Midway City had an incredible shopping district full of designer storefronts and five-star restaurants. It was one of the top shopping destinations in the country, and by proxy, one of the top robbery destinations. Four of Captain Boomerang's ninety-eight counts of Burglary were from events that occurred on the very street the team walked on. (It turns out, Tiffany & Co is pretty hard to get into) But now, there was no one shopping. Everything was abandoned, not a living person in sight. It only made sense that some of those criminal instincts would be kicking in again.

For example, Harley had stopped to admire one of the window displays. The display was covered in black and white graphics, which appeared to have been graffiti inspired. The baggy T-shirts on the mannequins all read "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum." It was your typical ready-to-wear streetwear, trying to be edgy but not entirely succeeding. The overpriced shirts weren't what had Harley's attention though. Instead, she was focused on a metallic bag sitting in one of the mannequin's laps. It was just as shiny, attention-grabbing and gaudy as the rest of her wardrobe, which meant it must've belonged in her wardrobe. All it took was one swing of her bat to shatter the window, providing the satisfying sound of glass shards clinking against concrete.

The sudden noise on the otherwise silent street was more than enough to get the SEALs' attentions. The environment was already tense, and anything that sounded like an enemy was getting guns aimed at it. "What the hell is wrong with you people?" Flag shook his head angrily at Harley as he lowered his weapon. "You realize we're on a mission, right?"

Harley rolled her eyes, "We're bad guys, it's what we do!" She carefully draped the bag over her shoulder and smiled softly at the SEALs. "He said we're on a mission, that means go!"

The silence returned quickly as the troop started marching on again. There were whispers here and there, but nor really any conversations or enough talking to warrant it being a distraction. There was too much fear for anyone to speak up. The only person brave enough to speak was the one in charge: Colonel Rick Flag.

Flag and Deadshot had been leading the group side by side. They were in front of the pack, and there was a reason for that. "Hey, Deadshot, I've been thinking. If we don't start working together, no one is getting out of here alive." Flag was a real leader; he'd been doing it for a long time. He knew when things needed to change.

"And?" Deadshot, on the other hand, didn't buy into things so easily. He also had a problem with authority.

"These people respect you; you got influence." Flag knew this was going to be a hard sell, but he was going for it anyway. "You could really help bring all of us together."

Deadshot wasn't stupid; he didn't work for free. He wasn't going to be anyone's tool or stepping stone without getting something from it. "What's your play right now?"

"You're a man of your word, right?" Flag wasn't deterred. "I want my mission. You want your life and your kid back. You help me keep this Mardi Gras parade in line, and I'll hook you up."

"Waller is the puppet master," Deadshot scoffed at the offer, not believing it for a second. "You ain't got shit to hook me up with."

"I got plenty of my own strings to pull." Flag didn't miss a beat. He was a surprisingly smooth talker when necessary. "You just get me to the top of that target building and get my rescuee on that extraction helo."

"And you're gonna make sure I get paid?" Deadshot was still skeptical, rightfully so.

"And I make sure you get paid and get your fresh start." Flag nodded in confirmation, just in time for the target building to come into view. "SEALs, take a knee."

The remaining commandos and Deadshot surrounded Flag. They were all hoping to finally get some actual information on what the hell they were doing and who they were after. Anything that would provide a little bit of clarity into the hellish situation they were facing.

"Our body is at the top of that building. We get up there, pull them out of the vault they're hiding in, and helos extract us off the roof. Easy stuff." Flag was feeling pretty confident. Assuming there weren't any huge surprises, he figured Task Force X would make it to see another day.

"Check." GQ was quick to affirm the plan and was ready to move. He was eager to get on one of those helicopters and back to base.

Deadshot was not so eager. "Flag, who is up there?"

"That's none of your concern." Flag wasn't willing to divulge that information, in fear of losing the partnership he had just created.

"Do you even know who's up there?" Deadshot pushed harder, not ready to give up.

"Nope." Flag kept his mouth shut.

"Is it the president?"

"Definitely not."

While Deadshot was pushing for information, the rest of the Task Force were trying to get their own information.

They were all standing relatively close together, and no one was walking anywhere. Boomerang hadn't been paying too much attention, but he knew something was off. He saw Deadshot and Flag a few yards ahead of himself, and Harley, Killer Croc, and Diablo were all within a few footsteps distance. That left the psychic bitch he'd started taken a liking to unaccounted for. "Where in the bloody hell is Aura?" He kept his voice down, not wanting to gain the attention of Flag's crew.

Croc grunted, "I thought she was walking with you."

"She was, but she's not here now, now is she?" Boomerang's eyes darted around the street, looking for any sign of movement or red hair. "How did she get away without anyone noticing?"

"She's good at being quiet, I would know." Croc bellowed out a chuckle.

"You think one of those things grabbed her? Dragged her off?" Boomerang was more concerned than he would've liked.

