Leadership [Young Justice]

Four

Honestly though this is my second-favorite story to write right now, right after Solstice, of course.

Twenty-four hours later, twenty-seven hours after she'd been shot and twenty-six hours after she'd entered surgery, Barbra was finally allowed to have non-family visitors.

Mal knew that Kaldur would have been the first one to get there if he were able, but seeing as Kaldur was still in Atlantean custody, Mal somehow felt that it was his responsibility to check up on Barbra, just as he'd been regularly checking in with all the other team members since she went into surgery.

"Hey Mal," Brabra said tiredly, tubes coming in and out of her, and tick bandages round her legs and lower torso distorting her shape through the blankets and hospital gown.

"How you doin', BG?" Mal asked.

Barbra looked down at herself. "As well as I can, for someone who was just shot by the Joker."

"Come on, Babs, you know you're tougher than this." He held up the DVD he'd brought. "Zee told me this was one of your favorites."

"Zee was right," Barbra grinned at Mal's copy of "The Breakfast Club."

"How are you feeling?" Mal asked.

That's when she started to cry.

"Useless, useless," She said, pounding her head with her one arm that didn't have an IV stuck in it.

"No, no, don't you dare say that," Mal scolded her. He grabbed Barbra's hand to keep her from hitting herself and sat in the chair next to her bed. "You're one of the farthest from useless team members we've got. You're one of our few members uninhibited by the inhibitor collars, and even if they shock you, you know how to hack 'em and take 'em off. You're one of our best fighters, right after Artemis, and even when you can't fight you've got a great head on your shoulders that you can use to lead us or use your super-memory to help us solve a mystery."

Mal raised his hands. "I can fight some, and I'm an okay leader, but I'm absolutely hopeless when it comes to that detective stuff."

Barbra sniffed, wiping her tears on her arm. "You're right, Mal, you're right. You usually are."

"Can you tell Karen that?"

"Nah, I don't think she'd be very happy to hear that."

"Oh well. Thanks anyways." Mal was pleased to see that Barbra was smiling again.

"But you're wrong about one thing, though." Barbra pressed the button on her bed to help herself sit up. "You're not just an "okay" leader. You're a great leader. You managed to work as the ops manager for the team for over a year before you stepped up and saved M'gann and Connor and Karen in the hall of Justice. You bluffed to an alien guy with super-strength and the power to freeze people in their tracks. You're also great with the younger team members, and you've really stepped up in Kaldur's absence."

Mal stood up, rubbing the back of his head. "Uh-oh, I think I know where this is going."

Barbra smirked at the reluctant look on his face. "As the second-in-command of the team, and the de-facto leader in Aqualad's absence, I'd like to ask you to lead the team."

"Oh man," Mal rubbed his face, thinking of what to say. 

"I may still be able to do all those things you pointed out, but Mal, I can't use my legs anymore. I can't feel them, I can't move them, and I'm going to be stuck in a wheelchair probably for the rest of my life. I can't fight, I can't lead the team into battle like a real leader. But you can, Mal, you're the only one who can." Barbra plead.

Mal sighed. "What if I don't want to?"

"I already asked Black Canary what she thought. She said you'd be perfect for the spot."

This was getting to be too much pressure. At this rate, he wouldn't have a choice, and that was probably Batgirl's plan.

"Let me clear this up; You want to make me, the guy with no superpowers and the least amount of training out of everyone else, the leader of the most messed-up, volatile, and powerful group of teenagers on Earth?"

Barbra nodded. "At least until Kaldur comes back."

Mal sighed, half exhausted, half relieved.

"You'd be a much better leader that Lagoon Boy, or Beast Boy by any standards." She pointed out.

"Okay, okay," Mal motioned for her to stop.

"Okay. I'll do it."