DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to DC and not me. I'm just borrowing them for a while to spin a tale.
With Reference to the events taking place in
Wanted (Outsiders #16-23) & The Insiders (Teen Titans #24-26 + Outsiders #24-25 & 28)
Though ignoring Nightwing's Prima Donna speech of leaving, even though he is leaving the Outsiders anyway in this story.
Indifference
By firewolf
November 2006
@>;-'-

'Bastard.' Jade stared at the back of Nightwing's head as the man stood in their parking garage checking his bike and preparing to leave, unconcerned and apparently oblivious to the turmoil within the Outsiders.

She just could not believe him. After the mess with Arsenal-- Roy interrogating each of them to find the traitor in their midst; after Arsenal shot Shift, declaring him the traitor; after Indigo-- spazzed out and attacked them, exposing herself as Brainiac 8 and the real traitor… the spirits of the team was at a nadir.

Jade had hoped that she could get them together again, to chill out, get things in the open and re-bond. Maybe even persuade Nightwing to change his mind about leaving the Outsiders. And Nightwing had disappeared before she even finished making her pitch.

When they discovered his absence, Arsenal and Starfire had immediately departed to hunt him down. That precipitated the exodus of the other members too as Thunder decided she needed to touch base with her father. Shift wanted some time alone to morn the loss of his love. Grace thought it vital to get out and party hard and she *wasn't* looking for company.

Jade had stormed off herself, heading straight for the parking garage to pick up a car to drive rather then ride the green energy home. She just felt too tired to muster the will to wield the green energies which were a part of her life. And she had arrived in time to see Nightwing preparing to depart.

If he was here, Jade had to wonder where Arsenal and Starfire were then. Did Nightwing already send them away? Why didn't they come back to check in with her then?

'Bastard!'

Being the leader wasn't what she expected it to be. Jade would be the first to admit that she hadn't thought about the full weight of responsibility resting on her shoulders. Deciding on the missions that they were to take; who their targets would be; who among the criminals they would next hunt; who among the victims they would help.

Before the whole traitor debacle, Grace had almost walked out on the team; that more than anything else was a clear enough gauges to Jade that she still wasn't accepted as the leader of the Outsiders. If she had been a good leader, she would have known-- she *should* have known... She should have realized that something was bugging Grace immediately and talked to her. Instead, a few days passed before she realized something was wrong and she had had to wait on Arsenal to hunt down and talk to Grace.

Grace hadn't even given a thought to ask for the Outsiders' participation and involvement in her crusade. Worse… when Roy did convince her to talk to the team, Jade had apologized and refused to take on the case… because it wasn't what the-- what *Jade* had thought the Outsiders could handle. But that wasn't exactly true. The truth of the matter was-- Jade didn't know what they could do. She *didn't know* what their first move to handle the situation would be.

She had seen it in Grace's eyes then, the loss of any respect Jade might have had from the woman. Grace only stayed because Arsenal had spoken up to back Grace's stand that the Outsiders should be involved. And Jade could see the others being persuaded and starting to glance towards her wondering what she would do or say.

She had sensed Nightwing's eyes on her then, and she knew he could read her like a book. He could see her utter helplessness and lack of ideas on how to proceed. And he offered an idea then, seized and taken up by the others while she was quietly shuffled to the rear as he took the lead.

It had been so easy to follow Nightwing's lead. The whole team had unconsciously turned to him for the solution and taken it up while she had been useless and indecisive. Grace had glared at her after their meeting with John Walsh. Both of them knew that if Nightwing had not suggested and lead them to contact the host of America's Most Wanted, Jade would not have known what to do and the Outsiders would not have been involved in the case at all.

She could have hated Nightwing for his competence; for so easily usurping her command barely weeks after she ousted him as the leader of the Outsiders; for the way the others so easily dismissed her and turned to him as soon as he spoke and decided for them what their next move was.

But… that would be uncharitable of her. When she stopped to think of what Nightwing had said and what had trespassed during that meeting, Jade had to recognise and realise that he had offered her a chance to challenge his suggestions or support him. He had given her ample opportunity to take over the discussion when he suggested they contact America's Most Wanted. But she had been lost. She did not make the intuitive leap Nightwing did to use the general public as their eyes and ears to supplement their work.

