Damian stood in the shadows of the Batcave, watching his teammate as she laughed with the others, the sound somehow making his chest tighten in a way he couldn’t explain.

At first, he dismissed it as suspicion—after all, she was a fellow warrior, and his instincts were always on alert. But as the days went by, he found himself looking for her in the room, his eyes catching her smile, and his thoughts lingering on her words longer than he'd ever let anyone's affect him.

He tried to push the feeling aside, telling himself it was nothing, just another distraction, but the more he fought it, the stronger the pull became, an unfamiliar warmth spreading through him. Damian scowled, clenching his fists, realizing with a mix of frustration and confusion that what he was feeling wasn’t suspicion—it was something much more complicated.