So this is based off In's (incogneat-oh on tumblr) two posts about lying headcanons. (Also, when I saw the notes and say animegoil was interested in reading something like this haha. So I wrote it.)

Title: Five Lies

Verse: headcanons (others)

Characters/Pairings: Jason, Damian, Dick, Tim, Bruce, Alfred, Steph, Cass, Babs

Rating: Jason

Excerpt: Bruce knows each of his boys lie. He's taught them to. He's slightly worried that Jason and Damian will take the lies too far one day.

Bruce knows each of his boys lie. He's taught them to. He's slightly worried that Jason and Damian will take the lies too far one day.

Jason

The first lie Jason tells Bruce is in the first month of being at the manor. He came home from school with a black eye and ripped clothing. He refused to tell Alfred or Bruce what had happened, insisting that he fell because he wasn't used to his new shoes. He went on to explain that he was stupid and was running up the stairs.

There was an instant change: one second Jason was scowling, the next he was grinning.

xxxxxxx

The first time Jason came back from a solo patrol as Robin he lied to Bruce. Hiding his arm in his cape and yawning he told Bruce everything went well. He got halfway up the stairs, nearly passing Alfred when he grinned, realizing that Bruce believed him. The grin was what tipped Alfred off to the fact that Jason was hiding his arm for a reason.

xxxxxxx

After Talia convinced her father to bring Jason back she spent many hours training with him, talking and subtly trying to get him to talk about his betrayed feelings. One day he exploded on her and told her he didn't fucking care about Bruce. He grinned the entire time.

xxxxxxx

"I don't need them. I don't need them. I don't fucking need them. I don't fucking need anyone. I'm fucking Jason Todd. I have no family. I have no home. I don't need it."

Jason looks at himself in the mirror and watches himself grin.

xxxxxxx

The most recent was telling Bruce he doesn't love him, never had. Except as soon as he realizes what he's saying a sharp, mad grin flits onto his face and he feels his throat tighten. He's quick to put space between Batman and Red Hood then.

Damian

Stephanie twirls and giggles in front of Babs, swishing her dress for tonight's gala around her knees. "How do I look?"

Damian snorts, causing Steph to look at him. She narrows his eyes at him and he glares back.

"Your mountainous mammary glands look like you stuff. Your dress is not fitting for such a high class event. The men and women will be scandalized. I am."

Steph pauses for a moment and grins. "Ah, you just don't want any men to get creepy on me. He's protecting my honour Babs!"

xxxxxxx

"I wouldn't miss you if you disappear Grayson."

But Damian has his face buried into Dick's arm as Dick lies there struggling to breathe on the cot. Dick just chuckles weakly and pets Damian's hair.

xxxxxxx

Dick smiles at Damian fondly. "So your kitten is Richard huh?"

Damian freezes. "I did not name him after you. I named him after the Shakespeare play. Unlike you and Todd I am cultured."

But Dick grins knowing Damian is lying. It's the look on Damian's face, the way he avoids Dick's eyes. Also it's because he's clutching his kitten to his chest and muttering about how he should have named him John instead, at least that way it wouldn't have been as obvious.

Dick finds it cute that Damian doesn't know he can't hear him.

xxxxxxx

Damian looks at Tim, lying pale and broken and nearly dead. "I. I don't care Grayson. He was stupid and put himself in the way. He was stupid. It's not my fault."

But there are tears in his eyes and he's looking at Dick like he's begging Dick to make it right. To fix this because even though Damian is lying when he says that he's holding onto Tim's hand so tightly.

xxxxxxx

"I did not just call you that."

"You did Little D. You called me Dick."

Dick is beaming and Damian ducks his head blushing and grumbling under his breath. "I. Did. Not."

Dick

"Dick speaking~" Dick sings into his phone, completely forgetting he told Babs he wouldn't be home this weekend. Babs just sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose.

"Tim's looking for you Dick, would you phone him."

She can basically hear Dick's grin, and his bouncing, as he confirms that 'he will, thanks'. It just wasn't worth pointing it out.

xxxxxxx

Dick is sweating because this girl just won't leave him alone.

"Ah, sorry no. Unfortunately I cannot go on a date with such a lovely lady as yourself."

