The weekend had come up at last, much to Tim's relief. They had decided to bring Sayuri back to her apartment on Friday, then she was supposed to go to the manor on Saturday and spend her time with the Waynes just like she had done earlier on a sleepover. And finally on Monday morning, she was to go back to Arkham State Hospital.

Sayuri had been quite happy to hear that too but the first thing she wanted to do out of Arkham was visiting her father. Though Tim was dreading to have her meet their dad so soon since he was certain that Jack would tell her about his last visit.

He didn't want her to find out that he had figured out stuff about her past even though she had warned him not to pry in on her secrets. All he could do was hope that Jack refrained from telling her anything.

Richard had had to leave for Bludhaven last night on the uprise of an unexpected case so he wasn't accompanying the siblings when they arrived at the GCPD.

"Sayuri, can I just meet him beforehand and let him know you'll be seeing him?" They were waiting while Jack was being brought to the visiting room when Tim placed forward the question that was bothering him throughout the whole bus ride to the department.

She looked at him questioningly but nodded, giving him a soft smile, "sure. I'll wait."

Gary came to inform them that they could visit, so Tim stood up and went through the door first.

Jack was surprised to see him because he had honestly not expected him to visit after what had happened the last time he had met his son, "Tim?"

Tim wasn't willing to stay and talk because he knew she was waiting outside. He had to make it quick, "Dad, Sayuri is here to see you. Please, don't ask her anything that can make her angry and I request you not to tell her about the previous visit. Please."

His eyes shifted in guilt and sorrow, "I'm sorry, son, I retaliated on you even though it wasn't your fault."

"She's outside and I don't want to keep her waiting for long. Please don't say anything to her that will make her sad or angry."

"Timothy..." His voice cracked at his name, the broken tone sounding almost as if he was pleading him to stay.

He sighed, taking a deep breath to calm down his frayed nerves, "it's okay, Dad, it's not your fault either. Just promise me you won't tell her anything about it. I don't want her to know that I am aware of what she has been through. She'll kill me if she finds out."

He shook his head in a nod, "alright, I promise."

"And you'll see for yourself that receiving proper treatment is actually doing good to her. She'll tell you better about how Arkham is not just some asylum where people are left to rot. I just hope you understand that I'm doing all this for her. I want her to be happy and alive, not broken and shut out from the world."

There was a short while of awkward silence between father and son. Jack was feeling bad at having to put his son through so much torment in the last visit. But there was nothing he could do about it now.

"I have to go now and I'm sending her in, okay?"

"Okay."

Tim stepped out and nodded to Sayuri, gesturing her to go in. She stood up with a smile on her face, gently patting his back before the door opened and she disappeared inside.

He made his way back to the chairs in the waiting lounge, feeling slightly fidgety thinking about what she could possibly have to talk to Jack. He was hoping the visit would go smoothly because unlike before, Richard wasn't there to take control if things got slightly out of hand.

He knew both Sayuri and Jack were quite alike in temperament. They could both get angry easily, had a rather volatile nature and both knew exactly how to hurt the other with words alone.

He merely hoped that the situation wouldn't come down to that. Or else he knew he would be completely at a loss of handling either of them. The officers could probably take care of Jack but he knew there was no way in hell they would ever be able to deal with an infuriated Sayuri Drake.

The only person who could do so, however, was in Bludhaven at the moment and wasn't possibly going to come back before evening.

***

Sayuri's meet up with Jack Drake went much better than Tim had expected. Jack had stayed true to his word and not asked her anything that could put her off. On the other hand, Sayuri wasn't aware that her father knew she was receiving treatment in Arkham so she had very cautiously told him the truth.

She hadn't expected him to listen to her so calmly, which made her suspect that Tim might have told him already and prepared him for the visit when he had gone in before her.

The two had come to the apartment right after that though they had picked up some pizza on their way home to have for dinner.

Sayuri had no doubt been exhilarated to be back at home as she had missed her cozy little apartment a lot. Tim had gone to the kitchen to store the pizza in the fridge while Sayuri had collapsed on her bed, closing her eyes out of the sheer ecstasy of being in her home at last.

She didn't even realize when sleep overcame her and she slipped deep into the realms of dreams. Unlike before, her dreams weren't anything like the nightmares she had grown extremely sick of. It was just a comforting darkness engulfing her in a soothing embrace, over whelming her thoughts until they faded along with it and softly lulling her to sleep.

She had no idea of how long she slept, completely unaware of all that was happening around her and only woke up when Tim gently shook her, telling her that it was time for dinner.

Stretching her limbs as she climbed out of bed, she felt an energetic surge course through her veins and a relaxed smile formed on her features. Slipping her feet into her favorite set of carpet slippers, cute pink ones with bunnies on the top, she emerged out of the room.

