Batman rolled his eyes beneath his cowl as Green Lantern failed, yet again, to follow basic instruction concerning the placement of several large sheets of metal. Give them super powers and they still can't tell their lefts from their rights. If only J'onn could help. However, the flying Martian was in a deep state of meditation, attempting to focus on strengthening the connection he had with Nightwing. Batman sighed internally. Come on, Dick. As if overseeing the reconstruction of the Watchtower wasn't stressful enough, the Dark Knight couldn't help but stress over the wellbeing of his good soldier. When he got back to the cave, Batman was definitely going to develop some sort of tracker that could be traced through space as well as time and inject it into Jason, Tim and Damien in their sleep. Just like how he injected all the other tracers in them. "No, Raven, that doesn't go there!" Batman yelled as the demon-spawn made a mess of the ceiling. He groaned.
"Bruce!" Wonder Woman called as she rushed towards him. He frowned at the use of his civilian name, but he always did like when she used it.
"I'm busy," he threw out his typical, 'leave me alone I'm having a bad day' response.
She huffed audibly, annoyed. "It's J'onn. He's talking in his trance."
Though Batman was skeptical, he wasted no time in throwing down his clipboard and rushing to the Martian's quarters.
"What did he say?" asked Batman as he glided into the room. The Flash was there, arms crossed and frowning. J'onn was not making a sound, still shut off from the rest of the world in search of Dick. "Wally?"
"He didn't say much- he just kept repeating, 'I'm seven!'" Barry shrugged. "But Dick's like, twenty-four. Do you think he went back to when- ?" Batman froze, his heart racing and he thanked God Superman wasn't here to point out how excited and stressed he had just become. He knew where Dick was and he never thought this would happen so soon. "What is it?" Wally asked, noting the Dark Knight's demeanor and failure to respond.
"He's not seven, but someone else is."
"Bruce?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Get me Zatara, now!" Batman demanded. With that, the Caped Crusader rushed from the room.
The Flash frowned at Wonder Woman, "And we all wondered why Dick quit being Robin?"
"I don't know if I'm so sure about this outfit, Bruce…" Dick said, coming out of the changing room. Bruce had dressed him in light blue denim jeans, a red polo, covered with a light blue denim jacket and then added sunglasses. For good measure, said Bruce. Also, 'for good measure', Dick was wearing fingerless leather gloves and a backwards baseball cap. "I mean, I like the high tops, but the rest…"
"What are you talking about?" Bruce asked condescendingly. "You look great!"
Dick looked at the excited kid, "You've never dressed yourself have you?" Bruce's face fell so hard, Dick felt bad for the boy and before he could respond he said, "Alright fine, but I'm not wearing the gloves and the hat goes forward. Deal?"
Bruce stuck out his bottom lip but wasn't any less cheery, "Deal." Bruce handed the checkout lady his platinum credit card which Dick found hysterical as the kid was barely tall enough to see over the counter. "But you owe me… $37.79." He said as the woman read out the cost.
"Oh trust me," Dick sighed. "I owe you a lot more than that." Dick bid the woman a good day as they walked out of the store and turned back to Bruce, "So where are you taking me for lunch?"
Bruce grunted, "You're going to take all my money aren't you?"
Dick scoffed, "Do you know how rich you are?"
Bruce smirked. Then he watched as Dick removed the sunglasses and tucked them into the color of his polo. "Why were you wearing the mask?"
Dick looked down at the kid, following him down the road, "To keep my identity a secret from the bad guys."
"So, its okay that you told me your name was John and that I know your eyes are blue 'cause I'm not a bad guy?" The kid looked up and frowned again.
"What?"
"Well, how do you know I'm not a bad guy? Is it 'cause I'm rich? Daddy says not everyone with money is a nice person." Bruce skipped a little when talking about his father. Dick swallowed.
"I know I can trust you, is all… Your father is a smart man," Dick said, eyeing the McDonalds across the street.
Bruce noticed his gaze and led him to the fast food joint saying, "He sure is. I'm going to be just like him when I grow up, too!"
Dick looked down, "Yeah?"
"Yeah, I'm going to be a doctor and help people and have a big family! I don't think one kid is enough though…"
Dick took in a deep breath, "Does it get pretty lonely in that manor all by yourself?"
Bruce frowned and looked at his feet. "Sometimes. But Alfred is always there… so I guess it isn't too bad."
"CIRCUS!" Bruce yelled, very much excited as Dick got the tickets with the billionaire's credit card.
"Don't scare the animals!" Dick teased. Dick looked around astonished. Haley's Circus twenty some years younger than the last time he'd see it. There were definitely more animals now and the clowns didn't scare the parents as much as the kids without their negative stereo-type established in Gotham. As they made their way through the crowd, Dick found the row of seats assigned to his tickets and laughed at how perfectly positioned they were. He looked at the excited Bruce. As if that were a coincidence. They sat down, well, Dick sat down and Bruce jumped all over the place, unable to contain himself. Dick covered his mouth to hide his chuckles. It's so easy to forget who this boy turns out to be.
