Cooper lives. He gets to the Infirmary in time, thanks to Boomerang, and then in a twist of fate that Tatsu doesn't see coming they're ripped away from him and surrounded by prison guards sweeping through the area. It happens in a blur of chaos and anger. The two of them are screamed at and threatened, pushed to their knees, stripped of their weapons, and then pushed to the ground. Their faces are pushed harshly into the cold concrete, while Tatsu is held there by the weight of one guard and Boomerang is pressed to the concrete under the pressure of four guards, struggling to keep him there.
They stay there until the order comes to drag them away and throw them into one of the nearby cells. It's a small, empty cell, with stains of blood smeared over the inside of the door and the walls. The door slams shut behind them once they're pushed inside, like threats or stray prisoners. She is treated like this because they don't know how to treat her, so they throw her in the cell with Boomerang and leave them as they are—hurt, and weary, and mad.
From the cell door, Boomerang shouts out curses and threats while banging his raw fists against the closed door. He goes on and on, even as the guards slide the slot up over the door and walk away. He goes on until he can't, until he wears himself out and turns to face the little cell they're trapped in together. It feels smaller than his cell somehow. She doesn't know that it is, it just feels it. Tatsu is already sitting down when Boomerang turns around. She doesn't look up to him but she feels his presence there. She leaves him to his thoughts, to whatever he decides he will do next, and she stays where she's resting on the concrete slab that is large and feels cold against her warm, sore skin. It could be hours later before Boomerang walks over from the door. He's loud, even when he just takes a few steps over to her, and she wonders if it's because he's angry or if it's because she's always so aware of everything, even now. Her eyes close for a moment and she imagines his gaze will be heavy on her when she looks up, so for a while she keeps her eyes shut and she waits.
He is close now. She feels it, and half a second later she looks up and sees it. Tatsu opens her eyes, and through her mask and the dark, chaotic strands of hair hanging over her face, she sees him. Boomerang almost sits on the slab next to her, and then he doesn't. He ends up kneeling on the concrete floor right in front of her, and she guesses that it isn't very comfortable in his condition but he doesn't move, and she doesn't try to persuade him to. She isn't sure why he's keeping his distance, or why he's sitting here with her at all, but she leaves it as something unsaid and watches as his eyes flicker back up to her again.
There's a gash on his shoulder and another deep one his back, and she remembers both without looking at them. His back isn't shown to her right now, he's facing her so his bare, bruised chest is revealed to her, but she remembers his back first. She remembers it from earlier, and how it bled, trickling heavily down his skin. Tatsu sees it now, even with her eyes focused on his face. Her eyes shut once more, only for another moment, and she imagines the dark bruises littered across his skin. She thinks back to the cell, to the alarms ringing and the guard trying to jam the needle into his throat, and it makes her think of his wounds. She remembers Boomerang clutching his side and she knows he's injured there. He's hurt there, and even if his part in their fight for the prison was only short he is likely hurt worse now. Tatsu knows there is more to it, she knows that he needs help, but instead they are here and she feels lost. She doesn't like the way that feels. She doesn't like the way her own body aches, and she doesn't want to think about it now that they are helpless so she thinks about him instead.
He is a good enough distraction. Tatsu finds herself curious, despite all things, and when she looks at him again she finds him kneeling on the ground still. His gaze is on her, and it is heavy, and deep, and tired. Boomerang's eyes pull down to the graze she's hiding under her jacket, and he doesn't know what it is but he knows that she's hurt there. His eyes linger, then travel up over her slowly, before they return to her eyes and settle there. Then he reaches out a tentative hand, stretching to pull away the side of her jacket to look at the wound. Boomerang says nothing, he only moves closer—and Tatsu, she can't help her reflexes. She reacts by stretching forward and grabbing his wrist, hard. She holds it tight, and still, and keeps it away from her because her reflexes tell her to. He shouldn't be close, not this close, she tells herself. She is vulnerable, and tired, and he is too close.
It is more than that. Tatsu is exhausted, it is beyond exhaustion. She is weary, deep into her bones, and her soul, and she is vulnerable right now. She hates the way that feels because she's never vulnerable, but her wounds are making her this way and she can't fight it. She tells herself this is why she grabs a hold of his wrist and keeps him there, but she knows that it is more than that. Maybe it is because she doesn't know what his intentions are, or maybe it's because she knows exactly what they are. He only wants to help her, to show her that fleeting kindness she once showed him, and she knows this. She still can't let go of his hand.
For a moment there is only the quiet between them, and the soft sounds of their breaths. Tatsu's hold on his wrist stays tight, and the Captain doesn't seem too bothered. He stays there, kneeling on the concrete, right in front of her, and he's already so close. Somehow he feels closer, just by moving an inch forward, and she knows it's because he is so big, so tall, and there is such little space in the cell that it all feels smaller, and he feels closer than he's ever been.
Boomerang offers her a half-smile. His lip is split, and there's a bruise above his top lip, but he smiles anyway.