Dinner had been laid out in the kitchen and her smile widened at seeing a very familiar face accompanying Tim as well.

"Grayson!"

Richard beamed at her as she took her seat beside him, "someone sure looks very happy today."

"Oh, you have no idea," she replied, placing a slice of pizza in her plate, "I missed this place so much! It feels so nice to be at home."

Tim had a smile on his face as well at seeing her in a good mood, "we'll bring you back every weekend. And then you won't even realize how quickly this month would pass and you won't have to stay in Arkham any more."

"I hope so," she nodded then turning to Richard, she asked, "well, Grayson, where were you this morning?"

"I had to go to Bludhaven," he explained, "it was really short notice and I couldn't ditch it or else I would have put it off for next week. But there had been some really bad things going on there in my absence and I had to take care of that."

"Oh, I see. So now that you're here, it's safe to assume that you managed to save the city again?"

A light chuckle escaped him as he shrugged, "you could say that."

Dinner passed in light humor and soon it was time for bed. Sayuri hadn't let Tim clean up the dishes on his own though he had been insisting to work instead of her. But she waved all his protests aside and told him to go to bed reminding him of the promise he had made to her about having proper sleep.

With Tim gone and the dishes all cleared up, she turned to Richard who was perched up on the counter, arranging the dried crockery in the cabinet.

"Thanks for the help," she smiled.

"Oh no need," he had just placed back the last plate and got off the counter.

"So... Are you going to go back to the Manor now?" She was a bit hesitant to ask at first but he gently pulled her close, making her hesitance disappear and a soft smile graced her features.

"Well, not really. And this time I don't have to inform Oracle about anything either so I'm all yours."

The red tainting her cheeks was prominent even in the dull kitchen light, "Jason's right, you know. You can never stop being cheesy for once."

"That's probably the only thing Jason is ever right about," he had brought his head down to rest against hers as he gently cupped her cheek in his left hand.

"You sure?"

"Now that I think about it, no there are many other things too. Like do you know he had been the first to figure out that I had a crush on you?"

"Oh," her eyes were locked on to his wide blue ones, gently taking in the simple perfection of his profile. A perfection that was flawed beautifully with that little dimple on his cheek and the adorable way his blue eyes crinkled when he smiled.

He was nearly twenty five yet he had the purest features imaginable. Even though he fought crime on a daily basis, not a single speck of it had tarnished his innocence.

To her, Richard was perfect. Perfect and pure at the same time.

"He has been counting all our dates since then," he resumed, face so close to her that their noses were almost touching. As if he was tempting her to give in and kiss him.  "According to him, the first one was when I had to talk to you about Tim saving Gotham as Red Robin."

"It does seem much like a date when I look back at it now," deep inside she was melting under his gaze and also due to the fact that he was so close to her. But it didn't show from her features at all, her grey eyes staring back into his decisively and those cherry lips turned up in a smile. "What other dates has he counted till now?"

"He thinks each time I visit you is a date."

"Oh."

He had leaned in again, stopping just a few centimeters away from her lips, "this one would probably be the fifth in his directory."

The temptation was getting a little too much for her with his minty breath hovering around her and his blue eyes daring her to take the lead. She closed the minute gap between them, kissing him at last.

Her hands rested on his chest, while his gently held her close. The kiss was soft; gentle and sweet, quite unlike the passionate and slightly unrestrained way he had kissed her back at Arkham, as if he had been craving her desperately that time.

She had no doubt become an addiction to him but the only difference was that he had vowed not to let that addiction become unhealthy or toxic.

They were rather out of breath when they pulled apart, a burning sensation erupting in their bodies at having to let go so soon, hearts aching for contact again.

"Richard," she spoke up at last, hands entangled in his, "what are we?"

He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed her upturned palm, "it doesn't matter as long as you love me."

"But still, are you sure we are just friends?  Friends are never so intimate, friends don't get to have all these little pleasures. And if we are not friends then what exactly are we?"

His face broke into a sincere smile as he picked her up bridal style, walking off to her bedroom, "we'll take things slow. I'm not going to burden you just now with these questions. We are friends but we can be more. All I want for you now is to adjust, to know exactly what you want and what you're in for before getting committed. You can take all the time in the world because I don't want you to ever think that you made the wrong decision in choosing me."

She was left speechless at how sincere he was towards her and how deeply he cared for her satisfaction and contentment.

He gently placed her down on the bed and was about to leave when she grabbed his hand, pulling him back down with her, "aren't you staying?"

A low rumbling laugh escaped him as he gently caressed her cheek, taking in the request in her eyes, "I was only going to switch off the lights, Sayuri."

"Oh."

"Of course I'm staying," he added as he came back, darkness washing over the living room as well as the kitchen behind him, "you have no idea how hard it is for me to ever part with you."

***