Who: Roger
When: Last night on a red-eye flight
Where: The airport
What: Goodbye narrative
Warnings: sniff, sniff. gooby why.



You can't do this. Damian threatened, voice shaking with the anger of a kid who had been abandoned too many times. He was afraid. Not afraid that he'd lose Roger, but afraid that he'd lose the door that he had become so attached to. It wasn't his Gotham, wasn't his father, but he had Selina. He had Steph. There was a home for him there even if it didn't feel that way the first time he dropped into the city. And, Roger was going to take that all away.

"Maybe if you're far enough away from the door for a long time, you'll go back home." Roger said into the bathroom mirror of the airport, seeing the cool blues of Damian somewhere in the reflection. Back home. Back to being ten again? No Damian could never go back to being the uppity little bird that didn't see grey without Grayson. Damian kicked and screamed until Roger let out a string of curse words to get him to shut up. "You don't want to be in that fucking city anymore. Ba-your dad isn't going to let up for much longer. He's going to hunt you down and beat the shit out of you like he's going to do to Jason." Roger's voice turned to a harsh whisper just in case there was someone else in the bathroom with him.

Damian was not afraid. He was too young to care about getting his ass kicked.

Roger sighed and pushed away from the mirror, picking up his duffle bag off the counter. He didn't want to leave his family, either. Wren and Luke's relationship was like trying to figure out rocket science to Roger, but Gus was the nephew he had always wanted. Roger had been so serious about family. About sticking together. About telling the truth. But, at the end of the day he couldn't help his own brother. Couldn't give advice that would ever really work. He couldn't imagine staying in Las Vegas any longer, trying to piece together something he couldn't begin to understand. It was time for him to go to DC, get a real job with the government and maybe find someone he could start a family with.

You're a coward. You're a COWARD. Damian screamed.

"You didn't even tell your dad goodbye when you left, kiddo. Seems to me that you're the real coward here." Roger replied, pushing the bathroom door open and headed towards his gate.

And, that was the last thing they ever said to each other. Sometime later, while flying over the midwest, Roger awoke to a surprisingly quiet silence. He lifted up his window's shutter, looking out over the land below as he wondered where he lost the little bird. If he found his way back home. Wherever that was.