So, it has been 3 and a bit years. Sorry (please don't hurt me). Yeah, I have very little valid excuses but hey. This will be the final chapter and I just want to thank you all for reading it and putting up with me.

Also, I am planning on putting everything onto AO3 as well so I will likely update on as well (spelling mistakes etc I missed) so be prepared for that. I am also planning to post a Doctor Who fanfic soon (ish) so if interested keep an eye out for that.

When I say 'young heroes' or 'younger members' I am referring more to the fact they are later additions to the team than their actual age. The 'older heroes' is the original team basically (and the original Titans). And I know they operate out of the Watch Tower now but let's pretend they have their own secret base.

This one is set shortly after Renegade 2 so in my own alternate universe (nothing about season 3 as I have seen none of it sadly) and as normal I own nothing. Also, bear with me, I have never been to a circus.

Robyn :)

The idea had come to him in the midst of a normal patrol in Bludhaven. He had been flipping across rooftops and just generally enjoying the warm evening air. It had been a quiet night, only a few attempted muggings, but the night was still early. As he moved across buildings, he got a glimpse of large poster. It must have been put up only earlier that day as it didn't show the typical signs of weathering or damage that posters inevitably face. It wasn't its good state that grabbed his attention though but the contents. It shocked him so much that he missed the landing of his last flip and tumbled into a heap on the hard roof.

Groaning, he sat up rubbing his head. He wasn't injured just a bit more bruised than he would like and very thankful no one had been around to see his fall. He moved back to the edge of the roof, overlooking the wall down below where the offending poster was stuck. He glared at the poster, blaming it for his bruised state before reading all the details. That's when the idea struck. Nightwing had been repairing his relationships with both teams and his family but there were still awkward moments and the younger members were still clueless about his real identity. A grin slowly broke across his face, the offending poster had given him a brilliant idea on how to help repair some damaged friendships and give them a reward for all the hard work during the invasion.

He leapt away into the night, full of new energy and ready to take down any criminal who tried to commit a crime tonight. He had a plan and an old family friend to talk too.

The offending poster's contents? Haly's International Travelling Circus was back on tour in North America.

The team was training in their new headquarters when the zeta-tubes activated. That was normal, however what was not normal was the lack of identifier being called out.

Impulse, who had been sparring with Beast Boy, was the first (and only) to notice and react. He swept Beast Boy's feet from under him (causing him to hit the mat with an audible oomph) and sped off towards the entrance hall before anyone could stop him.

"Seriously Impulse?! What was that for?" Beast Boy whined as he pulled himself off the floor already bemoaning the inevitable bruises. "Where are you going?" He called out only to receive no answer. He did, however, gain the attention of the rest of the team who had been partnered off to spar and were being supervised by the original team. They stopped their own fights and moved over towards Beast Boy.

M'gann was the first to Beast Boy's side, running her eyes over him to check for any injuries as she held his shoulders captive. "You okay Gar? What happened?"

"I'm fine. The zeta-tube went off and Impulse just knocked me to the floor before speeding out of here." Beast Boy explained to the onlookers as he inched towards the door, trying to escape M'gann's grasp.

The older team members looked at each other, having a silent conversation. They had spent so long with the mental link that they often could tell what the others thought even without it. This ability unnerved the younger members at times, after all its always annoying when the adults have a silent conversation in front of you and you have no way to tell what they are saying.

"I guess we follow then." Wally spoke up with a shrug, leading the way out of the training room and towards the entrance hall with the rest of the group following behind. Hushed conversations broke out between members, theories running wild on Impulse's reasonings in the few minutes it took to reach the entrance.

The entrance was nothing grand, it held several zeta-tubes, a computer hub and a couple of chairs but little else. The errant speedster stood in front of the zeta-tubes, something held in his hand with his back to the group. He spun around when he heard the groups arrival, his face scrunched up in confusion.

"Impulse what -?" Wally started to ask before his fellow speedster interrupted him.

"Did you hear the zeta-tube?"

