WHO Jason Todd & Dick Grayson. WHAT A Death in the Family. WHERE Villa rooftop. WHEN After this. WARNINGS Bickering Batlings. Dissociative episodes. Mentions of death.
He was drowning. In the back of his mind, a more ruthless and hard-hitting version of Bruce Wayne reared its ugly head, and began to speak. Slow, methodical. Truths, manipulated and driven home in a way that would always hit Dick hard. Lies and half-truths, twisted and knotted. He couldn’t even muster the energy to begin to argue, not against himself. Because Bruce Wayne was not here. Bruce Wayne was many things, but not the shrewd and belittling man his brain conjured during those moments when the world was just too much. A sole moment's weakness, and Dick was at the mercy of a false Bruce, whispering in his ear.
Go on, Dick. Let me fix your mess, that Bruce said. I always do.
Dick tried not to listen, and got to work on loosening his black tie. Black for a funeral - no, he wasn't - He just needed a second to breathe. He wouldn't get that second. Jason had burst into his life one day, and shit. That was just like Jason, wasn't it? Brash. Angry. Desperate to find a place where he belonged, starving for an adult that wouldn't pawn him off to the next. And you failed, not!Bruce helpfully chimed in, standing somewhere at the edge of his peripheral field, wearing a smug smile that Dick had come to know well.
With his tie finally loosened, Dick just threw the liberated tie at the hallucination. "Bruce. Shut up."