"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Haly International Traveling Circus; where the world of the Century is your oyster. And these are our latest pearls, the Daring Dangers!"

The familiarity of it all was enough to make Dick feel ill, something not helped by the fact that he did in fact feel quite sick already. Not that he was going to complain. Bruce had barely let him go on this mission, considering the fact that Dick was still healing from being tortured, and Dick was not about to risk complaining and being sent home.

This was something that he needed to do.

Because if he did not find a way to solve whatever was going on with Haly's Circus, then it would be shut down, and Dick... well... Dick could not handle another loss in his life at the moment. His parents had loved the circus, had died performing for it. Protecting it from going out of business was the least that Dick could do.

That being said, Dick was definitely out of practice and his sickness was not helping. His leap fell short, eyes widening in panic as he plummeted straight for the ground.

Was this how it would end?

Like his parents.

If he was being honest, Dick was unsure if he felt relieved when Connor boosted him back into the air on a barrel and M'gann caught him. Falling to his death would have been poetic justice, after all.

No.

He could not afford to think about that, not now at least. He needed to focus on things getting better. Because they would get better.

Bruce said they would.

Except things were not getting better, at least for the mission.

They had failed to catch the thief, a building had exploded, M'gann had nearly died from the fire, and Dick was still feeling out of it. To make matters worse, while Wally had told the team his true identity in order to help rescue him, none of them seemed to understand his connection to the circus.

"Maybe Haly is the culprit." Connor insisted, standing protectively over M'gann, eyes narrowed angrily.

Dick gritted his teeth, shaking his head. "Haly didn't do it."

"Come on, Robin... this is his circus. It would make sense." Artemis placed a hand on Dick's shoulder, frowning when he flinched away from the touch.

"It's not Haly. Keep an open mind about it." He insisted, turning toward the door. He wished Wally was there. Or even Jason. But Wally was busy, and Jason had his own hero work to do, which meant that it was just Dick and the rest of the team, plus Red Arrow.

And Dick honestly did not know Red Arrow all that well. Apparently, he was friends with Jason which was why he had tagged along.

Speaking of Red Arrow...

"Robin, are you alright?" The archer asked, stepping up behind Dick and blocking him off from the rest of the team.

Dick let out a soft sigh, shoulders slumping as he managed a faint nod. "Yeah... I'm fine. I'm going to go for a walk."

"Okay... if you're not back in half an hour, I'll come find you."

"Thanks." Dick mumbled, giving him a weak smile before stepping out of their train compartment, ignoring his teammates protests at his leaving. He really could not deal with them at the moment.

It was like they were babying him to the point where everything that he said was automatically ignored. Still, he could not blame them for it. This was his first mission back, after all, and, while he had spent time just hanging out with the team, it felt like they were walking on eggshells around him.

It stung.

Tucking his hands into his jacket pockets, Dick took in a few deep breaths of the chilly air, closing his eyes and focusing on relaxing. Being back at the circus was harder than he thought it would be. Everything was harder than he thought it would be.

Maybe he should call Bruce... no. He did not want to bother him.

Dick sighed, shaking his head and continuing to walk until he ended up in front of a poster on one of the train carriages, lips twitching upwards as he read the words.

The Flying Graysons.

At least somewhere, they were still remembered.

A ringing in his ear jolted Dick out of his memories, and he lifted his hand, tapping the communicator in his ear. "Hello?"

"Yo, kid. You doing okay? Roy said you were sick and the team were being assholes. Need me to come beat 'em up?"

"Roy? Oh... right Red Arrow." Dick laughed, shaking his head even though Jason could not see him. "Nah. It's fine... Connor is just stressed because his girlfriend got hurt. I'm staying whelmed about it."

"Hmph. Well, as long as it's not too bad. Oh. By the way. Bruce says to get home fast. Alfred has been making soup since I let slip that you were sick, and I think it's driving the Bat insane. Seriously, even I'm about to drown in the amount of soup that the old guy is making."

"You're at the manor?"

"Had to stop by for a checkup."

Dick could not stop the smile that spread across his lips. This was good. He was happy that Jason and Bruce were getting along well enough for Jason to feel comfortable stopping by the manor for help.

Like a real family.

"Will you be there when I get back?"

Jason snorted on the other end of the line. "That depends on when you get back, kid. I ain't about to just sit and wait for you to get home. I've got shit to do."

"Right... okay." Dick stifled a laugh. He knew Jason well enough by now to know what that extra defensive tone meant.

Jason would be there when he got back.

His family would be there.

"Whatever, little bird. Imma hang up now. Alfred just took some bread out of the oven and it's practically begging to be eaten."

"Bye. Love you."

The words slipped out before Dick could stop them, his eyes widening and a hand quickly moving to cover his mouth.

Please let him have already hung up.

Please.

But no, Dick could hear Jason on the other end of the line, the silence practically burning into him before Jason spoke again, voice unusually soft with emotion.

"Love you too, lil bro."

The call cut off, but Dick did not mind it. There was a growing warmth in his chest, one which was rapidly spreading throughout his body.

Was this what happiness felt like?

It was nice.

"Dick? You okay?"

Dick wiped a hand across his eyes to get rid of any extra moisture gathered there before turning to face his concerned teammates, a cheerful smile breaking across his face.

"Yes. I'm okay. Let's finish this."

~•~

"Well, Dick, I'll miss you."

"It's Dan! Dan Danger."

Haly simply smiled fondly, leaning closer and placing a hand on Dick's shoulder.

"Son, you've grown, but some things never change; like the sight of a Grayson on the trapeze. You can't fake that. Can't hide it. So, do an old ringmaster one last favor?"

As he swung through the air like a bird in flight, Dick realized that he really, truly, would be okay.

Because he was and forever would be a Flying Grayson. He would always have that connection with his parents, and now, now he could reconcile his past with his future, could accept what had happened to him and could grow from it.

He was not just one or the other, not good or bad, not hated or loved, not failure or victor. He was all those things and yet so much more. No longer was he a lost and frightened child.

No.

He was the last Flying Grayson.

He was Deathstroke's apprentice.

He was a member of the Team.

He was friends with Wally and brothers with Jason.

He was Robin, partner to Batman.

He was Richard John Grayson Wayne, and despite all that he had gone through, he was unbreakable.