A/N: Oh hello! Done with UNI and on summer vacation, so here's a drabble! Freestanding.

Should appeal to both lovers of dark and those who don't, it's a bit… gray… 😉

Truth or Dare?

It was a slow night at the Tower. That usually meant movie night, but this time Starfire had come up with something different.

"Let us play the honesty and the challenge!" she exclaimed.

"Truth or dare?" Raven clarified, sounding very hesitant.

"Yes!" The alien radiated with more eagerness than usual, while the other Titans glanced at each other. "I have made preparations! Robin, please may we have a game?"

The young man sighed quietly to himself, but he always had trouble denying his team any fun, as these relaxing times were quite rare, especially lately.

"Sure, Star," he said. "Guys?" he asked the others, hoping against hope that they would come up with an excuse.

"I'm in!" Beast Boy grinned.

"Got nothing to hide!" Cyborg declared with a wide grin.

Raven looked uncomfortable, but nodded.

"Oh, friends! We will have all of the fun!" Starfire promised them. "I will go and prepare!" she added and flew off into the kitchen.

"Prepare what?" Raven muttered.

"Snacks?" Cyborg said hopefully.

"No one can dare me to eat meat, right?" Beast Boy asked, looking worried.

"Nah, man, that's not cool," Cyborg reassured him.

"Great!" the changeling smiled.

"Neither is making people kiss you," his friend added with a meaningful glance as Raven, who pretended not to notice.

"Wasn't going to!" the green teen, now slightly redder, claimed. "I wouldn't! I'm sixteen now, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, you're soooo grown up," his friend laughed.

"Hey! You're twenty! You shouldn't even be allowed to call yourself a TEEN Titan anymore! You're like… like… an OLD Titan!"

"Come here, you little…!" Cyborg growled and the chase was on.

"I think anything like that should be off the table," Robin said quickly, watching the two and feeling way too old for what was going on himself. "We can ask any questions and stuff we want, but let's respect some personal boundaries, okay?"

Cyborg and Beast boy stopped their pretend chase at the serious tone of Robin's voice and they and Raven looked somewhat surprised, but nodded.

"Here we are! Please have the toast!" Starfire said, floating up to them with a tray of glasses with a blue liquid, handing them a glass each.

"Um… Star? What's this?" Beast Boy asked.

"The liquid of honesty, of course!" the alien proclaimed.

"You mean like a truth serum?" Cyborg asked.

"Yes! It is needed, is it not, for the game to be true?" Starfire asked, looking a bit uncertain.

Robin looked suspiciously at his drink, and then exchanged glances with Raven, who subtly nodded towards the kitchen. Robin turned his head to see what she was indicating and grinned. On the kitchen counter was a half empty bottle of blue energy drink.

"To the truth!" Robin declared and raised his glass.

"To the truth!" the rest of the team followed, more or less enthusiastically.

The liquid was clearly just energy drink, Robin decided, and then hoped BB wouldn't be too buzzed. They seldom let him have any, actually Robin frowned on having it around at all, but lately things had been quite hectic with Slade being up to who-knew-what. A night like this, with no alarms, hadn't happened in weeks. That's why he had allowed the energy drinks, and he had had more than one himself. He mentally shrugged and decided to not to start thinking about Slade again, and just relax and have fun for once in his damn life. Sometimes it felt like he was getting too old for all of this. He chuckled to himself. Yes, and old man in his late teens. Lovely.

"Robin, how do we do the truthing and the daring?" Starfire asked.

"Um, well… I've actually never played it before," the young man admitted. "I've only seen it in movies."

The only one who had played it, as it turned out, was Cyborg, back before his accident.

"Hey, instead of taking turns, why don't we spin a bottle?" Beast Boy asked once the rules had been explained.

"I'm for that. I might not be picked," Raven agreed, and Robin fetched the half empty energy drink.

"Alright, Star, this was your idea, so I guess you get to spin the bottle first," he said as they all had settled in a circle.

"I will be glad to do so," the redhead smiled.

It landed on Cyborg.

"The truth or the dare, friend Cyborg?" Starfire asked.

"Truth," the metal teen grinned.