"Was just tryin' to help ya, luv. That's all. Wasn't doing anythin' else, swear it. Only wanted to help."
I know, she thinks, and wants to say but she can't find the words. She's always been able to get a read on him, and when he's weaker and hurt it only allows her to read him with more ease. It's clearer now, and it's there, and she sees that his intentions are only good ones. He wants to help, to show her kindness, and this is why she loosens her hold on his wrist. She doesn't let go yet, though. She doesn't know why she still holds on to his wrist, or why her grip is lighter now. Her eyes study him and she tells herself she doesn't know why, because for the moment it's easier to believe that than to think about what it means.
Tatsu takes this as a chance to look at him now. She looks at him closely, realizing that his wounds are almost as she remembers them. She sees dark blood sticking to his skin. It's dry, and clings to his face and chest. Then her eyes move down to his abdomen, and then to his hips, and she can't see his back but she imagines that it is the same there. She imagines he is covered in blood everywhere. He is used to pain, this she knows. She knows little else about him, but from what she's learned he is used to pain. He is used to it, but this doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt him. She knows that it does. It's there now, in a subtle, small way. He is hurt, as she is, and instead of trying to help himself or rile up the guards he's trying to help her, and this revelation is too difficult for Tatsu to accept or dwell on.
"You alright, darl? Don't look so good right now." Boomerang asks soon, minutes later. "Sorry those shitbags put you in here with me.. You need anything?"
She watches him still, and wants to ask him why he's apologizing. Then she sees it all over his face, and she knows he blames himself somehow. Tatsu wants to ask why he blames himself, when there is no connection between him and what happened here, only that they were after all of them. It's not his fault, and she sees that. She sees that the blame doesn't belong on him, so she doesn't know why he is placing it on himself. She wants to ask why but she doesn't, and she decides that it's better that way, even if it becomes another unspoken thing between them.
"Didn't mean that you don't look good, like hot or whatever 'cos you do." he adds, minutes after. "Just meant that you still look hot, but kinda shitty. Not shitty in a bad way. Just like yer hurt, and it's not real good."
When she lets go of his hand, releasing her grip slowly, she expects him to pull his hand away. Tatsu expects him to take it as a chance to pull his hand free and far away from her. Then she expects that he might try again, to look at the wound she's hiding under her jacket, but he doesn't do this. He doesn't do either of the things she expects him to do, and that's when she remembers that if Boomerang is anything he is unpredictable. He is a mad, dangerous thief, who is volatile, and a drunk, but he is also unpredictable and sometimes it puzzles her, and this is what happens now.
It's more than unexpected. It's close, and warm, and intimate, when he reaches for her hand. He doesn't tug his hand away, he doesn't try to put distance between them, and doesn't seem even a little startled by the harsh, forceful way she gripped his wrist only seconds earlier. He flattens his palm against her skin, curling his hand around the column of her wrist. His grip is gentle, and new. She stares at his hand, at the way he's holding on to her, and there are many things that she tries not to think about in those next, brief seconds before she looks back to him. She tries not to think about how she's glad that he can't read her the way she reads him, and then she's glad for the mask to cover her face, to keep him out. After this, she tries not to think about what it all means. Her eyes stay stuck on his hand, and then she realizes that he doesn't care that her skin is coated in someone else's blood. It's all over her arms, running down her hand, around her wrist, and between her fingers. It's dry, but still sticky, and he doesn't care, not even a little.
"If ya need it, I can help. Like you did for me."
"You don't owe me—anything." she tells him, half a beat later. "There is no debt."
He smiles a little, holding on gently. "Yeah, there is. After all ya did, for all of us." Boomerang stops, running his tongue across his lower lip. "And for me. Shit, Katana, I can't even begin with what you did for me. But I know ya did a lot, and I know I gotta give ya something back."
"There is no debt."
Boomerang chews on his lip, contemplating all of it.
"Alright, if you say so. I'll take your word, but I just—I wanna show ya, what it means. What it all meant, to me. Feel like I never got to, and I wanna do that now."
There's a moment where he seems like there's more that he wants to say, and then he falls quiet, and Tatsu decides that it's for the best. She also decides that if she weren't so caught up on his words (and she is lost so deeply in them) then she might spend a little more time thinking about the smile that he soon shows to her. It's different. It's less sure, less confident like he often is. It's smaller, and it feels more real than any smile he's ever given her before. Then he sighs and it turns out he's decided, that there is more he wants to say to her and he's going to say it.
"I'm not just talking 'bout that night in the city, you know. I mean all those other times, an' how you fought for us. It was more than you ever had to do."
"I know."
He seems almost happy to hear her words, to hear her answer. Boomerang doesn't move, he doesn't let go of her wrist, even as he leans back to rest, still kneeling in front of her. His grip on her stays gentle, and warm, and it's so still that it's almost like he's afraid that if he moves then she will pull away. She wonders why it is like this, why he seems this way, or why he is holding on to her at all, but she never asks. She never asks because she knows that he will likely never answer, and it's also because she isn't sure that she wants that answer.
