite mature, Todd," Damian retorts. "So, Father, I still hold doubts that it is Grayson but I am curious as to who was able to temporarily input themselves into the system."
"Just keep an eye out," Bruce says. Silently, he hopes that maybe it is Dick. He wants this to be a god damn miracle.
And, unknown to everyone else, Jason makes a mental note to ask a certain sixteen-year-old about what exactly he's thinking.
•••
G, I hope you know what you're doing.
•••
Gardner sneezes.
He's a little miffed when no one blesses him but he tells himself that being alive and being here is a blessing of its own. He weaves his way through the crowd that's slowly dissipating into the giant red and gold circus tent. It's extravagant and the people seem excited.
Blue eyes wander around, taking in the sight. He's amazed by all the life. And he's lost in the scent of popcorn, sweat, and city air. He finds the smell of it all rather calming and he starts to feel a lot better about the entire scheme.
"You look familiar," someone says from behind him.
He whips around because he knows the words are directed at him.
"I get that a lot," he says vaguely to a girl who must be older than him. She has long blonde hair and he can see some Vietnamese features on her face. Her piercing grey eyes are looking him over and he takes in a deep breath.
She sticks out a hand, cocking out a hip and placing the other hand on it. "Artemis," she says.
He looks down at her hand and politely declines so she drops it with a small frown. Instead, he gives her a lazy smirk. "Artemis, eh?" he replies. He half-turns, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. "If I have my way, we'll laugh about this someday, won't we?"
With that, he melts into the crowd and Artemis is just a little too shocked by the familiar words to bother going after him. A blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl places herself next to Artemis with a soda in both hands and a bucket of popcorn cradled in the crook of one of her arms.
"Artemis? You okay?" she asks.
"Yeah, yeah," Artemis says distractedly. She takes one of the sodas and nods appreciatively. "Hey, Bette, what was the name of that freshman who randomly took a picture with me when I first came to the G.A.?"
Bette raises both brows. "You mean Richard Grayson?"
"Yeah, him."
"What about him?" Bette asks, frowning. "He disappeared two years ago, didn't he?"
The half-Vietnamese girl shrugs, still staring at where the boy was last standing before he disappeared moments ago. She pulls the tab on her soda and looks at her friend. "Well, if he did then he's back now."
•••
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Haly yells in a booming voice. "Others too, of course."
It's a full house tonight. Again, Bruce notes, it smells like popcorn, sweat, and city air. It's starting to become a comforting scent. He's a little too caught up in trying to focus on the show that he actually doesn't notice when Jason discreetly begins to text someone on his phone.
"As you all know, this is the final chapter of Haly's Circus! I would like to dedicate this one last show to a boy who is practically my grandson," Haly bellows, spreading both of his arms. He smiles fondly but it's hard to see from the crowds. "His name is Dick Grayson and I'm sure you're all familiar with the name. In fact, the family he's found in Gotham is sitting in the audience! Now, I present to you the show of a lifetime!"
Bruce finds himself watching as a few performers file in. It's a beautiful chaos as so many things start happening at once. The arsenal of acts range from the swallowing of flames to juggling what appears to be chainsaws while standing on the back of a tiger. He shakes his head with a small smile, wondering just how the circus actually had the funds for all this.
He notices that his three boys seem to be enraptured by something that isn't the current performing acts. He frowns. "Try to pay attention," he reprimands. "We're here as guests of honor."
"It's him," Tim whispers in an excited hush. He points forward. "Right there. I think that's him."
"How can you be so sure, Drake?" Damian retorts harshly. "There's a multitude of people in the audience donning black."
Terry nudges the slightly younger male. "Oh, hush," he says. "Call it intuition."
"I'll call it idiocy, thank you very much," the blood son says. "We won't know unless we catch him after the show."
Despite the inner turmoil over the idea of Dick truly being alive, Bruce tells his boys to pay attention to the show once more. And they listen.
I wanted to post this chapter tomorrow but I cannot contain myself. :)
But... dun dun dun! The plot thickens... kind of. :0 The blood mentioned in Chapter 5 has been confirmed to be Dick's. To Batman, in that chapter, it seemed as though someone had dragged Dick's body to a dead end and took it but who would do such a thing? :0
Hehe. It seems like Gardner has finally met Artemis. Though, is it really their first meeting? ;)
I originally planned to bring back the C-4 and Xenothium IED bit. Then, I decided to do that when I write the Team again. Speaking of the Team, how do you think it would go if Gardner finds himself in the Robin suit? How would Wally feel? How would Jason feel?
And, in case you forgot, the italicized section at the beginning is a glimpse into the past. I'll be bringing those back for a couple of chapters.
Review please? :)