The Watchtower felt quieter lately. Maybe it was just in your head, or maybe things really had changed since you and M’gann broke up. You focused on your punches against the training dummy, something solid, something that didn’t change.

"You sure that thing deserves all this abuse?"

You turned to see Zatanna, arms crossed, smirking. She’d only been with the team a few weeks, but somehow, she always seemed to know when you needed company.

"Just clearing my head," you muttered.

She stepped closer, her voice softer. "You don’t always have to be strong, you know."

You exhaled sharply. "Not much to say. It just… didn’t work out."

Zatanna conjured a small, glowing butterfly, letting it float toward you before vanishing. "Magic can’t fix everything, but it helps."

You smirked despite yourself. "That your way of saying ‘cheer up’?"

"Maybe." She grinned. "Or maybe I just wanted to see you smile."

You rolled your eyes but took her offered hand. Maybe this wasn’t just about moving on. Maybe this was something new. Maybe you and M'gann focused too much on both being shadows of others and not about genuine affection.

Maybe Zatanna is your second chance, to learn about true, human affection, even if your life has been mostly growing inside of a lab and never knew what that even was, human affection...