"She probably just ran off when Harley smashed that window. That was the last time I saw her, and that would've been a good distraction." El Diablo chimed in, hoping to help out. "Don't worry about it, ese. She seems pretty capable on her own."

"She seemed pretty adamant about not running, though." Boomerang shook his head, his nerves not coming down at all. "Somethin's wrong. She wouldn't just run."

"Hey, have any of you seen Aura?" Harley spoke up out of nowhere. It was evident she hadn't been paying attention to the conversation her teammates were having, nor did she think to keep her voice low enough that Flag wouldn't hear.

"You fuckin' drongo!" Boomerang exclaimed rather loudly, now visibly upset. "Do you not have a volume button?"

"Where's Aura?" Flag had risen to his feet and was approaching the group. "Where the fuck is Aura? Someone better start talking."

"That's what we were trying to figure out, mate. We don't know." Boomerang threw his arms up in frustration. "She was with us a few minutes, then she disappeared. She's probably already dead with all those things out there."

"How did we lose a person?" Deadshot was equally as shocked as Flag, and almost as angry.

"Waller is not going to be happy if I have to detonate two of these bombs before we even finish the first mission." Flag lifted his left arm, the screen attached to it lighting up.

"No, no, no." Boomerang was not standing for that. "You're not killing her. She hasn't done anything to hurt the mission."

"I don't want to kill her; I actually think she could be useful." Flag was tapping away on the screen, scrolling through menus. "But I can't have a rogue metahuman out here. Too dangerous."

"What are you doing there?" Harley gestured to the screen. "You blew up Slipknot with one button."

Flag sighed, coming upon the information he was looking for. "She's still alive; her vitals are looking fine. Her energy fields are messing with the GPS though, so I can't see where she is." Flag looked back up at the other members of his team. "She's the last one I thought would run."

"She wouldn't!" Boomerang agreed. "She wouldn't just disappear for no reason."

Flag wasn't left with many choices to deal with the situation. He did the only thing he thought he could do before pulling the metaphorical trigger. "Aura, if you can hear me, you have thirty seconds to get where I can see you." He was shouting as loud as he could, hoping maybe Aura would hear him. "Thirty seconds and your head will be all over this concrete like Slipknot's. You wanna die like that?"

No one moved a muscle, and no one said a word, as the seconds ticked by.

"Ten seconds left!"

Flag lifted the screen again, prepared to touch Aura' portrait and end her life. "Five Seconds, Aura!"

"Colonel, while I do respect the military, I don't think the dramatics are necessary for this situation." Aura rounded the corner of the block, a grin plastered across her face, and a blue bag in her hand. "Seriously, I was just taking a little detour."

Flag looked angrier than he had the entire mission. "If you go out of my sight again, I will not hesitate to kill you. I will not hesitate to splatter your brains all over the street. Do you understand me?"

"Colonel, yes sir." Aura dropped her smiled and nodded. "I understand, Colonel, and it will not happen again."

"Good, now let's go. We're running behind." Flag turned back towards the target building and started marching forward.

Aura waited until Flag was a ways away before the smile returned to her face. "Guess I'm on thin ice now, huh?"

"Where the fuck were you?" Boomerang was relieved to have Aura back, no doubt. But he also angry that she had run away, risked her life, and scared everyone else. "

"I was hungry, I found a 7-11 and grabbed a snack." Aura wasn't phased even as she felt the waves of anger coming off Boomerang.

"Chex mix?" Croc interjected, guessing what exactly Aura had gone after.

Aura held up the blue and white bag still clutched in her fist, "Ayyyyy, Chex Mix!" She took the opportunity to tease Croc for his knowledge of her snack preferences. "KC, I knew you paid attention when we worked together. You DO care about me! That scaly crocodile heart in your chest might be working after all."

"I ain't got no heart." Croc rolled his eyes but cracked a smile.

"You almost died, because you wanted Chex Mix? You are ridiculous; you are insane." Boomerang was frustrated, and he needed to get it out. He pointed his finger towards Harley next, "And you, you almost got her killed because you had to yell. The commandos wouldn't have even noticed she was gone if you hadn't gone and opened your mouth!"

"Don't blame me because she ran." Harley crossed her arms as she walked down the street. "All I did was ask where she was."

"No, you yelled, at the top of your bloody lungs that she wasn't here." Boomerang hissed through clenched teeth. "You're the worst criminal here; You're loud, and you don't think about what you're doing. Look at you; you've been in this game for less time than any of us, and you've spent half of that time locked up. I've been doing this for ten years, and I've been arrested once; all of us have only been arrested once, except you. What's this? The fifth time you've been captured? The only reason you got back out the other times was because Joker broke you out, and guess what, he's not coming this time. No one is coming for you, or anyone else."

Harley stopped dead in her tracks and looked over her shoulder back at Boomerang. "None of you were arrested because it wasn't worth the time. You're all at the bottom." She looked ahead and started walking again, "And my Puddin' is coming for me. He always does."

