It was way past her bedtime but as usual Sayuri couldn't sleep. Each time she closed her eyes, painful memories from her past would flash before her and she would sit up again in her bed, aching to find some other distraction that would force her mind away from the haunting images.

She filled a glass of water and drank it, switching open the lights as the darkness had suddenly become intolerable for her. However, there was a slight fumbling noise by her window which startled her.

Not knowing the reason of that noise, she got out of bed and cautiously inched towards the window. The sound came again followed by a short tap and when she was sure that there was definitely someone out there, she pulled back the curtain.

She was surprised to see Richard Grayson dangling upside down from his rope. Seeing her sent a smile on his face and Sayuri, recovering quickly from the shock at seeing him there, shifted back the glass pane.

"Grayson, what the hell are you doing here?" she asked as she stepped aside to let him come in. Deep inside, she was grateful that he had turned up. Because she knew very well that Richard could be the perfect distraction for her to drive away her nightmares.

"I hope I haven't disturbed you," he replied, noticing the rumpled sheets on her bed.

She followed his gaze and nodded, "of course not. I wasn't asleep so no disturbance caused."

His smile widened in relief, "thank goodness."

"But really, why are you here?"

"I was just passing by and thought I might pay you a visit?" he spoke but it came out as if he was a little uncertain of that, "now that I think about it, it was rather stupid of me to do so. I shouldn't have come, I'm sorry."

"Hey," she dismissed his apologies with a gentle smile, "when I said all of you are welcome any time you want, I had meant it. Besides, it gets quite boring here without any company so I'm glad you came."

He took off his mask as well as the gloves at which she noticed that his face was badly scratched and his hands were bruised too.

"Grayson, what happened to you?"

He was a bit surprised at the question but laughed upon realizing what she was referring to, "oh... That's what we call a slightly rough patrol night."

Her voice had a trace of concern, "you're injured?"

"I'm used to it, I'll be fine," he smiled, "Alfred is an expert medic. He'll look after me when I get home."

She nodded but her eyes still lingered on the bruises, "you do know that you're risking an infection if you leave the wounds untreated."

He raised an eyebrow questioningly, "don't tell me, are you a medic too?"

A shadow passed over her eyes as if reflecting on his words, "the first training I had was medical training. Personal survival happens to be the foremost priority."

He wasn't sure whether she would tell him anything more about the rest of the training she had received so he refrained from asking as well.

"Wait here for a minute, will you?" she disappeared out of the room and returned holding a medical kit. Placing it on the bedside table, she lifted the clasps and opened it.

He was surprised to see how extensive her medical kit was, complete with bandages, ointments, syringes as well as stitching thread and needles. "Woah, Sayuri, now I'm eighty percent sure that you have worked in a hospital part time."

She laughed, "I had worked in a hospital once, so rest assured you're in safe hands."

"But... I'm fine. Alfred will..."

She interrupted him by gently placing her hand on his, "do you trust me?"

"Of course I do."

"And I'm your friend, right?"

"Yes but Sayuri..."

She read the incomplete sentence in his eyes and shook her head, "no, it's not a trouble for me. I would be glad to be of some help to you. After all, you've done so much for me and Tim..."

She left the rest of the words unspoken but he understood. He dipped his head in a nod, "alright then. But all I did was because I wanted both of you to meet. It wasn't a favor that you would feel the need to repay me with anything."

There was a moment of silence between them. Richard suspected that he had said something wrong as usual that had silenced her, and a reddish tinge took over his features. But much to his relief, a genuine smile spread on her face eventually as she nodded, "I really appreciate that."

Without further delay, she made him sit on a stool and told him to take off his armor. When he hesitated, she sighed, "I know you've gone through more than just these bruises and scratches that are visible. If you want this to get over soon, you better do what I tell you to, Grayson."

A bit reluctantly, he slipped off his armored vest, revealing deep gashes on his chest as well as his back.

"See, if you don't get these treated, it will be a pain in the ass for much longer."

Looking down at the cuts, he shrugged, "yeah, it seemed so much better when I couldn't see these."

"And you won't have to if you be a good patient and sit still as I clean these up. Fair warning, it might burn a little but I believe you have handled things that are much worse."

"Alright..."

She soaked a cotton ball in pyodine and very gently dabbed at the wounds, starting from his back first. There were three deep gashes between his shoulder blades out of which one seemed quite severe. He winced as the tincture came in contact with the skin but he was aware that there was no other option; if he had to disinfect the wound, he would have to bear the pain.

"Mind if I ask who was responsible for all this?" she asked in attempt to keep up a light conversation.