"So why'd ya do it, luv? Why us?" he asks. "Did all this shit for us, even though we never did shit for you. I gotta know, 'cos I think about it all the time. Why'd ya do it all?"
Tatsu almost tells him that it's simple: she is assigned to them, to keep them alive, and that is all it is. It is an assignment, a job. It is something she has tasked herself with, and it is only because of today's situation that she's been forced to go to these lengths to protect them. She says none of this, because she knows it is more than that. She knows that her visits to their cells, and those other visits to see him, are more than that. It's about keeping them alive, and making sure that their lives are a little easier. She knows they have not done much, if anything, for her. She also knows that there's a chance they saved her life that night in the city. She doesn't remember all of the moments, she only knows that they survived it together, and that they're tied to each other because of it.
It is the tether she feels to them, to him. She thinks it is the dreams, and the city, and now today. Tatsu's gaze feels heavy on him, and Boomerang endures it. His hold around her stays cautious, and light, and it's strange to see this side of him. It's not that she hasn't seen him differently, because she remembers his quieter, less violent moments. He doesn't treat her like he treats the guards, or even the others. He is different, and today he is softer, and kinder, and she still doesn't know why but it's something she thinks on for a while. She doesn't know if he cares about her, or if he really sees her as a friend or a means of escape, and when she thinks about what she sees him as it only complicates thing further.
There is no simple answer. It is her duty, and it is more than that, and she wants to tell him this but she can't find the words.
Boomerang's hand stays on her wrist, even when he moves forward again so he's kneeling right in front of her. He looks at her closer now, eyes lingering on her mask and the blood that seeps out from under it. She wonders what he is considering doing, because she sees it all over his face, she sees that there's something on his mind. Then he pulls his hand from her wrist and lifts it to her face, to her mask, and for those first seconds she thinks he is reaching out to remove her mask. She acts fast, it's a reflex again. Tatsu catches him by the wrist again, halting his movements, only it doesn't halt them. He is stronger, maybe, or it could be that she is vulnerable, and hurt, and without Soultaker she only feels weaker.
He lifts a hand up to her face, so slowly that it almost doesn't feel like he's moving it at all. Boomerang's eyes wander over her openly, and differently, and even as Tatsu's grip tightens on his wrist he still moves his hand closer. She says nothing, she can't. (why? she doesn't know, she only knows the words will not come). And then she feels his touch, as his hand meets her skin. Boomerang places his hand against her cheek, on the lower part of it. He doesn't place his whole hand there, actually. He sets his thumb against her cheek, against the blood that is sticky and fresh there. He places it over the blood stained on her skin, and over the scar that she knows he can't see under the layer of blood dried on her face. His thumb is soft, and barely there, and then his fingers curl down, stretching gently to rest against her throat and jaw, cupping her face.
His fingers tangle in her hair briefly. Then his hand settles there and stays, and so does Tatsu's. Hers is firm, and unsure, and growing tighter around his wrist. Boomerang doesn't flinch, doesn't pull away at all. He stays there, and his eyes are so close on her now that it feels too close. It's like he's trying to get a read on her, more than he ever has before, and she really doesn't know what to take from it all.
Tatsu knows that he is bigger, and that she is weak in this moment, but she could throw him against the wall in a second with little effort. She is smaller, but strong, as strong as he is, and she knows she could push him away. She doesn't. She almost wants to, because she doesn't know what this is, and it makes her—angry? She doesn't know, she only knows that she's feeling too much and she wants to shove him away. For a moment she leaves it, she leaves his hand there and she waits. For what? She doesn't know. She's been waiting for so long, for something, for nothing. For this? no, she decides, but she isn't sure.
She doesn't know what she is waiting for. She only knows that a minute later, Boomerang lowers his hand from her cheek, but he doesn't pull it away completely. He pulls it over to her hair, stretching to brush away a few strands stuck in the blood on her throat and neck. There's blood in her hair, she feels it, and she watches as his eyes move over it. He leaves it, and runs his fingers over the strands of her dark hair. She feels his fingers slipping through the pieces, and then his hand falls down to rest against her shoulder, as a gentle touch that is barely there.
When Boomerang lets out a sigh and keeps his hand there, pressed to her shoulder, she wonders why it makes even less sense now that his hand is away from her face, and is resting on her shoulder lightly, almost not there at all. She wonders why this means something too, and then she wonders about what it all means. Boomerang's face is heavier, yet somehow still soft, and as his eyes flicker over her face now there's a memory of a smile ghosting over his lips.
He is closer now, too close. Tatsu's eyes linger on him and then she breathes in, closing them sharply, and for the briefest moment she doesn't actually mind his touch. She doesn't know what it means, she just knows that it means something, and that for now she doesn't mind it. She knows it should feel different, it should feel like something she wants to push away, but she doesn't. Her eyes open and she finds herself watching him. He's watching her, too. It's different than any way he's ever looked at her before. She watches as he keeps his hand pressed there, before he moves it again.
