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It was the 23rd of March. For most people, it would be an ordinary day, but for Richard Grayson, it was both the day his life ended and began. The 23rd of March was the anniversary of his parent's deaths after their trapezes were tampered with and they fell to their deaths. Dick traced his mother's face on the poster as he sat on his bed in Wayne Manor. He wasn't sure who had thought of keeping a poster, Alfred or Bruce, or maybe it was one of the people in the crowd who had sent it in condolence. He only took it out on their anniversary and so it was in good condition. There were a few splodges where his tears had fallen and the ink had run. The last couple of years, he hadn't cried as he held it, mostly because he now had a new family. Still, the pain of having to bury them and never seeing them again would always remain. His phone buzzed and he pulled himself out of his thoughts as he opened the message.
'Still coming to mine before patrol?' It was Barbara who had sent him. For several years now, before he went on patrol, he would go over to hers. He replied he was about to set off and stood up. Every year they would question his desire to patrol on the day of his parent's death but they would let him do it, all having lost at least one of their parents and understanding his desire to patrol.
He made his way downstairs, keeping to the less used corridors. He didn't really want to talk to anyone and if he did meet anyone they would probably ask him if he was okay. He slipped out of the manor without anyone noticing him and walked to the garage where the motorbikes were housed. He swung his leg over the black and blue on, kicking the stand up and revving the engine. The doors opened and he whizzed out of the garage and down the drive. The black gates opened automatically and he didn't have to break to wait for them to open fully before he could slip through. He made his way quickly to the Bell Tower where Barbara was waiting for him. His longing to feel her arms around him made him feel something other than the numb grief that plagued him.
He parked the bike behind a dumpster, covering it with the tarpaulin that had been put there specially for that purpose. He made his way up the building, climbing the metal stairs that ran up the building's wall and entered through a door, making his way to where he believed Barbara would be. He walked into the computer room and saw Barbara sitting there in front of the computers. He stood still and admired her, the white light from the screens giving her an otherworldy appearance. Her hair was down and he noticed it had grown, she no longer needing to keep it short in case someone tried to grab it as she fought them.
"Stop ogling and get in here," she told him. He smiled and pushed off the door frame.
"You working?" He asked and nodded at the computers running in front of her. She turned herself so her sides were facing either Dick or her computers and smiled at him.
"Took the night off," she told him and turned the computers off. He made a dramatic gasp as she moved herself away from her workbench.
"She turned the computers off!"
"Can it you, or I'll turn them back on," she threatened as a grin tugged her lips up. Dick smiled and swooped down to kiss her on the lips, hands resting on her armrests either side of her. Barbara moved her head back and laughed as Dick moved forward to try and kiss her again. "Calm it Kermit." She wheeled herself out of the room, towards her living room. The TV was on standby, ready to play the movie she had put in the DVD player. It was one Dick's favourite and every year he would watch it on his parent's anniversary. Dick sat himself down in the middle of the sofa and Barabara came back with sweet popcorn and some bagged candyfloss, stuff he would eat when he had lived in Harley's Circus. She lifted herself off her chair and next to Dick, Dick keeping his hands to himself knowing she would slap them away if he tried to help her. Once she was sat down, his arms wrapped around her shoulders and brought her closer to his chest, his face pressed into the crown of her head. He closed his eyes and breathed in her comforting scent, his breath shuddering slightly as it came out. Barbara reclined on his chest and pressed play, listening to his steady heartbeat as his fingers played with her hair, just how she liked. Twenty minutes into the movie his phone buzzed again and he picked it up.
"Leave it," she told him.
"It's Jason," he told her as he turned the phone. His eyes closed at the onslaught of bright light.
"How do you know that?" She asked.
"They all have a different number of vibrations. His is four." He looked at her for a second and a boyish grin broke out. "Wired it myself. You must be proud." She smiled, a hand coming up trace the smile of his lips.
"What number am I?"
"One 'cos you're my number one." The grin didn't even waver as he spoke the corny words. Barbara threw her head back and laughed.
"What does he want?" She asked. She was pretty sure Jason had forgotten the importance of today. It seemed to be something he would do.
"Room 47 of Yellow Hotel on 5 Guiminer Road, South Gotham. 20:00," Dick read the message out. Barbara frowned as she heard it.
"What does he want?" She asked as she leant over to read it as well.
"Dunno," Dick began to get off the sofa.
"You're not actually going to go?" She asked. Dick turned and looked at her.
"I've lost enough family on this day."
"Alright then. Help me up," she asked. He leant forward and held her left arm to support her as she moved back into her wheelchair. She flashed him a smile in thanks and moved back to the computer room. Instead of going to the computer though, she moved to the wall to the left of her work bench and pressed a button at hip height. The white walls suddenly moved up to reveal costumes. Dick walked forward as he spotted his own Nightwing costume. He pulled it out and looked at it.
"I've upgraded a few bits," she smiled at him. "Was gonna give it to you later." He began to pull it on as she continued to explain the modifications on his suit and his escrima sticks. "Your mask has cameras in it and there's also a microphone."
"Babs, you're amazing," he told her as he finished suiting up.
"Tell me something I don't know." She rolled her eyes. Dick walked up to her and bent to press a kiss to her cheek.
"You're the prettiest women I've ever had the honour to see and just hearing you laugh and seeing you smile makes my entire week."
He was running along the room and jumping out of the window before she could even think of an answer to his words, for once her quick mind halting.
The room seemed to be empty. The window was unlocked and he moved silently into the room. There was a brown piano in front of him. There also seemed to be a space behind the piano, the small room opening out a bit.