Starfire seemed to think things over for a moment. "When was it that you last felt the fear?" she then asked, somewhat seriously.

The half metal man looked stunned. "I… I… Yesterday. When Slade made that crane topple over towards BB and he couldn't hear me." The words came rushing out, like he was afraid to even talk about it.

The team glanced at each other. They seldom talked about these things, the discussions about battles were all bravado and a pinch of bragging.

"Oh…" Beast Boy mumbled. "Umm… thanks, dude."

"S'okay…" his friend mumbled even more quietly. "Um… so, yeah, my turn, right?" he then said briskly and spun the bottle again. This time it landed on Starfire.

"I would like to participate with a dare, please?" she said brightly before being asked.

"Ok, Star… let's see… oh! You have to mix a little bit of all liquids in the fridge and drink it!"

The other team members groaned and made faces, and they all headed over to the kitchen to watch.

The cocktail got quite nasty, with milk, soy sauce, cough syrup, pickle juice, three kinds of sodas, energy drinks, two kinds of fruit juice and Beast Boy's almond milk. Even Starfire looked doubtful.

"Go on!" Cyborg grinned, showing no mercy.

The alien quickly downed the concoction and made a face. "This was not the experience of pleasure," she announced.

The others cheered for her, though, making her brighten up again.

When Starfire spun the bottle it landed on Raven, who chose truth.

"Do you have the crushing on anyone?" Starfire asked, her eyes glittering.

"The new librarian," Raven quickly announced, before slapping a hand over her mouth and going unusually pink.

The others hooted, apart from Beast Boy who looked a bit disappointed, but this time the bottle landed on him.

"Dare!" he declared.

"Turn into a cat and run back and forth under the sofa for three minutes," Raven told him.

The changeling looked surprised but then grinned at his easy dare and did what he was asked. He emerged a moment later, covered in dust.

"That was a lame dare," he said, sneezing, as he changed back.

"Perhaps, but we needed to clean under there," the empath smirked, and the others chuckled.

It was Beast Boy's turn to spin and when the bottle stopped it pointed straight at Robin.

The leader had a feeling that his team member would have him do something embarrassing, so he chose the lesser of the evils.

"Truth."

"Sooo… do you have the hots for Starfire or what?" the green hero asked with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"No, I like guys," Robin answered immediately. Then what he had said caught up with him and he stared at the others, paling.

"You what?" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"You're gay, man?" Cyborg asked, looking utterly confused.

"No, you like me, do you not?" Starfire asked, sounding like she was about to cry.

"I love you," Robin answered promptly. "I love all of you, but I don't want to have sex with you, I am attracted to men." Robin tried to stop himself, tried to cover his mouth, even, but found that he couldn't. The words just fell out of his mouth.

"You're joking, right?" Beast Boy asked. The only one who hadn't said anything was Raven, who looked very neutral. It was hard to tell what she was thinking, but this didn't seem to be news to her.

"He can not do the joke. We have ingested the potion of honesty," Starfire said sadly, tears in her eyes.

Raven's head swiveled towards her. "Wait. Are you saying you actually gave us a truth serum?"

"A Tamaranian one, yes. Was that not of importance for the game?"

"No, Star! How long does it last?" Raven asked.

"For a few numbers of hours, only," the alien answered.

"Alright," the empath said. "We are going to separate. We all love each other very much, but the truth can also hurt. And we have a right to our secrets. Even a simple question could be disastrous right now. Agreed?"

They all nodded.

"I'll be in my room," Beast Boy said and most of the others agreed that they would be in their rooms as well.

"I'm… going out," Robin said. "I… need to move."

"Alright," Raven said. "We'll meet here again for breakfast, and then we make sure we can lie again."

They split up and Robin was soon out in the city. He first hoped to take care of a robbery or such, but soon realized that to engage with people right now would be a bad idea. What if the robber asked who he was, and he answered with his real name? At that point he regretted going out. He would be safer in his own room. He turned around to make his way back, and suddenly, across on the other roof, there was Slade. They spotted each other at the same time, the man straightening up, tensing. Robin, on the other hand just froze for a second. Then he set off. In any other circumstance he would have run towards the man, but now he was running away. Unfortunately, that seemed to have spiked Slade's interest and triggered his hunting instinct. The man was fast, running on the roofs on the other side of a narrow alley, cutting the teen off from where he would have preferred to go. Robin switched directions, but suddenly, where he swore there had been a house yesterday, there was just a huge building site. He was stuck.

