Hello everyone! I managed to shake a little free time loose to get some writing done. Legacy II is still on hiatus until my move is complete since it requires so much more of my time in regard to research and emotional output but I have something new to keep you busy until I can focus on that story again. This, while similar, is not a part of my usual universe. Let's call this my Earth 2, shall we? This is based on the Suicide Squad comic books, not so much the movie, although I may make a few small references to it along the way. Hope you enjoy it.
Welcome to Task Force X
Chapter 1 – Arkham Asylum
"Harley are you listening to me?"
Harley Quinn was leaned forward, arms curled around her shins and staring blankly ahead at the wall in front of her in the calming blue confines of her therapist's office. She had zoned out halfway through Joan's little pep talk. Dr. Joan Leland, former colleague and friend, had been treating Harley again since she and her psycho clown lover, The Joker, had been detained more than fourteen months prior. She had almost two whole months of progress with Harley until the unthinkable happened. The Joker escaped Arkham Asylum, leaving a heartbroken & grieving Harley Quinn behind. Since then Harley had become depressed and was unresponsive in therapy sessions. Joan sighed and pushed a lock of hair off her forehead in a frustrated manner. She raised her voice in an attempt to get her patients attention once again.
"Harley!"
The sad little blonde slowly turned her pigtailed head towards the voice. Her eyes were glazed and empty, her pink lips pulled downwards in a defeated frown.
"Harley, I know this has been hard on you but it's been over a year now. You need to start talking to me. I can't help you if you won't talk to me."
She stared in contempt at Joan but remained silent.
"Okay Harley, if that's how you're going to play it then I'll cut the session short and you can go to solitary."
Harley's face morphed into one of abject horror.
"Solitary? What gives?"
Joan solemnly shook her head.
"The staff is painting your cell…again. So, since you won't cooperate with me, you'll have to stay in the hole until the new paint dries."
Harley in her love-struck obsession with The Joker, repeatedly filled the plain white walls of her cell with drawings and scribbles. Any blank space seemed to soon be filled with pictures of hearts and grinning clown faces, J + H and Mrs. Harleen Joker scrawled in loopy script around them. They had already had to re-paint her cell two times prior in the past twelve and a half months and still couldn't figure out where she was hiding the writing implements.
"Fine! You want me to talk, then let's just get it over with already." Harley scoffed and crossed her arms angrily over her chest. "Ya really think you can fix me Doc?" Her voice was laced with sarcasm. "Well, then the jokes on you, I'm irreparably damaged goods, toots. No hope for this dope. I'm just a demented clown girl in love."
Joan had heard almost these exact statements about Harley once before, only it was from the mouth of another patient and not Harley herself.
"Harley, that's HIM talking. You need to let him go. Stop letting him control your thoughts. He doesn't define you. And he doesn't care about you. Why do you insist on pining for him?"
"You don't know him. He loves me! He's just a little angry with me is all. He'll cool down eventually and we'll be sweethearts again."
Joan would never be able to understand the attraction Harley had for that sick monster. Never had she seen so damaging and dysfunctional a relationship as the Joker and Harley Quinn. No matter how much he used and abused her, both physically and emotionally, she still loved him. In prior sessions, when things were 'good' with the couple Harley would spend hours telling Joan about all of the wonderful things he would say and do for her. Surprisingly Joan had actually witnessed several of these moments of supposed 'tenderness' from Joker, but she wasn't buying it.
Joker was nice to Harley only when it suited him or when he needed something from her or if he simply wanted his ego stroked. He routinely manipulated her by twisting her obsession for him. It particularly sickened Joan every time Harley wanted to talk about their sex life together. She would usually try to focus on polka dotted elephants for fear of developing a mental image of a naked Joker in her mind's eye.
"Don't you understand that he is incapable of loving anyone but himself?"
"That's not true. He does love me! He does!"
"Harley, he abandoned you. Left you here alone to rot away in a cell. What makes you think he's ever coming back for you? Has he ever been away this long before?"
Harley's face visibly fell. She had honestly been thinking those same thoughts lately. He'd never been away from her this long. Was he ever going to forgive her?
"No, he hasn't, but I screwed up really bad this time. He'll come around, he just needs more time, I guess." She replied gloomily.
Harley really had screwed up. Their last playdate with the Bat didn't go as planned and it was all her fault. She only had one job that night; to watch Mistah J's back and to stay out of his way. He told her,
'If you see a Bat Brat, smash em' with your mallet, but don't you dare interfere with me and Batsy. Got it kiddo?'
