AN: Uh, h-hi? Sorry it took so long. Been SUPER busy the past few weeks. But, on the bright side, I felt so proud when I mowed our entire (giant) yard by myself, FREAKIN' THRICE! But know this! I shan't ever abandon this fic; no matter the circumstances, it shall live on! (So if I don't update for a while, it will come eventually. Promise.)
Any hate towards Red Arrow comes from Whisper, not me! I like him as a character, but I couldn't resist a rivalry between these two!
And a special shout-out to my brand new unofficial beta: TooCreative4Life!
Disclaimer: Me no own. Well duh. I mean, I'm female and still in middle school, so...
His contacts had dissolved the day before, forcing Whisper to use his real eye color on the mission. That was the only reason Whisper's eyes were currently blue. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Whisper didn't want to go back to his childhood home as someone else. Because to imply that he had already found new colored contacts, but he declined the option to wear them was ridiculous. Absolutely absurd.
So, when Whisper walked out of the changing area, dressed in his new red and white, hand-stitched costume, he told himself that as four pairs of eyes turned to him. A few gasps and a muttered, "Wow," was heard, causing Whisper to twitch uncomfortably.
Superboy bluntly stated, "You're eyes are different."
"Colored contacts," Whisper dismissed in what he hoped to be a casual manner. Miss Martian and Superboy just shrugged and looked away, but Artemis and Red Arrow stared at him suspiciously. He should've expected no less from someone who was trained by assassins (Been there, done that, got the T-shirt) and someone who was only on the mission to keep the four of them 'in check'.
Yeah, as if. Knowing Red Arrow, he was more likely to catch the villain, allow it to escape from jail, tail said villain, almost get killed at least four times, finally call in help, leave all the work to the help he summoned, and then lose the villain he was trying to catch. (Whisper couldn't resist the temptation of reading the mission report after Aqualad's trip to Taipei.)
Eventually, the two archers shrugged it off and turned away. Whisper let a tiny sigh of relief escape. He was already stressed enough because he was at his childhood home where everyone thought he was dead; he didn't need to be watched all hours of the day on top of that.
Dick was pretty sure that the only reason he managed to keep from - screaming, crying, completely breaking down - reacting more extravagantly than he did was because he felt so awful physically. Psychologically he was almost as bad, maybe even worse, but the emotional turmoil inside of him had been pushed to the back of his head for the mission and only for the mission. He had a feeling that as soon as he got back to the Cave, Black Canary was going to receive a very vague, yet very long, letter about the past week.
Sickness-wise, though, he had been fine when the Team had met Haly. Dick had tried to avoid looking straight at the ringmaster, but that was slightly difficult to do when he was the leader of their little 'troupe'. Finally, the teen had settled for peeking through his bangs for the majority of the conversation, though he hadn't missed the way Jack's eyebrows had shot up when the man got his first good look at Dick's eyes.
So much for not drawing much attention from who he considered a grandfather figure.
In fact, Dick had only started feeling ill right as he began climbing the rope ladder leading up to the trapeze platform. At first, he had just assumed it was nerves; he hadn't been on a trapeze since...that night. But after having to actually work to complete a triple flip and push harder than usual to get all the way through Conner's barrel, he decided he probably caught the bug that had been going around.
Just. His. Luck.
But maybe that did make him lucky. Maybe he was trying too hard to fly and that prevented him from subconsciously realizing that oh gosh, he was doing the exact same thing, which was performing trapeze acts for a crowd, that his family was doing when they died.
Even so, when he heard Jack Haly say those words that would sometimes introduce The Flying Graysons - God, they sounded so familiar. So right, but wrong at the same time - he wasn't expecting to mess up a single with his legs extended and miss Megan's hands.
All too soon, he was falling - falling just like his dad, falling just like his mom, falling just like his aunt, falling just like his uncle, falling just like his cousin - and watching Megan's frightened face while hearing her shout mentally, "Whisper!"