His hand strays back to her jaw and rests there, and she wonders what will happen next. He drags his thumb across her bloody jaw, and then his hand slips down to the curve of her neck and it is so intimate, the way he touches her skin there, and how his hand falls down to the back of her neck. She doesn't want to over-think it, she doesn't want to be bothered by it, and she doesn't even want to dwell on it because she thinks she knows what it is. It is only a moment, and moments always end.
And then theirs does, and she's not sure why she feels like it ends too soon.
It feels like it ends before anything really gets a chance to begin. At the sound of the cell door opening up, Boomerang jumps to his feet and steps away from her. It's over, it's like it never happened, and maybe it's better this way. She doesn't dwell on it. She watches as Boomerang's gaze flickers to hers for half a second, and then he's gone. Lost, in his curiosity of what's happening at the door. It opens slowly and at first there's just a guard there, and then she steps away and shoves in a familiar face. Harley stumbles in first. She's covered in so much blood that Tatsu knows with a glance isn't her own blood. It's theirs. It's her victims, the ones she killed. Harley's uniform is so bloody that for a moment it almost looks more red than orange. There's a cut to Harley's temple that looks like it's from some kind of hit to her face and it's bleeding a little, but she looks mostly fine apart from that, and Tatsu tries not to feel it but the relief seeps in to see Harley survived.
Harley's eyes widen when she sees them and she squeals, throwing her arms around Boomerang's neck and hugging him tightly. His gaze connects with Tatsu's for the second that she watches them and then she looks away to the open door, to where Waylon walks in next. He looks the most composed of them all. He walks in casually, from the guard who lets him just walk in and isn't brave enough, or perhaps stupid enough, to push Waylon around. Then Floyd is shoved inside the cell with them and the door slams shut. Floyd's uniform is stained, and a little torn in one place, but it's fine. He's fine. It comforts her to see them here, all alive and not too badly injured.
When Tatsu looks back at them, she sees Boomerang whispering something low and quiet in Harley's ear. A second later, Harley looks to Tatsu and it looks like she really wants to come over and hug her. She doesn't. She casts a look at her, smiles, and then throws a slightly irritated look at Boomerang. It passes and she turns away from all of them, taking a moment to inspect the new cell they're in. Tatsu knows that Harley's interest won't last for long, and soon she will come over and join her, but for now she's glad for a little space from them.
Floyd joins her on the concrete slab a minute or two later. He settles against it with a sigh, and for a while he says nothing at all. She's thankful for that. Boomerang's interest soon follows Harley's, over to a pile of belongings in the corner of the cell that look like they've already been rummaged through. In the other corner of the cell, against the wall, Waylon watches on distantly.
For a while she watches them, taking in what she can, while she tries not to think about the feelings of relief that linger and grow inside of her. Why is she relieved? She doesn't know. She doesn't know what she feels right now, only that she is glad that they are here and alive, and not dead or causing trouble somewhere else in the prison.
Tatsu doesn't know much more than this right now. She takes another look at them soon, gaze wandering over their uniforms. She finds blood on all of them, and a few, dark bruises scattered over their skin. She knows she could ask them what happened, and why, but she doesn't. She lets herself piece it together instead. They are alive, she thinks, and they are here, and it's then that she decides that they wouldn't be here if Flag were dead. She finds more relief thinking that he is alive, and it calms a heavy, unsettled part of her. Her eyes shut again soon, meeting the darkness, while she tries not to worry too much about Flag.
And then Floyd speaks, and she feels that now is not the moment for rest or for peace.
"So you're not gonna ask, huh?" Floyd says. "About Flag, or those assholes? Or if we did it and shut this shit down?"
She sighs and opens her eyes, resting her gaze on the concrete. It's dirty, and there's blood stained across it, but she doesn't linger. She looks up to the ceiling instead, staring at the emptiness of it all for a while.
"Did you?" Tatsu asks, what feels like hours later.
"Well, what do you think?" Harley calls back over her shoulder, before she picks up a magazine from the pile. "Of course we did it. You remember who we are, right?"
Floyd glances to Tatsu slowly, but she doesn't look at him yet.
"Yeah, we did it. And we all made it." he tells her. "Don't know where Flag is right now, but he was alive when we last saw him. It turned—well, it was bad. But like Harley said, of course we did it."
There's something different to Floyd now, at the mention of Flag and things going bad. It's something she picks up on right away, despite the way she's feeling. She hears it in his voice, and she knows that he is worried about Flag, just as she is. He's worried, because he only knows Flag was alive when they last saw him. It worries her, too. Tatsu breathes inwards sharply, and tells herself that he survived this because Flag is a man with many skills. He's a skilled, strong fighter, and she knows he can survive this.
Her thoughts are on Flag, and also Floyd, when Boomerang speaks up from where he's carelessly searching through the pile of belongings that rest in the corner of the room.
