_Ulské_
_9:46am_
Heretic frowned for the 15th time in the span of 30 minutes from the table she sat at in a small bar/pub.
The town itself which should have been quiet, seemed to have some decorations out and about and people laughed here and there.
Cavalier, the idiot that he was, had found himself in the midst of 3 ditzy looking female locals and all four had mugs of alcohol as the girls giggled at something he'd said.
Master Jailer wrinkled his nose.
"Ugh! Are you sure we can't just leave him here and complete the mission?"
He turned to a rather stiff looking Deadshot whose hand was wrapped tightly around his own mug, his eyes following everything that seemed to move in the pub.
"Orders from Waller."
Master Jailer rolled his eyes.
"Well it's not a particularly great order then."
He immediately sat up straight, his hand going to the comlink in his ear as if someone had said something to him, and when he dropped his hand, Deadshot threw him a smirk.
"I guess you don't have any disagreements anymore, hm?"
He glared at Deadshot and looked away.
Just then, a bar man walked over with a smile.
"Buna Ziua!"
He grinned at them.
"Vhat will you strangers be having?"
He said in a thick accent and Master Jailer spoke up.
"Ah, hello… we'll have, today's special."
The man nodded as was about going when Deadshot stopped him.
"Out of curiosity, just how did you know we're new to this parts?"
The man smiled.
"Ah… never met you before. You all seem…"
He seemed to search for the word in his head.
"Strange."
Harley threw him an offended look while Cheetah didn't even bother looking up, embracing her weird grandma habit.
The weird barman was right, they were strange.
"Hey now!"
He laughed.
"I don't mean to offend. It is truth. I will bring food."
He turned to walk off and Heretic finally spoke up.
"His English is weirdly good for such a seemingly… 'stuck in the middle of nowhere' town."
She threw him a suspicious look as he talked to someone to bring their food in Romanian… hopefully.
Deadshot nodded and the rest were on edge.
"Keep an eye out for any strange activity. The mission has gone nicely for far too long. Let's see if we can keep it that way."
They mutter in agreement.
"So I says… 'get out of the way before you fall into that cow shit!'"
Cavalier's voice increases at the end of the odd story he was telling the three girls who immediately burst into loud laughs, leaving Cavalier smug as he turned to his squad with a 'See?' look.
Deadshot turned from him with a sigh.
The barman soon came back with their food.
"Well then. Here you go. Enjoy."
"What's going on in town?"
Deadshot asked.
"Ah, we have fishing festival till evening. You come here for that, right?"
He asked with a frown on his face.
"Heh, actually—"
Harley began and Master Jailer beat her to it.
"Yes! We were just surprised it has attracted such a crowd."
He ended, by throwing a small glare at Harley who shrugged and focused on her food with a smile.
The barman nodded with a slight confused look as he dropped a mug of water in front of Heretic who kept staring at him blankly with her creepy eyes.
"Enjoy meal."
He gave a nod and walked off.
Cheetah finally spoke up.
"We should finish from here and head out fast before we bring attention to ourselves."
"Ha! Look at that go!"
Cavalier's boisterous voice echoed through the slightly noisy pub and she changed her words.
"Before we bring any more attention to ourselves… and we should also probably split up too… gather as much information as we can while also looking out for Emile Dorian. The faster we get some answers the faster we get out."
Meanwhile…
The barman excused himself from the building and out the door, walking past some people smoking and bringing out a phone, scrolling to a number and calling.
It was picked in no time.
"Yes?"
"Some Americans are here."
"Any other description?"
"6 of them. One vith very white skin. Like girl from Gotham you show me."
There was a pause.
"Harley Quinn?"
"Maybe."
"Hm… we'll keep in touch."
"Money?"
"We will pay you."
The squad gathered by the road as Deadshot spoke.
"Alright, we should probably split from here. I have a feeling Emile Dorian or at least someone who could lead us to him will be around here. It's a fishing festival today. Lots of people from out of town. Plenty for him to kidnap for his experiments."
Heretic's eyes followed as much as she could around the town.
"Master Jailer, you and Harley stick together. Cavalier, you and Cheetah. Then Heretic and i—"
"I'd be better on my own."
Heretic cut in and they all turned to her.
"We'll be better off as a team."
Heretic shook her head.
"Totally understandable. But as you've all chosen to remind me…"
She sent them all glares.
"I'm a kid. It's easy for me to sneak around without anyone suspecting a thing. In fact, anyone who does would probably think I'm easy enough to take out."
Deadshot had a look on his face but Master Jailer nodded.
"The girl is right. No one would be the wiser."
Harley sighed.
"I guess it's time for my little birdie to… spread her wings."
Heretic rolled her eyes but Deadshot kept his eyes on her.
"If you're sure."
She nods stiffly.
"Positive."
He nods.
"Very well. But any trouble at all, use your comlink immediately. That is for all of us. Understood?"
They all nod.
"Good. Spread out."
The festival was slowly bustling as more people gathered in the streets and small kiosks were arranged on different sides filled with a number of things.
There was a small stage at the town center with some performers singing a sort of local song Heretic couldn't understand.