That was probably what got Dick moving. He was Whisper right now, not Dick. He had a job to do and he was not going to screw it up. Attempting, but probably not succeeding, to keep the panicked expression off his face, Dick called back in the mind-link, "Don't blow our cover!"
All of Dick's lessons from his mentor - man, he hated that guy - came rushing back and he turned to face the ground. Apparently, being afraid that he was going to fall to his death like his family was a weakness and after dozens of times of being pushed off high places, he had learned how to do fall, with style. He might not be able to get away without being paralyzed, but hopefully he would be able to live.
"But saving your life's okay?"
Or maybe one of his teammates would toss a barrel upwards and save Dick the trouble of controlling the decent. Dick really loved Conner at that moment, but not that way. He shipped SuperMartian wholeheartedly!
The sudden feeling of cold metal against Dick's skin combined with the force of the toss elicited a small grunt from Dick, but he couldn't care less. He was going up, not down, so he was going to be okay. Reaching as far as his unstable perch would allow, Dick stretched his arm out. He was almost to Megan, just a few more inches...
...Until his fingers missed and he started falling again. Only because he was staring straight into Megan's eyes as he dropped once again did Dick notice the green glow that they took on. As an unseen force seemingly grabbed the teen and hauled him straight into the Martian's waiting hands, Dick allowed himself a slightly hysterical, but completely relieved smile. Looking up at Megan, Dick thought without any real hostility, "What did I just say?"
"The crowd couldn't see me use telekinesis from below. Besides," they both jumped onto the platform and waved, fake smiles adorned on their faces. The crowd was still cheering loudly; they thought it was nothing more than an elaborate stunt. "I've...been using it all night. I'm not exactly the acrobat you are."
"Yeah, neither am I right now. I think I caught that twenty-four hour bug that's been going around the circus. But, the show must go on." Pushing away his slight vertigo, Dick started climbing down from the platform. He could feel the sweat running down his face and at that moment, he was wishing he had the flu again instead.
He also wished he hadn't noticed the concerned glance that Haly had given him once he reached the ground.
Standing with one hand resting on the small of Megan's back and vice versa, Dick gave a wide grin and raised his hand higher, attempting to ignore the faint shaking in his legs and perspiration soaking his hair. The applause quieted down and Dick let his happy demeanor drop. The crowd would now be focused on the ringmaster, not the 'Daring Dangers.'
"Didn't think you'd make it through."
"Neither did I." And it was true, as ironic as it was. Even after having been on a trapeze since he could walk and facing ruthless training, his acrobatic skills had been rendered almost laughable in only ten minutes. Turning towards the exit, Dick tiredly requested, "Help me backstage." He felt both Artemis and Megan wrap their arms around his back and he slid his arms around their shoulders, glad for the extra support.
He really did feel awful.
Being elbowed in the back by Roy Harper was not how Dick wanted to spend his time after going backstage. Why the archer couldn't have just used the ever-present mind link or insisted on using more force than necessary, the youth wasn't sure, but thus was the life of having a teammate that hated you and vice versa.
However, once Dick turned to Roy with a rather irritated expression and realized where his attention was supposed to be aimed, Dick felt the majority of his anger melt away. After all, getting information on a suspect definitely made up for almost getting bruised by an overly strong arm. And learning that one of the other acrobats was sick during the performance in Paris was absolutely valuable knowledge.
Dick couldn't help but let his frown deepen as he caught sight of Pop Haly moving over to the man's new 'friend'. He never did like the authorities that much, probably because of his habit of dodging them everywhere he went. Now, not only was their the initial problem of clearing the ringmaster's name, but also the fact that an official was snooping around, too.
But maybe he could use that to his advantage...
The teen's thoughts were cut off by the suit-adorned male's arrival at the area where the Team was gathered. Pulling out a badge from his jacket, the man said, "Faraday, Interpol. New act?"
