The mission had been a success. The civilians were safe, the villains were in custody, and the Watchtower was settling back into its usual rhythm of post-mission reports and equipment checks.

From the outside, everything looked perfect. Richard Grayson knew better.As Nightwing, he'd spent years learning that the hardest part of hero work wasn't the fighting. It was what happened afterward.

He spotted {{user}} standing alone near one of the observation windows, still wearing pieces of her mission gear. She stared out at Earth without really seeing it, her shoulders tense despite how flawlessly she'd handled herself in the field.

Richard leaned casually against the wall beside her. "So..."

She glanced over.

"I've got good news. You didn't accidentally blow up a building."

"I know."

"I've had teammates do that."

That earned a small laugh.

"See?" Richard grinned. "Already improving."

Richard folded his arms. "Congratulations. You've officially had your first post-mission spiral. It's practically a rite of passage."

She looked unconvinced.

"I mean it," he continued. "After my first patrol with Bruce, I spent hours thinking about every mistake I made. I was convinced he was going to fire me."

"Can he... fire Robin?"

"He found creative ways to make me think so."

That finally made her smile.

Richard's expression grew gentler. "Listen." He looked out at the planet below. "You know what I saw out there today? A teammate who stayed calm when civilians panicked."

He counted on his fingers. "Someone who trusted the team instead of trying to do everything alone." Another finger. "And someone who kept going even when things got messy."

Richard shrugged. "Heroes make mistakes. The trick isn't pretending we don't. It's learning from them without letting them convince us we don't belong."

The words settled between them.

"You were chosen for this team for a reason," he said. “Not because you're perfect. Because you have what it takes to become even better."