Richard was grateful being given that chance since talking the matter off worked as a good enough distraction for him. That was exactly what he did whenever Alfred treated him as well; relate the whole account of the patrol night.

But with Sayuri, he hadn't wanted to be of any nuisance to her, hence he had kept his mouth shut. However, upon being given such a great opportunity, he gladly accepted the offer.

"There had been a breakout in the City prison, the top security department to be precise," he replied, "it's the place where we keep incorrigible criminals and it turned out that they banded together to launch their escapade."

"And did they get away with it?"

"Nope. Not when Batman and his birds are patrolling Gotham."

"Birds?" she laughed a little, "do you use the word birds as sidekicks?"

"Well, we were all Robins for a reason, don't you think?"

"Fair enough," having done with the back, she stood in front of him, "though I wonder what kind of weapons did they have that caused such deep cuts."

Richard's cheeks burned as she gently dabbed at the wound that started from his collarbone, "um... some of them have extraordinary abilities and some are just products of weird science experiments gone wrong. The rest are too crazy to function as normal humans. So even if they do not have weapons, they have built in features which are able to cause damage."

"Like Edward Scissorhands?"

He let out a low chuckle, "yeah, like Edward Scissorhands."

"But the bad thing is that a few of your wounds are really deep," she spoke up reverting her attention to the crimson scars, "and if not treated properly, you could risk dying from blood loss."

Her eyes however had a mischievous spark, hinting that she wasn't really serious about the latter statement.

"And how severe can it be?"

"I don't know exactly though it would result in you not turning up on patrol for starters."

"But Sayuri, I can not miss any patrol night. Bruce would be horrified!" Richard played along with the joke, which she noticed immediately and burst out laughing.

"Well, you're in luck then. I can stitch these up for you, Grayson."

"Then I won't have to die?"

She shook her head, a bright smile dancing on her lips, "absolutely not."

"Good 'cause it gets boring after a while," he remarked.

She raised an eyebrow skeptically, "you talk as if you have had a lot of experience with death."

He shrugged, "I might as well do. We're both on the same page here."

Her eyes flickered in alarm as if warning him to not cross that line with her. Richard paused, realizing that he had probably offended her and was about to apologize when she spoke up, "I'll start with the wounds on your back. And after all these are stitched up, we'll do something about the face as well." She gently tilted his face to the side, hand resting on his cheek, "yeah, it would need some tincturing."

His voice got stuck in his throat and heat rose up to his face because her fingers still lingered delicately on his cheek. Deep down, he was praying that she hadn't noticed it.

"Alright," she took out the needle and thread, "now you'll have to sit still, okay, and don't speak at all so that I can concentrate. You can talk all you want after I'm done."

"Is that necessary?" He asked as he wasn't accustomed to sitting quietly for a long time, "I mean, you could just tune me out. I believe you've had enough experience at that." He recalled how adept she was at tuning out the annoyingly talkative Gary Dunham who worked in the GCPD and coincidentally met them at their trip to the Gotham Museum of Art with Tim.

A light chuckle escaped her as she shook her head, "but I only tune out people that I don't want to listen to; people who are usually only talking nonsense. And I don't know why you got that impression, but you certainly aren't one of those."

He noticed that she was being quite nice towards him, even softer than she usually was with others. "Okay, I'll try my best."

"Now that's like a good patient," she remarked offhandedly and started working on stitching the gashes.

As promised, she completed the stitches in quite less time than he expected. He was relieved when she told him the worst part was over and he could speak again.

"Wow, you really are quite an expert," he remarked appreciatively as he looked down at the neatly stitched wounds, "thank you so much."

"You're welcome," she replied, soaking a wipe in pyodine, "now all that needs to be done is a little tincturing. Then you'll be perfectly fine for another patrol night."

She placed a hand on his neck, tilting his face to an easier position before she began to apply the tincture. Having her so close to him was making him rather flustered because up close her aura was even more magnetizing, luring him in with an even sheer force.

He closed his eyes as she gently dabbed away at his face, knowing full well that he would have been blushing a deep crimson hue. And he also knew that she might have noticed, for she spoke, "do you know blushing increases the blood flow? And that doesn't help at all when one is trying to tincture up scratches."

"Wh-What? I... I'm not blushing," he stuttered.

A soft laugh escaped her as her fingers caressed his cheek teasingly, "really, then why are your eyes closed?"

"Because it's easier this way."

"Am I too bad to look at?"

His eyes fluttered open in shock, "pardon?"

Her grey eyes flickered in amusement as she replied, "Grayson, sometimes you're just plain adorable."

At that remark, his skin flushed an even deeper scarlet. He was so close to admitting his feelings for her, encouraged by the gleam in her irises and the soft smile on her face. But the thought of endangering their friendship held him at bay.

