I tried not to make this too choppy- it's a lot of Scarlet angst, and really, everyone angst throughout, and things get... rough. Before you question why Scarlet does what she does in this chapter, remember, she's six and young children often don't have the best judgement, and that sometimes, when people desperate want something to be true, they force the pieces to fit together so they can believe it.

Scarlet ran down the hallway, trying to ignore the tears streaming down her face. She would not cry. She WOULDN'T! She'd promised herself she'd never cry again, after the loud woman in charge of them at he orphanage had slapped her for trying to cry herself to sleep.

But the tears fell of their own accord. It was night, she was alone, and no one even cared. She ran into her room, not even caring the heavy oak door slammed shut behind her. Instead she flopped onto her bed, burying her face in the pillow and crying.

She looked at the picture she kept on the nightstand- her and her parents, decked out in costume, along with Dick. All with brilliant smiles, unaware of the heartbreak that would befall them...

She hugged the picture to her chest and sobbed. "Y-you would've remembered..." she choked out between tears, speaking to her parents. "W-wouldn't you?" her voice was barely a whisper, and she realized she was unsure. Would they have? Everything had changed so fast, her parents had been dead for three months now. The details, the little things she remembered about them, were fading, and it scared her into crying even more.

She was six years old today. Happy birthday, she guessed. She was alone- it'd been a progressive downward spiral to be honest, that'd all come to a head today.

It'd started out with Bruce and Dick becoming fast friends- they'd started spending a lot more time together these past few months, meaning Dick spent less and less time with her. Somedays, Dick even went to work with Bruce, and sometimes Bruce brought him in at all hours of the night to help him solve problems at work.

She tried to amuse herself mostly, and she did her best to talk with Alfred. The old butler was incredibly kind, of course, but he had a job to do and things to clean, and sometimes he, too, would disappear as well.

It'd gotten particularly bad this past month, however, with Bruce and Dick always busy. Bruce never tucked her in anymore, and she hardly saw Dick. Even when she did, he was busy praticing his acrobatics, and she'd continued working on them as well in the yard to try and get closer to him.

But tonight- tonight she realized. Dick didn't care anymore. They were all happy, Bruce and Dick happy spending time together at Bruce's work, Alfred happy and probably more efficient without her always looking for a playmate.

Dick had found his place here- and that ws wonderful. But she didn't belong. She'd find somewhere where she was wanted, where she could be...

All the clothes Mr. Wayne had bought her were nice, but nothing could make up for what she was so severely lacking- family. She wouldn't be needing fancy clothes back at the circus, anyways, and she donned her old costume- a bright yellow spandex shirt that allowed free range of motion, and black leggings. Her father had given her a black velvet cape for flare, and well, and she donned it as well. She put on her old mask as a final touch, giving herself a sad smile as she looked in the mirror- she was going home.

She seized the old picture, the one of her and Dick- from the bedside. Nothing else mattered enough to be taken with her, and she slid the picture out of the frame, sliding it into her back pocket. That was all she needed.

But she couldn't leave without saying goodbye. So she seized a sheet of paper, concentrating hard to see the blurry paper through her tears. She finished the note and sogned it, before slipping quietly out the back door and into the dusk.

"It was amazing! I even got to put the cuffs on him!" Dick said, grinning. Alfred had listened to his excited rendition of him taking down a thug, and he smiled, slightly proud. The boy had come so far from that scared child, covered in yellowing bruises, that Bruce had picked up from the Juvinile Detention center.

Dick's smile dulled, suddenly, as if he was realizing something. He turned to Bruce, slightly anxious. "Where's Scarlet?"

"I'm sure she's upstairs, Dick, like always. What's wrong?" Bruce could tell by his son's tone that something was wrong, as he was almost feverishly pulling off his cape and shirt, looking around desperately for his T-shirt.

Dick looked over at Bruce, eyes concerned. "Today was her birthday."

Bruce instantly felt a pang. What kind of a father was he? He hadn't really been seeing much of Scarlet lately, he'd been so busy with Dick...

He turned to Alfred. "Have you seen her today, Alfred?"

Alfred shook his head, suddenly remourseful. "Not since six this evening, I'm afraid, when Master Dick requested my prescence in the batcave..."

Bruce was already pulling off his cowl, planning around his guilt. They could run out and get a cake, wake Scarlet up and surprise her... But he swore to himself he'd pay more attention from now on, be a better father...

