Dick's body flew through the air, his fingers clasped tightly around the trapeze bar, as the stale air brushed his hair from his face. It was longer now, wavy and falling almost past his chin. It had grown while he had been in the coma, but now it seemed as if he hadn't trimmed it since waking. His eyes were narrowed and almost bloodshot, looking only straight ahead, never down. He grunted slightly as he launched himself at the opposite trapeze bar, gracefully catching ahold of it and continuing his routine.

Suddenly, laughter erupted from his lips, a cackling that resembled his trademark Robin snicker but far more sinister. The laughter seemed to triple and echo from the bottom of the stadium. There, stood two figures, vaguely male and female, that strode drunkenly into the center of the room, underneath Dick. In the middle ring of the circus was a large container holding a liquid that gave off a green gas and smelled of sulfur and rust.

Dick's roaring laughter had reduced to soft vindictive snickers and his swinging body has slowed to a sway. Something above creaked and groaned, screws popping loose. The metals bars holding up the trapeze collapsed and, like his parents, Dick plummeted downwards. The only difference: instead of his mouth open in silent horror, Dick smiled wide and released the trapeze, falling into the chemical vat as sinkingly familiar voices cheered from below.

Percy woke, sweating and panting, reaching across her bed for comfort before realizing there was no one there. Her mind sifted through her dream faster than her heart could keep up, and her stomach dropped to the pit of her stomach. She had been having the same dream for days, Dick performing on the trapeze. She had thought it was some kind of a demigod dream, but she could never understand what it meant. Tonight was the first night the dream had continued, and unfortunately, she now knew what it was saying.

She ripped of the sheets, put on appropriate clothes and immediately vapor traveled to Bruce's room. She had been staying at the manor ever since Dick had disappeared from the Watchtower to make their combined efforts of investigation easier.

"Bruce," she hissed, flicking the lights on. The older man was up and in a fighting stance that relaxed when he saw who was in his room.

"I saw the rest of the dream," she hurriedly explained, "And it's bad. Very bad."

Bruce was immediately attentive. She quickly described the vivi nightmare and his brows furrowed with each sentence.

"The Joker has him," she said, the words feeling like sandpaper on her tongue now that she was saying them out loud."

"And he wants to turn Dick insane, like him," Bruce finished, his fists shaking in anger and fear.

Liquid pooled in the corners of Percy's eyes but she forcibly swallowed them back.

Tears weren't going to save him.

"I don't understand."

Filthy hands weaved red and black wired together before stuffing them inside of a teddy bear. The bear was then sewn up and thrown into a pile of identical stuffed toys.

"What's not to understand?" said the Joker, signaling Harley to bring him another bundle of wires and switches.

Dick shook his head, his own fingers pausing around the wires he held.

"It's just...How will this help?"

"It's simple, kid," the Joker said, surprisingly calm for once, "I want us to make Gotham great again. The only way to do that is to weed out the uglies."

The villain violently mimed chopping the head off a bear and cackled to himself, causing Harley to join in.

"You mean the rich?" Dick asked.

The Joker picked up a deck of cards and spread them across the table. He picked up a handful of long, sharp objects and trailed a knife underneath the line of cards. "I mean things like morals and ethics. What fun are those things anyways?"

Dick looked down. The king of spades had a screwdriver sticking out of its eye, the jack of diamonds sported a razor sharp scissor, and the queen of hearts had been impaled by a knife.

The Joker picked up his namesake, turning the card over in his hands, his eyes gleaming. his Fingers traced the creepily smiling figure in the drawing.

"And then this will be the face of Gotham."

Without warning, he swiped the card across Dick's arm, slicing through skin. Dick winced and drew his arm into his chest, cradling it. The Joker smeared the blood around the card, outlining its smile, before looking up.

"It's poetic, birdie," he grinned, "You're gonna love it."

Dick smiled back, his fingers working the wires once more.

A.N.

Hey guys,

I'm so sorry for not updating, I just haven't had the time :(

Sorry this is a short, slightly filler chapter, but there's a whole bunch of foreshadowing and I promise to have another, longer one up soon. I just felt like this was a good place to stop bc if I added the action, it would get kind of crowded.