"Running away from me, Robin?" a voice purred behind him, before the teen had made up his mind about what to do.

"Yes!" he answered, cursing silently.

"Whatever for?"

"We played truth or dare and Starfire gave us an actual truth serum," Robin admitted, very much against his will. He had spun around by now, facing the man. Slade's stance looked more relaxed. His head tilted just a fraction to the side.

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Well, this will be interesting," the man chuckled darkly.

"Slade, please go away!" Robin pleaded, deadly afraid of any more questions. "Please! I'll… I'll meet you here tomorrow, we can fight then if you'd like."

"Do you think you can beat me?" the man asked.

"Never in a million years," Robin answered, hating himself.

The man, however, seemed surprised.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"And yet you try?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I have to. I have to try to protect the people and to stop you."

"Though you think I could kill you."

"I know you can, but I don't think you will."

"Why?"

"You've had plenty of opportunities, but you let me slip away. You don't make it look obvious, you make it look like it's luck, or skill on my part, Or a mistake on your part, but you spare me. Every time. If you wanted me dead, I'd be dead a long time ago."

"And how does that make you feel?"

"Scared. Special." Robin knew he desperately needed to get away now, so he grabbed his grapple hook. He couldn't go over to another building, so the only option was to go down. He flung himself off the roof, but at the last second, he was grabbed and pulled back. He punched and kicked, yelling in defeated rage, but there was no use. The man had him on his back on the ground in an instant, straddling him.

"Now, now, Robin, you don't want to leave, do you?" the man chuckled.

"Yes! Yes, please let me leave, Slade! Please let me go!" the teen begged honestly.

"I don't think so. How long does this drug last?"

"She said a few hours."

"And then did you take it?"

"About… about an hour ago."

"Plenty of time, then. Good. We'll have fun. But not here. Time for a little trip," the man said and suddenly the teen found himself upright once more. One of the man's hands were holding him tightly while the other undid his belt. "Let's leave these pesky toys of yours here." Slade said, and then simply pulled the teen over his shoulder and set off.

Robin's world was spinning a bit, so it took a moment for him to realize that the man was carrying him. Once he did, though, he naturally started to fight back.

"Boy, I need to jump a few roofs. If you struggle, I might drop you and you'll plunge to your death. Do you want to die, Robin?"

"No."

"Then be good boy and stay still. You know you won't get away, don't you?"

"… yes," the teen admitted quietly, full of shame. You never admitted defeat to your enemy, Ever.

"Good, then don't try. Your alien friend can't whip up some obedience potion too, can she?"

"I really hope not."

"Pity. Oh, well, honesty is fun too. I should send her some kind of gift for this," the man chuckled. He sounded practically elated and Robin would have laughed if he hadn't been so close to crying.

"Please… I… I have people to protect. Family. Please…" he begged.

"Don't worry, Dick, those secrets I already know. This will be all about you."

His real name, coming from the lips of his arch enemy, froze the teen to the core. He barely noticed that they had stopped until his feet hit the floor and he was manhandled inside a building. Way too late he started fighting again in earnest.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Robin. You secret is safe with me. For now. But it could escape if you do. It's worth quite a lot of money. That's better," the man added as the teen's shoulders slumped. "Now come with me. This room is too big. We'd be more comfortable in a smaller room, don't you think?"

"No, not really," the teen grunted truthfully.

"That's the spirit," the man chuckled, and took him down a hallway.

The teen was pushed through a door opening. The man entered behind him and Robin heard the sound of a lock clicking. He took as many steps away from Slade as he could, but this room was smaller. A bedroom. It suddenly occurred to Robin that he was in Slade's base, or one of them, and that he hadn't paid attention in the least on the way here. He was the worst hero and detective in the world.

"Now, Robin…" the man purred. "I'm very curios about your answers on the roof. You said me sparing you made you feel scared and special, could you elaborate?"

