So much happened at airports. They were like a little world away from the one that lay only beyond the walls, a place where everything was ever so slightly uncanny. A snapshot of the human condition in a way that might make heads spin if not properly adjusted to fast-paced life and emotions that swelled beneath everything. It was like looking at it all under a microscope. People rushed for flights, hurried to ensure family members hadn't forgotten anything. Conversations mingled together, goodbyes called and promises made to make the next trip last longer, to wait a shorter amount of time before it happened. A few people even seemed to argue with workers, highlighting that not everything was as great as most would have liked to pretend. All the while, worries about the outside world seemed to have been completely abandoned.

Not that Dick felt the last one all that much.

'Why did I ever agree to this?' grumbled A.J., shifting her bag of hand luggage over her shoulder. Already her face was paling, her pupils dilating with mounting fear. Dick knew that this was the only part of their plan to travel that she was hating.

'Better question,' added Teddy, who didn't look quite as terrified as his sister but seemed on his way to it, 'why didn't we get the train instead?'

'It'd take longer,' said Tim simply, his attention flicking towards Bruce, concern obvious behind his eyes. It had been difficult enough getting the younger boy to accept the invitation, let alone to actually get him ready for the imminent flight. Between wanting to look after his own father and to make sure that Bruce was OK, he appeared to have forgotten to think about himself and what he might need. A.J. had helped him, Dick, persuade Tim though, said that he'd be able to see if he could work out the identity of Superman and his cousin, who had finally made a name for herself in National City: Supergirl.

'But we wouldn't be thousands of feet in the air in a metal death-trap,' murmured A.J., scanning the airport, probably for a way out.

Dick took her hand gently and gave it a brief squeeze. The Kanes' fear of flying was something that mildly amused him, despite his desire to ensure that his friends were OK. It baffled him how they were still so worried about flying when they could help Batman and Robin on a daily basis, fight the criminals that others had nightmares about, and seem not to even bat an eyelid.

And, after everything that had happened in recent months, it had done nothing to diminish the fear that he deemed unnecessary.

'Have you got everything?' Bruce asked, taking Tim's rucksack without bothering to check with the teenager. He was fussing, something Dick never thought he'd see. If anything, Bruce looked the most harassed out of any of them, more jittery than A.J. even. The bags under his eyes seemed to be getting worse, as if they were working their way to becoming a permanent feature.

'Yes,' Tim said, patiently waiting for their guardian to be done; concern creased his brow in a way that a fifteen year old shouldn't have even known about, let alone be able to replicate. 'And if not, we're only in National City. We can buy replacements.'

'Unless it's something dark,' piped up A.J., resting an elbow awkwardly on his shoulder. 'Pretty sure they only do shades of bright over there.'

Tim rolled his eyes as he was given his bag back, but a small smirk curled his lips nonetheless.

'Should suit you right down to the ground then,' teased Teddy.

She opened her mouth, probably to hurl some foul insult at him, but was cut off by Alfred pulling her in for a tight goodbye hug before she could protest. Dick shared a smirk with Teddy before shifting to hug Bruce.

'Be careful,' the man whispered, holding Dick a little tighter than was necessary, as if trying to assure himself that he was still there. If it wasn't for the fact that Bruce's arms were behind him, Dick was certain he'd have been checking his pulse. 'Look out for each other.'

'We will, Bruce. But same to you,' he said softly, patting Bruce on the back before pulling away. He watched carefully as Tim was hugged, noticed that Bruce was still trying to come to terms with everything, that he seemed to have gone in on himself somewhat. They were all still trying to make their way past what had happened. He just hoped that they weren't condemning Bruce to completely reverting by leaving him behind.

'Don't worry, Master Dick,' said Alfred in a low voice as he shook his hand, attention briefly flicking over to where A.J. was awkwardly hugging Bruce, 'I'll look after Master B.'

Dick grinned, a genuine smile for the first time in what felt like an age. 'I know,' he said fondly. 'You always do.' There really was no one better to help Bruce Wayne with his grief than Alfred Pennyworth, Dick was just disappointed that it had come to that again.

