Let's hope it's not as much of a train wreck this time around

Tim:13
Damian:15
Jason:11
Dick:8

Tim waited a few inches away from the door excitedly. He was practically jumping up and down waiting for his new brother to arrive, he already had two but if he was honest, which he most certainly was, they were nothing to brag about. Bruce had told him about their new brother; he was a circus acrobat who had seen his whole family fall to their deaths. It had been deemed an accident until evidence showed it was a murder, Tony Zucco being the assailant. As he had no other family members, he was given to Gotham's social services however instead of going to an orphanage he had been sent to a Juvenile Detention centre. Bruce, being Bruce, decided to foster him and today was the day he brought Richard Grayson home.

Damian kept an eye on the door with slight excitement. Maybe this kid wouldn't be so annoying as the others, he thought as Jason texted Bruce about when he'd been home. "Drake, will you stop bouncing up and down?" Damian snapped, causing Tim to roll his eyes. 

"Let him get excited," Jason said, not looking up from his phone. 

"I hear the car outside!" Tim exclaimed. The two brothers joined him and watched the door with secret eagerness. It opened and they held their breath waiting to see their new brother.

In front of them was a small raven haired boy. There were numerous bruises around his face that his pale skin only made more prominent. His eyes were a sparkling blue and wide with either fear or awe. "This is Richard Grayson but he prefers Dick," Bruce announced. The boy was standing very close beside him and watched the trio carefully. "Hi Dick, I'm Tim, nice to meet you,"  Tim greeted, holding his hand out energetically. Dick momentarily winced and took a step back, his face paling slightly. "They're not like the other boys Dick; they're nice," Bruce reassured him. Dick glanced at the others then shook Tim's hand. "Nice to meet you too, I'm Dick," he said quietly. Jason moved forward and knelt down to Dick's eye level. "I'm Jason and that moody teen is Damian, but I call him Demon Spawn," he told him. 

"Watch it, Todd," Damian cautioned, glaring at him. 

Alfred interrupted the greeting before a fight broke out. "Master Dick, would you like to see your room?" he asked. The boy nodded. He smiled and grabbed his backpack. 

"Wait, where's your other bags?" Tim asked, looking behind him. 

"What do you mean?" Dick asked. 

"That can't be your only bag Grayson," Damian answered. Dick managed a small smile at the comment. "Of course it is. Us circus folks travel light," he explained.

"How about the boys take you to your room?" Alfred suggested, seeing a good opportunity for them to bond. Dick nodded as he gained more confidence in his new abode whilst Tim grinned, grabbing Dick's hand and pulling him upstairs. Jason ran after them, leaving Damian to grab the boy's backpack. "Make him feel at home boys," Alfred called after them. 

"I give them five minutes before they fight," Bruce muttered.

Tim let go of Dick outside his bedroom. He hadn't noticed how thin the boy really was and part of him got worried. Maybe dragging him all that way wasn't a great idea. He thought could've snapped the poor kid's wrist by how thin it was. "Did you eat at all in that place?" he asked, opening the door. "In Mini Arkham? Not really, either the other kids took it or I didn't want to eat," Dick answered. 

"You call Juvie Mini Arkham? Nice," he replied. Dick smiled and they went in.

The room was large and was accompanied by a double bed. There were a few cabinets and draws with a large window. "This room is the size of my trailer!" Dick exclaimed. "I mean my old trailer," he corrected. The older could only laugh at his excited outburst. Jason and Damian joined them soon after, a little out of breath from running upstairs for no good reason. "So, what do you have?" Tim asked, taking the bag from Damian. In the backpack were a small stuffed elephant, a photo album and a few outfits. "Peanuts?" Dick questioned, picking up the stuffed animal.  He took the stuffed elephant in his arms, hugging it tightly with a heartwarming smile. "The guards told me they burned him for kicks." They withheld their shock for his sake. He probably wouldn't want them to react so violently to his passing comment. "Why would they say that?" Tim asked, trying and failing to hide the shock in his voice. The boy was shaken out of the reunion with his beloved toy and started to fiddle with its ears absently. "I'm not normal, I think. They said I was a freak because I grew up in the circus. I guess when you're not performing, being a circus performer isn't normal." There was a melancholy tone to him.