"It scares me because I think you want something from me and I don't know what. And that you could change your mind at any moment, And I feel special because I don't think that curtesy extends to the other Titans. I think you might kill them if you decided that you needed to, and that makes me terrified, but… I am also a bit… proud, that you singled me out. I'm only human. I don't have any powers, but you still deem me good enough. I hope you think I'm good. Sometimes I have nightmares where you tell me that you spare me out of pity. That you think I'm pathetic. Not worthy to be your enemy. I hate that. I want to be worthy." The torrent of words finally stopped and Robin took a deep breath, his cheeks red.

"I see…" the man sounded thoughtful but pleased in a way that made Robin's hackles rise. He carefully kept quiet, however, afraid he'd say something he'd regret.

"You're telling me very interesting things. I wonder what I should ask you next..?" Slade said. Robin was afraid that he'd answer that, with disastrous results, but apparently, however the potion worked, it only seemed to work on questions directly aimed at the teen. "Oh, I know…" Slade then added, sounding pleased with himself. "Robin… what is one thing you absolutely don't want me to know about yourself?"

"How much I want to suck your cock," the teen spurted out.

Robin felt himself freeze and he would see that Slade had the exact same reaction. The villain didn't seem to even breathe, while the teen gasped for what he was sure would be his last breath. He didn't know how a man like that would react in this kind of situation. He wanted to know, he just didn't want to be anywhere close to the man when he found out.

"You…" Slade started, but then fell silent again. The man being at a loss for words was very uncommon and probably not a good sign, Robin decided. There was a second door behind the teen, slightly to his right, which might be a closet, or might be a bathroom. It could be locked, but the hero liked the idea of a door between him and Slade right now. He would have preferred the whole planet between them, but a door would have to do. Before he had had time to move, however, Slade found his words again.

"When you think about that, how does it happen?" he asked.

"You grab my hair and force me to my knees. You hold me there as I… as I pleasure you. Sometimes you get impatient and fuck my throat until I can barely breathe," he lets the man know.

"In your fantasies… am I always forcing you?"

"No." Robin felt so relieved when it didn't seem like he needed to answer more than that. Slade, however, wasn't content.

"What, in detail, happens in those fantasies?" he asked.

"They… they usually start with one of us being hurt. Usually me. You carry me away from the battlefield, to... to a room like this," he added, feeling his whole face explode in the king of blushes. "You… take care of me. Comforts me. Then… Then you raise the bottom part of your mask somehow, and you kiss me. Gently. Then more insistently. We run our hands over each other's bodies and you undress me. You are half undressed by then as well, and I caress your chest. You have our mask off but I can't see your face, somehow. You take my mask off, slowly. You tell me that I'm safe. We're on the bed and I have my legs wrapped around you. I'm a bit scared, it's my first time, but you are gentle. You push into me, and I feel like the universe explodes around me. You fill me up completely, almost so it hurts but only almost. You go slow at first, but then faster and faster, and I move back against you, urging you on, because you're my whole world and the pleasure is almost too much to handle, but you go even deeper and grow even bigger and then the pleasure just explodes and you fill me up, and-"

"Alright," the man held his hand up. It was impossible for Robin to read the man's voice, and, after realizing what he had just told the man he staggered back against the wall and just slid down it.

"I'm dead," he mumbled. "Holy shit, I'm dead."

"You're not dead," the man snorted.

"Can you fix that?" Robin whimpered.

"You're just embarrassed." Slade didn't seem to have much sympathy for people wrapped up in that emotion. "But yes, I can fix that. Again, do you want to die?"

"No," the teen groaned. "But I don't want to deal with this either. Ever. This needs to go away."

"I'm quite enjoying it," the mercenary admitted.

"Bastard."

"Yes. So, Robin… I'm rather… flattered. I had no idea you nurtured these kinds of feelings towards me."

"You're not… angry? Disgusted?" Robin dared to glance up at the man, who had come closer. The teen realized that his current position, sitting curled up against the wall, was most likely the worst one for defending himself. He then mentally shrugged and tried to accept that it wouldn't matter how prepared he was, if Slade attacked, he'd be dead meat anyway. Although, judging by the man's stance, no attack was imminent.