"Of course, didn't mean you needed to knock me to the floor like that." Beast Boy grumbled; arms crossed.

"Sorry BB. But did you hear what was wrong with it?" Impulse winced, feeling a bit guilty for the underhanded hit.

"Stop talking in riddles Impulse, just tell us." Artemis sighed, her patience reaching the end of its limit.

"Sorry. It activated like normal but it didn't call out who entered like it normally does and I thought that was weird so I came to investigate. By the time I got here no one was here but this envelope was on the floor." Impulse explained, waving said envelope around before handing it over to Kaldur who had stepped forward to take it.

"But who can hack the zeta-tubes like that?" Bumblebee asked, only to receive shrugs from some of her teammates and no answer from the rest.

Kaldur opened the envelope apprehensively. He had a suspicion about who it was from, not many people could hack the zeta-tube like that. The rest of the group watched on curious. He pulled out the contents – 19 tickets to Haly's circus in Jump City in a couple of days and a list of names. Kaldur showed them to the older members, the only ones to understand their significance bar Robin and Batgirl. The 19 tickets were enough for all the current members and a few semi-members like Red Arrow and Arsenal to come, which was undoubtedly the plan. This would be interesting.

Over in Jump City, at Titan's Tower a similar envelope was found with the same tickets. Tickets and a list of names identifying the people they were intended for. The original Titans, remainder of Titan's East - Mas y Menos and Aqualad (Garth), and Jinx and Jericho.

Nightwing's plan was falling perfectly into place.

The day of the circus dawned to reveal a beautiful summer's day. Sun shone down on the circus and laughter rang out through the air. Around the main tent there were games, stalls and performers of all kinds entertaining all the guests. A group of teenagers and young adults strode through the stalls, looking slightly out of sorts compared to the rest of the people surrounding them. The team stopped at a kind of clearing, a quieter space on the edge of the circus grounds, waiting for the rest of the group.

Beast Boy spotted them first, racing off to meet the Titans who had agreed to meet them here once they discovered both groups had received tickets. He greeted them enthusiastically, it had been a while since he had seen them in person. They were a large group altogether – 27 young heroes all dressed in civilian clothes. The younger members were looking around entranced by the surrounding entertainment, eager to explore but knowing they were here for a reason, which did not go unnoticed by the older members.

Aqualad eventually sighed before turning to the younger heroes, "Go and enjoy yourselves, stay safe and in groups of at least two. We will meet you at the main tent in an hour." They didn't need any more encouragement and dispersed into groups, chatting happily, excited for the chance to relax.

Left behind was Kaldur, Conner, Artemis, Wally, M'gann, Roy (Red Arrow) Victor (Cyborg), Raven, Kori (Starfire), Garfield, Barbara and Robin. They were all technically there as their civilian selves but Tim had the signature sunglasses on to both hide his identity from the team (although most of them already knew) and to hide from the paparazzi who would love to get photos of one of Bruce Wayne's kids. Barbara had less of an issue with that as she wasn't directly associated with Bruce Wayne.

Robin, Barbara and Garfield hesitated. They were technically all considered younger members but had a much better understanding of why they were here, plus Gar was a founding member of the Titans. They shared a look before turning to the others. "The tickets were from Nightwing weren't they?" Robin finally broached the topic. Other the past few days there had been plenty of discussion and speculation on the tickets by the younger team members but the older heroes had refused to say a word on them, at least not around the younger heroes.

"We think so, but we don't know why yet. We haven't been able to track him down to talk and he hasn't been answering any messages. I don't suppose you've seen him recently Robin? Barbara?" Artemis asked. It was a fair question, Nightwing was technically his older brother and Barbara was an old friend who practically lived at the Wayne manor half the time, so he was more likely to have seen them recently in theory. Key word being in theory.

"No, he hasn't been at the manor for the past week. The Demon Brat has been grumbling about it and Bats is grumpier than normal. We've seen reports of him in Bludhaven but haven't heard from him for a little while now, not since the tickets arrived." Robin admitted with a shrug.

