Note: In which I pretend to know how to write fanfic. Maybe I will continue this text. Or maybe I won't. I can't really tell now.
Nell Little hates Damian Wayne. No scratch that. Nell Little cannot work with Damian Wayne. They are too alike. They are both leaders. They want to control everything but for some reason Damian thinks he is more apt for that. He tells her he's got more experience and he has more technique than her (and he adds with his oh so annoying Damian way that his techniques are better than hers anyway). Those are perfectly good arguments and Nell might had accepted them… had they not come out from someone as pompous as Damian Wayne.
He keeps telling her what to do on missions. He treats her like a kid. As if she hasn't been batgirl for a whole year now. She hates it, oh so much. And then he has the nerves to warn her about dying. Like Damian I'm sorry but you died once. We all know about the Leviathan She thinks it but she doesn't say it. Unlike what he believes she has common sense and she is a great observer. For example, she can see how tense he becomes when someone refers to his death. Even when he jokes about it with Todd, he doesn't put on a real smile (and neither does Jason when Nell thinks of it. They're must be something about death that is not fun to share.)
So for these reasons she doesn't bat an eye when Bruce announces that he is going on an undercover mission with Damian at the other side of the globe. She actually has to hide her own happiness. Out of sight, out of mind. That's what happens or at least that's what she tries to make happen. But for some reason, she wonders if he's okay, if he's safe, even if he's happy and she shouldn't care about that for god's sake. Anyway, she likes working with the rest of the Batfamily. She has to admit though that Steph is her favourite. She never judges Nell (in or out of mission) and she doesn't act like Nell is useless. Problem is she rarely sees Steph who spends most of her Nightwing days in Smallville or some other random cities like that. And when she sees Steph, the latter like to tease her about Damian. Which she really doesn't need, especially since she cannot stand Damian.
When Dick announces one day that he cannot reach Bruce and Damian, Nell feels sick with worry. She tells herself that it's normal to worry about your partner -no matter how annoying they might be. When that excuses start to feel like a lie. She tells herself that she's worrying about Bruce, after all he is the Batman. She can only breathe again when Barbara announces that Bruce and Damian contacted her. And before Nell can think she asks if Damian is ok. "Oh he is doing well." Dick answers with his I-know-something-you-don't-know smile. "And Bruce too, if you care." The relief she feels is enough to ignore the teasing Dick, Jason, Barbara, Steph and even Cass put her through. For the first month. After, it annoys her so much that she threatens of beating them up because GODAMNIT she doesn't care about Damian like that, he is her partner after all. That's it! Or is it?
When he comes back after 6 months of undercover work, she feels mad. Really how dare he not write to her or call her for the past months? She's his partner. (Somehow she's got herself using this word excessively and Tim warns her against that.)
When he sees her, he comments on her lack of growth. (And she can swear he glances at her chest but she's not sure why he would though.) She, however, did noticed his growth. She was at the manor, eating with the rest of the batfamily, when Damian and Dick entered the kitchen. They were both shirtless and sweating due to them coming out of a workout (at six in the morning, mind you). While she didn't care much for Dick, she couldn't get her eyes away from Damian (which he did not fail to comment on with a smirk later when they were on patrol). He had grown a few inches and had gained some muscles. Really how fair was that?