Being the leader for this particular mission (Yay him!), Dick answered confidently, "Yeah. Just joined the tour."
"Probably clears you." Folding up the badge once again, Faraday replaced it in his coat. "But don't get too comfortable. Haly's going down for this." Without another word, the agent stalked off, leaving a pissed Dick in his wake.
He wasn't sure exactly why that accusation rubbed him the wrong way, it just did. Maybe it was the fact that Pop Haly's honesty was the reason Dick's family was dead. If the circus had payed the 'protection money', then the Flying Graysons would still be alive and whole, but instead, Pop Haly had done the right thing, and while it upheld all the right morals, it caused the death of five amazing people.
Still, Dick could never bring himself to blame Pop Haly for what happened. His pseudo grandfather was devastated by the event almost as much as Dick and probably would do anything to take it back. Dick wondered if Pop Haly still had nightmares about the crunching of the bones and the splatter of the bloo-.
With a jolt, Dick jerked himself out of his current thoughts. Those were bad thoughts and bad thoughts were, well, bad.
No more bad thoughts for the rest of the mission, Dick promised himself.
Dick should really stop making promises to himself.
Staring at the six blue silhouettes, caught leaping gracefully through the air, the notions previously deemed 'bad' had bubbled to the surface and Dick found himself increasingly glad that M'gann had cut him from the mind link as soon as he left the train car. He hadn't meant to explode like that, but how they tossed around the idea of Pop Haly being dirty made his skin crawl. However, Dick's fierce defending didn't consume all of his thoughts, as much as he hoped it would.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Flying Graysons!
That single line replaying in Dick's head caused his hands to start to tremble. It had been so long since he was here last and he thought he could handle it, but here he was, mentally collapsing because of some ink on paper. Stupid, Dick scolded himself. I need to stop being so sentimental and just focus. It doesn't matte-.
Had Dick been honest with himself, he would've known that he was glad for the incoming transmission that kept him from saying his family's death didn't matter.
Another beep in his ear brought Dick's attention fully away from the poster. The teen distractedly pulled his hand from his pocket and pressed his com.
"Uh, yeah?"
"Dude, where are you?"
Wally's familiar voice floated through the device, instantly making Dick feel better. He and the speedster had really grown close over the past few months and if Dick were ever to share his real name with anyone on the Team, it would be Wally. "Confidential mission, f-from Batman."
"Wow. You know what I'm doing? Making a baloney sandwich, kind of like you just did. I talked to Tornado. You guys are not on a mission, not an official one anyway." You know, if the redhead would ever quit calling Dick out on his lies. It got annoying after awhile.
Dick sighed. Might as well admit the truth...or at least some of it. "A friend. Someone I...met while traveling. Jack Haly, owner of Haly's circus."
"Never heard of him. So, what's that got to do with the mission?"
"He's implicated in this global crime spree. Someone in the shows dirty, but I know Haly's clean. I have to prove it to everyone else or he might lose the circus. I-I don't want that to happen to a friend." Wincing at how some raw emotion (more like desperation) made its way into his voice, Dick held his breath as he waited to see if Wally would believe Pop Haly was just a friend.
On the other end of the conversation, Wally swallowed another bite of his delicious sandwich and perked up indignantly. "Then why not bring me along? I know you better than anybody else on the Team and as a friend I could, I don't know, help another one of your friends out. You know, friend-to-frie-."
Dick cut Wally off. The speedster tried not to be too hurt because, obviously, there was something...off about the acrobat. It hadn't been evident at first, but as the conversation had progressed, Wally realized Whisper sounded distracted, upset. Now, Wally just needed to find out why.
"I didn't bring you along because you know me better. I don't want my best pal questioning my objectivity." Dick swallowed. He knew that he was just scared Wally would figure out that Dick's connection to the circus was much more than just a 'I met them while traveling.'
"Dude, that's what a best pal's for."
Dick smiled.
