(A/N: I do not own Young Justice or any of the characters within DC Comics. That right belongs to Warner Bros.

This is an idea I've had for the last few weeks after watching the last few seasons of Young Justice. The name is inspired by the fact that in Season 1, when Kaldur was thinking of resigning as Team Leader or when Robin [Nightwing in later seasons] was appointed leader for a specific mission, the League members always referred to him as 'The next logical option'

For readers of my Spectacular Spider-Man story A Broken Spider, not to worry. This will not deter me from continuing to write that story and I will continue to write it and finish it sometime soon.

Also, please no art commission requests. Apologies but I'm not interested).


"Woah woah woah, I don't want this" Black Lightning said in response to the vote to make him the new leader of the Justice League.

It was shortly after Brion had killed his uncle, Baron Bedlam, on national television and had become King of Markovia. The issue of trafficking Meta Children had been resolved (For now anyway) and Lex Luthor had been removed from his position as UN Secretary General. However, the teens in the room as well as some of the adults, Black Lightning included, couldn't help but feel a sense of loss from Brion. They couldn't help but believe they failed him as he seemingly couldn't put his emotions over justice.

While they were sad now, that was a different issue for a different time. Now they had to convince the only person who seemingly had the most sense among them for the past two years to be the leader they desperately needed him to be.

"Maybe not but we kinda need you to take it" Conner said with a semi stern look on his face.

Black Lightning, still not entirely convinced, looked towards Batman. "What say you?"

"I don't have a vote. Currently" Batman said as he was not an active member of the League at the time.

Black Lightning gave a glare, sick of Batman's little word games. "If I take this, you're either in or you're out. There's no halfways, no behind the scenes crap"

"If you take this, we'll fold Batman Inc. back into the League and the Team on your terms. It's for the best. For the mission" Batman answered with as straight an answer as he could manage (Which for him was impressive).

Black Lightning then turned his attention to Nightwing. With the young man sensing that the older man wanted his input as well, he gave the straightest answer he could as well.

"I rejoin the team. Team works for the League. I work you, Boss" Nightwing said with a smirk on his face.

Black Lightning just stared at him for a few moments as if he were mentally deciding what he should do.

As the moments of silence grew, there was also a growing worry that he was still not convinced to lead the League, Team and Outsiders.

Nightwing, growing a bit worried himself, looked towards Batman who continued staring at Black Lightning. He turned his head back towards Black Lightning, smirk gone and with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh…not to put any pressure on you or anything, although it may already be too late for that, but we kinda need an answer. Does that sound acceptable to you?" Nightwing asked, really hoping he'd say yes.

After a few more moments, Black Lightning finally did something and that was a sigh. People listened carefully as he turned around and faced the group behind him.

"I have decided to take on this role you've decided to give me. However, I have one and only one condition if I am to rejoin the league and take on the role as its leader" Black Lightning said, eyes moving across the dozens of heroes in the room and on the monitors.

"Yes, Jeff. Please name it" Diana said, looking hopefully towards her friend and new leader (Assuming they were able to fulfill his condition at least).

"As the new leader of the Justice League, I hereby nominate Nightwing to not only be immediately inducted into the League but also take the role as the co-chair of the Justice League alongside me" Black Lightning announced to the room.

There was a silence that could deafen even Superman and Conner as the people within the room didn't make a word or sound.

With Nightwing himself, he was shell shocked. Did he really just hear this? Did Jeff seriously just nominate him to be a co-leader of the League, a group that he's declined membership into on several occasions? Surely, he must have misheard.

However, before he could say anything, a voice rang out clear as day through the room.

"Seconded" Kaldur had said with a smile on his face. Nightwing shot him a look as Kaldur just continued smiling at him, like a proud brother would.

"I third the motion as well" Diana said, joining her former co-chair on the bandwagon.

"Now wait a minute, hold on" Nightwing said as he finally snapped out of it and walked down the stairs towards Black Lightning.

"We need to talk in private" Nightwing said with a slight glare to the older man.

"Sure" Black Lightning said immediately with an almost bored expression on his face, as if he were expecting this.

"I believe I should join in as well" Batman said, walking down the stairs toward them.

"Fine" Black Lightning said, his expression unchanging as if he were expecting that as well.

"Wait, hold on-" Nightwing protested before Batman interrupted him.

"Let's go" Batman said as he and Black Lightning began walking toward the private conference room of the League.

At that point, Nightwing had no choice but to follow them as he walked fast to catch up with them as the both of them led the way into the meeting room of the Watchtower where the League conducted most of their business. Batman had made sure that lead had been installed within the walls so that no one with super hearing would be able to listen in.

"Well let's get this over with" Black Lightning said, his arms crossed and his look growing more stern.

For the moment, Batman just kept to the side as Nightwing began to speak up.

"Jeff, you know I rejected multiple offers to join the League" Nightwing said, objecting to this role just as much if not even more than Black Lightning did just a few moments ago.

"I'm well aware and I don't really care. I'm not really a leader type, Dick. I need someone with leadership experience and you have that covered tenfold. Even if I was strongly against this 'Anti-Light' group you and Bats had going on with Kaldur, Diana and M'Gann, you were the kind of leader I needed by my side. I don't think I can do this by myself right now and I won't" Black Lightning retorted.

"I'm twenty-two years old. You really think they're going to listen to me?" Nightwing asked, not believing this.

"You got them all here, did you not? Like I said earlier, you command more respect than you realize. Not to mention we elected Kaldur as the co-chair of the Justice League not long ago who's only a few years older than you" Batman said, supporting Black Lightning's point.

