Robin had been observing that something was wrong with Ember. He had seen her come to the balcony and she looked very worried as she lit up a cigarette.

It seemed as if she was smoking to destress herself but it wasn't working as a few puffs later, she crushed it and held onto the rails tightly, looking down from the height of her balcony.

Robin grew alert, ready to stop her if she tried to commit suicide. Because it sure seemed that way with her hands locked onto the rails and her eyes staring below wistfully.

At last, she let go of the rails and ran her hands through her hair, pushing the red strands out of her face. Her phone rang and she rushed inside which made Robin think that she had probably been contacted by the people who were keeping Evan captive.

He took a good look around to make sure there was no one keeping watch on Ember. 

He scanned the surroundings using his high-tech binoculars but there was no one in sight. It was late already so people were in their homes, preparing to go to bed. The park near her hostel was empty too and there was no suspicious person out on the streets.

Still being cautious, he used a magnetic sensor to check if there was any recording device nearby through which footage could be projected to the captors. But the sensor did not pick any signal except for the usual signals given out by cellphones.

It would be safe to assume that Ember was not under watch currently.

He considered what to do, knowing she was worried and needed help. Even though Damian only stuck to the orders he was given, he felt like asking her what was wrong and helping her out himself that once.

He did not know why he had that tiny soft corner for her. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he knew what it felt like to be disregarded and be treated like an outcast which was practically how she would be feeling in all her time at Gotham Daily. 

Just like he had the regret of not being able to take his Grandfather to the Lazarus Pit to save him, she had the regret of leaving the story she had been chasing to Evan who was now paying the price for it.

They weren't much different and perhaps that was what urged him to lend a helping hand.

Making sure that no one was keeping watch, he silently dropped into the balcony and tapped on the grill to gain her attention.

She was inside and the lights were switched off but she grew alert at the slight tapping and switched on a lamp. He knocked again, waiting for her to come closer so he could tell her that there was nothing to be afraid of and that he was just there to help her.

However, he got alert as a frying pan came in his direction which he caught, pushing the grill open. 

"Seriously, Miss Sullivan?" 

She paused, realizing it was the youngest Bat vigilante and not some gangster trying to break in through the balcony. "Oh... I am so sorry... I... I thought it was someone trying to barge in..."

"It's fine." He replied, putting the pan aside as he asked, "may I come in?"

She took in a deep breath to calm herself down and looked outside skeptically, not wanting Robin coming there to be seen by the people who could be keeping watch on her.

"There is no one keeping watch on you, at least not right now," he remarked in his monotonous voice, "I checked twice."

"Oh, right," she was still quite shaken but opened the grill and let him step in, "the warden here will get you kicked out if she finds out, vigilante or not..."

"I know," he remarked vaguely, his eyes sweeping over her room and stopping immediately on the box, "what's that?"

"Why are you here?" She avoided his question by asking him herself, "I have never heard of the Bats going out of their way to come into people's houses..."

There was a short while of awkward silence between them until Robin spoke, "I want to help you."

She paused, feeling dubious about his presence still. The threat those people had given to her was ringing in her head; if anything went wrong with their plan, they would kill Evan.

"I don't need help, thank you."

"Miss Sullivan," he breathed in a stiff but low tone, "I assume you have been contacted by the people who are keeping Mister Sinclair hostage. And they must have made a demand which could be related to that box. Though you must know, accepting their demands is only going to give them more leverage over you. You have to inform the police."

She shook her head, "I can't... They will kill Evan if I do."

He clicked his tongue lightly, disappointed at the years-old tactic of blackmailing opted by the captors. But he spoke up, "alright then don't inform the police but let us help you."

"How so?"

"I need to see that box," he remarked, and even though she seemed hesitant, she brought it over to him at last, watching him as he took apart everything and scanned it with his eyes.

She didn't know but he was actually scanning every single document there was and a copy of those files would be sent to the Batcomputer. That was probably the only time Damian felt grateful for the little additions and upgrades Tim had made to their costumes.

Their masks came fitted with a scanner that could transmit images to the Batcomputer and that was what he was doing at the moment.

At last, after seeing every single thing inside the box very closely, Robin packed it just the way it was and looked up to see Ember eyeing him suspiciously.

"What did they ask you to do?"

"I have to take this package to the location they sent me. They will text me the time tomorrow."

His fingers brushed against the side of the box but Ember didn't notice that he had attached a nano-tracker on it. "Fine. You will take the box there as they have said. We will be keeping watch over you in case anything goes wrong."

She looked away, rubbing her hands together in frustration, "they will kill Evan..."

"No, they will not," he remarked in his calm voice and she looked back at him as if unable to believe him, "they are using Sinclair as a bargaining chip. This box might be the start of their blackmail toward you. They will be keeping him alive so that they can keep on extracting information or whatever else they could need from you."

She looked back at him with horrified olive eyes and thought if there was any other vigilante in his place, they would have tried to comfort her. 

But comfort and Damian were two opposites. He did not know what should be said to her that could offer comfort in such a dire situation so he said nothing at all.

"Miss Sullivan, you were an investigative journalist. You side with the truth always, don't you?"

She nodded feebly, clasping her hands tightly to not let him that she was slightly shaking from worry.

"Then don't give up just yet. You stand with truth and we stand for justice. Nothing bad will happen to Mister Sinclair. And nothing bad will happen to you, not on our watch."

That was the most he could say as an attempt to make her feel better. He could see she was very anxious and his words were nothing compared to what she was going through.

But at least she would know that she wasn't going to face all that on her own.

The Bat vigilantes would be there to make sure that nothing went wrong. They would help her and Evan out.

"Why are you helping me?" She asked at last, that question whirling in her head.

Robin paused, thinking about how to reply to that question. But then he settled with a simple reason. "We try our best to make sure innocent people don't come to any harm in this city. I am only doing my duty."

***