Shorts: One-Shots, Fanfiction, Short Stories, and More!!!

Bat Family Mission - A Batman Short Story

(This is not canon!!!! I do not own any of these characters!!!!"

"This is humiliating," Jason grumbled, kicking a rock with his boot. Dick chuckled.

"You're just mad Bruce mad you leave your mask," He teased, taking a deep breath. Damian looked almost as grumpy as Jason.

Almost.

He was still a kid after all, and what kid didn't like a carnival? Tim looked around the scene calmly, a soft smile on his face. He was always the level-headed one, taking time to appreciate the little things.

"I don't see why we have to go all undercover, and he gets to sneak around in the suit!" Jason replies. Damian shoots him a warning glare for speaking rather loudly. Jason shrugs it off.

"You-know-who is somewhere around here, planning something, and we can cover more ground as a part of the general public."

"I still don't think this balloon is necessary," Damian growls, jerking the bright red balloon in his hands. Dick had made Damian carry it to "reinforce their disguises". It was meant as a joke, but Dick was going to milk this as long as he could. He simply smiles and ruffles the boy's hair. Damian swats his hand away quickly, fixing his hair and muttering something to himself.

The sun was starting to set, and they were all starting to loose hope of finding the Joker. They had been walking around for hours, their feet hurt, and Bruce had maintained radio silence this entire time, keeping them in the dark about his findings.

"This is stupid, we've been out here all day and haven't seen a thing," Jason snaps, leaning against a post.

"I agree," Tim says softly, placing his hands on his hips. Dick sighs, looking around at the thinning crowds.

"I know," He says, then places his finger on his ear, "Batman, we've been at this for hours, we're not going to find hi-"

"There's a circus happening in twenty minutes in the center tent, check it out," Bruce says curtly, then the line goes silent again. Dick runs his hands down his face.

"Okay, guys, I'm assuming you all heard that?" They all nod and start making their way towards the large tent in the heart of the carnival.

-- -- -- -- -- --

"Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls of all ages, welcome to Sullivan's Circus!" The ringmaster bellowed. Dick's mind flashed back to his childhood, when a ringmaster would announce his name every night. "For our first act, Tina the Elephant!" His voice boomed as a lumbering elephant swayed into the room. The creature performed mediocre feats, such as sitting up on its hind legs, or raising its trunk and bellowing. The rest of the average circus consisted of average acts, performed by average people. Dick was disappointed at how far the circus life had fallen. People used to be ecstatic to come to Haley's Circus, but now, all the audience did was clap politely, only a couple of people gasping when something "amazing" happened. Damian and Jason seemed bored out of their minds, tapping their feet or drumming their fingers on the arms of the chairs, while Tim watched and clapped respectively when an act finished. Dick was silent the entire time.

At last, the final act was about to start, which meant that they were close to leaving.

"And finally, for the last act of the night, the Leaping Larsens!!!" The ringmaster shouts, and the spotlights traveled up until they rested on a group of acrobats atop a tall pole, waving happily at the crowd. Dick tensed.

The other three all noticed.

The act had gone by smoothly until one trick, and one of the acrobats fell just short of grasping the other's hands. Dick takes in a sharp breath as the person falls into the springy net, the crowd gasping slightly. His knuckles were white from gripping the chair. The acrobat waved to the crowd to let them know she was okay, then climbed back to the ladder leading up to the platform.