"Be careful," Barbara spoke into his comm. He nodded and walked silently to the piano. He was correct when he turned and saw a kitchen area behind the piano, the apartment in laid out in an upside down 'L'. Jason stood in the middle, leaning on the counter. There was a four pack of beer next to him. He had a bottle in his hand and there was one left in the cardboard.
"What's this about Jason?" He asked.
"Want a beer?" Jason asked, nodding to the pack. Dick shook his head, he was going on patrol later and didn't want alcohol in his system. Jason shrugged and muttered, "Your loss." He was in his green cargo trousers he wore as Red Hood but had a normal red hoody on his top half.
"Why did you call me here?" He asked again, beginning to get annoyed. Jason looked at him directly into his eyes.
"Yer know, I was pretty sure you wouldn't turn up. Even more sure I'd bail before ya got here if yer eva did," he told him in a rush. His accent slipped in, stronger than normal. He seemed nervous, which would explain the beers. Jason swallowed and took a deep breath then pushed off from the counter with a roll of his body. He strolled passed his older brother and walked to the piano. His foot curled around the leg and kicked it backwards so he had space to sit. The chair made a high pitched noise as it dragged along the wooden floor, Dick wincing at it. Jason turned to him and patted the space next to him. "You sittin' or wha'?"
"This could be a trap," Barbara told him. He hummed but moved to sit next to Jason.
"You sure this bench isn't going to break with us on it?" He asked. Jason rolled his eyes, wiggling his fingers. He lifted up the cover of the piano and began pressing the keys. Dick raised his eyebrows as he watched Jason practise. He began to smile broadly as he put the clues together. He shuffled forward and waited in anticipation for Jason to begin playing. Jason swallowed and took a deep breath, calming his nerves. Dick, remembering the cameras in his mask, peeled it off and set it on the top of the piano faced down. Barbara, unable to see anything, huffed and wheeled off. She knew what was about to happen and didn't want to intrude on an intimate moment. Her computers were on again and would record everything. Jason played the opening chords and took a deep breath, opening his mouth and beginning to sing.
"There was a time when I was alone
Nowhere to go and no place to call home
My only friend was the man in the moon
And even sometimes he would go away, too," Dick raised his eyes from Jason's slightly scarred fingers pressing the keys to look at him. Within the first few lines, Dick was already beginning to connect with the song, remembering when his parents had died. The first few nights he had spent in an orphanage before Bruce had taken him away. As always, Jason's voice took him away from the small room they were in. He stared at his little brother in amazement as he listened to him sing, smiling softly. It wasn't often he heard him sing and this was the first time Jason was singing to him.
"Then one night, as I closed my eyes,
I saw a shadow flying high
He came to me with the sweetest smile
Told me he wanted to talk for awhile
He said, "Peter Pan—that's what they call me.
I promise that you'll never be lonely."
And ever since that day..."
"I am a lost boy from Neverland," Dick's breath left him as he heard Jason sing the song. Tears began to well up in his eyes as his heart clenched and missed a beat.
"Usually hanging out with Peter Pan
And when we're bored we play in the woods
Always on the run from Captain Hook
"Run, run, lost boy," they say to me,
"Away from all of reality."" The tears fell down his face as he continued to listen, closing his eyes as his mind showed him memories of being in the circus.
"Neverland is home to lost boys like me
And lost boys like me are free
Neverland is home to lost boys like me
And lost boys like me are free."
"He sprinkled me in pixie dust and told me to believe
Believe in him and believe in me
Together we will fly away in a cloud of green
To your beautiful destiny
As we soared above the town that never loved me," here Jason's voice cracked as he too connected with the song.
"I realised I finally had a family," Dick bit his lip as he remembered the feeling as he signed the adoption papers and looked up at Bruce, knowing that he was his new father now and he had a family again. A family that would continue to grow as the years passed.
"Soon enough we reached Neverland
Peacefully my feet hit the sand
And ever since that day...
"I am a lost boy from Neverland
Usually hanging out with Peter Pan
And when we're bored we play in the woods
Always on the run from Captain Hook
"Run, run, lost boy," they say to me,
"Away from all of reality."
"Neverland is home to lost boys like me
And lost boys like me are free
Neverland is home to lost boys like me
And lost boys like me are free
"Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Wendy Darling,
Even Captain Hook—
You are my perfect story book
Neverland, I love you so,
You are now my home sweet home
Forever a lost boy at last
"Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Wendy Darling,
Even Captain Hook—
You are my perfect story book
Neverland, I love you so,
You are now my home sweet home
Forever a lost boy at last
"And for always I will say...
"I am a lost boy from Neverland
Usually hanging out with Peter Pan
And when we're bored we play in the woods
Always on the run from Captain Hook
"Run, run, lost boy," they say to me,
"Away from all of reality."
"Neverland is home to lost boys like me
And lost boys like me are free
Neverland is home to lost boys like me
And lost boys like me are free."
The song finished and Dick let lose the sob he had held in. Jason turned his head to look at him. He hesitated for a few seconds but wrapped his right arm around Dick to comfort him. Dick, seeing this, hurled himself into Jason's chest. Jason tightened his grip, letting him sob into his chest. Dick's arm wrapped around his lower back, pressing himself as close to Jason as he could.
"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have played that song to you," Jason apologised, resting his right cheek on Dick's scalp.
"Jason?" He asked tentatively.
"Yeah?"
"Play it again please?" Jason squeezed him then brought his hand away from his shoulder and back down onto the keyboard. Dick shuffled himself again, pressing his front closer to Jason's sturdy side. Jason pressed the keys and began to play the song.
"There was a time when I was alone
Nowhere to go and no place to call home..."