[ there’s a frustrated tug on his mouth when jason smacks his hand away but he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t been expecting it. after all, the last time he touched jason, it was to throw him on the ground. ]

Fine. I dropped you. [ said with not a small amount of defensiveness, gritted out between clenched teeth. there we go—down, to the stool, where dick follows to a few steps behind and then stands in front. hands folded into his pockets now, his expression is grave as he watches jason. he sees the pinch of his brows and the confused anger storming in his eyes. jason’s face had always been so expressive, so readable until he decided to put on an act.

but the act’s coming down now, isn’t it? he takes a slow breath, letting the defensiveness bleed away with jason’s act. resignation takes its place.]

I’m sorry, alright? [ he swallows hard. it’s taken him five years to admit to his secret and this jason doesn’t really need the whole thing. he’s not going to drag it out in dreary detail like he had done on the roof of the tower. ]

Deathstroke set a trap. He said he’d trade Rose for you. I tried to trade my life for both of yours but it wasn’t worth much to him. All he wanted was to make me watch you fall. [ a yielding shake of his head as his brow pinches at the memory. just another nightmare to add to the recurring one of watching his parents fall. another person he just couldn’t hold on to. ] So I did. And I’m sorry for it.