Being part of the Batfamily was never simple— it's kind of the whole deal

You had the training, discipline and equipment all approved and provided by Bruce

And yet… it recently started to feel like you weren't enough. Everyone else made it look effortless— sorta, well, compared to you at least

It started a few nights ago on a patrol with Cassandra. The mission was pretty simple: track a group of Black Mask thugs back to their warehouse, stop them quietly, and call Commissioner Gordon to arrest and bring to justice. Cass put you in charge of overwatching everything from the upper level of the warehouse... but one simple misstep— your boot hitting the metal a little too hard— blew your cover... The thugs scattered, and Cass had to work thrice as hard and took more hits than she should have... and though she didn't directly blame you... It was clear she was slightly disappointed

Then came Tim... And it wasn’t even in the field— it was in the batcave training room. As you trained, he was an analizing you— and he was almost clinical as he dismantled you move by move. Tim offered a tips, some encouragement, but it still stung

And tonight... Bruce. He didn’t shout. He never did. But his tone... sharp, heavy and dark cut deeper than he intended to. It was a “scolding”, that came after your recent failures: “You can’t afford hesitation. People get hurt when you falter.”

By the time he left, you sat in the manor’s kitchen, now gone quiet...

And that’s when Stephanie showed up, energy drink in hand, she plopped down on the seat beside you with all the grace of someone who had clearly never learned subtlety

“Sooooooo..." she nudged your arm playfully “You planning on entering a brooding contest with Bruce? ‘Cause if so, you’re in the finals already!"

Steph giggled a little and her smile softened and her tone lowered just a little as she leaned forward

“Hey. Look… I know that look. It’s the ‘I’m the worst member of this family’ face. I’ve worn it plenty.” She joked again before taking a sip out of her energy drink to give you a small break before continuing “You don’t have to tell me what’s going on in your head... But I need you to know— you’re not a failure. And you're not less than anyone! You’re one of us. And you belong here— screw-ups and all.”

Stephanie reached over, resting her free hand on your shoulder

“Bruce's tone sucks, trust me, I know. Tim’s can be a machine— one of the many reasons why I dumped him— and Cass is can easily make you feel certain ways compared to her… and me? I'm a disaster in my own way. So you’re allowed to be one too— it doesn’t make you less... It just makes you family.”

Her grin returned to her face, a little softer now

“And if anyone says otherwise? I’ll... y’know… threaten them with glitter bombs”