Sayuri had just started warming up to him and he couldn't risk blowing up all his chances away by being a little too hasty in his confession. Moreover, she was very different from other girls and he had no idea how she would react if he told her.

After the tincturing was done, Richard stood up as a cue to take his leave. He grabbed his armor and mask, about to put them on once again before he left.

"Hey, where are you off to?" she asked, rather startled.

"I've troubled you enough, Sayuri. I must leave now."

She kept silent for a while as if considering his words, "but I would advise you not to leap from one building to another in this condition. The stitches are sill fresh; they could open up again."

He shook his head as a small smile smile took over his face, "then what would you advise me to do, dear Doctor?"

"Stay," she replied, "you must be tired and definitely need some rest."

He was clearly not expecting that answer for the shock was quite visible on his face. It took him a while to reply, "but Sayuri, nobody knows I'm here. They would get worried if I don't return from patrol."

"At least they know you got out of patrol just fine, right?" she remarked, "and you once told me how you keep the Oracle updated on everything. I'm sure Barbara knows you're safe."

He nodded, "yeah, you're right but she doesn't know where I am exactly."

She suggested, "you could just tell her that you'll be joining them in the morning. What had you told her before coming here though?"

He thought for a while, trying to recall it, "well, I suppose I said I was off to a friend and could get late?"

"Then that's it. Let's just keep it that way."

He considered the suggestion and nodded slowly. Sayuri was behaving unbelievably different from her normal self and he couldn't fathom the reason behind it. Not that she was always reserved towards him, in fact the case was quite opposite, but still Richard found that even friendlier attitude a bit surprising.

"Grayson, is something bothering you?" she came to stand in front of him.

He shook his head as a smile crept to his face, "no. I just... I hadn't expected you to say that. I thought... Never mind."

A look of understanding flickered in those grey irises, "sometimes I give off this impression of being cold towards people. But that's not the case with everyone. Not with Tim, you or the rest of your family. It's just... I'm so used to forcing people away that... That I just can't help it."

He didn't know what to say in reply to her. It felt as if she was somehow opening up to him and he didn't want to make her feel that he would be judgmental towards her for that.

"I know you're confused and aren't accustomed to seeing me like this," she resumed, "I don't like to admit it but I am just not as conventional as others. One moment I'm fine, the next I feel as if I can't take it anymore. I just... I don't know why I'm telling you all this... I know you're tired and..."

Her voice died down as if she was trying hard to hold back a sudden urge to burst into tears. He knew she was on the verge of breaking down, so he gently engulfed her in a hug, keeping her close and offering silent reassurance.

"I know I'll regret it tomorrow. I'm probably endangering our friendship or... Or whatever this is," her voice trembled in uncertainty, "I never... Never wanted to appear weak in front of you. I don't want you to think that I need any sort of help... I don't even know whether you're going to treat me the same afterwards."

He was alarmed to find her so disturbed. Just a few minutes ago, she was perfectly fine, laughing with him and cracking jokes. But now she was completely opposite, so vulnerable that it hurt him.

"Sayuri," he gently spoke up at last, "you don't have to worry about anything." He made her sit back on the bed, cupping her face in his hands as he knelt down in front of her, "this changes nothing, okay. I promise you, I won't ever bring this up again if you don't want me to."

She kept silent, nostalgia evident in her eyes as if he reminded her a lot of someone she used to know. And at that moment, a tear rolled down her cheek because the person he reminded her of was none other than her own self; young and helpful, willing to sacrifice anything for her loved ones. But that Sayuri had died long ago and this Sayuri Drake was nothing like how she used to be.

"I'm sorry, Richard," she whispered, "you definitely didn't come here to put up with me having an unexpected emotional breakdown."

Since he had been friends with her for a considerable time by then, he had figured out a pattern to her mannerisms towards him. Usually, she would always address him as Grayson but whenever she wanted him to know exactly how important he was to her, she would resort to calling him by his name.

That didn't happen often, but each time it did, Richard knew she wanted his support as a good friend but was a bit too hesitant to voice it out loud. And he could see that she needed him just as much at that moment.

She wanted him to be someone to open up to without being judged, to keep her company and simply to divert her mind from all the demons of her past that haunted her frequently.

"Hey, I'm your friend, right?" he remarked lightly, offering her a sincere smile, "what good are friends for if they can't be there for one another?"

She nodded, taking in a deep breath to compose herself. After she felt considerably better, she spoke, "so you're staying?"

"Can't disobey Doctor's orders," he remarked playfully as he stood up and placed his mask and gloves back on the table. He was relieved that he had managed to succeed in making her smile too at his words.

***