She nodded vigorously and promised she wouldn't let him down. But she broke her promise. It was an accident of course, but that wasn't going to matter to Mistah J. While her Puddin wrestled with the Bat she was quietly patrolling the perimeter of the warehouse they were in, looking for Robin, Batgirl or any of the other Bat-groupies when in her peripheral vision she saw a dark figure slowly creeping up behind her lover and Guanoman. She wasn't sure but she had a sneaking suspicion it was that pompous horse's ass, Nightwing. Well she'd show the jerk he shouldn't mess with her Mr. J! Being as stealthy as she could manage she cartwheeled through the darkness to get the drop on ol' Wingnut before he got the drop on her Puddin. She raised her mallet high above her head preparing to bring it down on the unsuspecting vigilante as her lover furiously tangled with the Bat mere feet away. Harley stuck out her tongue in concentration and squinted to keep the inevitable spray of blood out of her eyes. The Bat tackled the Joker onto the ground at the same instant Harley forcefully swung her hammer downward. She connected solidly and winced as she heard the familiar, bloodcurdling scream of agony. She slowly opened one eye, afraid to look at what she had done. Nightwing must have dove out of the way and what she ended up smashing was not Wingnut's melon but Mistah J's right hand, shattering most of the bones in the process. He glared murderously at her as he screamed and foamed at the mouth. He writhed and flailed about trying to get to her even though he was being restrained by both Batman and Nightwing. It was one of the very first times in her life she was actually glad Batsy was there.
"You useless ninny! Are you incapable of doing ANYTHING right? I told you not to interfere and now look at what you've done! My hand! You've ruined it!" He thrashed towards her gnashing his teeth. "You had better hope they throw me in solitary, Harley, because when I get my hands on you you're dead! You hear me? DEAD!"
Tears filled her eyes as she dropped to her knees, embracing one of his legs.
"I-I'm so sorry Mistah J! It was an accident! I didn't mean it! Please. Please forgive me Puddin! I love you!"
His eyes narrowed to intimidating little slits. He stopped his thrashing, but kicked out at Harley in order to extract his leg from her grip. She fell onto her side with a "whoomph" of breath escaping her lips. The wind was knocked out of her due to the force of the blow. She was holding her stomach in pain and vaguely thinking about the new patch of bruises that was sure to sprout there soon. She feebly looked up into the ferocious face of her lover.
"And I hate you, you incompetent, worthless imitation of a sidekick. Stay away from me Harley or you'll regret it!"
Nightwing cuffed her as Batman took Joker away. Nightwing actually looked like he felt sorry for her, which made her feel even worse. They were both taken back to Arkham, but on Batman's suggestion, Joker was being housed in one of the Special Containment Units in the sub-basement of the asylum in case he tried to make good on his threat to kill Harley. It was the last time she ever saw him. She had heard through the grapevine that Joker had to have reconstructive surgery on his hand, including several steel rods and pins, but that was the last she heard until news of his escape circulated throughout the inmate population. And here they were over a year later and he still hadn't come for her.
"Harley."
Joan needed to get Harley out of her own head and talking again before she lost her for good.
"Harley you haven't received so much as a postcard for over a year now from this man that supposedly loves you. I think it's time to face the facts. He's not coming back this time."
Harley shot Joan a nasty look.
"He is coming back for me."
"No, Harley. He's not. Don't you think it's time to move on with your own life? You're an intelligent girl, you know we can rehabilitate you and then you can finally live a normal, healthy life again. You just need to let go of that clown and we can get started. Don't you want to re-join society? Get out of this dreary asylum and earn your freedom?"
"Yeah Joan, I do, but I can't just go back to boring. Mr. J taught me how to feel alive, I mean truly alive. A desk job, a three hundred square foot studio apartment and a cat ain't gonna cut it for me." She answered forlornly.
Dr. Leland glanced up at the clock on her wall. They were an hour over their session time already.
"I think we should stop right here for the day. Let's pick back up tomorrow at one in the afternoon and we can talk some more about what your options post-Arkham are, provided you commit to your treatment program."
Harley stuck her tongue out at Joan as she turned her back to call the guard into the office to unshackle Harley's ankles. Joan addressed Harley as the guard dealt with the locks.
"I'll walk with you down to Intensive treatment. If your cell isn't ready yet maybe I can get Jerimiah to allow us a walk on the roof for your good behavior today. At least until the paint dries."
At the same time Joan and the guard were escorting Harley back to her cell, the director of Arkham Asylum, Dr. Jerimiah Arkham had his hands full with a disruption of a very different kind than they were used to in the asylum. He trailed behind an escort of four heavily armed MP's and the large man who had introduced himself as Colonel Rick Flag, US Army. He was flustered by this sudden intrusion.
"Colonel Flag, I cannot release any of my patients to you. It's against protocol!"