"Of course those fucks did this same shit to you. Such bullshit, mate. Right?" Boomerang calls back. "After all we did for 'em, they just dump us in here. And for what? What's happening next? I'm telling you, we're not getting no fucking red carpet treatment and champagne like we should."
It's almost too much to think on. She finds herself thinking about the contrast between this Boomerang and the one with her only minutes ago. Then she begins to think about their frustrations with this, and she feels herself wanting to tap into her own anger and let it out. It isn't just that she's trapped here in a cell without her sword, and with these inmates, that's getting to her. It's more than that, and it's something she can't show because it's not something she's sure that she will be able to hold in.
It's heavy, and dark, the way she feels. It's something that is only growing with time, too. It is what they took from her, what was never theirs to take. It was never their place to take Soultaker from her, to take Maseo, just as it is not their place to put her in this hole with them as if she is one of them. Tatsu doesn't know why she thinks of it bitterly, because she knows she is with them. It's just that she's tired and without Soultaker, and it's all getting to her now.
She wonders why she felt it less when it was just the two of them. It's not something she thinks on for long, and instead she goes back to her earlier thoughts. She knows this is what she wanted, to be with them and to know they were alive, but this is not the way it should be. She wants Soultaker back, and she wants to go anywhere out of Belle Reve and just breathe in the air. She hates the way this feels now, and she hates more than that the way something gnawing inside of her tells her they won't be leaving any time soon.
"They're probably gonna kill us." Harley muses, now sitting cross-legged on the floor with the magazine in her hands. "That way, there won't be any witnesses to their massive fuck up."
It breaks Tatsu's silence, it does more than that. It chips away at her thoughts until she can only focus on Harley's words, and then on the tension she feels filling up the tiny space between them. Tatsu doesn't know if Harley is trying to cause trouble, or if she is just bored, running on adrenaline, and looking for someone to entertain her until whatever comes next happens. She does know that it isn't a good idea for Harley to cause trouble right now, or to try to play with them, because it won't end well. She's glad that for now at least, no one really seems to pay attention to her words.
Floyd lets out a loud sigh half a second later, leaning forward on the slab to rest his elbows on his knees. Tatsu looks to him and notices now that he looks weary, just as weary as she feels and as they all look, except for Waylon. He doesn't look weary at all, if anything he looks like he's bored and wants to go back outside and have some more fun.
"Harley, that's not helping—"
"But it's true. What do you think would happen, if anybody ever found out we helped?" Harley asks, looking up at Floyd. She raises her eyebrows and waits about three seconds for his answer, then speaks anyway. "They don't want us talking about what we did, or what we saw. You really think they'll thank us for what we did? No way. They're gonna kill us, and then blame it on what happened here. They're gonna make us casualties of their mess, and that's why we're here."
And once again it's too much to think about. That's why it's strange that she can't stop thinking about it, even if she doesn't see any truth to it. Tatsu doesn't really think about what Harley's saying, it's more that she starts to think about what's coming next. She begins to think about Waller's plan of action and how she's going to handle this, both publicly and privately. For all the things she doesn't know or doesn't agree with Harley about, she does agree that Waller won't be pleased about this and she isn't going to look for someone to thank. Waller is going to look for someone to blame, and it won't help that it's on them, in a way. It isn't their doing, it's not their fault that someone came after them, but it's tied to them and that's what Waller will see. Tatsu wants to think about how she's going to handle that, how she's going to protect them from that and from Waller, but her mind won't let her. Her body is too tired and won't let her think about it right now.
She looks up to Boomerang instead, and notices that he looks different now. He looks wilder, and more restless, and she can tell he's determined to get out of here now. It's so different to earlier, she thinks. It is almost like a cover, a mask, and she wonders why he wears one for them and a different one for her. He drops whatever he's holding in his hands and looks to them, mouth hanging slightly agape. He looks to them like he's wondering why they're not as concerned or outraged about this as he is.
Harley isn't bothered. She's back to reading her magazine, distracted by it until something else gets her attention. Then there's Waylon, who really doesn't look like he cares and still seems more bored than anything else. That leaves Floyd, who isn't at all convinced that this is what's happening. Somehow Floyd looks wearier, as Boomerang's paranoia appears and grows, blending into his rage.
"Hey, listen—alright, if these fucks think they're gonna kill me then they are bigger idiots than I ever thought they were." Boomerang says, glancing across the four of them. "I'm not going out like this. There is no way I am going out in this fucking shit-box. I mean, no offense to you guys. But I am not dying with ya. This isn't how I go out."
There's another sigh from Floyd, who leans away and back into the concrete wall.
"It's not where any of us want to be, but it's where we are." Floyd says. "We just have to accept it, okay? There's no point losing your shit over nothing."
"Losing my—what? No, mate. I am not losing my shit."
"You kinda are, man."
"I am just being realistic, alright?" Boomerang answers, fast. "I'm not dying here, and I'm not dying like this. That's all I know. So these fuckers can try, but they're gonna regret it."
