She woke up to the sound of knocks on the door which were almost drowned by the heavy thunderstorm outside. She got off the bed and made her way outside, wondering who could be out in the storm.
Someone was knocking at the front door so she stood in the corridor and asked, "who's there?"
"Babs... Can you let me in? Please?"
She recognized that voice instantly and opened the door. Richard stood outside, dripping in the rain but the worrying aspect was that he was injured.
His white shirt was soaked red and a deep gash was visible on his chest. His teeth were chattering from the cold and his hands rested on the door frame to hold himself up.
"Oh my God, Richard, what happened?" She supported him and led him inside, not caring that the blood was staining her as well. She carefully locked the door and brought him to her room.
It had been about two days since she had last seen him and she found it odd how he had disappeared suddenly with not even Helena knowing where he had gone.
"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have..." Richard spoke up as he realized that her father was at home, judging by the keys and the boots near the entrance.
She gestured him to stay silent and locked her bedroom door as well.
"It's a good thing he didn't wake up," she mumbled, searching for her first aid kit, "come to the bathroom."
She made him sit down in the bathtub, opening the hot water. He flinched at first but gradually his shivering lessened. The water washed off the blood while she brought out the ointment and the bandages.
"What did you get yourself into?"
His eyes had fluttered shut from fatigue and though he felt her hands gently apply the ointment on his wounds after cleaning the gashes, he couldn't move his own hands to hold hers.
"Let's just say I got into a fight," his voice was low and weaker than usual.
"Why?"
He sighed softly, not telling her the real reason, "I don't know."
"And where had you been? Do you have any idea how worried we got? Helena said your brother was going crazy with concern."
The expression on his face conveyed that he knew that very well but did not have the strength to talk about it, "later, please?"
She agreed reluctantly, removing his shirt to see the rest of the wounds, "looks like they really wanted to kill you."
"Nothing new..."
He drifted off to sleep as the hot water was very soothing while she carefully bandaged him up after draining the water. He had started to shiver again so she fetched some towels, wrapping them around him as she shook him gently to wake him up.
"Here, let's get you to bed," she hauled him up and though he had stumbled, he held on to her.
"Thank you so much, love, I've been a terrible nuisance and at this ungodly hour too..."
She looked at him, seeing that his eyes were still drooping with exhaustion, so she made him lay down on the bed carefully and covered him up with the blanket, "you can never be a nuisance."
She was about to leave when his hand closed onto her wrist, silently requesting her to stay with him.
"Just a second, Richard, I'll be back soon."
He let go of her wrist at that and stepped out but much to her alarm, Jim Gordon was standing in the lounge looking skeptically at the wet puddles on the living room floor mixed with red.
"Barbara?" He turned towards her, equally worried to see her clothes stained red as well.
"I can explain..." She bit her lower lip nervously.
She could definitely not explain why an injured man, more so why an injured Richard Grayson, was in her bedroom at the moment.
So she had to think of a convincing lie instead.
"What's going on?" Jim's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
She quickly covered up, "it's Helena. She got into an accident and our place was close so she came here."
"Miss Bartinelli? Shall we take her to the hospital?"
"No. She's okay now. I have bandaged her up and she's asleep. Besides, she hates hospitals."
That was a fact Jim was aware of too, Barbara's best friend was a rather unconventional case. Over time, Helena had sustained the most dangerous of injuries but still insisted on never stepping foot into a hospital.
"Fine," much to her relief he agreed, "I'll check up on you two at breakfast."
"Yeah, I was just about to clean this up."
He nodded, returning back to his room while Barbara let out a breath of relief.
She quickly cleaned up the floor, keeping her eyes on her bedroom door as she didn't want her father to get suspicious and step in there.
But Jim didn't return so after cleaning up, she stepped into the room at last, locking the door.
Her eyes flickered towards Richard who was sound asleep by then, his soft breathing resonating in the silence as the storm had ended by then.
A soft smile broke out on her face as she changed out of her clothes, putting those in the wash and got into bed beside him. She would have to wake him up and get him out of the house before breakfast but currently, she could only focus on his peaceful sleeping features.
She gently brushed his hair back from his forehead, not wanting to wake him up but his tired eyes fluttered open immediately. It was an aftereffect of living on his own and always being on his guard.
Even the smallest of movements could alert him.
But a smile crept on his face to see her and though he couldn't hold her close due to his injuries, he entwined his hand through hers.
"Good night," she leaned closer to kiss his cheek, "go to sleep, you're safe here."
"I know," he mumbled, "I only ever feel safe with you..."
Her fingers gently wove through his hair, calming him enough to go to sleep again. And thus the two drifted off to sleep very soon, raveling in the comfort of being close to one another.
***
Early next morning, Barbara woke him up way before her father's usual time to wake up so that she could get him out of the house without making Jim suspicious.
"Richard, get up, you'll have to leave."
His eyes opened at last and he stood up, stretching his sore limbs.
"How do you feel now?"
"Much better," he flashed her a bright smile, "all thanks to you."
"Now hurry, you've got to leave before Dad wakes up."
Though before she could open the door and check then let him out, he brought her close to him, arm wrapping round her waist as he brushed his lips over hers in a tender kiss.
Richard was always so different with her that it made her heart melt. With Barbara he was always sweet and gentle, very caring and loving.
Those were aspects of his personality that he never bared to anyone else. The world knew him as a daredevil, a rebel and a man with anger issues.
But for her, he was just Richard, the sweetest and most adoring man she had ever met.
Her palms cupped his cheek as she melted in the moment but realizing that they had very little time left, she reluctantly pulled apart.
He understood as well and let go of her, watching as she went out to check first then beckoned him to follow her quietly. In next to no time, he was standing outside, his white shirt buttoned up to hide the bandages.
"Take care," she whispered before closing the door.
A smile played upon his lips as he began walking away from the apartment before anyone could see him there and get suspicious. His hands were in his pockets, his icy blue eyes were warm with happiness despite the fact that he had nearly died last night.
He loved waking up next to her and though it happened very rare, each time he got the opportunity, he made the most out of it.
Even though the previous night had been rough on him, seeing her beautiful features first thing in the morning had made everything else fade into nonexistence.
To him, at the moment, only Barbara mattered. Only Barbara clouded his thoughts and memories.
He loved her despite the fact that they were worlds apart and could get endangered due to it. Yet falling in love with her seemed like one of the very few right decisions he had taken in his life.
However, he knew he would ultimately have to deal with the mysterious people who had ambushed him and tried to kill him. And right along with that was the mystery of Lavina Vikander waiting to be unfurled as well.
But he pushed those thoughts out of his head for the time being. He would deal with them but he would not rush himself into anything.
***