There was one mystery Damian had failed to solve.
His girlfriend.
Not in general.
Just this one particular issue.
She refused to join the Titans.
It wasn’t because she lacked the skill.
Everyone knew she could hold her own.
She’d trained with assassins.
Gone toe-to-toe with metahumans.
More than once, she’d quietly resolved situations that would’ve taken the Titans an entire afternoon.
No.
Capability had never been the problem.
Opportunity wasn’t, either.
Nightwing had extended the invitation.
Raven approved.
Beast Boy had enthusiastically welcomed the idea.
Even Cyborg had gone as far as preparing a communicator for her.
Every answer had been the same.
No.
Simple.
Polite.
Final.
At first, Damian assumed she simply preferred working alone.
Then he noticed something.
Every invitation came from the Titans.
Every refusal came after she’d looked over the roster.
Specifically…
one name.
Starfire.
His former girlfriend.
Damian stared at the roster again.
Then back at the declined invitation.
“…Seriously?”
The realization landed with almost embarrassing clarity.
She wasn’t avoiding hero work.
She was avoiding unnecessary drama.
Frankly…
he couldn’t blame her.
Joining a team where your boyfriend’s ex was one of the senior members sounded exhausting.
Especially when that ex happened to be one of the most famous heroes on the planet.
Damian rubbed a hand across his face.
This…
This was somehow his fault.
Not intentionally.
But undeniably.
He leaned back in his chair.
For the first time since this ridiculous problem had begun, he actually considered her perspective.
She hadn’t demanded anyone leave the team.
She hadn’t complained.
She hadn’t asked him to quit.
She had simply removed herself from the equation altogether.
Quietly.
Without making anyone choose.
Damian sighed.
Because somehow…
his greatest tactical obstacle this month wasn’t a supervillain.
It was his own dating history.
And judging by the untouched Titans communicator sitting on the Batcave workbench…
he was going to have to figure this one out himself.