"Spent years in the military. There are some ways to deal with pent up adrenaline and testosterone that are quite effective," the man admitted. "But it helps that you pictured yourself bottoming. Did you always bottom in these fantasies?"

"Yes," the teen muttered.

"Well, good. One step closer to your dreams, then," the man chuckled.

That made Robin shoot to his feet.

"They were just fantasies! Just because you fantasize about something doesn't mean you want it to happen in real life!"

"That's true. Robin, do you want to suck me off?"

"Yes. DAMMIT!" the teen cursed at himself.

"And do you want me to fuck you?"

"Yes," the young hero groaned.

"Good, then that's cleared up," the mercenary said airily. "I'll consider it."

"You'll… consider it?" Robin repeated.

"Yes."

"Oh, fuck off! I'm leaving!" the teen barked and headed towards the door. He hadn't taken two steps before it was blocked.

"Not quite yet, I don't think," the man told him.

"What else could you possibly want to know?" the hero snarled.

"What is the password to your security mainframe?"

"I don't know. Ha! It changes every week and it just changed yesterday, I haven't had time to look at it yet, been too damn busy." Robin silently congratulated himself on not keeping up with procedure for once.

"Ah. Pity," the man said with a small shrug. "I guess I have to spend the hour breaking it as usual then."

"Fuck you."

"Don't pressure me. You might get it, you might not. No use in nagging."

"Wha- I…" Robin had to take a moment to find the track Slade was on. "No! You know what I mean!"

"Yes, but it was more fun my way," the man chuckled. "How do you feel about me, boy?"

"You are extremely frustrating and sometimes scary but I'm also insanely attracted to you. You push all my buttons and sometimes I hate you for it and you make me so confused," the teen said. "Shit. Stop. Please stop, Slade…" he added with a groan.

"But it's so much fun," the man drawled.

"It would be more fun if you played too," the teen grunted.

"Meaning?" his nemesis asked.

"Truth or dare," the teen said. "It's only fair, you know."

"I've heard of this word 'fair', but I don't see how it applies to the real world," the man claimed.

"Scared?" Robin smirked.

"Hardly."

"Then… truth or dare?"

"Very well, I'll oblige… for now," the man said, sounding like a mom who had finally caved and given her child a popsicle before dinner. "Truth."

"What are you up to lately? You have us running all over the place," Robin asked.

"And you expect me to tell you the truth?" Slade asked.

The teen shrugged. "You agreed to the game, so you have agreed to the rules," he said.

"Very well. I'm extending my surveillance system and I'm incorporating the security systems of every major company in the city. It's just a test run, I intend to use the system on missions or sell the concept to customers once it's perfected."

"Oh. Ok. Should be easy to stop," Robin blinked.

"I wouldn't have told you if it was." Slade sounded pleased with himself. "You would most likely not to be able to find the code I've installed even if the companies would let a bunch of teens rummage through their most secret databases."

Robin snorted, but knew the man was right. Businesses tended to put their own wellbeing before the public's, when they could get away with it.

"I think it's my turn." Slade said.

"Ok. Dare," Robin decided. He was done with the truth for now, and, he figured, if the man could think up anything to embarrass him more than he already was, then good for him.

"Take your mask off."

"You already know who I am," Robin pointed out, guardedly. He didn't like removing his mask, and would rather not.

"Yes. Dick Grayson, ward of Bruce Wayne, aka Batman," Slade shrugged. "Doesn't change the dare. Mask off."

"Fine," the teen muttered and peeled it off. "There. Happy?" he said, glaring angrily up at the man,

"Very." Slade's voice had a novel tinge of dark honey, a note that made something in the teen's body react, his heart skipping a beat and his cheeks coloring.

"T- truth or dare?" he asked, trying to get back in control.

"Truth," the man answered smoothly.

Robin was disappointed, he had decided to ask the same of Slade, but there was another way he could at least get a hint.

"What does your face look like?" he asked with a small smirk.

The man seemed to hesitate. "White hair, white short beard. Eyepatch."

"That's not very detailed," Robin pointed out.

"Describing faces might not be my forte. Remind me not to become a beauty blogger."