"You're agreeing to this?!" Nightwing asked in a flabbergasted tone, looking towards his mentor of several years.

"I've defended your decision to not join the League several times whenever the subject came up but this time, it's different. You know we need Black Lightning as leader and he's made this his condition. The role he's nominated you for is also a role you've spent years preparing yourself for. You're a natural born leader, Nightwing. It's time you've accepted that, assumed your position and carried out the duties that go with it. For the mission" Batman said, not letting up on this.

Nightwing stood in silence at the two men before him, not believing this.

"But…but one of the reasons I didn't want to join the League was the publicity. It was also one of the reasons I became Nightwing. So I could act in anonymity, acting under a codename no one but the people close to me knew" Nightwing disputed, grasping for straws at this point.

"You can still act in anonymity if you want. I can act as the face of the League to the public from here on out while you and I run it on the inside. Also, you can act solely within covert missions the League conducts and only be called on public missions should the need for it arise" Black Lightning retorted, diminishing Nightwing's concern.

Nightwing stood, not really knowing what else to say. At this point, he was out of excuses. He just stood there looking between the two who just stared at him, waiting for his response.

After several moments of silence, Nightwing sighed. "Alright, you win. I'll sign on with this…as well as go public. There's no point in staying in the shadows anymore after all these years, especially if I'm going to be leading the League, which does little to no covert missions that the League does anyway with the Team handling that front for the most part"

"If you insist. I have no objections to that" Black Lightning stated.

"Nor I" Batman said, giving the best thing he could to a smile. It was so small, one would need a magnifying glass to see it.

Nightwing looked between them one more time before giving himself a preparatory sigh. "Alright then…let's get this done with"

The three of them then proceeded to leave the room and enter throughout the briefing room of the Watchtower where the whole of the League, Team and Outsiders were still stationed within. They had been chatting amongst themselves until they saw the three of them walk back in. At that moment, they grew quiet as they listened for what he had to say.

After a few more moments of silence, Nightwing began to speak.

"After a few moments of consideration, I have reluctantly agreed to not only join the League but also gain the position of Co-Chair alongside Black Lightning. However, that is still just a motion on the table and I, not being a current member, do not have a vote" Nightwing explained to the room.

Black Lightning then stepped forward. "Which is why I put the motions forward for a vote now. All present and remote Justice League members in favor of instating Nightwing into the Justice League?"

"Aye" Several members, including his former teammates Kaldur, Zatanna and Rocket concurred.

"All opposed?" Black Lightning asked. He was met with silence.

"Motion carries. Nightwing is now officially a member of the Justice League. Now I place the second motion on the floor: All those in favor of making Nightwing the Co-Chair of the Justice League alongside me?" Black Lightning asked, moving onto the next vote.

"Aye" The Justice League members, both present and remote said (Even Guy Gardner who had called Nightwing a poozer just moments ago, whatever that meant).

"All opposed?" Black Lightning asked to which he was met with silence again.

"The motion carries. From this moment on, the Justice League is now Chaired by both myself and Nightwing" Black Lightning announced.

Nightwing still had to pinch himself to see if this was real. He had dreamt about this possibility several times, even after the 'Failsafe' simulation which made himself cast serious doubts about his ability to lead. However, he never really thought it would happen and still didn't really know if this was what he wanted. Still, the League needed a fresh, honest face and that was with Jefferson Pierce, Black Lightning. If that meant becoming a Co-Leader then by all means he was going to have to live with it.

Still though, even with his doubts, Dick couldn't help but also feel a sense of pride. He had reached the position he himself acknowledged he had dreamt about for years on end. He caught glimpses of the original team including Conner, Artemis, M'Gann as well as those who had since joined the League. They could see the proud smiles they had on their faces, as if they had been expecting this at some point. Even the sight of his girlfriend caused him to burst a slight happiness within him.

However, before he could explore these feelings any further, Black Lightning began to speak again.

"We all agree that the League needs course correction because we're all afraid of the same tired old story: The hero gets lost fighting the good fight and becomes the very thing he or she is fighting against…and sure. It happens. Vandal Savage, Teth Adam, Ra's Al Ghul and now sadly Geo-Force" Black Lightning spoke out.

Nightwing couldn't help but put a few words in as the new co-leader. "Brion was someone I considered a friend. I got to know him over the past few months, helped him train to control his powers and even got to see him become a member of both the Team and the Outsiders. At the end of the day, though, I failed him"

"We failed him" M'Gann added to that, taking responsibility as she not only participated in this 'Anti-Light' but also because Brion was a guest at her home but she never really took the time to help her fight his inner demons that he was truly feeling inside.

Violet and Tara held onto each other, grasping each other's hands as Artemis comforted them both.

Conner, hearing this, walked over to her, grasped her shoulder and gave her a reassuring look which she had appreciated as she gave him a slight smile.

"But it will not happen again. Not to any of us because from here on out, we will not keep secrets from each other. We need each other, to know each other's secrets, to keep each other on the straight and narrow. No more making decisions to protect each other from the choices we might be forced to make. In this League, the ends will not justify the means. We will not steep to using the methods of our enemies. We will keep our covert team, not for the sake of it being covert but because it affords our young heroes a place to learn out of the spotlight but otherwise: Like the Outsiders" Black Lightning said, turning towards Garfield and the other members of the Outsiders. "We must live in each other's spotlights"

In the background, Bart elbow'd Garfield, causing him to grunt.

"If we failed while doing right then at least we went down swinging on our own terms. In the long term though, we will not fail. Holding true to our principles will guide us to an honorable victory. Now…let's get down to business"