"We think he has been avoiding us on purpose to avoid questions but Agent A seems to know something yet refuses to tell anyone." Barbara added.

The older heroes shared a look before Conner spoke up this time. "We think it may be an apology for ... you know." He cleared his throat, none of them really talked about the Renegade affair. "We think he is trying to get us to relax, give everyone a break after the last year or so."

"You should go enjoy yourselves, enjoy the break from normal life, be actual teenagers." Wally suggested. "We're planning to do the same, it's been a long time since we have been to the circus." That was putting it lightly, the last time they had been at the circus was when they were still a fairly new team, pretending to be the Daring Dangers a family of performers to try and catch a villain in the act. It had been Haly's International Travelling Circus that time as well, so being here was bringing back memories. This time however, they were visitors instead of performers.

Cyborg threw an arm around Gar's shoulder. "Want to come with us and we can catch up a bit?" Gar grinned in answer as they wandered off with the rest of the remaining Titans. Barbara followed them with a shrug, moving to talk to Raven while she looked for some of the other members of the team.

Tim hesitated a bit longer. Looking at the members of the original Young Justice. "You know the significance of this circus, right?"

Wally grinned but it had a sad edge. "Yes, we know about Dick's history with Haly's circus. Kind of surprised you know the name of the circus though; he doesn't normally talk about it."

"I was here the night of the accident. I was a little kid and my family got a photo with the Graysons shortly before everything. It's not exactly something you forget and it helped me figure out their identities and eventually become Robin." Tim admitted looking around at all the giggling children and happy families. It was weird to think that he used to be one of them.

"Don't worry Tim, we'll keep an eye out for any trouble. Go enjoy yourself, you deserve a break." M'gann smiled at the young boy who nodded in response before turning around to stroll back into the chaos to find his friends and teammates.

The young adults huddled closer together. "Are we sure everything will be okay? Dick wasn't exactly in a good mental state the last time we were here or even now." Wally worried, his leg bouncing and hands fidgeting.

Artemis grabbed his hand. "Everything will be fine. We don't even know if he is going to show. It could be just what we said; a chance to relax." She looked around at the group and then scanned the surroundings. They had all been scanning the crowd since they entered trying to find any signs of Nightwing with no results.

"Come on, let's take our own advice and enjoy ourselves. If Dick is going to show it will be at the main event." With that the group dispersed into the crowd to enjoy the stalls and entertainment.

An hour later the group met up outside the main tent. Prizes and food of all kinds in hand, smiles brighter than they had been in weeks. It was a much-needed break from their tense lives, a chance to be the actual teenagers and young adults they were. The older heroes ushered the rest into seats near the front, with a brilliant view of the ring, ready for the show to start.

And what a show it was. Haly acted as the Ringmaster, introducing the acts which ranged from clowns to animal tamers to fire eaters to magicians and strongmen. They entranced the crowd, including the heroes. Despite their whole lives being surrounded in magic and the weirder side of existence, they were still amazed by the performers.

As the afternoon went on the crowd grew more and more excited until it was time for the final act of the show. Haly stood up to the centre mark as the last performers (an amazing group of women performing stunts on the backs of stunning horses) left the ring.

"Well Ladies and Gentlemen, weren't they just amazing?" The crowd went wild and Haly laughed as he waited for them to quieten down. "Thank you, thank you. Now next up we have our brilliant, daring acrobats who fly through the sky. Normally this would be the end of the show but this afternoon, just for you we have a very special treat so don't go anywhere! But first of all, may I introduce our next act - the Stunning Silver Sparrows!"

The spotlights focussed on a pair of performers, dressed up in silver posed on ether side of the tent, high up on platforms and holding onto bars ready to start. While most of the tent watched entranced as they flipped and spun across the tent, doing daring, gravity defying stunts in the air (with a net far below – they always had a net below the high-flying events after the incident) the original members of the team and those in the know shared a glance. They had a sneaking suspicion on what this surprise was but for now they would enjoy the show.