Robin gave a snort of laughter. "I'll try. White hair? You don't move like you're old?"

"Thank you. But that's another question."

"Your answer to the question was dissatisfactory," Robin said firmly, crossing his arms. "I need more."

"Well, if you need more, I'll satisfy you, then," Slade chuckled. "Military experiment. Although by now it would most likely had turned white naturally. It was a while ago."

"You're a meta human!" Robin exclaimed, almost accusingly. "I knew it! I knew no one could be that good-" he stopped himself when the man gave a pleased chuckle.

"Is this 'Flatter a mercenary-day'?" the man asked.

"No. And that was truth, so my turn to ask again," Robin grinned.

"No, no, no, you didn't pick truth or dare," Slade told him.

"Dammit," the teen sighed but nodded in defeat. "Dare, then."

"Remove an item of clothing."

Robin gaped, but then removed one glove with a smirk.

"Truth or dare?" he asked.

"Truth."

The teen thought about the question for a bit and then, with a racing heart, asked:

"What do you think of me?"

"Would you like this to be 'flatter a hero-day' instead, because I'd object to that," the man complained. "Very well. I think you are a very good fighter. Lots of potential. Honest. Dutiful. Serious. Grayer than you want to admit. Too much of an adult for your years. You grew up too quickly. I can tell. We who did usually recognizes that in each other."

Robin swallowed. This would have been a lot to take in coming from his own team, but from his enemy? He had never expected an answer quite like this.

"I… ok. Thanks… I guess…" he stuttered. "Um… so… yeah… truth?" After having to take his mask and glove off, Robin figured that truth might have been the safest route after all.

"What do you fear most?" Slade asked.

"To fail. To fail to protect my team and people," Robin said, and then looked away from the man, because the truth had made the fear well up inside him.

"Predictable," Slade said.

"Like you're not afraid to fail!" Robin snorted.

"I don't fail," the man replied, though his tone wasn't completely serious. "And I work alone," he added. "It makes things easier."

"Yeah…" the teen sighed, a wistfulness of sorts welling up inside him. "Truth or dare?" he then asked, because he shied away from those kinds of thoughts. He had had them a few times.

"Truth," Slade answered.

"What happened to your eye?" Robin asked. It wasn't out of any sort of strategy, just pure curiosity. He seemed to have struck a chord, though, because the man hesitated and seemed to tense.

"A long time ago…" the man started. "I had a wife, and two sons. My work put my youngest son in danger and he got hurt. My wife decided to get revenge by shooting me in the head."

"Oh… wow…" Robin took a step back in surprise. There wasn't any doubt in his mind that the man's story was true. "That's… wow. I… I'm… sorry to hear that. Was… was your son alright?"

"He was injured… but he lived," Slade answered with a nod, accepting the condolences. "Truth or dare?" he then added, also seeming eager to leave the subject behind.

"I… I don't know if I wanna play anymore," Robin admitted. "Let me go, Slade."

"Do you really want to be out there while this truth serum is still working?" the man asked.

"No," was the quick reply, and then Robin scrounged his face up. "AAArgh! Yes! No! I… I'll be careful and go straight back to the tower!"

"I think you left your friends there for a reason," the man told him. "Might be a bit soon to go back?"

"Yeah, mayb-" Robin cut himself off and sighed while the mercenary chuckled.

"What if you met Red X on the way back?" the man then suggested, and the teen's eyes went wide.

"That would be soooo bad…" he groaned.

"So stay. We don't have to play anymore, but we can test now and then if the serum is still working."

The man's offer seemed like the slightly lesser of two evils. Robin had already pushed his luck one time tonight when he had ventured outside, and he wasn't ready to do it again. He considered asking Slade to escort him home, but his pride simply refused.

"Sure," he muttered. "Doing what?"

"What do you want to do?"

The pit of Robin's stomach had time to turn ice cold, wondering what truths would spill out of his mouth now, but it wasn't too bad this time.

"I want to find out more about you. And I want to see your face."

"You can ask, I might answer. But my mask stays."

"What are you so afraid of?" Robin snorted. "I doubt someone like you has a law-abiding alter ego, and I wouldn't go after your family! I'm a hero, remember?"

