A/N

Ayyyyyyyyyy, remember in the beginning of 'Parade of a Thousand Birds' where Dick mentioned a certain incident involving a 'Ghost in the Chandelier' ? Well by little birds, I have produced a quick short story explaining what really happened..a really short story hahaha..anyways, without further ado, Enjoy!

~Ringleader_Robin

(kit)

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Dick hunched himself next to the stair banister, his face relatively close to the pillars as he watched the guests enter the manor. He knew that Bruce had to keep up his 'playboy' attitude and throw these crazy parties, but he honestly hated them. It remindd him too much of the circus, the laughs the smiles, the good vibes the well lit rooms set off. He hated it all. Dick scrunched his nose in distaste as he watched more guests arrive in fancy gowns and designer suits. Why did they have to wear stuff like that..why did he? "He pulled at the stiff collar, grumbling a bit as he did so, his irritation over the whole "billionaire's ward" increasing. Being in Bruce's care meant he had to..dare he say it... 'socialize' with the public. He loved crowds and all, but one thing he hated more than anything is people who are incredibly fake where even the smiles are artificial. Dick liked real smiles, ones that can reached the eyes of a person. Everyone's eyes here reminded him of a dead fish. He paused a brief moment when he saw Bruce at the entryway, who pointedly glanced up to him and gestured him to come downstairs with the rest of the guests at the party. Dick gave him the 'do I really have to?' glance which included a slumping of his shoulders and a signature eyeroll. Bruce's glance became dangerously close to one Batman would give and Dick sighed and begrudgingly started walking down the stairs to his demise. "Bruce..Can't you just say that I am not feeling well or something?" Dick talked softly so only Bruce can hear him. "We both know this is not my style."

"You already used that excuse, you will be attending tonight. Try not to act to depressed about it." Bruce nodded slightly before plastering a large fake smile when a new guest entered , shaking their hand.

Dick huffed a bit and walked into the room where the guests were, much to his displeasure, he almost was instantly surrounded by middle aged women.

"I take it you are Bruce's ward! Oh you are so adorable!"

"You will grow up to be such a heartbreaker!"

"What is it like knowing that you have such an amazing guardian?"

Dick struggled to keep his smile on his face as the women continued to ask him questions he was in no mood to answer. It took all his power not to run out of the room. This stupid party was keeping him from going out on patrol as Robin...he would much rather be kicking butt than having his kissed. Wealth does some crazy things to people. These people wanted Bruce, not him..so why did he have to suffer through this? Where was Bruce anyway? If he had to suffer, so should Bruce. He gave a cute smile, trying to play the innocent card. "Uh..." he glanced around, trying to look as lost as possible, fidgeting with his sleeve."I..I should find my guardian..." He looked around once more, putting as much shyness into his voice as possible, trying his hardest not to eyeroll at the old women cooing at him because of this. "..Excuse me.." Dick soon ran off, trying to hide the triumphant smile. Innocent shy child, no one questions those. Dick ran back upstairs, to get a better look at the crowd, trying to get a visual on his gaurdian, with no such luck. He grumbled slightly, knowing if Bruce was not there that he must have had an 'emergency' come up. He huffed a bit, more than a little peeved that he was left here alone to fend for himself while these vultures who wanted nothing more than his money danced around without a care in the world.

"Did you see his Ward? Richard wasn't it?"

Dick paused, listening quietly to the conversation. The owner of the voice a man in his late twenties talking to a close knit group of people.

"From what I hear, he came from the circus. I can't believe that Bruce would take on some gypsey..the man surely had lost his mind...or drank too much alcohol before making the decision." The group laughed at that and nodded in agreement. "Probably did it for the publicity, I mean, I am sure if I took on some orphan child, the media would be on top of me too...it is just a stunt."

Dick clenched his fist. Sure they could talk bad about him all they liked, but talking behind his mentor's back like that...unforgivable. None of these people deserved to be in this home let alone breath the same air as Bruce Wayne. If only they knew what he did at night, protecting their ungrateful skins while they flaunted about. It sickened him really. "I think it is about time these people left..the party is so over." Dick whispered to himself before heading to the power box, humming softly. "I guess a show is in order..one final act." He grinned mischievously, abruptly shutting off all the power in the manor. Guest screamed the second it happened, a full on panic uprising. Dick took the opportunity to jump onto the banister and leaped into the air, grabbing hold of the hanging chandelier. The eerie clanking of the chains and crystal caused even more hysteria as Dick continued to swing back in forth, humming lightly against the screams. In pure darkness, no one should really see other than a small shadowed figure on top of the light fixture. Dick let out a laugh which bounced off the walls, and caused the screaming to instantly stop, the guest frozen in fear as the shadow seemed to vanish in thin air and the lights slowly 'flickered' back on, revealing only a slightly swaying chandelier. That was all it took to have his guests running for the hill. Dick watched amused as they flooded out the front door to escape, he watched for a few minutes before heading back to his room, knowing Alfred and bruce would not be too keen on what he just did, maybe if he looked like he was innocently doing his homework, they would not suspect him...right....If Bruce asked..he was simply trying to change a lightbulb to get the power back on..yep..that was totally a foolproof excuse.