Marcus Weston was the first to cross the threshold of the meeting room.  Ironic, considering he hadn't even bothered going on the mission.  Fenrir didn't need to ask why either, as the smell of alcohol hung heavy over the former Ranger.  Perhaps inviting Quantum to the Outsiders was a mistake after all.  Batman had certainly said as much when he had seen Mark's name on the list of potential candidates for the team, but the decision was ultimately Fenrir's.  The Wolfman had taking Weston on, being no stranger to the redeeming qualities of second chances himself.  He still had high hopes for Quantum, though the drinking issue would have to be addressed.

The rest of the Outsiders were quick in assembling.  Fenrir hit a button under the desk next to his chair.  The personal computer monitors in front the chairs folded into the desk surfaces, while the holo-projecter in the center of the table sunk into the floor.  

"Team.  One of our two objectives were completed.  We intercepted the Royal Flush Gang and we managed to save Luthor.  We did it all without a single casualty."

"However we failed to apprehend the gang.  King, Ace and Ten managed to escape.  Queen probably wont survive the night.  Unacceptable collateral damage was visited upon the environs and Luthor's security.  Our own cruiser will need extensive repairs."    

He paused, gauging the reactions on the faces of the Outsiders.  He knew there was one person who was more responsible for the failure than the others. 

Fenrir had been near unconcious for the start of the fight, and had been forced to deal with Belle and the crashing cruiser for the conclusion, so he had missed most of the action, with no real basis on who to judge for what.  He couldn't have known that Litheal had frozen in place, or that Tamashi had overplayed his hand to early.  

Nor could he have witnessed Poltergeist near killing Queen, or Molotov destroying an Exo-Suit with a man inside.  

No, all he knew was that the Outsiders first outing was a mitigated failure.  And when you boiled it down to the basics, that was all because of a lack of good leadership.  

Facing facts, it was Fenrir himself who had failed the team.  

Not to say the others didn't have their own portion of the blame to shoulder, but he knew that the buck had to stop with him.  That was a hard thing for him to admit to himself, in his private thoughts.  It would be a different matter altogether for him to admit it out loud to the team.  He was an alpha male, and the Wolf inside him said that was credential enough for him to lead in the wild.  Here though, in the world of man, he was self-aware enough to know that just being the strongest wasn't enough to make someone a leader.  

All those he had followed in the past had made it look so easy.  From when Little Red Riding Hood had led the escape attempt that had seen he and several others finally earn their freedom from Granny, to Ditto leading Young Justice to victory time and time against threats that most would call insurmountable. 

Fenrir's only real experience with leadership, apart from when he had spearheaded the attack that had crippled the Tomorrow Woman's digital communications, was when he and his brother Hellfire had fought their two man war against Grannies machinations.  Gabe and Magnus had been a terrific team, the pyromancer and the feral savage complementing each others strengths and reinforcing the others weaknesses.  Their partnership on the field of battle had been nigh on wordless, each instinctively knowing what the other was thinking and their place in the plan without needless communications.  

Looking back though, maybe that was what was crippling Fenrir so now.  He had expected the Outsiders to be the same well oiled machine that he and Gabe had been, but he was realizing now that wasn't the case.  A team like this needed work.  

"We need to be better, If we're going to be a team then we need to fight as a team."  He said after a long silence.  "Starting 6AM tomorrow we will begin group training.  Completely mandatory.  Anyone skips out, for whatever reason, or not meeting my standards, is off the team." He directed this last comment towards Marcus.  

"Any comments or complaints, anything about what just happened tonight, or whats to come next, now is the time to make them."  

No doubt the team would have their misgivings about the mission, just like he did, and he wanted them to air them now instead of grievances stagnating.  He waited for the inevitable backlash.