Avoiding Past And Future

27

Dick slammed the door behind him as he angrily entered his room. After the mission debrief, Bruce had pulled him aside. The tech in the Robin suit was acting up so he felt like he had no choice but to explain what happened. Of course, he felt like an idiot for thinking the tech malfunctioning would finally be enough proof.

Nope

Bruce had yet again doubled down on Cujo being a hallucination.

"Dick, we are both aware of how strong hallucinations can be. It may feel real in all senses but that doesn't make it reality."

How could that man still think Dick was lying?! The tech proved something happened! And, please, while he is a skilled fighter, who in their right minds would think a 13 year old powerless human could singlehandedly take down not one, but TWO mutated birds while his superabled friend struggled with just one?

The signs were all there

So why did nobody believe him?

Dick curled into a ball at the foot of his bed, tears streaming down his face in both anger and sadness.

What hurt even more was that they weren't even alone. Both Alfred and Wally were there to witness the fight. Wally was here for a sleepover but truth be told, Dick really wasn't feeling like it anymore. He knew from the pitying look the speedster gave him that not even he really believed what Dick was saying. Why should he? Wally had always been more science-based in his beliefs. If he didn't get solid proof himself, there was no way Wally would believe Dick being followed by his brother's meta dog.

Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but Dick really had hoped this was the last bit he was missing to prove he didn't need a one way ticket to Arkham.

He looked up in a haze, attention drawn to his partially opened wardrobe. His old family poster hung there, mockingly. Of course the only people who would have believed him before he could utter the first word were either gone or unreachable. His eyes zeroed in on the support beam right under the poster. The one time he had physical proof and it just vanished. Disappeared just like his new family's trust in his sanity.

Loosing his temper just a bit, Dick angrily punched his bedframe. He could feel the bruises on his knuckles forming already but at least the pain kept his brain occupied enough to prevent spiraling more. At least there would be no marks left on his bed as it was meta-proofed. Just yet another thing where only he would bear the signs that it even happened. Would they also not believe him, just because the bed has no marks? Sadly enough the current events would point towards a negative.

Before he could go down that doom spiral, a soft knock sounded from his door. Dick slid off his bed, setting himself with his back to the door and facing the window. After a moment, the door opened and the person wordlessly slipped inside the room.

Wally cautiously sat next to Dick, leaving enough space so the younger didn't feel like he was intruding in his personal bubble. Little did Wally know Dick's entire room was currently his personal bubble and he wasn't particularly welcoming to guests at the moment.

Still, the two sat in silence for a bit. Neither really speaking as they gazed at the sun setting over the gardens. Small mercies Dick thought, happy to not need to speak when he wasn't sure if his voice would handle it. It gave him time to calm down a bit before the older started getting twitchy from sitting still for so long.

Oh the joys of being an overenergized speedster

"So..." the ginger started.

Dick lifted his head slightly to raise an eyebrow at his friend.

"Look man, there is no easy way to say this and you know I'm horrible with words."

That's an understatement Dick thought humorlessly.