When the acrobats finished with a twirl, they took a bow to thunderous applause before descending down the ladders and exiting the tent as the spotlight once again focussed on the main point of the tent and Haly stepped up. "Now, as promised I present a one of a time treat! A spectacle that may never be seen in public again! I have the greatest honour to introduce you all to Dick Grayson; the last of the amazing Flying Graysons, the only acrobats in the world that can perform a quadruple flip! Join me and put your hands together for Dick Grayson!"

As he finished his announcement, the spotlight moved to focus on Dick high up on a platform holding a bar and waving to the crowd, wearing a bigger version of his old family costume. His eyes focussed on the heroes near the front of the tent and he grinned wider as he saw them, winking before leaping off the platform and starting a brilliant performance. The afternoon's show had been brilliant, full of delight and exciting but the last Flying Grayson's performance was the cherry on the cake – he mesmerised the crowd as he seemed to fly across the tent in a way that the Silver Sparrows (although they had been brilliant) could not. He ended the performance with the famous quadruple flip and posed on the platform. Waving again as he took a deep bow to the deafening applause and exiting the tent as the noise continued.

Haly stepped up for the final time to thank the crowd and then lights returned to normal to allow the people in the tent to disperse outside back into the surrounding stalls. The heroes waited until the tent was empty. While only some of them understood the significance of Dick's performance they all had felt the gravity of the situation and waited in the stands, following the lead of the older heroes who seemed to know what was going on.

Haly strolled over to the group, a smile on his face. He approached Kaldur and offered his hand for a handshake. "It's nice to see you again, as yourselves this time. I never really got to thank you for the last time. Dick's told me about most of you."

Kaldur nodded his head with a smile. "He's told us plenty about you as well. It's a pleasure to meet you again Mr Haly and we appreciate your thanks although it isn't necessary." The rest of the group watched on confused about how they knew each other, not many knew about the Daring Dangers.

"Dick's waiting for you all in the back, I'll take you round. I hope you have enjoyed yourselves though, from the little he's said you sound like you needed a chance to relax." He laughed as he led them towards the back of the tent, away from the crowds. The younger members happily sharing everything they had loved about the day, despite the lingering confusion. Some of them had a small suspicion of why – after all Dick's performance looked vaguely familiar, plus the way the older members were acting.

They passed through the back of the tent and behind the scenes. Performers and acts packed away and cleaned equipment. Animals were being fed and groomed and people were chatting away happily. The target of the group was happily conversing with the Silver Sparrows all three had changed out of their costumes. They spotted the oncoming group and shared a last smile before Dick broke off heading towards them.

"Hey guys." Dick grinned sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "Thanks Haly, you mind if-?" He moved his hands vaguely but didn't finish his sentence.

"Go ahead, Dickie. Just come say goodbye before you leave and remember to visit more! We miss you, kiddo." Haly pulled him into a hug before heading off to talk to some of his performers.

"Why don't we move to a more private spot." Dick led them off towards a small tent further away from the rest of the circus. It was a surprisingly spacious tent, easily fitting the group, and sparsely furnished. Jericho nodded at Dick, knowing full well who he was. The older member of the team and all the others who knew his identity offered him a mix of small encouraging smiles and curious looks. Was he really about to do what they thought he was?

They stood in an awkward silence as the group seemed like they were trying to find something to say. Dick opened his mouth only to close it before starting again "Did you enjoy the show?"

Jamie spoke up. "It was brilliant, I haven't been to the circus in years." He was grinning and about to continue praising the circus but was stopped by Karen who elbowed him in the side. "Can I ask why we're here though and, erm, who are you, I mean like why are we talking to you?" He finished a bit sheepish, voicing the thoughts of many of the group.

"Don't worry Jamie." The boy looked ready to ask how he knew his name but was elbowed again, this time by Barbara, leaving the boy nursing his side and muttering about violent women. "I sent the tickets as I figured you could all enjoy the break and chance to relax after everything. As for why I'm talking to you, well I think Cassie's worked it out."

