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There was an Old Ballroom in Wayne Manor that hasn't been used in decades. In the past, It had held countless parties for Gotham's elite in the past. But that had been long ago. Now, it had been years since It had seen tuxedos or glittering jewels.
The only human presence It saw these days was that of the cleaning staff of the Manor.
A few years down the line, the cleaning staff as dismissed, and Its only company was that of the Butler.
It was a little lonely, but It was used to the silence and the emptiness.
***
A Small Child peeked into It. This one was particularly tiny, and It might have been a very long time since it had seen young humans, but It knew that expression could only mean trouble.
The Child really was up to no good. In the hour he spent there, he had climbed stacked chairs and tables, jumping and flipping from one pile to the other, almost like a bird hopped from one branch to the other.
Now Little Bird was suspiciously still, head tilted to the side, looking at one of the golden candelabra that adorned Its walls. In a matter of seconds, he leapt from his perch on the back of a chair to the closer candelabra, and then he was swinging and throwing himself to the next one.
He kept flipping through the room, giggling in delight, little hands holding the golden fixtures. Until he got to one that couldn’t take his weight.
The fall was fast and Little Bird remained silent on the floor, his big blue eyes full of tears, until a Man – who looked like the ones that once hosted the great galas – came in running and gathered the Bird in his arms.
Then came the sobbing and the hyperventilating, and the Tall Man held the boy the whole time, as if he was something precious and fragile. After long minutes in which the Man whispered words of comfort, he hushed out with the little one still in his arms.
And the Old Ballroom thought it would be alone again.
"I'm sorry, Bruce, please don't send me back"
"I will never send you back to that place, chum. I just want to know why you were swinging on the candelabra, sweetheart."
"I miss it… the feeling of flying"
***
It was proven wrong.
The next few weeks were full of activity..
There were more people moving around It than there had been since the end of the nights of twirling ball gowns and expensive champagne flutes. Its visitors were mostly construction workers, but Little Bird, the Man and the Butler showed up from time to time.
It had been through some restorations before, but It had never been through a renovation that big.
Ever since the construction of the Manor, the Ballroom's height had been 6.70 m (22 feet) before, but now it had been merged with the Bedrooms of the second floor and the ceiling was now 9.5 m (31 feet) from the ground.
It was no longer a forgotten ballroom, it was becoming Something Else.
When they finished everything, It was devoid of the golden candelabra, the stacks of chairs and tables and even the chandeliers.
Taking the place of the old décor, was a new type of furniture that the Room had never seen before. The humans called them gymnastics and trapeze equipment and now It had a new purpose.
Now it was the Perch to a little bird.
Under Its ceiling, between Its wall, he took flight, tumbling, soaring, flipping and turning in the air as if he really had wings.
It was happier as a Perch than it was as a Ballroom It loved to watch the Little Bird perform gracefully to the Tall Man and the Butler – Little Bird called them B and Alfred –, who radiated pride and fierce love in every movement they made towards the Child.
If the Perch had arms, It too would like to hug Little Bird to show its love. As it were, It was only a room, so all It could do was try and be more warm and welcoming.
***
It had presumed It would never be happier than as Little Bird’s Perch. But then It became a nest to a flock of Its own, when new little birds that came to learn the art of flying from the first one.
Little Bird seemed to thrive when flying with his nest-mates. They were all as tiny as Little Bird had been when he first entered the Nest, when It was still a Ballroom.
He called them Family – as he did B and Alfred. Before moving to the Manor, they hadn’t had Bs or Alfreds – or the ones they had were no good –, so Little Bird’s B and Alfred took them in, one at a time.
***
Little Bird’s first nest-mate didn't seem all that interested in flying at first. He was content to sit on the floor with a book, while his brother flipped and flew across the Room.
The first time he flew with Little Bird, he looked terrified, then he looked angry when he failed to grip the trapeze and fell on the safety net. But he had the most joyful smile, when he was finally able to join Little Bird in the air. He was dubbed Little Wing, and Little Bird and to the Nest would always think of him as such, even when he got as tall as B.
Then there was Baby Bird, with curious eyes, often hidden behind a camera. Little Bird took months to persuade him to learn to fly. Little Wing helped with the teaching, explaining things that came almost as second nature to Little Bird.
Steph and Cass came, one after the other. Neither needed much convincing to take the air. Steph laughed as delighted as Little Bird and Cass was just as graceful as him. The two girls were almost always together, and sometimes they came to the Nest to dance rather than fly.
Youngest nest-mate was Little D, Kiddo or Little Robin. He was even angrier than Little Wing the first time he fell on the net below. He refused to come back to the Nest for days. But when he finally took flight, Little Bird’s eyes were as proud as B’s were when looked at all of the birds.
***
With time, the Nest learned why Little Bird was at his happiest when he flew with his nest-mates. Flying with another person, like they did together, was an act of love and trust.
The others might not have arrived in the Nest as birds, but they had taken some of Little Bird's love language for themselves. When they flew they were saying “I love you and I will not let you fall”, as well as saying “I trust you not to drop, because I know you love me too”
And when they flew, the Nest was happy.