Evelyn was cleaning up her kitchen when the doorbell rang. She got up and carefully made her way out, not bothering to count the steps because in her own place she knew the whole layout by heart and felt most comfortable walking around.

"Who is it?"

"Eve, it's me. Jason."

A smile spread on her face as she opened the door and stepped back to let him in.

"Jay, what a pleasant surprise."

He locked the door after stepping in and turned to face her, "how are you?"

"Good, you?"

"As usual," he took her hands gently and closed her fingers over the white cane that he had brought.

"What's this...?" But her voice drifted off as she recognized the slender cane and a smile crept over her features, "you got it repaired?"

He smiled as well seeing the look of pure relief on her face, "yup."

"Thank you so much."

But to his surprise she stepped forward and flung her arms around him in a hug, her wrists crossing at the back of his neck.

Jason froze for a second for it had been really long since he had experienced such a gesture but then he wrapped his arms around her gently, holding her close against him.

For the first time in years, a strange sort of warmth crept into his heart and he felt as if he had finally come back home after years of being lost.

Evelyn pulled apart but the smile was still playing upon her lips, "come on in. What would you like to have; tea, coffee, juice?"

"Nothing, thank you."

"Nonsense. I was just making some tea for myself and would love if you keep company."

He followed her into the kitchen, taking his seat at a stool by the breakfast counter, "alright then, as you wish."

Jason watched her closely as she effortlessly navigated her way through the kitchen, working almost as if there was no hindrance in her sight. She had gotten so accustomed to living on her own that all those daily tasks had seeped into her with a perfect normalcy.

"Eve," he asked breaking the short moment of silence, "what do you do when you're not at home?"

"I teach piano in the Gotham Institute of Arts and Music," she replied pouring the water carefully into the kettle, "and sometimes they ask me to play for events like Galas or weddings etc."

"So you're a musician?"

"You could say that," she laughed, "it started out as a hobby but then I figured I could use it as a profession. Plus it's a lot easier for me than opting for any other career option."

A short while of silence lingered between them again but Evelyn didn't seem to mind it as she placed the cups in front of him on the counter and perched up on a stool across from him.

She spoke up at last, in attempts of mending the pause, "I had played for Mister Wayne's Gala last year. His son Timothy was so interested to learn that he later stopped by my place for classes."

Jason's ears perked up because as far as he knew, Bruce did not have any other son than Richard Grayson, "Timothy?"

"Timothy Drake," she elaborated, "he adopted him a while ago after his parents had died. The boy's very sweet and very fast at learning. I like him a lot."

His jaw clenched slightly as a pang of jealousy coursed through his veins, "and when exactly had he adopted him?"

Her brow furrowed in a thoughtful expression, "it's been years now... Four years ago, perhaps?"

Jason felt replaced because four years ago meant merely an year after Bruce had lost him. And the feeling hurt because he had not expected that. 

But then he had also not expected Bruce to let the Joker run free after such a terrible incident though he was proved wrong later on.

Batman needed a Robin so bad that he could barely wait for an year before adopting another poor young kid to turn into his sidekick.

And though deep down he knew Bruce would never adopt someone just for the purpose of turning him into his sidekick, and that hadn't been the case with Jay either, still the bitterness in his heart refused him to think past it.

"Jay, are you listening?"

He looked up, shaken from his thoughts, "of course."

Her hand gently found its way on top of his, "have you gone back home?"

For a second, he thought of not giving an answer to that question but then he had always had an incapability of keeping things from her such that even back when he had been Robin, Evelyn was the only one to know his secret despite Bruce's warnings of not telling anyone.

And just like before, he found it hard to lie to her as he replied after a sharp intake of breath, "no."

"Do you plan to?"

"No."

She had sensed the stiffness in his tone and knew he would not want to talk about it so she changed the topic instead, "what do you think of the tea?"

He was slightly grateful at the switch in conversation and readily answered, "soothing."

"Good," she had smiled but it wasn't like the smile he had seen before that had sent his heart into a lurch. The smile gracing her features then was sad, almost apologetic.