"Does this circus have an elephant I don't know about?"
"Not on foreign tours," Dick answered immediately. He would know if Zitka was here. It would be so awes- bad. It would be very, very bad because she would want to play with him and try to blow his cover of, you know, being dead. Having his oldest friend fawning over him would not make him one of the happiest guys on Earth, so it didn't matter that the elephant wasn't here.
(He wished Zitka was there.)
Confession time: Dick did a cartwheel accompanied by a cheer when Red Arrow finally said there was no mole.
"So, the show will go on and I have a feeling I have you Dangers to thank."
Dick shrugged and looked up happily at Pop Haly. "Don't know what you mean." He had finally gotten over his paranoia of being recognized because of his eyes. Pop Haly would've confronted him by now if he knew.
"No," he chuckled, "Of course not. But I'm guessing you'll be leaving now."
They both shook hands and Dick tried not to let his disappointment show as he said, "Time to move on."
"Well, Dick, I'll miss you." Pop Haly smiled gently and Dick could've sworn his eyes were wetter than they had been a few minutes ago.
Dick blinked owlishly and straightened up. That was bad, like very bad (Dick tried not to feel to happy at hearing his real name come from someone elses mouth instead of 'Whisper'). His training was the only thing that kept his mind from going blank. "It's Dan! Dan Danger."
"Right, right. Sorry about that." Pop Haly put both hands on Dick's shoulders and knelt down in front of him. The mans eyes were definitely getting wetter. "Did you know, a family used to live here at the circus. They were called the Flying Graysons; that's their poster." Pop Haly nodded his head at the colorful display on the left of his wall. "But, they were...murdered a few years ago. The youngest wasn't on the trapeze when they fell."
Dick bit his lip and willed the tears in his eyes to go away. It didn't work.
"He disappeared right after the performance ended and was declared dead about a year later. Dan, you're so similar to him, yet so different. There's nothing like the sight of a Grayson on the trapeze. Can't fake that, can't hide it. So, what do you say you do an old ringmaster one last favor?"
Dick hesitated. His cover was blown and he knew it, but the thing was, he didn't feel upset. It felt like something inside of him had been set free. Pop Haly didn't know the full story, but at least someone other than the League of Talons knew he was alive. Knew that the little kid who was so optimistic and full of life was still fighting his way through life.
Finally, the adolescent just lunged forward and hugged Pop Haly, nodding against the older man's shoulder. The ringmaster hugged right back.
It was whispered, but Dick still heard it. "Thank you, my little Robin."
M'gann was shocked. No, she was awestruck.
Whisper's acrobatic skills had always been impressive; he used seemingly impossible twists while fighting bad guys. But as soon as he stepped off of his platform, his old flips seemed rudimentary, mediocre. Even when he had been on the trapeze the few nights before, it wasn't this...this spectacular.
The way he flipped looked so natural, it was like he was the one who could fly and M'gann was the one that didn't have any powers. For the rest of the night, the Martian watched her companion closely, barely making her own cues.
But who wouldn't be shocked?
After all, it was the first time she had seen Whisper fly.
AN: Anyone get the significance of my calling him 'Dick' instead of 'Whisper'? If so, the reward below applies to you, too!
Also, I'm attempting to remain as close to canon as possible and I'm waiting for at least one of you to catch what I'm implying. Remember, I've read the YJ comic with Dick's backstory in it and the only thing I changed is that Dick got acrobat-napped before Bruce got there.
That's the ONLY thing I changed (HINT HINT!).
If anyone gets what I'm implying, virtual German Shepherd puppies for you.
Question Time! Do you guys want me to have really REALLY long chapters throughout Dick's Talon Time (You know it's going to happen) so I'll have 30 chapters or do you want shortish chapters and have 35 chapters? Answer with reviews or poll.
Next chapter ends the canon arc/area and takes a turn into why it's definitely an AU. Be afraid; be very afraid...
-GSDLover