The soldier stopped and turned to look down at the scrawny little man. He handed a dossier containing his current orders to the director.
"Dr. Arkham, the US government has taken jurisdiction over this inmate. You are to sign the release order and discharge this patient into our custody immediately or face a federal subpoena for obstruction."
His voice was cool and the man had a no-nonsense air about him. Arkham didn't want to ruffle any feathers but he also wanted answers.
"And where is she to be taken, Colonel?"
"I'm sorry but that is strictly classified information. From this point on, Harley Quinn is no longer your problem, Director."
He shoved the dossier and a pen firmly into Arkham's chest.
"This is highly unorthodox!"
Flag flashed Arkham an impatient look.
"Sign it and take us to her cell. Now."
Arkham quickly read the orders in his hands and sighed. The paperwork seemed to be legitimate. He flipped to the second page of documents and blanched as he read.
"We're to be under a gag order? What's the meaning of this?"
"As of this instant your files on Harley Quinn are sealed, my men will be packing those and taking those along with us as well. You and your staff are not to discuss this patient to anyone, under penalty of law. Like I said Director, Harley Quinn is not your problem anymore."
Reluctantly Arkham signed the necessary documents and handed then back to the Colonel. At the other end of the hallway stood a shocked looking Joan Leland and Harley Quinn, just returning from their session. Harley's eyes were the size of saucers.
"Where am I going?"
Flag turned to see the inmate staring at him and his men, obviously confused at the news that she was being transferred to a classified location.
"Miss Quinn, you're coming with us."
She glared at the uniformed meatheads. If she left Arkham, how was Joker going to find her when he finally forgave her?
"Like hell I am!"
Flag saw the defiance in her eyes. She was going to challenge them, he was sure of it. At least he'd get to see what she was made of. He turned to his men, all of whom were wearing flak jackets and full face helmets.
"Alpha team, subdue the prisoner and get her to the chopper." Flag then touched a small communicator in his ear. "Team Beta, have the files been requisitioned?"
"Yes sir. Everything is loaded and ready to go."
"Roger that."
The four soldiers approached Harley. Her face lit up into an evil little smile.
"Ooooh, it's been awhile since anyone played with me. This should be fun!"
Quick as a flash she bent at the waist pulling a shiv out of her sock and expertly stabbing it into the throat of the guard who had escorted her from her session. Joan screamed as his blood splashed across her face.
"Joan, you need to get outta here. Things are about to get really nasty."
Joan didn't think twice or try to be a hero. She ran down the hallway, away from the blood and violence and dove behind a desk in the HR office as she heard the battle begin.
"Miss Quinn, come quietly and you'll be afforded additional amenities. Oppose us and they'll be taken away."
"Mistah J is coming for me, so I ain't going anywhere mister."
Flag gave a signal.
"Do it."
The first of his soldiers confidently stalked towards Harley. She was such a tiny little thing. What could one little woman do to him? He weighed 280, he'd destroy her. As he came within striking distance Harley jumped, grabbing an exposed pipe that hung from the ceiling. Her legs were still shackled and she used this to her advantage. She swung up and twisted her body in the air. The chain from her ankles expertly looped around his throat and began choking the air from him. A second soldier came up on her side to pistol whip her so she let go of the pipe, landing on her hands. She used the momentum to flip both herself and the soldier caught in her ankle chains, flinging him down the hall and away from her. She quickly got into a crouching position and pounced on the back of the second soldier. Before he could react, she ripped his helmet off and went for his ear. He screamed as her teeth cut and ripped his flesh. The soldier went down whimpering, holding his hand over the space where his ear used to be.
Harley was breathing hard, chest rising and falling erratically but she was still smiling widely, the soldiers' ear still clasped between her closed teeth, blood dripping down her face and orange jumpsuit. She spit the ear onto the dirty green linoleum and squared her eyes at the guy who was obviously in charge.
"So, who's next tough guy? You think you can take me down?"
Flag was admittedly impressed. The girl was cuckoo for Coco Puffs and totally chaotic but she had some skills. Skills they could utilize. Flag nodded to his last two men.
"Let's get this done boys. Tranq her."
Harley's eyes widened and she turned to flee down the hallway behind her but the first soldier was back on his feet and blocking her path. She somersaulted off the walls trying to avoid the barrage of darts being fired at her but it was too late. She felt two sharp jabs, one in her left ass cheek and another in her neck. The dosage must have been heavy because she immediately dropped to her knees and her vision got blurry. Flag kneeled down next to her prone body.
"Miss Quinn, welcome to Task Force X."
Her vision blurred and separated as the sedative took effect. She spit a mouthful of blood and saliva at the Colonel.
"You'll be sorry for this assh…."
Then Harley's world went entirely black.