"Evelyn, tell me about what you did in all those years I was gone," he had turned over his hand that was underneath hers such that he interlaced their fingers together, "tell me what happened here."

"Five years is a painfully long time, Jason."

"I understand."

"Mister Wayne had left with you but returned with a coffin," she began and a hauntingly sad look dawned on her pristine features, "I hadn't known until the funeral was held and even then it was such a shock for me... You had promised you'd come back."

There was a slight trace of grievance in her tone, as if he should have kept that promise and he gently squeezed her hand, "you know I would have kept the promise if I could. I fought till my last breath." She was about to ask him what had happened to him but he sensed it and spoke up, "and you had gone to the funeral?"

Her lips parted as if to ask the question nevertheless but the way his fingers tightened over her palm made her resist, "yes. But it felt so horribly empty, as if you weren't there in the first place."

"You're right; I was not in the coffin then."

She shook her head, "there was a corpse nevertheless. Must have looked exactly like you or else people would have noticed. Mister Wayne would have noticed..."

"Strange," he mused, "then what happened?"

"They buried the coffin, the service was done and we all returned to our homes." But after that sentence, her voice lowered, "I couldn't sleep for a whole month after that. Kept thinking you would come back and surprise me, saying that you did keep up your promise after all."

The sadness that seeped from her words churned him badly and though he had spent five years of not feeling anything close to human emotion, trained and fought like a machine, broken free from his captors after realizing their true motives and burning still in the fire of vengeance.

Yet her words seemed to strike up a forgotten piece of his heart inside him and even though the feeling was strange to him, he longed for it.

He longed to feel the way he used to before his life had turned upside down and shattered all his dreams as well as his bones.

The sickening crack of the crowbar resonated in his conscience again and he shuddered, forgetting for a second that he was holding her hand in his own and she too could feel the shiver coursing through his veins.

"I took piano classes as a distraction," she resumed however and he leaned closer, listening attentively, "our teacher at the Institute was not so willing to teach me at first because I required more time and attention."

There was an almost negligible trace of regret in her tone and Jason loosened his grip on her hand, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on to her palm.

She seemed to appreciate the gesture for she didn't retrieve her hand just then, "but after I learnt, I found the piano was more than just a distraction. I learnt the keys and I liked to experiment with notes. I still do. There are some songs that I have composed myself and I like to play the pieces when I feel a bit down. It cheers me up well."

He wanted to say something to her in order to assure her or give a sense of comfort but couldn't exactly find the words to voice out his intent.

"Our teacher had to retire last year and he recommended me to the Institute to begin teaching after him. Sometimes, it feels like an accomplishment. Initially I had been that student he didn't want to waste time on, now I resume after him in that very class."

"It is an accomplishment," he spoke in an appreciative tone, "I'm proud of you."

The smile that flickered on her face then was quite similar to the one he had seen when she had come to open the door for him and though a faint trace of melancholy still lingered in her features, that smile seemed to captivate him with just as much allure.

"And ever since then I've been teaching at the Institute," she concluded, "I play for functions when there are any at Gotham. I like to compose my music and get lost in it because it has been the only comfort I had had in those tough years of getting over you."

The last words cut through him but she resumed with a smile.

"But now you're back. Why, I don't know. For how long, I don't know that either. But I'm glad to have you here with me while I still can."

Evelyn was much stronger than she appeared to be and he could assess that quite clearly from the firm decisiveness in her tone and that lovely smile that showcased a resilient soul underneath.

He brought her hand up and gently kissed her knuckles, noticing the red shade creep up on her pale cheeks, "I'm glad I found you again."

"So am I," she replied back, "I had almost given up hope by now."

His steel blue green eyes gazed straight into her wide blank irises as he spoke, "I can't make any promises now, Evelyn, but I will try my best to stay this time. If I make it out alive after what I have to get done with first."

"I wish you all the best," she smiled sincerely and he felt heavily tempted to lean in and kiss her but he restrained himself, knowing that it was a line he should not cross just yet.

There were too many things holding him back and he could not let go of any of those restraints, the foremost of which was executing his revenge on the Joker himself.

***