"Being normal is boring anyway," Jason muttered, making him smile.

After finding out about that bombshell, they decided to get to know their new little brother a bit more. "You grew up in the circus, right? Can you show us any tricks from there?" Tim asked excitedly. He nodded and told the brothers to sit on the bed. He then stood in front of them and got onto his hands, his legs bent back and his feet touched his head. They clapped, making him crack a smile. It reminded him of when he'd show his new tricks off to the people at the circus whilst they were queuing. He always brought a smile to their faces. He stood upright and stretched a little. He hadn't done that in a while and his body told him off for it.

A morbid curiosity lay in Jason's mind and, with the social ineptness of any other eleven-year-old, he asked about it. "Did you see them? When they fell?" Jason asked. (Wow, Jason has no chill.) It was a sensitive subject, yes, but he really wanted to know. Dick burst into tears. "Oh my god, I didn't mean to make you cry!" he exclaimed, hugging the boy closely. 

"What did you expect! It's only been six months!" Damian reminded him. He could only spare a sympathetic look towards the sobbing child since hugs weren't his thing. Neither was emotional support now that he thought about it. "Do you want to talk about it?" Tim asked. Dick pulled away from his new brother, wiping his tears away as best as he could. "I don't think I can, thanks for the offer though," he answered, managing to smile again. 

"So in Mini Arkham, did they try to help you through the grieving process?" Tim asked. He shook his head solemnly. "If I'm honest, I thought I'd die in there. I was fostered by one man, Slade I think his name was, but he said I wasn't much use so he gave me back. That was about a month ago. The boys used me as a living breathing punching bag," he explained, blissfully unaware of the severity linked to the name he'd just dropped. "Slade? As in Slade Wilson?" Damian interrogated. "Yeah, that was his name. You know him or something?" They quickly shook their heads. Maybe they should tell Bruce about that later.

What they noticed about the boy was that he spoke with a mixture of accents, none that they could place. Travelling around the world must've had that effect. "Where were you taught? Being in the circus must've meant moving around a lot," Damian asked. He couldn't imagine that Dick had a regular spot in any one school. "My family in the circus taught me almost everything I know, other things I've picked up from tourists who came to see us. Mama said I was a fast learner." Dick answered. "Will I have to go to school now?" They nodded and noticed him tense up at the thought. "It's alright, you'll go to our school," Tim reassured him.

"Do you like any superheroes?" Jason asked out of interest. He secretly hoped he loved Superman just so he could use it to spite Bruce. "I like Batman and his family. They're sorta like acrobats who fight crime with how much swinging around they do," he answered earning approving nods. "Speaking of them, you guys are the Batfamily, aren't you?"

"How the fuck did he figure that out!" Jason exclaimed.

"Well, it's kinda obvious. Batman would have lots of money and Bruce is rich. He mostly works in Gotham so he'd most likely live here. He has three people helping him who have your hair colour and are around your age. I'm guessing I'm right then?" Dick explained. "If you're them then you'll get Tony Zucco put away right?"

They began to freak out on the inside or in Jason's case, freak on the outside. "Dickie, you can't tell anyone who we are, got it?" Tim said nervously. Dick nodded and smiled at him. "You're smart for a kid. I wonder if I could teach you to hack computers." 

"Tim think about this! We can't have this kid around if he knows who we are! He could blab to everyone and anyone!" Jason yelled.

"So you're gonna make me go back?" Dick asked gaining their attention. His voice cracked, his body trembled whilst silent tears trailed down his face. "I can't go back," he whispered, backing out the door. "I didn't mean it like tha-" Dick ran off before he could finish backpedalling. 

"Well done Todd."