"A bit of privacy never hurts," the man shrugged.

"Yeah, I'd love some of mine back," the teen growled. Something had been on his mind and he asked "How old are you, really?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"To know how grossed out I should feel about myself… and you. You flirted with me! Kinda."

"You knew I was an adult when you started moaning my name in the shower," the man snorted.

"How did-?! You're making that up!"

"Well, educated guess," the man smirked.

"Are you over a hundred?" Robin asked.

Slade snorted. "Not quite yet."

"So the military-thing… it wasn't the second world war?"

"Not quite."

"Have you been in a war? I mean an actual war and not just some 'military conflict' or whatever the hell they call things nowadays?"

"Several."

"Vietnam?"

"Little bit earlier," Slade admitted.

Robin tried to organize his history knowledge. "Korea?" he then asked.

"Bingo."

"How… old were you?"

"Too young, like I said. Lied my way in. Was more likely to survive there than at home."

"Ow. Well, I guess there's a reason you turned into a bad guy," Robin said.

"If a bad childhood was all it took, you'd be working with me right now," the man snorted. "Besides, I'm not a 'bad guy', that's a childish way to view people, you can do better than that."

Robin blushed. He knew there were more to people than 'good' or 'bad', that everyone did what they did for a reason… he might not understand or agree with the reason, but everyone had one. Maybe with the exception of the truly insane.

"Well, have you ever helped people?" the teen snapped, to hide his embracement.

"Naturally."

"Really?"

"If they paid well."

"Ha!" the hero snorted, not impressed.

"It was a joke, Robin," the man told him. "I'm not a hero, true. I don't put my life on the line for some vague, rosy ideal. I've seen too much of the world for that. But I would carry you from that battlefield you fantasized about."

Those words made the blush come back, and the teen didn't like that. He had felt like he was winning for a moment.

"You're old then," he said sourly. "Really old," he added, childishly hoping it would sting. "You have no business flirting with me."

"I'll try to refrain from this 'flirting' in the future, then," the man chuckled. "But, to be fair, Robin… if I dated in my age bracket, I'd have to visit a nursing home. Or the grave yard."

"Ew."

"So what's more disgusting?" the man asked, still very amused.

"You doing some old broad or guy," Robin, of course honestly, answered.

"Well poor me, then."

"Well, I'm still too young," the teen said, but there was a hint of a question in there, maybe a plea.

"Probably true," the man shrugged.

Robin waited for a 'but' but it didn't come. "But…" he provided himself. "I mean… we're both adults, and like you said, I'm more mature than my years…"

"True as well," the man conceded with a nod.

"And if this was a hundred years from now, age wouldn't matter at all, would it? I mean, you probably already think anyone under, like, sixty are naïve, right? Because they don't have as much life experience as you?"

"Well…" the man shrugged again.

"But it doesn't matter anyway, as you won't take your mask off," Robin muttered.

"Why do you want me to take my mask off so badly?" the man asked.

"So you can kiss me," the teen answered, then groaned. "I hate this potion!"

"You want me to kiss you?"

"Yes." Robin just gave up trying to gloss over his true words at this point and just looked up at Slade helplessly, taking a few steps towards the man. He very gingerly placed his hands on the man's chest. "I want you to kiss me," he added. "I don't care if it's all kinds of morally wrong. You said yourself I'm grayer than I want to admit."

"I seldom do things against my better judgment," the man told him. "But I might be willing to make an exception. Close your eyes."

Robin did, marveling at his own behavior. Did this truth serum make him act more truthfully as well? Or had he just gone mad?

There was a rustling sound and then a warm hand was placed over his eyes.

"You don't trust me?" the young hero asked, his heart beating quicker at the skin-to-skin contact.

"Not even a little," he was told.

Robin grinned quite happily at that, but Slade ended that sign of disrespect with his lips.

At first Robin just stopped breathing. He was pretty sure his heart stopped too. Then, once he realized that this was real, he pulled himself closer – which was the result of Slade not budging – and deepened the kiss. He kept his eyes firmly closed and his hands around the man's waist, because he didn't want to give the man a reason to stop. He could feel the beard, and he was inanely curious, but stubbornly kept obeying.