It's not silent for long between them, but in it Tatsu dwells more on the Captain's words more than she likes. She wishes she didn't, but she can't stop it. She feels them seep into her, and her mind starts to focus on them, until they're one of the only thoughts hanging in her head. And then Harley speaks up, and she isn't sure if it's a welcomed distraction or not.
"You already know how you wanna die?" Harley asks curiously. "What, you got it planned out? Or something like that?"
Boomerang blinks, holding her gaze distantly. "Nah. Not like that. But I do know how I wanna go out." he says, and then pauses uncertainly. "What, you don't know? You never thought about it ever, even in here?"
It feels heavy, in a new kind of way. Tatsu tries to pull herself free of their conversation, closing her eyes and leaning back into the wall a little more. She moves her hand back to her side, pressing it there, hard, against the graze. It still aches, it hurts everywhere right now, and she's still faintly bleeding but the make-shift bandage around the graze to her side is enough for now. Still, she finds it harder to ignore the rage with each moment that she sits here thinking about how they've been thrown in here and left to bicker, bleed, and fight with each other.
"Harley, enough." Floyd starts.
He never gets the chance to stop her, to stop either of them, because Harley is determined. She sits up, gaze focused just on Boomerang.
"Just because you planned something, doesn't mean it's gonna go that way."
Floyd scoffs, and it turns into a small, effortless laugh.
"Oh, good. Good job, Harley. Why don't you freak him out a little more?"
"What, I'm just saying?" she shrugs carelessly. "What's wrong with just saying?"
"Why, though? Why?" Floyd counters. "Why do you have to say anything at all right now?"
There's another shrug from Harley, before she leans back into the wall and pouts a little.
"What? I'm bored. I can't help it."
Through it all, Boomerang stays focused. "I'm going back home to die." he announces, to himself, to all of them. "I got it all worked out. I'm not dying here, I'm going home to do that. I'm going home."
It lingers in the little space between the five of them, and nothing else is said until Harley pulls a face and leans back into the wall behind her. Tatsu dwells on it, and then on what it all means, and she can't stop herself from thinking about his home. Then she thinks of her own and she doesn't want to, so she looks back and uses them as her distraction.
"Really?" Harley pulls a face. "Why?"
"It's home." he says simply.
"Yeah, but it's so hot there. And can't like..everything kill you?"
Boomerang nods, smiling faintly as he leans against the wall. There's something sad about his smile.
"Yeah. But that's the beauty of it."
Less than a second later, Harley's smiling and up on her feet again suddenly. She takes a step over to Boomerang, and it reminds Tatsu of that night. She remembers Harley seeking her out, when she was looking for a brain to open up and play with. Tatsu knows where this will lead now, for both of them. She knows that Harley will push, and keep pushing, and then Boomerang will push back, and it will go on until one of them is bored, or one of them breaks.
"Okay, okay. I wanna know now. Boomy, now I have to know." Harley smiles. "Let's play. Why do you wanna go back there?"
"I told you already. Didn't I? It's home—"
"That's not why. I don't buy it. It's not about the beauty of it. I think it's for you. I think you have somebody there. Somebody you miss, or wanna die with. Or if you don't then there's a place there that you were happy." she pauses, pointing a finger into his chest. "And you've never been happy since. Not here, not before here. And now you're stuck here. So that's why you wanna go back. Because it's different there. You were happy, that one time. You wanna go out like that. And not here, where it's always miserable, and you hate everything."
Boomerang almost breaks. It's not that Tatsu is surprised, it's more that she expected Harley would be the first to give up, to get bored and move on. She watches Boomerang as his smile dissolves and he steps away from the wall, uncertain and a little angry.
"Darl, listen, I am not doing this shit with you right now. Alright?" he snaps, looking back at Harley. "All I'm gonna say back to that utter fucking bullshit is that I am going down in a blaze of fucking glory, or I am dying at home. And that is all it is. Yeah? It's just 'cos it's home. So you better stop now, before you can't go back."
Floyd is the next to jump to his feet. He senses the tension, and the possibility of someone snapping. He acts on it and separates them, scooping Harley's magazine up off the ground and thrusting it into her hands. He leads her over to the end of the concrete slab and she sits there, and then he walks back over to Boomerang, standing in the middle of everyone a minute later.
"Listen, okay? Just listen. No one is dying here today, okay? No one." Floyd glances between all of them, but mostly just the two of them. "Unless you both keep talking, then I'm gonna kill you myself. But if you shut up and stop being so irritating, then you're good. Got it?"
Harley smiles, from her corner of the cell. "Got it."
It doesn't last. Tatsu isn't sure it lasts more than a few minutes. Harley can't stop herself from talking, about what's in the magazine, and the fight, and then the four of them, until her focus shifts to the missing Colonel and Floyd is done. He tells her this, and it's quiet for a while, until Harley skips over to the door and starts to call out sweetly-voiced threats at the guards there. And then there's Boomerang and, while he isn't as loud as she is, he's not exactly quiet.
"Put that down." Floyd snaps, from the edge of the slab.
