Aubrey woke slowly, her body heavy with exhaustion. The fight to burn the waterkindle from her system had taken more out of her than she was willing to admit, and the lingering pain from the gunshot wound pulsed beneath her skin. Normally, her healing factor would've taken care of it by now, but the poison had slowed her recovery, leaving her feeling vulnerable in a way she hated. She shifted slightly in bed, grimacing at the dull ache radiating through her side.

She hadn't expected to still feel this weak.

A soft knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts, and before she could respond, the door creaked open. Aubrey turned her head to see Damian standing in the doorway, his arms crossed and his expression unreadable as always.

"You're awake," Damian said, his voice a flat statement rather than a question. He stepped inside, his eyes scanning her with a quick assessment, no doubt taking in the visible signs of her weakened state.

"Unfortunately," Aubrey muttered, managing a half-smile. She pushed herself up a little in bed, wincing at the effort. "What brings you here? I thought you'd be out terrorizing criminals with your father."

Damian's eyes flickered with a hint of amusement, but his expression remained stern. "Father is busy, and I was curious to see if you survived the night."

Aubrey chuckled, though it hurt more than she expected. "Barely. I think your brother was more concerned than I was."

Damian moved to sit on the edge of a nearby chair, his sharp gaze never leaving her. There was a tension between them—one that had always been there since they'd first crossed paths. He had his walls up, just like her, and though they rarely spoke, there was an unspoken understanding between them. They both carried the scars of the League.

"How bad is it?" Damian asked, his voice softer than before. It caught her off guard, his usual sharp tone replaced with something that almost resembled concern.

Aubrey sighed, leaning her head back against the pillows. "Bad enough. I didn't expect the waterkindle to do so much damage. It... slowed me down. More than I thought it would."

Damian's eyes narrowed, his jaw clenching slightly. "Waterkindle isn't just poison. It's meant to suffocate your fire, extinguish it completely. If you hadn't fought it off, you wouldn't have made it."

"Thanks for the uplifting reminder," Aubrey said dryly, though there was no malice in her voice. She appreciated his bluntness more than he knew.

They sat in silence for a moment, the quiet of the manor settling around them. Damian's presence wasn't comforting exactly, but it wasn't intrusive either. He had a way of making space without filling it.

"Do you ever think about it?" Damian asked suddenly, her voice quieter now, the weight of the question hanging between them. "The League, I mean. All the things we did, the things they taught us."

Damian's face remained impassive, but Aubrey saw the flicker of something in his eyes. "Every day," she admitted. "It's always there. The training, the expectations... the blood on my hands."

Damian nodded, feeling the weight of her words as they settled in the room. She knew what he meant—knew the way the League shaped you, twisted you into something sharp and unrelenting. She had lived it too.

"It's hard to shake, isn't it?" Aubrey mused. "The way they made us believe that violence and control were the only ways to survive. That power was everything."

Damian looked away for a moment, his jaw tightening. "It's not who I am anymore."

Aubrey tilted her head, watching him carefully. "Isn't it?"

His eyes snapped back to hers, sharp and defensive. "I'm not like them."

There was a pause, the air between them thick with the weight of old wounds.

"You're not," Aubrey agreed, her voice gentle but firm. "But part of you still thinks you are."

Damian's expression hardened. "I'm nothing like them."

Aubrey held his gaze, her eyes soft but unwavering. "You say that, but I can see it. You still carry their expectations with you. You still think you have to prove something—to your father, to the world. But you don't. You've already broken free."

Damian looked at her, his mask of control cracking just a bit. "Maybe I have. But sometimes... it feels like I'm still fighting to be something more than what they made me."

Aubrey nodded slowly, understanding all too well. "I know that feeling. But the truth is, we're more than the people they tried to turn us into. Damian, you have NOTHING to prove. You may be their prince, you may be your fathers Robin, but you are also a child. And I don't say that in a demeaning way, i say it to remind you that you have many years ahead of you. Stop living every day like its your last, like you have to make sure you did everything you where told to accomplish as soon as possible. Live, find out what it truly means to live. Thats my challenge to you. From one former league royalty to another."

Damian fell silent, his gaze dropping to the floor as if he was wrestling with the truth in her words. He looked like the young boy he still was, burdened by a legacy he hadn't chosen.