***

'Whoever invented planes needs a Batarang thrown at their head,' complained A.J. as the safety announcements were run through. She was all but clinging to the armrest, something Teddy did to a lesser degree on Dick's other side. His knuckles weren't quite completely white with the effort, but they were pale enough to look too bright against the dark blue material.

'Do you mean planes in general or just commercial ones?' asked Tim. 'Because, either way...'

He trailed off as A.J. shot him a dark look but remained silent as the plane started towards the runway. She was already considerably paler than normal. If it wasn't for the fact that they were near the middle of the plane Dick was ninety percent sure she would've tried to forcibly get herself off the place and driving to National City instead.

Gently, Dick took A.J.'s hand, and Teddy's, and squeezed them both. Teddy wasn't quite as terrified but take-offs and landings were the worst parts for him. At least the latter he might be able to sleep through if he managed to nap later.

'Statistically –'

'Shut up, Timothy,' said A.J. through gritted teeth as the aeroplane began to pick up speed. Dick hastily shot his brother a look but Tim had already shrugged it off, his attention on the window, on the world beyond that they would soon be seeing from a completely different angle. He'd never been on a plane before, never travelled further than a nearby city from what Dick knew. For all his attempts to be serious Tim couldn't stop the awe from flashing across his face, couldn't hide the excitement about the whole thing, in spite of everything that they'd been dealing with recently.

As the plane began its assent, the Kanes all but restricting the blood flow to Dick's hands, he couldn't help but feel a kind of peace. Moving. That was what he'd always loved. Seeing new places, experiencing new things. He loved Gotham, truly he did, but he'd been getting itchy feet again recently. The circumstances probably hadn't helped but mainly it was the circus in him, he knew that. Travelling was what helped him find where he wanted to be, helped him outrun things almost, despite how Bruce had tried to help him find other ways of coping.

'You can't always just run away from your problems,' Bruce had told him when he'd found him on the old circus site a few weeks following the deaths of his parents. But Dick hadn't been running away from them then, he'd been running towards them, trying to face them head on in a way that he couldn't quite explain.

'Anything that makes your ears pop's gotta be bad,' complained A.J., a little of her old accent coming through. It always did when she was scared, excited, or any emotion in excess really. It was one of the things that always brought a smirk to Dick's face.

When he looked around at her he realised that her eyes were squeezed so tightly shut that her whole face seemed to scrunch around them. He thought better than to make a comment right then and instead decided to save it for later, for when she had solid ground beneath her feet and a little more colour.

'It's gonna be all right,' he said softly, though part of him wondered if he was talking about the flight or what they were mentally going through. Barely a week had passed since Jason's funeral; barely a week since they'd made the decision to go away. It already felt like a lifetime away and no time at all.

Teddy was snoring softly not ten minutes later. A flight to National City really didn't take long, but somehow the older man had already fallen asleep, his way of coping with his fear. On Teddy's other side, Tim was watching a film, complaining softly about something or another before glancing back to the newspaper he'd insisted upon getting earlier. The front page had a question on it about if Batman could cope on his own after so long with a partner. The mere thought of it made Dick's stomach squirm.

Instead of dwelling on that he thought about their trip. A part of him wondered if this was the right thing to do, to leave the city again. Maybe he should have stayed with Bruce, told the others to go so that they couldn't be sucked into any of the drama that made up an average day in Gotham City.

Could he have stopped it all if he'd come back a day earlier, instead of going to catch up with one of his old circus friends? Would anything have changed if he'd taken up the mantel of Robin for Bruce once more so that Jason no longer had to? Or, would it be as Wally had said, Dick himself would've been the one they'd buried?

'What you thinking about?' asked A.J. softly. She still looked decidedly ill, and her knuckles were white from gripping the armrests, but there was an undercurrent of concern for him behind her words. Distraction, that was what she always seemed to try and find for herself; something that she was very good at.

Dick sighed, rested his head against the headrest. 'Everything,' he murmured, closing his eyes.

Silence fell between them for a moment. A.J.'s hand placed carefully over his before she whispered, 'Jason.'