"The bottom, really? You think the world's most wanted burglar is at the bottom of the list? You think two of the most wanted assassins in North America are at the bottom? You think the most feared gang leader in California is at the bottom? You must be thicker than I thought." Boomerang hadn't slowed down, the words pouring out of his mouth.

"I'm not stupid; I'm a doctor." Harley rolled her eyes, "You, on the other hand, are every negative Australian stereotype in one person. You have daddy issues and blame all your problems on the world because you couldn't possibly be responsible for anything wrong in your life, right? You wouldn't be an alcoholic if your dad were there when you were growing up. You might have a wife and kids if only you'd had two parents... Newsflash, Boomerang. You made your own decisions; you are the reason you are in this situation."

"I'm... I'm not an alcoholic." There it was, something that did indeed slow him down.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to put my eight years of schooling to use on the partners is crime up there," Harley smirked and skipped up to KC and Aura, leaving Boomerang trailing behind the pack.

"Fuckin' bitch," Boomerang muttered to himself.

"So, KC, why do you eat people?" Harley was determined to analyze everyone now; get inside their heads.

Croc thought for a moment before answering, "It gives me their power."

"Would you like to eat me?" Harley stepped in front of KC, looking up at him.

"Hell no," Croc shook his head. "I don't want your crazy."

"Says the guy who lives in a sewer!" Harley scoffed.

"At least I know it's a sewer." Croc shrugged it off. The ramblings of a tiny blonde psychopath weren't going to bother him.

"Oh, I get it! Cause like, this is a sewer too. With nice shops and restaurants, right?" Harley sarcastically feigned understanding before breaking into her diagnosis. "Hate humanity much? Let me guess... Mommy didn't take you to Chuck E Cheese on your sixth birthday... Still dealing with the scars of a bad childhood. I can recommend a good therapist!"

Croc raised a fist, but Aura put her arm on his. "Don't listen to her; she's more messed up than any of us."

"I'm not so sure about that; I think you have plenty of your own troubles in your head." Harley moved her attention to Aura, "You lost your whole family, didn't you? You were young, but not too young. I wanna say... thirteen?"

"Blame your boyfriend, bitch." Aura's face had started to turn pink; a chord had been struck. "I was fourteen."

"You could feel it, couldn't you? With your little powers, you felt them die." Harley could tell she was getting somewhere. "You were close to your dad, and you felt him die. What was that like?"

"Ya know, Harley, I've felt a lot of people die. Usually, I'm the one that kills them. It's weird, feeling that energy disappear. It doesn't go anywhere; it just fades away until everything that made that person them, is gone." Aura was quick to pull the revolver from her holster and place it against Harley's forehead. "There's no heaven; there's no hell. There's just death and nothingness. Wanna see?"

"You think I'm scared of you?" Harley wasn't intimidated. "You wouldn't pull that trigger if your life depended on it. You like to consider yourself a vigilante; protecting battered women like me."

Aura lowered her gun, but kept her eyes locked onto Harley's, "I'd love to protect you, but I think you're a lost cause. That's not to say I don't have every intention of taking out the J-man, and he knows it, but I don't think it'll help you." Aura put the revolver back in its holster. "I don't need you to be scared of me. The J-man already is, and that's what matters."

"If you think my Puddin' is scared of you just because he killed your family, you really don't know him." Harley dropped back, not wanting to continue talking about her lover. Instead, she wanted to get into the minds of probably the most damaged person there: El Diablo. She didn't even have to start the conversation; he did it for her.

"Why? Why are you doing this to them?" Diablo disapproved of Harley's actions; she was purposely stirring up problems.

"Because I'm bored! I need a victim, someone who's mind I can pry apart and spit in." Harley didn't waste time; she just jumped right in. "Like you, you have some serious survivor's guilt going on here."

"Leave it, mate. She's a rabbit hole, don't fall in." Boomerang cut Harley off, stepping next to Diablo. "She doesn't really know what she's talking about anyway."

"Suit yourself, I've still got one more I can check out." Harley knew Deadshot had been listening in on her, so she might as well give him equal treatment.

"Don't even think about, it dollface." Deadshot wasn't willing to partake in the games Harley was playing. "In fact, why don't you stop acting like a drunken stripper and start being nice."

"You wanna tell me what the hell is going on, then?" Harley shot back as she approached. "Cause, uh, I smell a rat."

Deadshot grabbed Harley's arm and pulled her to the side of the street. "If they don't blow our heads off, we're going to have to fight our way out of this city. I need you play nice with the other children."

"And return quietly to my cage?" Harley nodded, but she was a little hurt. "Sure, it's okay, I get it, I get it, sellout. I know how the world works, okay? And when it comes to the heart, everyone for themselves, right?"


Congragulations on making it this far! New chapters will be uploaded regularly, so follow to be told first. Have ideas? Suggestions? Comments? Questions? Leave a review!

Thanks for reading, until next time.