Then with their first lead's picture and the broadcast out, Nightwing had stepped back again and passed Walsh to her. Jade remembered seeing Walsh looking askance at Nightwing, but he nodded to her as the contact of the team. She had felt grateful to him then. But she also knew it for the caveat that it was; that he would not hesitate to take over an operation if she faltered or hesitated where she shouldn't. And he had disappeared after that, as was his wont to when they weren't on missions; his com still open to their call, but out of sight and out of mind to them all. The ball was in her court again...

A good leader would think three steps ahead of the enemy…

He never said it to her face, but Jade still thought Arsenal blamed her for not considering and warning him to take precautions with Lian. It was the leader's place to think of the well being of their troops. They went public... and Tanner went after them. Arsenal was visible, and it was well known he had a young daughter. She should have thought about that. Was it any surprise that Walsh called Nightwing later with the lead?

Even after the Outsiders found the planes with their precious cargo and liberated the children that were taken, Jade knew her control of the team was slipping ever further away. She had thought the mission was done with the retrieval of Roy's daughter, but she forgot about Tanner. Jade had forgotten about the ringleader. Grace didn't. And neither did Nightwing or John Walsh.

Jade had been puzzled when Nightwing insisted Grace see John Walsh alone to report their success. She didn't find out until a lot later that Walsh called Nightwing again and Nightwing passed a lead to Grace. Nightwing even covered for her when she went to face down Tanner alone.

Jade would never have allowed it; she was justifiably afraid Grace would give into temptation and kill the monster. But she didn't. And Jade had to admit that allowing Grace to confront the man; back off from killing him without the influence or interference from the team; and talk about the why with Walsh… Grace needed that.

Nightwing had the faith to trust Grace not to take a life. Jade couldn't say she had as great a confidence in the angry woman. Nightwing knew that about her, and that was why he had sent Grace off with the lead without telling anyone else.

As far as the case went, while it was a success, Jade knew she had utterly failed as an effective leader. If it were not for Nightwing's subtle and covert leadership it could have gone a lot worse. As it was she had alienate two people in the team. Grace would never forget that Jade would have passed over the case if Nightwing hadn't spoken up. And Arsenal had a traumatised child to take care of.

Worse, Jade knew more than ever before that in Nightwing's absence Arsenal would be watching her very closely now. He'd be paying attention and making sure she didn't make anymore fool mistakes that would endanger the team. Just-- like the way Nightwing watched out for its members when he was the leader…

She had an epiphany then-- only realising now that Nightwing only refused to show he cared for the team's well being; when he was actually alert to their physical and emotional needs. He just didn't believe they needed to know anything about him… that he gave a damn about them too.

But this was also the man who had led the Justice League when the original League was missing and presumed dead. Nightwing had taken a group of strangers and forged them into a cohesive unit. She had heard the stories of his learning of the 3,000 year old plan that Batman set down and taking it up to direct and lead his makeshift team into causing the resurrection of the original team that were killed in the past, and disrupting the powerbase of the villain who had been causing worldwide catastrophes.

So why was it so different now? No one could say that the Justice League was a family. If rumours were true, Batman was just as aloof and apart from his team mates as Nightwing tried to make himself within the Outsiders. Furthermore, it was even rumoured that Batman had a database of protocols for taking down and disabling every League member he ever worked with.

Nightwing did not. Of that they could be sure as the man never bothered to learn as much as he could about each of them. His only insistence was to know the limits of their powers and abilities; files which he had made available to Jade after she seized leadership of the team.

In hind sight, Jade had to recognise that Nightwing had seen through her ruse in bringing Starfire into the team. She had hoped the two would reconnect and that Kory would manage to get Nightwing to relax. The plan failed abysmally.

While Nightwing would socialise and talk with the two former Titans, he still showed little interest in interacting with the others in the team. Even then, Nightwing was seldom at Outsiders headquarters since he had his own city to take care of. Jade spent more time with Kory than Nightwing.

