Dick Grayson was an extraordinary young boy. He had spent the majority of his life as an acrobat in a traveling circus. Haley's circus to be exact. His parents had also been acrobats. That is, until they were murdered by a man named Zucco on a warm August night. That night made poor little nine year old Richard John Grayson an orphan and would change his life forever. After that a kind hearted man named Bruce Wayne, a billionaire who had suffered a similar trauma, took him in and gave him a home. Little did the child know that Bruce Wayne led a secret life. A secluded life. Bruce was a creature of the night who struck terror into the hearts of those who did evil. Bruce Wayne was Batman. One night, as the bat was investigating the unfortunate "accident" wrought by Zucco he stumbled upon Dick, doing the same. Batman was instantly impressed by the lad's skills and he revealed himself to the acrobat, placing his trust on him. Dick became the Bat's first sidekick: Robin. The rest, as they say, is history.
Now Dick was a teenager, about to turn fourteen. As Robin he had made friends with Kid flash (Wally West), Aqualad (Kaldur'ahm), Superboy (Connor Kent), Miss Martian (Megan, M'gann), and Artemis (Artemis Crock). He and these other adolescent heroes had formed an elite covert ops team for the Justice League. Aqualad acts as the leader of this well trained, well equipped team of fighters.
But nothing could have prepared Robin for what happened tonight.
Gotham city had been quiet, crime-wise; so Dick was asleep in his room. It was the night before his fourteenth birthday and nearly midnight when the dream came to him.
He was walking through a forest. He didn't know what forest or why, but he didn't think much of it. The air was dark. Not just the sky, the very air felt laden with darkness. There was a low hanging mist about his legs as he walked over grass, then dirt, then a tree root, then grass again. He walked until he stopped in a smallish clearing. He still hadn't the slightest idea what he was doing or why he was doing it.
Then he saw it. The wolf. This wolf was gray and black in color; and had a slightly familiar look to it, though Dick had never seen it before. Right then, the wolf stepped forward, towards Robin. And again. AND AGAIN! The normally intrepid dick, stepped back, and was then sprinting out of the clearing trying to escape whatever this creature wanted of him. But the wolf was too fast and was gaining rapidly. It felt like an eternity before he could see the trees thinning out at the edge of the forest at sunrise. He thought he would make it. But then the wolf appeared and lunged at Robin's back before he realized it. Or rather, into his back. And at that moment, he could feel the wolf in him.
He screamed "No no nononono…"
"NO!" He awoke screaming and sat bolt upright in bed. He panted and realized that he had been sweating during the nightmare. His pillow and shirt were drenched in it. After he had caught his breath he still felt… weird. Like he still felt like the wolf could be inside him. But it was just a dream right? He looked over at the clock on his nightstand. 1:06 December first. The exact time of his birth. The exact time the weirdness started. At that very second, his hearing began to elevate, as did his sense of smell. This wasn't noticeable at first, though it would be later on. To shake the peculiar feeling that there was something wrong with him, he went to the bathroom.
After he had washed his hands, he splashed his face with icy cold water. He needed to wake up more; to lose this eerie sensation. But the sense only intensified. He then realized that he could be a danger. He didn't know how or why but he knew that he was. He had to disappear.
Fortunately, he had prepared for times like this.
He walked back to his room and lifted up his mattress. He had kept an outfit underneath it in case he needed to vanish, so that he wouldn't be recognized by his clothes. Of course his black hair and fair skin were fairly clear anyway but it was a start. He didn't take his utility belt or his mask or uniform or even his shades; those could have tracers on them and right now, he didn't want to be found. After switching off his alarm; he grabbed a notepad and pen, wrote down a note to Bruce and left out of his window and down a neighboring tree. No idea where he was going, he just left.
"Goodbye Bruce. I'll see you again, I hope."