Chapter Text
Bruce stares at the empty wine cellar infront of him, sighing as he remembers why it's empty, why he made his decision to go sober...
It was a rainy night, the night after Jason died. Bruce was sitting in his office, half lucid as the door made a squeaking noise. Bruce turned his head up at the noise, seeing the door open, revealing an 11 year old Percy... He has told Percy about his.. nightly routine and how Jaosn died over dinner, which made Percy promptly leave without a word. Bruce isn't sure what came over him, whether it's the alcohol or the sorrow, grief, and regret... "Wh't do you w'nt..?" Bruce's voice came out slurred rougher than he meant it to be but he isn't sober enough to care. "Bruce..." Percy's weak voice came, lips quivering as he continues, "...'m scared n' I miss Jason, I wanna stay with you tonight..." his voice lets out a low hic after it that would've made Bruce's heart clench if he was sober. "You're eleven Perseus, not five and scared of monsters in the hallway. Go back to your room." Bruce responds, letting out a low grunt as Percy went silent, staring at Bruce before leaving.
The next morning, Bruce woke up to Alfred, with a solemn expression, telling him Percy ran away, and the same day, the wine cellar was ordered to be cleared out.
How could Bruce do that? He knew Percy's history with his abusive step-dad... his sister — Percy's mother — Sally — wrote him a letter about it, how Gabe would get drunk and hit her and Percy, now when Sally died, and Percy was put under his care, he got drunk, possibly triggering Percy's memories, causing him him to run away. God, he doesn't even know if Percy's alive right now. The moment Jason came back he asked about Percy, and how pissed he was when Bruce told him what happened. He refused to rekindle their already fragile relationship with eachother for months and actively did everything to spite him out of anger and grief. And when Dick showed him to Percy's gravestone next to his... Jason broke done and dug through the dirt to find no body. Because Percy was never found. He only pronounced him dead because of the lack of evidence that he's still alive.