ghosts | d. grayson

chapter 32

32. bye bye grayson

•—✽—✽—✽—•

meanwhile...

DICK GRAYSON, FOR ONCE IN HIS LIFE, was owning up to his mistakes. He realized that the secret he was keeping was ruining the team; that it was ruining him.

The man stood in front of the group, feeling their questioning stares burn into him. Taking a deep breath, he looked at each member of the Titans, old and new, before confessing his deepest regret. "I lied," he began.

As if everyone wasn't already confused at the reason for Dick calling everyone into the kitchen, the start of his sentence definitely created a hole that sunk everyone into a deep pit of pure confusion. "I lied to you guys because I was afraid you'd leave this place. And me. And if that happened, there would be no Titans. And I lied to you, too," Dick explained, now bringing his attention specifically to Hank, Dawn, and Donna. "I told you that Jericho was dead when I got to the church, but he wasn't. He was alive. He died trying to save me from his father."

"I'm sorry. You all deserve more," was the last thing Dick added after finally revealing the secret he had been keeping from his closest friends for years. Silence rested upon the group as they watched Hank slowly get up and approach the man.

No one had expected to watch Hank throw the hardest punch he could've possibly thrown. His fist connected with the side of Dick's face instantly. "Lying sack of shit!" The man yelled as Dawn pulled him back. Paige immediately sprung up at the sudden attack, appearing quickly at Dick's side.

One hand rested on his shoulder as she used her other to carefully bring his face up to view so that she could check on him. He dropped his hand from his nose, allowing her to quickly scan over his face. Her eyes caught sight of the small amount of blood that leaked from his nose.

"How many other fucking half-truths have you told us?" Donna asked sternly, not giving a shit about what had just happened.

"At least you got a half-truth," Rachel piped up.

"My brother's dead because of you," Rose spat. They watched as she got up announcing that she wanted out. Jason soon followed suit. So did Donna, Rachel, Hank, and Dawn.

"Kind of messed up, Dick," Gar added. Paige shook her head at the boy's remark. Next it was Kory's turn to leave the Tower. She didn't want to go but she had other important things to take care of.

The man looked over at Paige, his sad eyes taking in her appearance before she slowly shook her head, "I'm not going anywhere..."

However, he wasn't looking at her to ask if she was gonna stay or not, he was looking at her for one last time before he left.

-

Gar could hear the yelling that came from the room from all the way in the kitchen. He didn't have to ask to know what it was since Dick had told him already before he went to his room. Also, he could hear the conversation perfectly. Or at least half the conversation. He mainly was only able to hear Paige.

"Dick, I'm not leaving you!" Paige snapped, turning to face him. The man had already started to pack a duffel bag with things he would need.

"You should. Look at what I've become and what it's caused."

"Yeah what you were years ago..."

"I did the same thing to Rose. Just like I did to Jericho it's not any different." Sighing, she moved closer to him, standing between him and the bag that he was packing on the bed. He brought his arms down to his sides as he shut his eyes tightly before unwillingly looking at her.

"Look, you did something that was fucked up I'll admit that. And so have I and so has every single person that has walked out of that elevator—Hank, Dawn, Donna, Kory, Rachel, Gar, Jason—none of us are innocent here," the woman explained as she tried to reason with him.

"But I lied...to all of them."

"And you shouldn't have, but that's behind you now. You told the truth and that's what matters. You didn't kill Jericho. Slade did. Jericho died trying to protect you. He made that decision himself."

"Yeah. but he wouldn't have been there if I hadn't gone and practically lured him out in the first place."

"You wanted revenge for what happened to Garth. I get that. I would've done the exact same thing." He looked into her eyes before his face hardened, a more serious and calm look replacing his once tense one.

"If you're not leaving, then I will. For your sake." Moving around her, he finished packing the last of his things before grabbing the bag and heading out.

"No..." She shook her head as he walked towards the bedroom door. "Don't you walk away from me. Dick Grayson I swear to God if you walk out through that door I will never forgive you."

The man immediately paused as his jaw clenched, his eyes shutting in thought. He had to make a decision at that moment. He didn't want to hurt Paige, but he needed to leave for his own benefit. He needed to figure himself out. Dick Grayson needed to figure out what his next steps would be.

"I'm sorry," he said softly before walking through the door and down the hall towards the elevator.

Paige felt like her heart had just been ripped out of her chest, stabbed repeatedly, and then put back in without any of the wounds being fixed. Her heart was shattering as each millisecond passed. "What happened to, 'I'll always be here', huh?!" she yelled, standing in the doorway. "What the fuck happened to that?"

Dick didn't take anything that she said to him to heart. He knew that she didn't mean any of it and would later regret it. So instead of reacting, he continued towards the elevator.

As the elevator doors closed, he watched the woman appear in front of the metal doors before spitting out whatever words she could think of in that moment. "You fucking piece of shit, fuck you!"

That was the last thing that Dick Grayson had heard before he left the Titans Tower for who knew how long.