Carefully, Dick nodded. It was difficult not to think about Jason, and even more so to hide the fact from people, let alone even try hiding it from his best friend. Almost everything seemed to wind up with him thinking back to Jason, to the phone call about it. Bruce telling him that he needed to come home.

He'd already been on his way there though, already trying to find the words to completely patch up his relationship with Bruce.

'Jason wasn't your fault, Dick,' she said in barely more than a heavy whisper, assuring him that she was doing the same thing he was: blaming themselves for everything that had happened, contemplating the "What ifs" like it might help. He knew that she was thinking back to the day Jason had tried to steal the Batmobile's hubcaps; to when he'd saved her that one time she'd overworked herself. Knew that she was thinking about the way she had been his in with Batman and Robin.

'Then none of this was your fault either, A.J.,' he assured her, opening his eyes and looking over at her. Her eyes looked more golden with tears gathering in them, tears she wouldn't let fall yet but which he felt filling his own. 'Jason didn't listen to anyone.'

She scoffed gently, but just as she opened her mouth to say something more, the plane hit turbulence. She squealed, clung onto his arm. All guilt seemingly forgotten in replacement of fear.

Dick shifted slightly, laced his fingers through hers and gave her hand a tight squeeze. It was times like this, times when they simply got to be Richard Grayson and Amelia-Jane Kane, that he wondered what life would have been like if he'd never become Robin, if they'd never decided that helping Batman protect the city was a good idea. He wondered if maybe they shouldn't just stop, if they should try again at being themselves.

But if there was one thing he'd learnt from being with the Titans it was that being a hero was in a person's blood. Once they'd seen that spark and ignited it once there was no putting it out, and both of them had done that for so long now it was only a matter of time before they went back to trying to be the heroes, even with the blame that they had put heavily on their own shoulders. In fact, he was pretty sure that was part of what made Gotham heroes reach Batman level.

He'd always hoped that they would carve their own path, one that wouldn't require that sacrifice. But part of him was beginning to doubt that; what if a hero of Gotham needed that guilt to be successful?

***

'Hello, solid ground!' A.J. practically sang as they exited the terminal. The conversation with Dick about blame still rang in her ears. He understood why she felt Jason was her fault, knew that there was no way of getting her to ignore that, but he had tried, as she had for him, and that was what she'd needed.

But that had been on the plane. That was an issue to deal with when they were back in Gotham. For now, she was going to try and enjoy being somewhere different. To try and think about something else. A job made easier by how different National City already seemed in comparison to home.

'If I ever complain again –'

'All will be right with the world,' teased Teddy, earning a semi-icy glare. Relief made even mock irritation somewhat difficult to maintain. She could see a little of the tension falling away from his own shoulders.

'Do we even have somewhere to stay?' asked Tim, bursting the little bubble of relief instantly.

A.J. furrowed her brow. She hadn't even thought about that for some reason. She'd been so glad to get away that the logistics of it all hadn't even crossed her mind. She glanced briefly at Teddy, who usually had those kinds of things written down and prepared. But even he looked at a loss.

Slowly, as one, the three of them looked expectantly towards Dick.

'Didn't you bring sleeping bags?' he asked, attention skimming the welcoming crowd, trying to pick someone out that none of them knew about. A.J. guessed he was looking for their guide, but she couldn't be certain. 'The stars are such a –'

'Don't even try it, Grayson,' she said firmly, glancing around as well. Everyone looked so cheerful it felt wrong, felt as though they'd stepped into an alternative universe. National City was as close to being Gotham's foil as she felt comfortable getting. Everything looked brighter, almost unnaturally so. There was no fog clinging to the floor like someone had paid too much for a smoke machine and was determined to get their money's worth. 'You could've bought a holiday apartment with your pocket money for all we know.'

Dick didn't bother to answer, so A.J. merely shared a shrug with her brother. He looked as baffled as she was. A little of his usual concern seemed to shine behind his eyes. He'd been too distracted previously to think about the plan for when they arrived, which truly put everything into stark perspective for her.