He already hurried upstairs, though, opening the door to her room. It was dark, but it was around midnight, so that was to be expected...

"Sweetheart?" he asked quietly, his heart jumping to his throat when their was no response. He took a step forward, hearing glass crunch and staring down at the empty pictureframe, now filled with a spiderweb of cracks, that he'd stepped on...

The bed was empty. No, no, that couldn't be happening... There was a small piece of paper on the bed, in a child's handwriting. He snatched it up, grabbing it with suddenly worried hands and turning on the light...

Dear Dickie,

I don't think I belong here. Mr. Wayne really likes you, and Im happy abot that. But I need somewhere where people like me and I belong. Meybe I will visit you sometime.

Love Scarlet

It was on the paper, spelling mistakes and all. Staring him right in the face.

He stared, taking a shaky breath. What had he done, to make a child feel so alienated and unloved? Nothing. That was exactly what he'd done. He'd completely ignored her, cast her aside to train Dick. And now she was gone.

She wandered down the November-cold streets, pulling her arms tighter around her. She was starting to second-guess herself, now- it was scary out here, and dark, and when you were only six things were a lot scarier. But she didn't know the way back to Mr. Wayne's, so even if she'd wanted to go back, she couldn't.

Her teeth chattered and she felt cold, then, and more hopeless than ever. She just had to get back to the circus, though...

There was a laugh to her left, and she jumped, terrified, ending up knocking over a few trashcans as she fell. She squeaked, a thousand awful situations running through her mind from where she laid. Monsters, goblins, and trolls came to mind...

She heard footsteaps and tried not to whimper. She couldn't really see anything in the darkness, and she didn't want to, since she wasn't sure what she'd see.

Suddenly a powder-white face leaned down to hers, close enough she could see it in the darkness.

She flinched, afraid...

"Hey, kiddo. No need to be sad- I'm a clown! I like to make people happy!" he said, and slowly, she opened her eyes again to peer at him. "Really?"

"Of course! Now, I see you've been trashed..." he punned, quietly rightening the trashcan that's fallen onto her. "But let's see a smile!" his red lips grinned, and she smiled, as well, taking his outstretched hand as they began to walk.

Normally she was streetsmart- she'd been raised around the world, knew to be wary of strangers- but the man was a clown! She'd grown up with clowns, and they were all good people. And so it lulled her into a false sense of security as she walked along with him.

But if she'd looked back at the lley the clown had emerged from, she'd have seen the frighteningly still form of a man with blood pooling around him...

"Do you know Mr. Haley, from the circus?" she asked brightly. Suddenly she didn't feel so alone anymore, and she'd found a clown! She was only six, and her naïeveness was leading her down a dangerous road.

The cheery clown shook his head, green hair floping slightly. "I can't say I do. But what do you say we go to the circus?"

Her eyes instantly brightened. "Really?" this was amazing. This man could take her home...

"Of course, my dear- you're dressed too nicely not to go somewhere." he said, motioning to the costume.

She grinned, and he motioned her towards a large glass building. The automatic doors slid open with a swoosh, even though the building was dark. He led her to the elevator, calling it and pressing the button. The doors slid closed, and with them, something like led settled into her stomach.

This didn't feel right. Where were the tents, the elephants? Why couldn't she smell cotton candy and fresh popcorn?

She didn't have time to think about it, though, as the elevator dinged and they were on the roof. The clown's grip tightened on her hand as he pulled her out of the elevator and onto the rooftop.

"This isn't the circus..." she said, voice barely above a whisper as fear filled her entire being. The clown had lied to her, and he was a bad man, the kind of person her father would've told her to run from. But where was there to run? She was on a rooftop...

The clown interrupted her thoughts. "Ahh, but it is, my dear. A circus of my own design. See that building over there?" he pointed to the building across the street.

"That, darling, is the opening act. Fireworks! And soon the whole city block will follow!" and he began to laugh as she began to shake, realizing what he was going to do. He was insane...

She realized her was staring at her now and stiffened, trying not to look afraid. The clown's voice, usually bright and cheery, was now low and almost threatening.

"You aren't smiling, kid." he said coldly.

She forced a smile, looking up at him with it painted across her features. But he saw through it, as he glowered at her. "When I found someone else in a costume, kid, I thought it was too good to be true. I thought you were different from the rest- thought you knew how to laugh. I guess I was wrong."

And suddenly his sombre features turned cold, and he shoved her over the edge of the roof and she was falling.