It happened against his will. The feelings made their way to his heart surreptitiously, ever so slowly. He knew he shouldn't have fallen for her, he knew it was useless, and he used all his strength to fight it, but it wasn't enough.

The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.

She was ruthless, made to win impossible fights, yet so caring for the life of the people she was guiding, whether they were of her nature or like him. Humans needed more protection, she knew that. She took it into account, but that didn't diminish how she considered their strengths and skills.

She was gentle when she was outside and little kids just happened to run around. This woman of steel and flesh had slowly stolen his heart with the way her eyes seemed to speak for her, with the way she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear when she was leaning over maps, with the way her lips curved into a smile after being congratulated over the good work she accomplished. She truly was stunning, in every way.

She was full of paradox, this woman. The skin covering her hard steel skeleton was the softest he has ever touched, her deep brown eyes expressed so much humanity while also calculating the best strategy to adopt on the battlefield. Her comprehension of the universe was more than his ever would be, and the same went with her understanding of human beings.

There was one thing she couldn't understand, for she was programmed to never feel this kind of emotion. She was able to care, but she wasn't able to love. As the merciless and cunning governor of their country, Cora Mills, often told with him: love is weakness. And what a huge weakness he had developed for this wonderful, complex woman.

He refused to see her as a simple engine. She was more than that. She was different than the others. She couldn't feel love, but she could definitely feel. Robots didn't blame themselves for the tragic loss of a part of their population, they didn't bring flowers to the graves of battle partners, they didn't congratulate the soldiers after a fight, they didn't smile all the way up to their eyes after a victory. But she did. She was different, and it still amazed him every single day.

Being Cora's most skilled creator and engineer, he had accomplished many things, but she was his last success. He always hated to see her as an object though, as a project out of his mind, as a realization his hands created. These were some of the reasons he used to try to keep his right mind, but as soon as he tried to be honest with himself, miserable failure hit him hard.

He looked at her from his desk, wondering so many things. He might be one of the smartest person of this place, but he knew he ignored so many things. He observed her tapping on the wide digital screen in front of her, completely oblivious that he had been staring for a good minute now. He wondered how could she be so real, so human. He wondered "what if"? What if she could? What if he made her? What if he helped her learn?

Deep down, he knew all these questions were useless. You could teach people like her some emotions, but Cora had made it clear to include a code inside the androids that would keep them from developing any feelings towards anyone. He cursed himself for listening to her.

She was different, walked like she owned the place, had a mischievous smirk from time to time, cracked jokes to him when they were working together late at night, respected him and thought of him as her equal although, on one hand, he was her creator, and, on the other hand, she was stronger than him. The touch of her fingertips was so gentle and the way she arched her eyebrow as she listened to someone always made a slight smirk appear on his face. He even had the privilege to hear her laugh quietly once. Oh what a melody it was to his ears. And now he wanted nothing more than to hear it again.

He continued to observe her as she stayed focused on her task, his eyes moving to stare at the scar on her upper lip, the one he was responsible for. A small sight escaped his lips as he remembered how she almost died because of him.

An enemy had placed a bomb in his bag after a mission he accomplished, and, as soon as he was close enough, her eyes had widened as she saw through the bag. She screamed to drop the bag and run, but he couldn't hear a thing. He could only see her move her arms frantically. As she started to run towards him, he finally understood and quickly obeyed. He thought about how it would have been too late for him, how he hadn't put enough distance between the bomb and himself, how she had used her inhuman speed to get to him and save him.

He thought about how she used her own body as a shield when everything exploded. He remembered it like if it was yesterday. Her back and most of her synthetical skin was burnt, along with a few of her connections, but he was able to repair most of it after he healed from his minor injuries. He was still so touched by her action. She had saved his life, and it could have been at the expense of her own. This gesture made him question intensely the artificiality of her nature.

"Robin? Are you alright?" Her soft voice pulling him out of his trance. "I-I am, I was just thinking," He mumbled. She was different. Maybe she could learn, somehow. A deep exhale left his lungs as he got up. "I just… need some fresh air," He mumbled before walking out of the room as he ran a hand through his hair. He knew it was stupid to think that way. He knew it was hopeless and useless.

Regina's gaze followed him as he headed to the door and, little did he know about how she knew. She knew about his desires, she knew about his struggles, she knew about his feelings. And she was so jealous of them.

She tried to understand them countless of times before, and she even tried to experience them herself. But the only thing that rose inside of her then was anger, rage that she was only feeling void.

She studied him very carefully and learned a lot about human behaviours. He was the reason why she knew so many human mimics that were now integrated in her general program as basic responses to various stimulus. She taught herself by observing him, and now, she felt like she didn't belong to the android population. But that didn't make her human either. She was stuck in the middle, and it made her furious.

She turned back to the screen, looking at the various opened tabs in front of her. She needed to focus and continue her research. She must find a way to end this. She must find a way to get to feel like he does. She must find a way to change her mechanical heart for a beating one.

She knew it would make her vulnerable, but she also knew it would give her a life worth living for. She knew it was probably impossible, but he already had accomplished the impossible: she was the almost-living proof of that.