Neither you nor Robert could remember how you two ended up laying down together on the rooftop and counting the stars. Noting how the dark night sky always manages to look so pretty despite looking the same every time. It hadn't been long since someone was cut from the Z-Team, but you never had to worry about dropping too low. Not to mention, he and Blazer be damned to let you get cut. Your stats were too good to go to waste. Even at base. But, it was after work hours and the last thing you wanted to talk about was work. So, naturally, you two were conversing about...well, life.

He was talking about the very little he remembers of his father. The way he spoke about him--to Robert--felt reminiscent of how the conversation went between him and Toxic months ago. He threw in a joke every now and then. Usually self deprecating to soften the blow. Lighten the mood. But it only made your chest hurt.

"Dads, am I right?" he ends his mini...rant? And supports the back of his head with both arms behind it. You huff, brushing off the fact that your heart was racing.

"Yeah..." you mused. Mostly to yourself. "Overrated as fuck, in my opinion."

"Yeah?" he mused back. "Dad wasn't around much?" he joked. It was just your dynamic. But he wasn't expecting your next response.

"Nah," you responded, deciding to bite the bullet since Robert spilled a lot in the last hour. "I killed him."

Which, technically...wasn't a lie. Shroud's heart did stop before you left...

For the first time, he genuinely looked caught off guard. He wondered if he should press, find a way to ask what happened without coming off insensitive or nosy. He remembered seeing "murder" in your files as being apart of the reason you ended up in the Phoenix Program. Could that be it? Was it unrelated? Was it related to your powers? How exactly were you supposed to explain that your estranged father was how he ended up here in the first place?

A: Keep going - Tell the truth B: Keep going - Keep it vague C: Let him ask first