( 012. splice the mainbrace )
an order given aboard naval
vessels to issue the crew
with an alcoholic drink.

THE GROUP OF villains along with Katana and Chandler made it inside a bar, stock full of liquor for their cold, battered bodies to warm up to. Harley Quinn was the one to hop over the bar to become the barista for the crew.

"What are you havin' KC?" she asked Killer Croc sitting beside the fish tank alone.

"Bloody Mary, right?" Deadshot smirked. Although, the man turned crocidle didn't find it amusing. He glanced at the assassin out of the corner of his eye before returning it to the tank.

"Nothing for me," he grumbled, his voice deep and almost unintelligible.

"KC, it's the end of the world! Have a drink with us," Harley begged, her voice turning sickly sweet.

Killer Croc turned around, finally answer her call. "Beer."

"There he is!" Boomerang cheered, raising his own can. "Give the man a beer!"

After handing him a beer, she sent Chandler a thin smile, scrunching up her eyes. "What do you want, Angel?"

"Rum?" she asked timidly, her earlier tough personality gone in the midst of them. Harley gave her a grin, making her a glass.

"How 'bout you, hot stuff?"

"Water," El Diablo replied, looking between the other men at the table. He stared a little longer at Chandler who already slammed her rum.

Harley stopped in front of him, sending him a knowing look. "That's a good idea, honey," she agreed, getting him a water. "Ninja, you want some sake?"

"Whiskey," she stated smoothly. Harley nodded, pouring her a glass.

Deadshot looked at Harley, pointing to his glass. "What am I, twelve?"

He slammed the glass down in frustration, the glass refilled immediately. "Here's to honor among thieves," he toasted, about to hit glasses with Katana.

"Not a thief," she muttered, walking away.

"Oh, she's not a thief," Deadshot whispered, clinking glasses with the others, and even Chandler got into the action.

"You're no thief, hun," Harley protested.

"Not everyone is inherently good, Harley. Just because I'm like Ranger Rick being in the army and stuff, that doesn't make me good," she muttered, sipping at her refilled glass.

Harley raised a thin brow in question and the woman sighed.

"When I was a teen, total klepto. Stole things from stores, from my mom, my dad, anywhere, everywhere. Sometimes, I didn't even realize I had until it was too late. My parents shipped me off to steal more than just material objects, now... now I steal lives. I'm nothing. I've stolen so much from so little, and it haunts me to this very day, and I don't even know why I'm telling you all this," she laughed into her glass.

The villains watched with pitiful gazes that made her feel sicker about herself.

Diablo followed, moving the pity to him, with the story of his wife and children. How he had gotten out of control.

"Own that shit," Harley hissed at Diablo, the children and the wife he killed because of his rage. "Own it! You too, princess. You need to own what you've done."

She turned to Diablo, "What'd you think was gonna happen? Huh?"

"Hey, Harley, come on," Deadshot protested.

"What, you were just... thinking you can have a happy family and coach little league and make car payments? Normals a setting on the dryer. people like us, we don't get normal! And no matter how normal you say you are Angel, you're so much like us that it's haunting and you've seen it."

"Why is it always a knife fight every single time you open your mouth?" Boomerang interrupted. Their want to be normal was something they all regarded as their normalcy. Now, Harley Quinn was kicking at a wound in all of them. "You know, outside, you're amazing, but inside, you're ugly," he hissed, his whole face twisting into disgust.

"We all are," she whispered back. She meant it.

A soldier that killed for her country.

A ninja who trapped souls in her sword.

A man who killed for money.

Another who killed for jewels.

And her, just a fucking wacko.

They were all amazing at sight, but never in mind. "We all are! Except for him," she stated, pointing at Killer Croc, who growled at her. "He's ugly on the outside too."

"Not me, shorty," he disagreed, removing his hood. "I'm beautiful."

"Yeah you are," she agreed, a devilish smile on her lips.

They sat in silence for a moment, before the door to the bar opened. Rick Flag stepped inside, taking a seat between Deadshot and Diablo.

Everyone was watching him as Harley heatedly growled, "We don't want you here."

Flag looked down his right to see them glaring at him and then his left for the same effect except that Chandler turned her head so she wasn't looking. He looked tired, more so than before, tired and sad.

"Did you get to the part in there saying I was sleeping with her?" he asked, looking straight ahead.

Chandler turned to him then, eyes wide.

She knew it. She knew it all along. She thought maybe there was some slim hope but that was never there.

"Yeah," Deadshot nodded. "I've never been with a Witch before. What's that like?" Deadshot asked seriously. "Apparently, that's why the creatures chase him all the time. 'Cause the Witch is scared of him."

"Y'know, I thought... I thought I loved her," he laughed, "but, uh, she doesn't actually see me that way. Well, she did but now she doesn't because she knows, that... well, that someone else is out there who loves me way more than she could ever. it goes the same way for me too, and now, she's trapped inside that monster. No matter my feelings for her, we have to save her. And, if I don't stop the Witch. It's over. Everything. Everything is over. Everything."

He sighed, ripping off the device on his wrist that would sanction their deaths, and slammed it on the counter.

"You're free to go," he told them, throwing it away.

Harley turned, looking into the mirror to see if it was true. The only one to leave was Boomerang with his beer.

Flag inhaled sharply, pulling out a stack of letters for the man on his left.

"Your daughter writes you every day." Deadshot looked down at the letters with a smile, a few tears escaping him at the sight. "Every single day."

Flag stood to leave but Deadshot stopped him. "You had these the whole time?" he asked, the man nodding. "You had letters from my daughter the whole time?" he started to breathe heavily, a fire rising inside him. "I'm going to get you there," he stated. "And you're gonna end this. I'm gonna carry your ass if I have to. 'Cause this shit is gonna be like a chapter in the Bible. Everybody's gonna know what we did, and my daughter is gonna know her daddy is not a piece of shit."

Deadshot walked away, Flag watching after him, dazed.

Harley only shrugged her shoulders. "I'll come," she stated, looking between the others in the bar. "What? Got something better to do? Come on!" she called, grabbing her bat. "Pussies," she muttered.

"Wait!" Chandler called, finally wrapping the courage to call out Flag. "Rick."

He stopped mid-step, the others moving past him when they knew she wasn't bothering with them. He couldn't turn back to her, he knew what she was going to ask.

"Who?" she started, afraid to hear the answer as her hands started to shake. "Who is it that y-you were talking about?"

Rick turned to face Chandler, a small smile on his harsh features. "You," he whispered.

Her eyes flung open and felt almost ashamed to be in front of him. He knew of her stupid crush and she had ruined everything for him. Everything with June Moone he could have had.

"I have to get out of here," she whispered, trying to move past him but he caught her by the wrist.

"Hey! Hey," he chuckled, pulling her tight so he was hugging her. "Listen, June told me and I didn't realize it until then how much I... liked you. It's still fresh and we're in the middle of a war but... hopefully, we can go somewhere," he whispered in her ear making her shiver.

"Ye-Yeah, maybe," she replied, awkwardly and ready to leave.

He smiled once more, making her feel light headed. "Let's get back to the others," he whispered and all she could was nod her head.