Goodbye

Dick Grayson stood at the foot of his king size bed; packing away his clothes and items that he had collected over the years, which was something that he picked up from Wally in order to keep his memory alive, even after all that happened.

Looking around the lightly colored room, Dick stared at the imprint where Wally used to sleep when they used to come home from missions; he on the right, Wally on the left.

That was the way it was; Dick didn't mind Wally's obnoxious snoring or even that he cuddled with him at the worst time possible, when he just wanted to sleep. Dick felt the pain of having his best friend torn away and out of his life. He dumped the frame into the green bag and headed to the old wooden door.

Knowing that he would never see Wally again was the one thing that hurt him the most.

The only thing that he had left from Wally was a picture frame with both of them standing in front of the Hall of Justice. They could not have been more than fifteen or sixteen in Wally's case. Dick picked up the frame and gripped tight, it was one that he had left and he would never lose it.

"Wally I miss you man, we all do. I just wish you were here." Dick said with a tear in his eye; trying to fight the tears was something that he could not do, tears flooded the lightly stained frame.

After packing away most of the things he had stored in the room, this room was just a place where he could crash after missions; he would miss it but this place held too many painful memories.

Dick turned the doorknob; his hand gripping tightly; feeling like he was leaving part of him behind.

He continued down the spiral stairs into the training area. Dick looked around and only saw Black Canary and Tim sparring like they always did at this time. It was always like clockwork, Dick thought to himself; briefly letting a smile come through. It was the only constant thing in his life.

"Dick, what's with bags" Tim asked.

"I'm leaving, for Bludhaven."

Dick looked at him with a look of sadness. Tim was his brother, not in the blood sense but they were brothers who die for each other. Tim stopped sparring and ran toward him.

"You can't leave, you just can't; I need you." Tim screamed at the top of his lungs.

"I know, but it's something that I have to do. After all Bludhaven is worse than Gotham."

Tim stood there, dumbstruck; like he had been shot with an arrow and did not realize it. Dick trained him, took him in, made him into the person he was today and after all this he was leaving without even saying goodbye.

"I… don't want you to leave. Tim said softly; "Wally was not your fault, he gave his life for all of us, so we could have the life we all wanted to have."

"Tim, do you know what this life amounts to?"

"No, what?"

"We as heroes end up with two options, we die in battle saving the world like Wally or we become so useless and old. We don't get the chance to have a family, own a house, we don't ever get that chance. If we try to leave this life, we get dragged right back in." Dick explained.

Tim stood silently looking at the person who he cared for most in this world. Deep down he knew that it was true and that he would never have any of these things. But being a hero meant more to him than anything.

"Do you remember what you said to me; the first time I completed a mission?" Tim asked.

"Dude, way to get your feet wet." Dick replied quickly.

The words echoed through Tim's head. The person who thought he was too green, that was main reason why he was on echo team; said this to him, making him wonder why he was leaving. Tim looked at Dick, knowing that he would not change his mind; hugged him and say goodbye, after all Dick was just as stubborn as he was.

Artemis and Bart walked in after a long night of being on patrol from Batman. They noticed the same thing that Tim did. Curious, they went over to find out why.

"Dick, what's with the bags?" They both asked.

"I'm leaving for Bludhaven."

"You can't, we need you." Both of them replied in a hasty tone.

"You can; the real reason is that without Wally here, I have no purpose to be here. Gotham is batman's city. Bludhaven is nighwing's city. That's the way it is."

All three of them stood in the entrance, waving goodbye at the person that they knew. For Artemis, it was the kid who she saw grow up from being a spoiled fifteen year old kid to a responsible person. For Bart, he was his cousin's best friend and he was a person who he cared for. For Tim, he was a mentor and friend.

As Dick steps through the zeta tube.

"Nightwing, B01".

Tim drops to the ground, tears overflowing from his eyes. He just lost the other person who he cared about, "they all leave, some sooner than later".

Bart gripped Tim with his little hands, assuring his that it was going to be ok; but Tim knew that it would not be for a while. The team had been through so much, maybe this is for the better, he told himself.

The one thing that Dick didn't realize was that "Artemis was Wally's partner; I'm still hurting from it but I moved on." Artemis said softly.

"I guess you're right." Tim said softly.

"How about one last sparring match, I almost won last time." Bart said.

"I guess I do." Tim said with a smile on his face.

The team had not been the same since Wally's death, but they all moved on. The worst part was that Dick could not handle his best friend being dead; so he did the next best thing. Cleaning up Bludhaven was the one thing he could do to take it off of his mind. It would all make sense in the years to come.