After a long pause, Aubrey spoke again, her voice softer now. "Do you want to know about my childhood?"

Damian looked up at her, his expression curious but cautious. "If you want to tell me."

Aubrey leaned back, her eyes distant as she began to speak. "I didn't grow up with the League. I was born into a high ranking family in my homeland, or so i was told. Children who are born with strong abilities like mine and Windsheers are taken at birth from our territories to the central towers. High mountains that create the barrier around the city and palace our royalty calls home. At 6 months old we are reassigned to a family, and i was chosen by the Queen. I got made a princess, one of many that now exist. My mother" Aubrey spit out the word with malice. "Wanted a child from all the territories, so that the royal family would be strong. We are marked as family more by magic than by blood where i'm from, so a simple spell cast before we are a year old binds us the same way DNA does for you. I was the third child. Windy, another sister who i never talked to, and me. As time went on i was trained, educated, and tested. I passed every one, learned every thing, and out worked every member of my family. I was a jewel in my mothers eyes, and at the time that meant everything to me. Her precious Ruby, that was what she would call me. She gathered more children, but i was still the best. I was only 5 but i could have out performed even some of the most skilled warriors from this planet. Wether my race naturally matures quicker or if it was just that she pushed us more i don't know."

Damian listened intently. Aubrey kept going after taking a breath.

"One day, my older sister Windy took me out to play. She had learned a game from one of the other kids she knew from her diplomatic sessions. She was being taught to become the next queen. I agreed, but our mother found out and punished us. Even now i remember watching her hit my sister before moving onto me. I was angry, we had done nothing wrong. I rebelled, and was punished every time. Windy was 5 years older than me, and even she had never defied mother. After 2 years, i went from being mothers jewel, her Ruby, to barely being seen at all. I was constantly being beaten or locked up. My other siblings, the younger ones, had started to catch on, and also pushed back on her strict ways. The harsh training, the harsher punishments. The using us for her own political gain. When she realized i was the one responsible, she decided to make and example of me. SHe lined all of my siblings up on the Southern tower, a mountain overlooking the fire territories, with a steep dropoff the side. She had us fight each other, and when she ordered me to hit my younger sister harder, i refused. She lashed me, before throwing off the side of the mountain. I died on impact with the ground."

Damians eyes where wide. I assumed he knew I had died, but not that my own mother was responsible.

"A fire drake breathed me back to life, enough that I could make a deal with her. I came back, and burned the central city and palace down. I slaughtered the armies my mother had been so confident in. The blood thirsty monsters she had been so proud of. I killed thousands, only sparing the children and my mother, so she could see what her actions had caused. Then i ran, found the portal at the bottom of the northern mountain, and came here. I winded up getting spit out in Kansas. I was adopted by a nice couple who owned a ranch out there. I had a family. A real one. Those parents... they weren't like the people we're used to. They were good. Simple, even."

She smiled faintly, the memory of her parents in Kansas flickering to life in her mind. "We lived in the country. Out in the middle of nowhere. It was peaceful. I thought that was going to be my life—simple, quiet. But then they realized I wasn't like other kids. I could do things... things they didn't understand. I shared my story, in the best way I could. They accepted me regardless, and life went on. Or so I thought."

Damian listened intently, his sharp eyes softening as she spoke.

"My parents tried to hide it, to protect me," Aubrey continued. "But the League found out. They wanted me—wanted to use me. I was taken from my family and trained again to be... something else. Something powerful."

Her voice grew quieter, the weight of those years pressing down on her. "I never saw my parents again."

Damian's jaw clenched, a flicker of understanding passing through his eyes. He knew what it was like to have your life torn apart by the League, to be molded into something you didn't want to be.

"They made me into a weapon," Aubrey said, her voice steady but pained. "But I didn't lose who I was. Not completely. I fought back, and eventually, I escaped. But I never stopped feeling like part of me was still in their hands."

Damian sat in silence, the story resonating with him in a way few things did. He glanced at her, his own memories surfacing as he processed what she had told him. "You're stronger than they ever were," he said finally, his voice low but sincere.

Aubrey smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "So are you, Damian. Don't forget that."