He's stressed. He's tired, and hurt, and he's done with them. Floyd's gaze is on Boomerang, and so is Tatsu's. The Captain is currently rifling through the pile of things, for the sixth or seventh time. She doesn't know why he's doing it, and she doesn't know how long he's been there. It's all blurred now. Tatsu swears the confines of these walls have never felt so small. It's crowded, and loud, and it feels like they've been here for days.
"But I just wanna look—"
"Nope. Down. Now."
Boomerang sighs, then grins widely. "Alright, mate. Fine. You got it, Boss." he says, still holding on to what looks like an iPOD. "See? It's down. I'm putting it down, yeah? See. It gone. All good, right?"
"You're still holding it."
The smile drops. "Well, why the fuck can't I? This asshole isn't coming back to get his shit. So why can't I have it?"
Floyd doesn't move, and for a long time he doesn't speak. He gets up to stretch a few minutes later, and then he throws another, longer look in Boomerang's direction, and Tatsu is left observing both of them. She knows that they're tired, that they're all breaking from being in here. All of them, except Waylon. He still doesn't care. She wishes she didn't care. Tatsu knows it's only time until they all get worse, and she doesn't want it to reach that. She doesn't know what's happening in the prison right now, and she needs to know. It's not just about them.
She doesn't admit it, not to them, and not really to herself—but she's slowly cracking under it all, too. She needs to get out. She needs Soultaker. She needs air. It's more than that. Tatsu curls the hand that isn't pressed to her wound tighter, into a fist, until her knuckles pale and some of the rage slips away.
Then she releases it and looks back up, to Boomerang and Floyd. They're still bickering and it's worse now. They both look pissed off, over nothing at all, and she knows they're both going to snap soon.
"Yeah, see. That's exactly what I thought." Boomerang throws him a look. "You know I'm right. The bastard's probably dead somewhere, 'ey?"
"You don't know that. You don't know shit, okay? So put it down."
"Well, why'd they put us in some random's cell if he was coming back? Hmm?" he pushes, stepping closer. "Doesn't take a genius to figure that one out, does it?"
Floyd tries to take the iPOD, but Boomerang pulls it back.
"Dude, come on. You know they're never gonna let you keep it when they come get us. She hates you, man. Waller hates you. They are never gonna let you keep it, so just leave it." Floyd sighs, stepping away. "Seriously, you've been through that pile of shit like ten times. What are you looking for?"
"Don't know." Boomerang shrugs. "Maybe some duct tape. To shut you the f—"
"You didn't just say that."
"Didn't I?"
With a loud sigh, Floyd returns to the slab. He sits down next to Tatsu, sighs, and leans back into the wall.
"Shit, man. Have you always been so annoying?" Floyd asks, a minute later. "Or is this what these cells do to you?"
It is only to be expected, she thinks, the way the words make her think of Boomerang. She thinks of her visits to Boomerang's cell, and she remembers it all. Raw, bloody knuckles. A body covered in scattered, deep bruises. Boomerang yelling at the guards, at her. She remembers how he punched the walls, and how he lost it with the drugs they had him on, and the beatings, and she wants to say something. Tatsu wants to say something now, but not to them or to Floyd. She finds that there's a part of her that wants to take Boomerang aside and say something but she can't, so she doesn't.
"Why don't you just ask Katana?" Harley calls back from the door. "She got to visit Boomy a couple of times, after all."
Tatsu says nothing, and she hopes with the way her hair is hanging over her face that it will look like she's sleeping. She waits, and at first Floyd says nothing, and then he pushes back and Tatsu finds herself hoping that this will end soon for all of them.
"That means yes. Just so you know, it means you're annoying." Floyd says. It sounds like he's smiling. "She thinks you're annoying. We all do. So put that shit down, stop pissing us off, and give it a rest."
"Why? I'm bored. And I'm tired of this shit." Boomerang groans, half a second later. "And if I don't do this, then I'm gonna start doing shit you're gonna like even less. Can't have it both ways."
"Really? Like what?" Floyd's voice is lighter. "You're gonna piss me off? Well you already did that. Gold-star for you."
"What I'm gonna do is join Craziness over there by the door and start screaming the fuck out of it. And then we're gonna be in some real, deep shit. So, what do you want? Do ya want that? Or do ya want to back off and let me do whatever the fuck I feel like doing? Yeah. That's what I thought, mate. That's what I thought."
She feels that she is slipping now, more than them, more than earlier. Tatsu shuts her eyes again, and she hopes that when she wakes they will be out of here and she will be far from the prison. She needs time away from this place, time to herself, and she knows that if she doesn't get it soon then she will break, and the anger that she feels thinking of what they took from her will come out. She is too tired to feel that full rage, thinking about how they took Soultaker from her, and then dropped her into a cell after she helped to save the prison. She is too tired, but she knows she can draw on it if she needs to. She hopes that she doesn't, for their sake and for her own.
