Robin one shot part 3!

Truth serum

"Jason!" the former Robin scolded.

"In my defence, that was more intense of an answer than I thought."

"In my defence, I literally cannot sugarcoat my words."

"You really want me dead sometimes?" Bruce asked. Did people really not understand that he was forced to tell the truth when asked a question? Did they not just hear that he couldn't put his words in a nicer way that didn't make him seem like an asshole? Did they not see he couldn't physically shut up?

"Yeah but that's not all the time," he argued. He thought he could leave it there but apparently not. "You have to admit that you've hurt me a lot in the past. I still like you it's just that I find myself loving the idea of who you were rather than who you are and that's when I think about the what-ifs. Especially with how you act around my siblings sometimes."

"Your siblings but not my children?"

"Yes, my siblings and not your kids! That's what happens when you don't raise them properly and leave me to pick up the pieces. That's what happens when they would rather come to me than to you so they break into my apartment every five minutes. Your actions have consequences and this is one of the many consequences," he snapped. 

"Damn, Dickie's on a war path," Jason muttered. 

"Would you stop it, Jason? This isn't fun! Surprisingly, having a bad dad and ripping him to shreds isn't fun. It's actually making me feel worse about things because this is what I've got left for a father figure."

"Don't act like you've never wanted to chew this guy out. I know you filter yourself now at least when you were yelling at each other you were getting the point across," he replied. Sure his intention had been to start drama and get a real answer to his question but it wasn't a totally evil motive. 

"I didn't consent to have this conversation! Everyone assumes "well he must want it" that I'm somehow secretly consenting even when I'm pushing her away-" he stopped himself. He hadn't been asked a question thankfully so he could keep his mouth shut tight. "I'm going to my room and I swear to God if anyone even asks how my day was I'm going to lose it." He stormed past them and ran up the stairs. Jason and Bruce shared a look before the former coughed awkwardly.

"So uh, need any help on fixing it?"

Dick decidedly hated truth serums. It was all fun and games in the shows he watched as a kid. They'd get a few good laughs from messing with the victim and then there'd be a moment of tension as they nearly revealed everything only for everything to be okay in the end. He couldn't recall any instances where the character tore their guardian a metaphorical new one whilst their brother egged them on. That would be too memorable to forget. God, Jason was so going to get it when he was fixed. He was going to paint all his helmets pink, maybe take his bike apart so it made a constant unspecified rattling noise or perhaps he could shove dirt into his guns and watch him pick it all out. What his brother didn't understand was that when he used to blow up at Bruce, nothing got better. All it did was push them further apart. That's not to say he wasn't angry anymore, that was clear from what he'd said, but he'd learned to direct it towards something else. Bruce only kept him around when he was easy and useful. Yelling about everything he did wrong wasn't easy nor was it useful. Sure some days he felt more like a friend than he did a son and it stung but what else did he have? There was no backup family to go to and Bruce showed just enough promise to keep him hanging on even when there was no real change made. Dick sighed to himself, digging the heels of his hands into his eyes until he was met with fireworks of pinks and greens on a background of black. He was tired but he couldn't sleep when he was practically seething at his brother. Well, he wasn't the only one he was royally pissed off at.