Furthermore, by taking the leadership from Nightwing, Jade actually freed him from a shit load of responsibility so he spent even less time with the team than he ever did previously. Now Bludhaven and Gotham saw more of him than they did. And he was apparently doubly pleased for the lifting of the Outsiders leadership load off his shoulders.

The team was Jade's concern now. She was the leader… She had wanted to be the leader… Nightwing had relinquished the position to her without a lick of a fight. But through the previous case, he also clearly showed her that he could take command back without anyone blinking an eye… She was only the leader by his benevolence.

It could not be more clearly rubbed into her face when less than a week after the mess with the child slavers, Arsenal slapped her down and locked down the facility to threaten the entire team when he deduced that they had a traitor in their midst. And again, it was Nightwing who had stepped in to help placate the situation and ask what Roy wanted to do to pin point the traitor. The team had gathered behind Nightwing automatically then and let him decide for them that they would calmly speak to Roy one-on-one and take his lie detector tests to let Arsenal ferret out the traitor.

But Arsenal had been wrong.

He had reasoned the traitor to be Shift and he was wrong. It was Indigo... Brainiac 8.

All of Arsenal's alleged fail safes and backups which made Indigo trustworthy were overwritten... Indigo had attacked them. Almost killing them...

And where was Jade? Did she rise up against this treachery to lead the team? No.

There was no direction. Each member was acting on their own. If there was any team management, again it was Nightwing who was shouting the orders; telling the team that they had to contain Indigo at the HQ; that they had to keep her there. But it did not last long. Indigo had wiped the floor with them.

Later at Star Labs, seeing Nightwing break up the fight which Jade should have quelled before Shift was ready to throw himself at Grace... Jade just could not phantom how this non-powered man could fearlessly and effectively make heroes so much stronger and more powerful than him back off.

If it had been her, Jade knew that she would have needed all the mystical green power she could muster to hold Grace and Shift off. But Nightwing had just stepped between them. And they'd listened to him.

"Jade."

She started from her reverie to look upon the man standing beside his motorcycle and holding his helmet. "Nightwing."

"Something you want to say to me?"

'Some-- Son of a bitch.' She couldn't hold back her anger any longer. "Damn you, Nightwing! Why can't you care about us?"

"What makes you think I don't?"

He had her there. When she really thought about it, Jade had to admit that Nightwing was still close friends with Roy and Kory. Lian still called him Uncle Wing...

He had encouraged Thunder to stay in close contact with her father, reminding her that familial ties were more important than the team. And whether or not her father appreciated it, he had made sure to call him to have him at her side as soon as he was able to when she was in the hospital.

With Grace, Nightwing had helped her find some closure with Tanner, when Jade would have interfered. And he had always tried to help Jade save her face when she was undecided in her role, taking command only when she was truly loss then seceding control to her immediately when she found her feet again.

"So… I guess we're just pretty thick, aren't we?"

"The Outsiders aren't the Titans, Jade. If you're going to hold my behaviour up in comparison to another group, do it with the Justice League. I'm treating you no differently to how I handled them." His lip quirked at the corner as if a funny thought came to him. "Ask Superman or the Flash some time how often Batman socialises with them. I took a page from his book.

"I'm not your enemy, Jade."

"I-- Don't go..."

"I need to." Nightwing told her softly as he pulled the helmet on his head. "I've a project I have to get off the ground and it'll take up a few months of my time.

"Anyway, you need real leadership of the Outsiders. So lead. Solidify your position while I'm gone."

"'Wing, you don't have to leave--"

"Jade, you need a break." He straddled his bike and presented her with his back. "And I really do have something I have to take care of with my other responsibilities. Arsenal will know how to contact me if there's a need."

She nodded. Nightwing was seceding control of the team to her again, but this time he wasn't going to be there to pull her fat out of the fire. And-- the bastard! He'd just practically warned her that Arsenal would be watching her just-- as he had...

"You're still a bastard, you know that?"

"I love you too, Jade." He ghosted a smile at her before he pulled the visor over his face to and started the ignition on the bike.

Her mind called out to him as he disappeared. 'Bastard.' But this was said in a fonder tone.

End
Thanks for reading.
Cheers, firewolf

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