"I just know that if you don't stop pissing me off, then you're gonna be in some real, deep shit. Okay, Aussie? You know, I get that you're—"
"Guys. Someone's coming." Harley calls from the door, then starts to bang on it. "Hey! Hey, assholes. We're in here. And we don't deserve to be. So you better be coming here to thank us."
Floyd is by the door in half a second. He isn't there for long before the slot on the door is opened. A guard dressed in heavy, black gear opens it up, peers in, then leaves. He leaves the slot open, so it allows Floyd to get close and to look through it, even if it's a limited, small view. He steps away, pulling Harley back with him.
"Yeah. I don't think they're here to thank us." Floyd sighs, an arm curled around Harley's forearm to stop her moving forward again. "There are a lot of dudes out there. And they're all in gear. So I don't think that's how this is gonna go."
"I told you, they're gonna kill us!" Harley says, staying by his side. "Well I don't wanna die in Boomy's home, but I'm not dying here. So that means we have to do something."
"Oh yeah, 'cos us with our fists we're gonna be able to take them on with their guns and all that other shit."
Tatsu breathes in sharply. She takes a long, deep breath, then pushes herself to the edge of the slab. She pulls her hand from her side, stands up slowly, and reaches for the blade concealed on her. It's only small, something she keeps with her to use if Soultaker is ever out of her reach. It's a thin, long blade, but it's small compared to her sword. It's enough. She pulls it out and raises it, waiting as the door begins to unlock.
Boomerang's mouth hangs open when his eyes settle on the blade.
"What the fuck? You had that, the whole time?" he stammers, voice heavy, and loud. "And ya never thought we could use it, to get out. Or something—"
"Now really isn't the time." Floyd cuts in, from a few steps behind Tatsu. "You wanna do that? Or you wanna help us with this?"
Boomerang considers it, then his gaze flickers to Tatsu. He then looks to Floyd and nods slowly, telling them he's in this with them, and that they're in this together.
"Get behind me." she tells him.
He obliges. Boomerang joins the three of them, standing behind her. He is the closest. She focuses on what is ahead and not behind. Tatsu's gaze stays on the door, and in the quiet they stand there and wait with her until the door is opened. Floyd is right, this is Tatsu's first thought. Her gaze moves to the open space outside of the door and she sees that there are many guards out there. She decides that there are too many, and even though Tatsu doesn't think that they're hostile, she still decides that if it turns into a fight then they will need to rely on each other more than they ever have before.
"So, together?" Floyd asks.
Tatsu thinks of them. She thinks of Midway city, and of Flag, and then of Manhattan. It blurs, and she catches fragments. She remembers Flag's voice. Of all voices to hear now, it is his that comes back. They don't care about anyone else, she remembers him saying once, not so long ago. The only reason they give a shit about you, or about me, is because they know if we die then they die.
It feels different. It is. Behind her they push closer, to be near each other, to be near her. She doesn't know what she is to them, but she knows what they are to her, and what they are together like this. She knows separately they are weaker right now, and even when they're not weak they have their own issues, their own griefs and struggles they carry on their own. But together? They are more than that. They are something else and she feels it now, and it leaves her with the belief that all of this has been worth it, even with the way things are now.
That's all it is to them, Flag's voice echoes as a memory, faraway and distant in her head, all we are is a way for them to keep living a little longer. It is more than that. She feels it now, and now that it's with her she knows it will never leave her.
"Together."
a/n: hi a few things, first one is I'm sending lots of love to the world right now and if anyone ever needs to talk I'm on here and on tumblr at ktatsuu and I'm always here to talk and help. xoxox The other things are; sorry for the wait between chapters, the next updates are all done and will come sooner than this one & I hope this chapter brightens your day a bit. ❤️
oh, and digger's lucky number may or may not be 13 (or is that the chapter he gets kinda lucky in? ehhh? you get me?) anyway, thanks for reading! and thanks to sol, minstorai, Milady Friday & justafanofyours xx
Sol ch9: Hahaha yessss, you are spot on! like 99% of the reason Boomer carried Cooper's ass and saved him was just to impress Tatsu, and that other teeny tiny 1% of Boomer was just like "mehh whatever I guess I'll do it, I've got nothing else to do and I'm kinda bored" hahaha.. Oh thank you, I'm so glad you liked the surprises in it! and the squad action. Hope you like the squad chilling and irritating each other in this one haha. All families get annoying though, I guess, even if they love each other! Anyway thanks again & thanks for reading! xoxo
Justafanofyours9: haha, loved this review! Yep Cooper sure is haha! Will this be the start of his character redemption or not? you will see, hahaha. on the note about Tatsu being hurt & Boomer taking care of her - you are definitely on to something! can't say what, but I will say I'm a sucker for parallels and having Boomer take care of Tatsu like she helped him is definitely something I may or may not do :) oh thank you! I'm really glad you liked that part too. I definitely agree with you and was aiming to show Tatsu's humanity even after all she's endured. Harley is in 100% mama mode with the squad especially Tatsu, so I'm really glad you liked that part I loved writing it. Hope you like the squad moments this chapter! xx