Chapter Text
Chapter 1
This was a day Dick was bound to never forget. It was going to be his first time performing with his parents on stage, without a net! He had only been allowed to perform stunts at a lower level with a net, but today, his parents were going to let him join them on stage!
His whole body was jittering as he tried to control his nervous excitement. He was so thrilled he thought he might burst into flames.
“Ready little bird?” Tati asked while Mami gave him an encouraging smile.
Dick nodded in anticipation for his turn to join his parents out on the trapeze. Oh, how wonderful the trapeze was. It made him feel like he could fly. Every time up there, he would soar like an eagle as his audiences looked on in awe. It was a feeling that was completely, totally, unreplaceable and breath taking.
As the lights dimmed, the applause rang out. The cheers for the Flying Graysons were loud and happy, and only served to make Dick even more eager to jump out there and join his parents.
Standing on the platform, he took a deep breath in and waited for his cue.
Tati released Mami’s hands, hooking his legs around her and swinging forward while she hung off the metal bar. He smiled broadly at Dick, stretching his arms toward the boy as he swung towards the platform.
There's the cue.
Pushing away the butterflies in his stomach, he sprinted forward and jumped, reaching out for his Tati's hands, who caught him easily.
His Tati gave him a bright smile and gave Dick the signal to proceed to the next sequence when
SNAP!
Down Down Down the three of them went. At the very last moment, John Grayson wrapped his strong arms around his son, using his body to break the fall in an attempt to save his son.
Dick’s back burned up in pain as he went into shock. Nonononononono this was a nightmare; Dick closed his eyes tightly. Mami said that if you had a nightmare you should close your eyes and tell yourself it was not real, then you would wake up and everything would be okay.
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Opening his eyes and turning to look around, all he saw was blood, blood everywhere. Why was there so much blood pooling under Mami’s head. NONONONONO THIS ISN’T REAL. Squeezing his eyes shut again, he told himself that this was not real, and opened his eyes. No! Why didn’t it work! It should have worked! Mami never lies. This is just a nightmare and I need to wake up.
Wake up, Mami. Wake up, Tati. Please.
No! Don’t touch me!
Wake up, Mami. Wake up, Tati. Please.
No…. please…..
Beep… Beep… Beep…
Blinking his surroundings into focus, he saw a female the shape of his Mami standing beside him. She moved forward and hugged him. Hugging her back just as tightly, Dick started crying.
“Mami! I had a really bad nightmare, we fell from the trapeze, and you died, and Tati died, and there was blood everywhere, and it was so scary, and I tried and tried to wake up but I couldn’t…” Dick sobbed out into the warm embrace of his Mami.
“Oh, Richard…”
Wait a minute. This wasn’t Mami’s voice.
Pushing the woman away and wiping his tears from his face, Dick questioned “You’re not my Mami! Where’s my Mami… I want my Mami… I want Tati… Mami… Tati…”
“Richard, I’m so sorry…” not Mami began.
“No NO NO I don’t want to hear it” Dick cried out desperately as he covered his ears.
“Richard, you’re still in shock. Please calm down.” not Mami tried again.
“No I don’t want to listen to you. I want my Mami and Tati… I want them.” Dick sobbed out as he tried to get off the bed to find his parents. Something’s wrong. Something’s very very wrong. But Dick didn’t know what was wrong.
“Richard I’m so sorry, but you really shouldn’t move” Not mami said as she gently pushed him back down the bed.
Move? That’s what was wrong with him.
“Why can’t I move my legs? WHY CAN’T I FEEL ANYTHING BELOW HERE!” Dick began shouting as he slowly tried to comprehend what was wrong. EVERYTHING WAS WRONG!
This wasn’t how the day was supposed to go…
They were going to perform, and have a nice dinner together, and Mami was going to bring him shopping tomorrow with the money Bruce Wayne donated… Mami… Tati…
Beep… Beep… Beep…
“Hey kiddo, you awake? Should I get the doctor?” A voice asked.
Dick didn’t want to open his eyes or respond. This person was not his mami or tati. Tati taught him about Stranger Danger. He shouldn’t be responding to this person he didn’t even know. Tati… Mami… I know what they’re trying to tell me. It’s not true right, please tell me it’s not true…
I miss you both already…
“Kid?” Dick still refused to respond to the voice
“I know you’re awake, your breathing changed. Should I get the doctor for you?” the voice asked again.
Dick ignored it, still stuck in his own thoughts.
.
.
“Hey Richard, how are you feeling?” not Mami’s voice asked. “Richard?” the other voice asked.
“Bruce, I think you should leave the room for a moment.” Not Mami said. There was the sound of a door closing, before not Mami spoke “Hi Richard, I’ve asked Bruce to leave, so you can open your eyes now. We started off on the wrong foot just now. My name is Dr Leslie, but you can just call me Leslie, it makes me sound younger than I am.”
At that, Dick smiled a little, finally opening his eyes to look at Dr Leslie.
“They are dead, aren’t they,” Dick asked, straight to the point.
The smile on Dr Leslie’s face froze, and that told Dick everything he needed to know.
“Well, yes. I’m very sorry for your loss” Dr Leslie said as Dick continued to look at her emotionlessly.
“Oh.”
This was bad. The boy was sharper than they anticipated him to be. He was also cycling through grief so quickly that Leslie didn’t know what to do.
“There’s another thing, Richard.”
“Dick”
“I’m sorry?”
“Call me Dick. My parents only called me Richard when I was in trouble.”
“Oh right, Dick. I can tell that you’re a very smart and straightforward boy, I don’t think you’d appreciate me beating about the bush. Well, you see, during your fall, you broke your spine. I’m sorry, but you’ve been paralysed. You won’t be able to walk again, and there will be many things that you’ll have to learn to adapt to. But don’t worry, people who are paralysed can still do many things.”
“But they won’t ever be able to fly.”
“Fly?”
“Perform acrobatic tricks on the trapeze. I call it flying cos that’s what it feels like.”
“Oh – well, technology in the field is constantly improving, so maybe one day you can get back on the trapeze again.”
“I should have died with them. Why did you save me?”
“Dick – your parents would want you to be alive, never forget that.”
“Who was the man just now?”
“His name is Bruce Wayne. He was the one who realised you were still breathing and called the ambulance to save you.” Leslie replied as she duly noted that the boy had been changing topics every time it became sensitive. He was bouncing between acceptance and denial, and Leslie didn’t know what was worse. While he knew all the important information now, he was accepting everything too quickly and calmly. It wasn’t normal.
“Oh.”
“Would you like to meet him, Dick? He’s going to be taking you in as his ward. Since your parents are both - ” Leslie paused, not wanting to say the word out.
“Oh. Okay.”
Dick didn’t really want to meet Bruce. It didn’t matter anyway.
He wasn’t going to be here for long.
Little did he know about the ripple he had set in motion in his universe.