A/N: Set after season 1 Which Side Are You On?
Roman slinks out of the boardroom, unable to make eye contact with Gerri, let alone his father. He hadn't been able to look at Kendall as his brother was escorted off the premises. He's still half-expecting to be fired himself.
As he leaves the building, he takes his phone out and calls Kendall. It rings until it goes through to voicemail. "Hey, Ken," he begins hesitantly. "Look, I'm sorry for how that went down. I just couldn't do it." He had so nearly done it, his hand had started to move of its own accord but he just couldn't be the one to take down his father. He'll always be a scared kid when he's in a room with him. "Hope you're okay. Call me."
He's just arriving home when his phone rings and he quickly goes to answer, then sees that it's Shiv calling. Shit. He answers cheerily, "Hey, twinny."
"What the fuck?" Shiv is clearly raging. "What the fuck's been going on?"
"It's nothing. Dad just fired Ken and half the board. You know how he gets. He'll be fine once he calms down."
"Why would you not tell me about the vote? You tell me every gross detail of your life and you don't think to tell me that you and Kendall are planning to overthrow Dad?"
"We wanted to protect you," he says honestly. Shiv scoffs.
"You were protecting yourself. And how come you're not fired?"
"It's a long story." I fucked Ken instead of fucking Dad.
"I can't believe this."
"Why do you care? You're not in the company."
"Why do I care? That my brother is probably heading for the nearest crack den right now?"
Roman flinches at this acknowledgement of his worst fear. He remembers how bad it got before Kendall went into rehab. "Could you call him? I tried but he won't talk to me."
"Right now, I never want to talk to you again either."
"That's a little dramatic, sis." Shiv ends the call.
Kendall still hasn't responded to Roman by nightfall, which worries him more than if Ken had told him to fuck off. He's just going to bed when he sees the headline on his phone Kendall Roy: What Is He On? accompanied by a photo of his brother looking sweaty and dishevelled running through the streets of New York, and thinks Well played Dad.