Bruce finally calmed down enough to sit and thumb through the program, his tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth. Skimming through the words, Bruce found a section particularly fascinating.
"Oh! Oh!" Bruce bounced in his chair, pointing out one part of the program to Dick.
"What? What?" Dick said, also bouncing. Bruce rolled his eyes at his being mocked but retained his excitement.
"Guess what my favorite part of the circus is! You know, after the tigers."
"You like tigers?" Dick asked, intrigued.
"Uh, duh! There's no better animal!" Bruce tucked his legs under his butt to give him more height and stuck his fingers in front of his face and growled, "They have big fangs and are sneaky and just awesome!" He stopped his tiger impression, "But that's not my favorite part."
"Alright," Dick smiled. "What's your favorite part?"
Bruce grinned and shoved the program in Dick's face, "The acrobatics!"
"No way!" Dick said, though he half expected the very same answer, it still made him smile warmly. "That's my favorite part too!"
"Before I wanted to be a doctor, I wanted to be an aerialist, but…" Bruce trailed off, his face falling.
"But what?" Dick prodded.
"Can I tell you a secret?" Bruce looked very disappointed in himself. Dick felt his heart melt at the sight of the boy's big brown eyes and nodded earnestly, "I'm afraid of heights."
Afraid of bats as a kid, I know. Afraid of heights? What? Dick was genuinely shocked but thought back to when he lifted him up the apartment building and thought about how terrified Bruce had been. Then again, Dick had always been afraid of the dark as a kid and that didn't stop him from joining the Dark Knight.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"
Dick's heart dropped as his attention was brought to the tall, muscular young man with a full head of hair in the center of the circus tent. Damn. He almost laughed at how different Haley looked in his early twenties. Bruce hit Dick's arm excitedly and Dick just sat in pure astonishment at the situation he found himself in. This is ridiculous.
Dick was more interested in watching Bruce's reactions to the show before them. As he watched Bruce's eyes widen in awe and his face contort in sheer fascination, Dick was struck with a controversial thought. I can save him. He watched the tigers jump through flaming rings and nearly felt his heart break at Bruce's cheers of joy. I can stop it from ever happening. I can save Bruce Wayne from becoming Batman. What else was he going to do? Live the rest of his life watching Bruce drive himself to the edge of sanity chasing criminals, losing those he holds most dear, fighting tirelessly a single-man war that can never be won? Bruce was pure and perfect now. There was no conceivable way Dick could think of to get back to his own time. All the Justice League members were either without powers, or way too young to know how to help him. I can do what I was trained to do and prevent a child from losing his family like I lost mine.
Just as Dick contemplated his new plan, his attention was immediately drawn back to reality as an all-too familiar name was announced by Haley.
"AND NOW, THE MOMENT WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! THE REASON YOU'VE ALL ARRIVED-" Bruce and Dick were both on the edge of their seats. "I GIVE YOU, THE FLYING GRAYSONS!"
Dick's mouth dried as a family of dark-haired, sequin clad aerialists were given the spot light high up in the rafters. Dick almost stood to get a better look at his grandparents as they waved, ginning at the audience. He had never met his grandparents before, but here they were, performing the show of their lives in front of their grandson they would never know about. Dick couldn't tear his eyes away from the flips and daring dives performed without a safety net. They flew through the air like birds in flight, enjoying every second of freefall, totally reliant on one another yet totally free of worry.
Dick thought he couldn't be in more awe until Haley's voice boomed throughout the tent, "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I HAVE FOR YOU A VERY SPECIAL TREAT TONIGHT." Dick's hand clasped his mouth as a rush of emotions flooded his body. No way… "TONIGHT, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS CAREER, I GIVE YOU:" Oh my God… "LITTLE JOHNNY GRAYSON!" A small boy, covered head to toe in glitter and sequins stepped out onto the platform sporting the biggest grin ever found on a kid, waving at the audience who cheered rambunctiously for him. Little Johnny Grayson waited for his father's signal before leaping in the air and joining the performance. Watching his father soar through the air… so alive… set the hardened vigilante to tears. He couldn't contain the swell of desperate sadness and euphoric joy from the sight before him and he didn't care if all of Gotham watched as tears quietly poured from his bright blue eyes.
"Hey!" Bruce shouted. "I could be him when I grow up! I could be him right now-" Bruce turned to Dick excited, but stopped as he saw Dick was crying, trying to cover his mouth with his hand. This is too much, Dick thought. He turned to Bruce and tried to smile.
"I'll be right back," Dick stood without further explanation despite Bruce's protests. Behind the tent outside near the performers' trailers, Dick let his emotions run rampant. I have to save them all.