***To clear things up Dick Grayson's cousin in Young Justice doesn't exist. Only my OC John Grayson. Everyone else in YJ is alive and real though. Dick's Dad, the first John Grayson, and his Mom named their second son John because why not. Ah, the beauty of AU. Okay, ages! In this chap Dick=10, John=5. Took some liberty with the ages. Damian's the same age as John. Tim and Jason are somewhere in between. That's important for later.

Disclaimer: Only thing I own is Johnny and the story. :'(***

The night was young. A saying John never understood, but used anyways. He loved doing that. It made his Dad would smile at him, Dick would laugh, and his Mom would pat him on the head. He loved making his family happy. John Grayson the second. He was a bright young boy with light brunette hair and aqua eyes. He always hated how he looks. Too shaggy hair, eyes to bright. His brother was more handsome. With dark brunette hair that looked black and sparkling blue eyes all people looked at him first. Dick Grayson. John's older brother. The best older brother he could ever ask for. 

He was fun and open-minded. Which John loved. If John ever suggested an idea Dick actually thought about it and if they could actually do it. Dick treated John like an actual person. And not a little clueless kid. John and Dick had grown close over the five years John was alive. Whether they bonded over acrobatics, or reading, or playing pranks. They were always together. 

Dick wanted to give his brother as much knowledge as he could. Dick taught John how to flip backwards. Dick taught his brother how to talk English, after Romanian of course. 

John and Mary Grayson, John the second and Dick's parents. Best parents they could ask for too. John the first decided to call his son John, Johnny. It was easier that way. But what happened after tonight took all of that away from John.

John and Mary always did an act at the end with no net. Aerialists of their caliber liked to show off a bit. During that act Dick and Johnny weren't allowed to perform it with them. It was what they were planning to do. But what happened during that act ripped the two boys to shreds.

Before the show, Dick saw a strange man. A shady one. Dick was always a good judge at character. And that man wasn't a good one. Dick now wished he would've said something.

After Dick and Johnny's part in the show they stood on one of the platforms waiting for their parents to be done. In the middle of their act Dick saw one of the wires snap. Then the other. He flinched. Then his parents fell. Their parents fell. Dick was in a daze. He felt numb. The only thing snapping him out of the daze was Johnny's penetrating scream. 

Dick immediately started sobbing. Johnny clutched onto his older brother like his life depended on it. Dick did the same. They only had each other now...

...but even that was taken away.

A few hours after the death, or murder as Dick claimed, of Mary and John Grayson CPS were now deciding where the two Grayson boys would go. They told them that John would be staying at an orphanage and Dick had to go to the juvenile delinquent center. Dick went into a frenzy, reaching out for his brother telling the adults who held him back, that they were BROTHERS! How could you split them up?!

They did though. Now a week later, Johnny missed his family dearly. He felt alone, the other kids at the orphanage didn't help either. 

That's when a man came. He wanted to adopt Johnny. When Johnny saw him he attempted to run away. The man was scary. He had this tension around him that Johnny knew only as one word, 'anger'. But the smile on the man's face said something different. How can he show two different emotions at once? Johnny thought to himself. 

Then man squatted down and said, "Hello, I'm Slade."

Johnny was polite like how his parents told him to be even though he wanted to back flip away, "I'm Johnny."

Slade took this boy to a house among others in a part of Gotham Johnny didn't recognize. Which might have been because Haly's Circus didn't stay in one place for a long time. The house was painted a peach color, the paint was peeling slightly. The grass was yellow, and the fence looked dead. 

An hour later Slade brought Johnny down to a basement. Do they have basements in Gotham? If they didn't then why was one under this man's house? What Johnny saw scared him. A sleeping bag was on the floor, a sink and toilet were on another part of the room. And there was a water bottle next to the sleeping bag with a loaf of bread. 

Slade pushed the kid onto the gravelly floor and said, "Survive."

That's when the worst 10 ten years of Johnny's life began.