Ever since the past few days, Jason had been observing that things were a little different with Richard and Tim. For starters, it seemed to him as if they were both keeping a secret from him again, just like they had done so back when Sayuri had first met them.

And thinking of Sayuri, he was surprised that since a long while they hadn't heard from her at all. Steph and Barbara talked to her on the phone but there had been no more sleepovers or casual visits. He had gone to her apartment once but found it locked and asking Tim about it hadn't furnished him with a proper answer either.

To add fuel to fire was the fact that Tim had started being a lot reserved than usual, going about his business with a haunted look on his face as if he feared something very bad was going to happen.

Jason could easily be the last person who would pay attention to such minute details but the current situation was making him notice a lot of other things which he hadn't thought of before.

He knew it would be useless to ask Tim again because he probably didn't want to talk about it. However, Tim's worried demeanor had made him a bit anxious as well. The kid was burdened enough already due to his habit of being miles ahead on each case Bruce was handling as well as other potential cases which could come down to them.

And now there was something else clouding over Tim. And though usually he would pass it off as him just worrying about a possible alien invasion, Jason knew the real cause of all the worry was much deeper and somehow connected to his sister.

So he made up his mind to ask Richard because there was no way that he wouldn't know if the problem was really related to Sayuri.

"Hey, Dickybird, can you spare me a moment?"

Richard had just entered and was going to head upstairs to his room but paused at his voice, turning to see Jason sitting on the couch.

"Yeah, what is it, Jay?" he sat down beside him.

Jason switched off the TV though he hadn't been actually watching it even earlier since he had been thinking about Tim. "Are you and Tim playing secret agents again?"

Richard's eyes widened a bit in alarm, "what do you mean?"

He straightened, looking straight into his blue eyes and clamped a hand on his shoulder in a slightly intimidating grip, "you know what I mean. There's something wrong with little Tim and I know you are aware of what's wrong with him. Now I wouldn't say I care deeply for him but seeing him so distraught is kinda driving me off the edge."

"There's nothing wrong with Tim," Richard replied, trying to play it off casually, "he's just overworking himself. As usual."

"And has his sister gone back to Japan?"

"No, why're you asking?"

He shrugged, "I went to her apartment and it was locked. I may or may not have some suspicions regarding that."

"You went to her apartment?" Richard had a clear idea where the conversation was heading to and he also knew that Jay wasn't going to spare him that easily either.

"She said we were welcome anytime, didn't she?"

Richard sighed wearily, brushing his hand off, "look Jason, you shouldn't be asking me anything. I don't know."

Jason didn't let him get off the couch though as he placed his feet on the armrest, blocking Richard completely, "you're not going anywhere until you tell me. I know very well that you know. It's written clearly across your eyes."

"And since when did you learn to read people's eyes?" he was a bit irritated at that.

"Ever since you started fancying Sayuri Drake."

"Hey..."

However, his protest was drowned as Jason remarked, "Dick, where is she?"

"I don't know."

"Stop lying to me, you know you're a terrible liar. Even Steph can tell when you're trying to hide something, okay. If you don't want to tell me because Tim doesn't want me to know, that's fine. Just answer me this; is she alright? She's not in some hospital or some screwed shit, right? Because if she is then you bet I'm going right now to pay her a visit."

He looked at Jay for a whole minute as if trying to let his words sink in, he hadn't really expected Jason to be concerned for her, "she's not in the hospital. She's fine. Just taking a break from everything."

"Is she in Gotham?"

"Yeah."

Jason contemplated before asking again, "you sure she's fine?"

"Of course, Jay, I met her yester..." Richard barely managed to stop himself in time.

"So you met her, you idiot, and here you kept wasting my time pretending you didn't know anything!"

He knew the cat was out of the bag and there was no way of escaping now, "Tim would kill me so if you don't wish to attend my funeral soon then you better stop asking me any further."

"I won't let him kill you, I promise, though I might film the whole thing while he's at it."

"Jason!"

"Seriously, Dick, what's the big deal? How come you always get to be in on anything regarding the Drakes while the rest of us don't have a clue what's happening?"

He sighed exhaustively, looking at Jason as if he was actually getting tired of the whole banter, "Jaybird, I'm not supposed to talk about it to anyone. I told you she's fine and she's just on a break. Think of it like a vacation, okay? She'll be back soon and you will get to meet her. There's no big deal."

"Then why the hell is Timmy going about as if someone stole away all the coffee in the world?"

"He'll be fine too, I promise. Just give him some time to adjust."

Jason had a slight frown on his face but he kept silent for a while, pondering over his words. Though he hadn't shifted his leg away from Richard and was still blocking his only way of escape.

"Tim's going through a hard time, like you very obviously noticed. He is not on good terms with his father and he's worried about Sayuri too. The reason I can't tell you but I can only tell you this; don't make him get any more anxious than he already is. I know you have a habit of teasing him and occasionally pissing him off but please, Jay, I would appreciate if you don't do that. And for the love of God, please don't pester him with any questions."

Jason rolled his eyes though he did shake his head in an affirmative nod, "and there you go switching to Mummy Grayson mode."

"I'm requesting you, Jason, please give him some time to adjust."

He nodded, "I can see that you're requesting. Or else you never put so many pleases in a sentence. Fine, I get it, I'm not going to have fun with him if that's what you meant by teasing him and occasionally pissing him off."

"Thank you," Richard sighed in relief.

"You're most definitely not welcome," he finally placed his feet down on the floor, allowing him to get up, "though it would have been awesome if I got to film the video of Tim beating you up."

Richard had started climbing the stairs already as he yelled back at him, "my sincere apologies but I'm not going to let you have the ecstasy of doing that. Ever."

***