The girl, bleach blonde and bone thin, frowns and looks at him with pain in her eyes. "Am I, am I not good enough?"

Dick's eyes widen, he's not attracted to her at all but he can't tell her that. "No. Nono. It's ah. It's me. I can't go on dates right now."

She looks ready to burst into tears; somehow she must know he's lying. Does she have a superpower? Luckily, Tim magically appears at her side and smiles.

"I'm sorry Miss Lucy, what Dick is keeping secret is that he has a girlfriend right now."

She gasps eyes wide and apologizes profusely for putting him in that situation. She never meant to make it difficult for him; in seconds she's gone. How does Tim do that?

xxxxxxx

Dick winces as Tim glares at him. He's just trying to help and yes, maybe he did cancel all of Tim's appointments but it was because Tim is wearing himself out! Also, he's not ever going to admit it to Tim. Because that will just get him dead.

Dick wonders how Tim knows it was Dick. Maybe he caught it on recording. Yeah that was probably it.

(Tim meanwhile watches at Dick chews his lip and eyes flit back and forth and knows that Dick is lying based on those tells.)

xxxxxxx

"Nothing, nothing. I mean it Tim I'm not planning anything."

Somehow Tim doesn't believe Dick. Probably because Dick is grinning and bouncing on his toes and keeps looking at the time. He's also keeping Tim from going home and checking his phone every minute. Really, nothing going on huh?

xxxxxxx

"Father, the harlot forced herself on Grayson."

Dick's eyes go wide as Bruce stills. "NO! No Bruce no! Damian saw us from a bad angle I was trying to get a stole piece of art off her. She didn't do anything. Really. I mean, okay she got a little close but nothing happened!"

Bruce raises an eyebrow and looks at Dick's beat red face and his jittery limbs. It looks like he'll be having a talk with Selina about molesting his boys, again.

Tim

"Tim, I'm sorry I gave Damian Robin but he needed it. He needed it to change. You needed more. More than being my sidekick, we're equals."

"I'm past that Dick."

"Then why do you keep fighting with him? Why do you keep avoiding me?"

Tim looks at Dick and blinks. "He keeps trying to kill me and I'm not avoiding you. I'm working."

Tim totally is avoiding Dick because no, he's not past Dick replacing him. It's kind of funny, because this must be what Jason felt to some degree. Tim wants nothing to do with them, not right now. Not when the pain is still raw and the wound still gaping. It's healing but it will never be the same -

"I have two major projects for WE, plus these five cases Bruce asked me to take for him and then my own cases. I'm just busy Dick."

but Dick believes that it will be.

xxxxxxx

"Hey dad?"

"Yes son?"

I hate you. I love you. Robin was everything. I was helping. I was needed. I was important.

"It wasn't really important, just wanted to ask for pizza tonight."

"Ask Dana son."

xxxxxxx

'You're all right Tim. It doesn't matter if they leave. You'll survive. You survive everything. It's okay. You're okay.'

Tim stares out the window and he's okay even when he's not.

xxxxxxx

"Red Robin."

Tim blinks, looking up from his computer consol. He didn't expect Bruce, sorry Batman, to get here so quickly. "Yes?"

"What did you do?"

Tilting his head, because Tim's done a lot of things recently, half of which Bruce and Batman wouldn't approve of. "Can you be more specific?"

"The prostitution ring. The man responsible is dead."

Ah. Tim just looks back at Batman and raises an eyebrow. "I did nothing except gather information for you. I haven't looked at it in a week, so I don't know how he ended up dead."

Technically, it's true. Tim did do nothing -

except hand the information over to Jason anonymously.

xxxxxxx

"I'm fine Dick. You're interrupting my work, go see if the Demon is fine. I thought I saw him in his room exercising."

Tim puffs out some air and Looks at Dick until he stops fussing over Tim and heads upstairs to check on Damian. He can feel his hands shake and his vision begins to blur. This is the second attack in an hour and Tim sits down at the consol and breathes slowly. When he opens his eyes Alfred is there with a pained look in his eyes. Before he can say anything Tim smiles, a lopsided broken smile.

"I hate who I am Alfred."

Bruce is worried because they all lie.

But it's Tim he should be worried about. He does so the best.