the robin & the canary; young justice

Prologue II: Pretty Names & Ocean Eyes

"I am so sorry," he burst out, as Reese was still rubbing the back of her head, trying to figure out what had just happened. "I wasn't watching where I was going, and then I--hey, it's you!"

His exclamation was with wonderment and shock, and it made Reese blink for a moment before she finally got a good look at whoever it was that ran into her.

There was a sense of familiarity surrounding him as if she had seen him before, but Reese wasn't entirely sure, until the boy cracked a crooked smile at her, and her mouth dropped open.

It was him. The boy from the circus, the one whose family had fallen. He was--

"Dick Grayson," the boy suddenly shot out a hand, and warily, Reese shook it. "So, uh, last time we saw each other I never got your name. What is it?"

"...Reese," she said finally, and the boy, Dick, it seemed (seriously, who names their kid that?), tilted his head to the side.

"So, Reese, is that, uh, short for something? Like, my full name is Richard, but I hate people calling me that, so everyone just calls me Dick instead,"

Reese thought for a moment.

"My mother used to call me Rhysalin when she was going to tell me something important. Everyone normally calls me Reese though,"

Not that she interacted with most people these days, but she was friendly enough with the grocer over on 32nd Street.

"Well, can I call you Rhysalin?" Dick's voice drew Reese from her thoughts, making the brunette glance upward. "It's a pretty name,"

"Thanks?" Reese asked, a split-second before there was a crash, and the redhead from earlier burst from the bushes, startling both of them.

For a moment, he just stared at Reese, before his blue eyes flicked over to Dick, and they widened.

"Hey, you got her!" Reese whipped her head over to look at the black-haired boy next to her, who looked more than a bit confused.

"You two know each other?" she asked, and he shrugged.

"Well, yeah, he's Roy Harper. Lives with Oliver Queen," This time, the redhead, Roy, glanced between Reese and Dick, looking confused.

"Wait, you two know each other?" the two younger kids exchanged a glance, before speaking in unison.

"I was at the circus."

"She was at the circus."

Roy's eyes widened. "Oh," he said simply before Dick glanced over towards Reese again.

"Hey, that night, you were with your family, weren't you? Why are you out here and not with them?"

Reese sat up and sort-of curled into herself, bringing her knees to her chin as she wrapped her arms around herself.

Ever since the fire, she hadn't even gone back to where her home used to be. The entire apartment building had been closed down because of the damages, and the occupants' belongings had been set out on the curb so people would be able to claim their stuff, but Reese couldn't bring herself to see if anything was salvaged from where her home used to be.

"They died...didn't they?" Dick's voice was soft, if not more than understanding, and it made Reese glance up at the boy, meeting his ocean eyes with her own brown ones.

"House fire," she said simply. Roy made a thinking noise before his eyes widened.

"Wait..." the redhead began. "You're that girl that Green Arrow saved last year! You're the one with the sonic scream!"