She hastily shook her head, trying to banish the thoughts for the moment. Instead, she glanced around, tried to get her bearings. Skyscrapers loomed over them, missing the familiar smog staining that clung to home. People shot polite smiles at each other instead of clinging more tightly to their bags and wearing permanently suspicious scowls. A lot of people were rushing, but none of them seemed harassed. It was as if they were all working as some kind of well-oiled machine rather than working against each other, focused only on what they needed to do.

'Jimmy!'

Dick's voice cut through everything else. He chuckled softly before rushing through the crowd and clapping an intimidating figure on the shoulder. The smile that the other man wore softened the impression slightly, but people still seemed to move around him, giving him more room than was probably necessary.

'You're James Olsen,' said Tim in way of greeting, awe obvious behind his words.

The man, James, shot him a winning smile. 'Tim, I guess?' He offered out a hand.

Tim shook it eagerly, started bombarding him with questions about Superman and Metropolis, about the arrival of Supergirl.

A.J., however, tuned them out. She sent a quick text to Alfred, letting him know they were safe and complaining about planes, before she turned to Teddy.

He looked like a kid in a sweet shop, desperate to take it all in. She could tell he was weighing up the potential hazards, probably coming up a fair few shorter than he usually did at home. He was mentally cataloguing everything, a habit that she didn't think he'd ever fully forget to do one day; even if he'd forgotten to figure out a plan.

'Think you can cope here for a week or two?' she asked, gently nudging his arm.

'Can I,' he breathed, shooting her a grin that calmed her concerns slightly. The place seemed to suit him more than Gotham ever had. Central City had been closer to what he enjoyed, but this was like a mini-slice of heaven in some respects.

'And you must be Teddy and A.J.,' said James, his attention finally shifting to them. 'The pleasure's all mine.'

'I thought your place was with Big Blue,' said A.J., shaking his hand.

James shrugged the comment off. 'I'll go wherever the next story takes me.'

'Hopefully,' said Dick, gathering up his suitcase, 'to a café!'

James beamed, nodding down the road. 'I might've found a couple of decent ones,' he said, shooting a quick wink at Tim before starting off through the crowds, seemingly unworried about the possibilities of pickpockets and attacks. 'One of the first things I did when I got here was scout out the best coffee places.'

Dick chuckled heartily; Teddy seemed to relax into a smile as Tim hurried to walk beside their guide.

'Money really can buy friends,' teased A.J., following the others and hauling her suitcase along beside her, glancing back every so often, just in case.

'I know him through Superman,' murmured Dick, his attention on Tim but occasionally swerving around them. He was on as edge as she was, however calm he looked on the outside. 'He's helped a couple of times.'

'And he knows you...?'

'When I was travelling, not from anything else,' Dick admitted, a small smile curling his lips. It only lasted a moment before guilt crept in behind his eyes.

'Hey,' said A.J. quickly, 'why didn't you mention this place was literally It's a Small World come to life?'

'And spoil the surprise?' he chuckled, the darkness receding for a moment. 'Where would the fun be in that?' He winked at her before jogging ahead a little to catch up with James and Tim.

A.J.'s attention didn't stay still for more than a couple of seconds. She was certain that something had to happen. It was too quiet, way too quiet to be normal. Everything felt wrong, no matter how ordinary it seemed to be for everyone else. She wanted nothing more than to make some sly remark, to say a comment that would have only really been appreciated by Jason. But the words clung to her throat, unable to be voiced because their intended listener wasn't there.

'Amy,' said Teddy softly, snapping her attention his way. He was walking beside her, his blue eyes trained on her, occasionally flicking to check he wasn't about to walk into anyone. 'You all right?'

'I'm on solid ground, Ted, never been –'

'That's not what I meant,' he said, sadness creeping in behind the words. 'I meant –'

'Do you want me to be hysterical, Teddy?' she asked, a little more coolly than she'd necessarily intended. Her brother seemed to recoil a little but it took only a moment for him to bounce back. He was far too used to her for it to affect him too much. 'He... he knew what he signed up for,' was all she said on the matter before hurrying on to walk beside Tim, letting his ramblings wash over her, a mix of Supergirl musings and facts about Maxwell Lord's new superfast train. Anything to stop herself from thinking about Gotham, about Robin... about missing Jason.