Memory Watching

Chapter 2

The screen went black before seeming to filter through lots of images at once, before it stopped on a picture of a circus tent, with the clearest part being a blue poster with figures on it that said 'The Flying Graysons!'.

"No," Robin whispered, horror struck.

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No one paid Robin any mind, too entranced with the memory being shown to them. The screen zoomed and moved until they were looking at the outside of a trailer. A little black haired boy was cartwheeling and flipping around what seemed to be his parents. The trailer door opened and they could hear shouts. 

A large man with graying hair threw out a slender, scarred man with a toothpick in between his teeth. One of the man's eyes was brown, the other blue.

"We don't need any protection! Now get out of my circus!" The old man yelled. The mother hid her child behind her and the father moved in front of them.

The scarred man chuckled lowly and said, looking straight at the small family, "You'll wish you paid, Haly. Maybe you'll see the light someday, but for now... au revoir ." He walked away, stumbling slightly.

"Who was that, Pop?" the little boy asked, coming out from behind his parents.

"No one, no one," Pop said, waving his hand dismissively.

"We need to go get ready for the show," the black haired man said, putting a guiding hand on the boy's back, turning him to the tent, where they could clearly see a trapeze line set up in the middle.

The screen faded again, leaving the shocked faces of Robin's team. 

Artemis turned to the resident Boy Wonder, "You are Dick Grayson?" 

Robin turned to her, "I honestly didn't think you'd figure it out this fast." He chuckled, "Guess I underestimate a lot of things."

"What do you mean by that, my friend?" Kaldur asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

"What he means is that he underestimated that man when he was eight. Dude, nobody blames you for not noticing." Wally interrupted whatever Robin, sorry, Dick, was going to say.

"But I did notice, Walls! I noticed! And I didn't warn them! Like you'll probably see in this next memory," he said, gesturing to the screen, which was flickering again. 

Like last time, the memory started with the image of a circus tent, only, they saw a man kneeling over the rigging of the trapeze, pouring a green liquid on them. The boy from before, who they had learned was Dick, stood at the entrance of the tent, a suspecting look on his face. He turned away when his mother called his name.

"Veniti, mama!" he called, running towards another trailer. 

The image faded and then the circus tent was back again. The small family was up on the platform, waving to a screaming crowd. The older man was standing in the center ring, holding a microphone.

"Thank you for coming out tonight, fair city of Gotham! Our night is coming to an end, and we saved the best for last! Let's give a hand for The Flying Graysons!" He waved a hand towards the platform, and the spotlight switched from Pop Haly to the family on the board. 

Dick's father waved, and as the music started, he jumped out to the first trapeze bar. He swung forth and back, forth and back, then vaulted himself off the bar and flipped twice, grabbing the next. He brought his knees up and over the bar, then swung back to catch Dick's mom, who jumped next. They swung so that Mary, they would later learn that was Dick's mother's name, could do another flip. Before they could do anything though, a snap was heard, impossibly loud in the ears of the small boy on the platform. He looked at the wire, which was snapping under the combined weight of his parents. He looked back at the faces smiling at him, and screamed.

"Mami, Tati, NU!" He reached out to them, fruitlessly, as his fingers never reached within three inches of his mother's, and his parents were now falling. There was an echoing 'CRACK' that resounded through the silent tent. The first one to move was the heartbroken little boy. He scampered down the ladder, and ran towards his parent's broken bodies, pools of blood beneath them. He reached them, and grabbed his parent's corpses, screaming and pleading again. That seemed to be the opening of the floodgates, as the people in the audience started screaming and running for the exits. 

After a few minutes, everyone had left the tent but for one man in the audience and the remaining performers. The sobs of the boy had quieted, and the man came forward, laying his suit jacket over his shoulders. The boy didn't look up, almost caught in a trance. A police officer came and took the hand of the boy, saying something the team couldn't hear. Dick was dragged away, out of the tent. 

A very skinny, almost sickly looking lady with a tight bun could be seen talking to the officer. In the end, the woman, a social worker, grabbed the other hand of the distraught boy and tugged. Dick stumbled, but the lady dragged him to a car, practically throwing him in the backseat. She herself got in the car, and drove away, towards a building with a sign that said 'Gotham Juvenile Detention Center'.

The screen faded, leaving the horror struck faces of the team.

So... even though I have realized and accepted that I have no followers, if you are reading this story,  please, please, please, check out my other stories. I swear you will probably not be disappointed. Also, comments, comments, comments. I LIVE off of comments, and right now I am dying. Because I have no feedback. Because I am not popular. YET. See you later, mates!