Cassie had been watching him, eyes narrowed as if trying to connect the dots. As he finished his statement and everyone turned to her, she finally figured it out. The connection with the older members, ability to hack the zeta-tubes, knowledge of them and acrobatic skills all lead to one thing. "You're Nightwing."

Her announcement had a variety of reactions. The rest of the group who hadn't figured it out were looking between the two, analysing the acrobat in front of them trying to connect him to the hero they all knew. The older members nodded confirming her suspicion, not that she even noticed that as Nightwing grinned proudly at her, which was all the confirmation she needed. "I figured it was time you knew; you already know the identities of most of each other plus Bats finally gave me permission. Tim is my little brother and Barbara a family friend we haven't been able to get rid of." Barbara made her way over to Dick and elbowed him in the side as he grinned at her. Tim took off his sunglasses and nodded at the group.

"Wait does that mean Bruce Wayne is Batman?!" Virgil asked, eyes wide, looking like the information was not computing in his head.

Dick grinned. Nodding but not saying a word. Questions exploded from those who didn't already know and Tim made his way to his brother, trying to figure out what he actually wanted to ask. Dick nudged him as the rest of the older team members fielded questions. "You okay Timmy? I know it must bring back memories being here."

"Yeah, this visit was better, no offence. Did Bruce really give you permission?"

"He did, I got Alfred to help me convince him."

"Ah, no wonder you got permission." Dick laughed at Tim's dry tone. "Is this why you were avoiding the manor? The Demon Brat's missed you, he's been worse than ever. Even Jason's been by to ask about you."

Dick sighed. "Mostly. I'm an adult Tim, I have my own life in Bludhaven and I am trying to piece everything back together it's just going to take a bit of time but I'll be okay eventually. I promise to visit more if it makes you feel better."

"I think it does. I'm glad you're getting better." He rolled his eyes as Dick nudged his repeatedly with a smug grin, acting like the big brother he was. He hesitated before adding, "it was good to see you fly again." He left to talk to Barbara, not looking back to see Dick's reaction (a soft smile at the back of his little brother's head).

Dick went back to answering questions and laughing and joking with the group for the next hour. "Come on, I think it's time we all left, it's getting late. I promise to answer anymore questions the next time I'm around."

Kaldur raised an eyebrow at him. "I presume that means you will finally be back around again my friend."

"I promise Kal. I was just a bit nervous about all this and still dealing with some stuff. I'm working towards being better." Dick smiled softly.

Kaldur nodded "We understand, it was good to see you smile again. We will let you say goodbye to Mr Haly, but we will see you soon." With that he led the rest of the group away, back towards Titan Tower where they would take the Zeta-tubes back to base and from there split up back to their homes.

Dick grinned to himself, spending a few minutes alone in the tent to gather his thoughts. He had spent so long worrying about everything but he knew the younger team members deserved to finally know his identity. They could be trusted plus you never know when it may be needed and keeping an identity secret was part of the reason he had been so stressed during the Invasion – he had been juggling far too many hats and it had caused them to collapse.

He had told Tim and Kaldur the truth, he was getting better but he wasn't quite there. He wasn't at peace with Tarantula but he also wasn't ready to speak about anything with her. He was however pulling his life back together and settling into who he was again.

He nodded to himself and took a deep breath before leaving the tent to find Haly. He needed to thank him for giving him this chance. It was nice to be back at the circus, back at his first home. Unlike the last time he was here, he was more at peace with his family's deaths. He would never forget them, but it was time to move forward and embrace the family he had built up. It was time to look towards the future and to hope.

And finished.

This story has been a long journey and I am so happy to have shared it with all of you. Thank you so much for reading this story and I hope you have enjoyed it. This is the end for now (but who know I may eventually be re-inspired and add more).

I mentioned at the top that I am planning to update – this means I am going to post this and then other the next few days (hopefully) I am planning to fix mistakes and re-post the chapters here on and post the updated chapters on AO3 as well.

Once again, thank you so much for everything and I hope you all stay safe and wish you all the best in everything. These are trying times but we will get through them.

Robyn x