"You guys sure you want to do this?" Bruce asked as Scarlet clung to his hand tightly. He could see ever line in the girl's face was taught with apprehension, her posture similar to that of when she was on high alert, and Robin, too, was ill at ease beside him.
"We'll have to, sooner or later..." Dick said calmly. "We can't just never go back..." Dick was the one who had wanted this. It was March, the boy's birthday, and he'd asked for this... Bruce found it hard to believe he'd been caring for these children for almot a year already. Where had the time gone?
And so they entered the tent. The familiar smells washed over them- popcorn, cotton candy, and fried dough, with elephant poop, the oily smell of tent canvas, and sweat...
It was warm, so warm, and for a moment they were completely at home, and it wasn't Bruce Wayne's hand they were holding, but John Grayson's...
Bruce looked at them both sadly. He somewhat blamed himself- if e hadn't organized the fundraiser a year and a half ago that had ended in there parent's death... He could see everything written on their faces- the sadness, regret, longing... and most of all, the wondering. What would've happened if John and Mary Grayson hadn't died that night?
"What do you mean Elliot can't perform! He's the main act!" a booming voice cried to the right, and both children's eyes snapped open. Recognition lit up on their faces...
"Pop Haly!" they both were zipping towards the large, somewhat upset looking man...
"Scarlet? Dickey?" Pop Haly stared at the children who were both hugging his bulk, grinning. "Look how big you've gotten..."
"Maybe they could perform, Pop. Just like old times..." a clown suggested.
Pop Haly's brow creased. "No. I couldn't ask that of them, not without John and Mary..."
"We could do it, Pop..." Dick said quietly. Bruce heard something in his son's voice- pleading- and he realized that his children needed to do this.
"Mr. Wayne?" Pop asked, still unsure.
"I'm alright with it, Mr. Haly." Bruce said calmly. Inside, he didn't want to, but he wouldn't be able to protect them forever... And this was just something they needed to do.
"Matilda, they'll need costumes..." Pop ordered.
"Already on it, pop..." the young woman called Matilda said, fingers working furiously as she sewed...
"Everyone please take your seats!" a voice boomed over the loudspeaker.
"Bye Tati. Enjoy the show!" Scarlet said. Her eyes showed fear and excitement, and Bruce forced himself to wave as he pulled himself away from his children, having to go and take his seat...
"You ready?" Dick asked as he stood with Scarlet. Matilda had managed to make them costumes similar to the old ones and surprisingly good given the lack of time- green leggings and red leotards, with yellow capes...
"Ready... Do you think they'd want us to do this, Dickey?" Scarlet asked, a tear rolling down her face.
"I know they would, Scarlet- the show must go on." Dick said, wiping away the tear off her. "Now- we're on. Wait for my cue."
Scarlet nodded, and each child scurried to the base of the platforms, scampering nimbly up the ladders...
"And now... the flying Graysons!" Pop Haly announced, booming voice proudly proclaiming the words that the circus had thought they'd never again hear after their parent's death. Scarlet easily swung out, flipping to Dick, who tossed her back to her own trapeze... Soon the ecstasy of the performance replaced the fear of falling, and Scarlet moved on to double and triple backflips, Dick flipping to her a few times as well...
"Dick is only nine years old, and Scarlet six! These siblings have been raised in the circus, folks- flying is in their blood!"
Scarlet dismounted her trapeze, letting Dick have the entire spotlight to himself. He literally flew, until he gave her her cue and she twisted through the air towards him...
They both had five seconds back on the platform while they prepared for the grand finale, and Dick looked down with disgust and realized there was a NET below them.
"Hotcha li!" (Burn it!) he yelled down to Pop Haly, who obeyed without question. The fire-breather ignited the net, and they both swung out over it...
Everyone gasped and Bruce felt his heart begin to pound. He knew they were flawless, but what if they fell...?
Scarlet did a double flip to Dick, the glow from the fire reflecting on her face with the pure joy that was etched into her features, along with Dick's... They ENJOYED freaking people out like this...
She flipped back to her trapeze, hanging upside down, hands ready, waiting for Dick to do the best move of the night...
"There it is, folks! The quadruple-flip, that's only ever been preformed by GRAYSONS!" the crowd burst out cheering, and they both went back to their platforms, knowing their act was over and they'd done it...
"Tati!" Scarlet grinned and ran to her father with Dick, who held them both tightly for a moment...
"That was wonderful." he said, and he looked up to see their eyes shining. "I'm so proud of you..."
In truth, he was glad to have them both alive, but he was proud, too...
"For a few minutes, it was almost like we were... home..." Dick murmured. Just then a camera flashed. "Mr. Wayne! Why would you put them in such danger?" a reporter asked. And then a wave a paparazzi descended on them.
"No comment." Bruce said, and Scarlet lifted up her arms, allowing him to pick her up as she clung to his side like a little koala bear, head on his shoulder... Before they were even off the grounds, she was asleep.
Bruce looked at them again. He'd laid Scarlet on the couch and Dick had chosen his favorite armchair to curl up in... Tonight he'd seen something amazing. It was the same stubborn determination they'd always had, the light that was always in their eyes... but tonight it was multiplied by ten until it was an inferno, as hot as the burning nets they'd flown over...
Flying was in there blood, and Bruce knew then that nothing made them happier- though fighting crime was probably the second thing they loved most, they had been born and raised in a gypsy circus, and they craved the rush, the danger- of performing.
And it scared him out of his mind to know that they craved doing death-defying stunts, that there was no net- but he knew it was the way it was, in the circus, and when they were fighting crimes in Gotham. He couldn't always protect them. But luckily, they were flying Grayson- even if they were still training- and they were used to flying without a net.