Of course, the kiss had to end eventually, even if it clearly was against Robin's wishes. Slade stepped back and after a moment the hand over the teen's eyes disappeared. Robin kept them closed, however.

"Can I open my eyes now?" he asked after a moment.

"No," Slade answered.

The teen heard the man moving around, circling him, and started to feel impatient.

"Well hurry up!" he snapped.

"Oh, but I like you like this…" the man purred behind him. "Vulnerable."

"Careful. A swift kick in the groin will take you out of that illusion," the hero snorted.

"Don't you want to be vulnerable?"

"No," the teen answered firmly.

"Not even to me?"

"Yes," came the answer followed by a sigh. "I wish you would stop doing that."

"Asking questions?"

"Asking the bad kind. How am I ever going to fight you again?" the teen growled, eyes still shut.

"Fiercely, I'd imagine," the man chuckled, placing his hands on the teen's shoulders from behind.

"I can't fight you if I can't lie to you," the teen muttered.

"That one was new. Explain. What does fighting have to do with lying?" Slade asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"Everything! When you face your opponent you must communicate, in one way or the other, that they don't stand a chance. That you are stronger, quicker, smarter, have the better weapons and the best backup. That you will win. But you never know, don't you? You just have to convince your opponent of that. You have to lie."

"It fascinates me how you see the world," the man said after a moment of silence. His thumbs caressing the sides of Robin's neck, which made the teen shiver in delight. "But I have to admit… you're not wrong."

"I know I'm not," Robin said quietly. The man's hands were still caressing him, and suddenly he felt hot breath on his neck. And lips. Slade hadn't put his mask back on!

"Would you like to… continue…?" the mercenary asked in a low, husky voice.

"No." Robin's answer surprised even himself, and Slade's hands immediately stopped.

"No?" the man asked, removing his hands altogether.

"Not if I can't see your face. I do like being… dominated," Robin made a face, his eyes still shut. "I think we have pretty much concluded that, but… I don't know… it's about… connecting…?" the last part ended in a question, because the teen struggled to find the words for what he knew was true.

"Sentimental," he was told.

"Necessary," he answered. "I have given so much today, albeit unwillingly for the most part…" Robin said.

"I've given you truths too. Things I haven't shared with many alive today," Slade pointed out.

"Showing your face to me won't change anything. I promise not to act on it!" Robin half begged, half yelled.

"And how do I know you're telling the truth?"

"Um... you could just ask me? Duh?" the teen snorted.

A short chuckle was heard. "You're right. That was stupid," the man admitted. "Will you tell anyone else what I look like, in any way?"

"No," the teen answered quickly and calmly.

"Will showing my face change anything?"

"Yes."

"See? What?"

"You might get to fuck me," Robin drawled.

"Ah." The man then remained quiet for long enough for Robin to start to fidget.

"What are you thinking about? Say something!" he said after a while.

"I'm trying to find a way around that better judgement I mentioned before," the man explained, sounding almost exasperated.

Robin chuckled. "I didn't imagine you as a man who would deny himself forbidden fruit if he wanted it."

"Funnily enough, I expected you to be the opposite," the man snorted, making the teen laugh out loud.

"Yes. Yes, I usually am. My needs and wants take second place… to my team, to the city… But maybe, sometimes, I'm allowed to splurge," he said.

"Yes," the man agreed. "But maybe we should just walk away from this."

"We probably should," Robin agreed. "But I don't want to."

"Neither do I." It was quiet for a bit. "If we do this… I'll fulfill your fantasies… do you understand what that means, boy?" the man told him, almost in a growl, and Robin felt his hair at the back of his head grabbed in a hard fist.

"Y-yes."

"You need to decide, here and now, if that is what you want," the man told him firmly.

The teen knew he had a choice. He could say no, and the man, he was mostly certain, would let go, or he could live a fantasy of his. He had come too far not to choose the fantasy.

"I… want it."

"Dammit…" Slade grunted as the hero had cut their last life line out of this situation. "Very well. Open your eyes."

The End

A/N: I wasn't in the mood to add a smut scene, I don't think that would have made the story better, so it's up to you to imagine it… 😉