But that wasn't truly her focus at the moment, even though it seemed like she was interested in all that was going on.
She at least had to act interested enough for people to see her as just another child.
While she knew it would certainly be quite difficult, seeing as her coloring made her stand out a bit.
While a number of people had pale skin tone like she did, her neon green eyes certainly would catch the attention of whoever caught eyes with her.
All in all, she was doing a 45% job of blending in.
Not that anyone could blame her anyways, she had gone to prison when she was 8 and she was just 13.
It's not like she went to prison for being a con artist or something. This was all new to her.
At least she didn't stand out as much as some of the others.
Take Harley for example.
Her pallid white skin was certainly easy to spot.
It made Heretic very curious about it.
She'd heard stories about the famous Joker of Gotham, archenemy of Batman.
She'd heard of his rather nefarious ways, as well as how Harley came to be his girlfriend.
A very weird relationship the two had and Heretic was in no way interested in being caught up with those two sickos.
It was like inviting an human nuclear bomb for a slumber party.
You wouldn't survive through the night.
Also, she wasn't interested in gaining the attention of the Dark Knight, which would later in tease to include the newly formed Justice League.
The Justice League that was slowly increasing day by day.
No thank you.
She very much preferred to just be on her own, especially after this whole mission was over.
She of course had one last vendetta to deal with… or, at least 2.
"Festival hat for 5 leu!"
A lady called out from a small table kiosk with different colored hats in the shapes of fish as she waved at Heretic who had been passing by.
Heretic sneakily glanced around before walking over to the woman.
"How did you know I spoke English?"
The woman rolled her eyes amused.
"It is no surprise girl. Americans come before. Some live here 2 years ago. Speak English like you."
Heretic's eyes narrowed at that.
"Americans lived here? Doing what?"
She shrugged.
"Government stuff. They wear black too. Are you buying?"
She waved a hat with a smile and Heretic almost glared at the woman as she softly slapped the hat away.
"The Americans. They stayed here? Where did they live?"
The woman grunted at the young child not being a customer.
"Down the street over there. House locked up. They leave quickly. Are you buying?"
Heretic walked off, not even deigning to speak to the woman who huffed at the girl.
Heretic though, immediately went towards the street that had been described to her.
Americans?
What were Americans doing living in this town?
A town that was so remote from civilization and so close to the Moss Forest.
And why hadn't Waller said a thing about it?
It was rather suspicious and besides, she was looking up evidences this way.
If Emile Dorian was around here, they needed a way to know.
Heretic couldn't believe she was actively… undercover.
It almost reminded her of an FBI agent she knew years back before she landed in Belle Reve.
He had been one of the nice ones… or at least, as nice as he could be.
The street was as bad as some in the town and most of the houses were dilapidated.
It was understandable why the festival wasn't taking place on this side.
She saw a bone thin little boy run after an equally bone thin dog, a laugh in his throat even though he looked on the verge of keeling over.
Heretic might have given up on the good and bad of the world, but children was something she could still see both in.
Especially orphans.
It was too bad she had nothing to give him, but now, she stood in front of a one story dilapidated building.
The front door was closed off with wood and nails and the windows were closed though cracks and some breaks were here and there.
She looked up at the ceiling, while still a bit sturdy, she wouldn't trust her feet on it.
There was probably another way in.
Walking around the house and jumping over dirt and broken items scattered around, Heretic idly thought it odd how the house was left.
She finally stumbled on the backdoor which was locked up but she had no patience whatsoever and so with her right foot, she broke the door in, while using her power as some form of body enhancement as well.
The back door led to a kitchen.
Or rather, what used to be a sort of kitchen.
It wasn't modern and the whole place was upturned.
A round table was turned on its side with a leg half broken off.
A chair was bent on the dirty sink, with two others thrown haphazardly around.
There was nothing to really notice, except perhaps a small black rat that scurried away as she walked past and into what would be a living room.
A destroyed and slightly empty one, to be precise.
Even more sparse than the kitchen.
It honestly looked like whoever had lived in it had been rushing off or had been in some sort of fight.
Ah well.
She entered the last room.
The bedroom.
Well, this was something.
The old, dirty single bed was filled with dust and rat poop, papers were strewn all around, crumpled or otherwise.
Some parts of the wall had some papers still gummed against it while some looked like they'd been hastily torn off.
She opened the wooden wardrobe.
Empty except for a stray black tie.
3 black rats squeaked and ran way from the intruder.
She turned away and walked towards the side of the wall with some half torn papers on it, getting closer.
They were A4 sheets.
With typed writing on it.
She couldn't fully read them, but she did catch some words.
Testing.
Experimentations.
Volunteers.
Test subjects.
Profitability.
Failure.
But one caught her eyes as she read down.
Mutagen.
Her brain immediately began putting them all together even though the papers were tattered.
Americans.
Americans settling here for a possibly short amount of time.
With the knowledge of Emile Dorian's work, the T 99 mutagen.
Her eyes went to the floor filled with squeezed or torn up papers and crouched, going through the papers in a brisk pace as she mumble to herself with every little thing she spotted.
There was a small patch of photograph which she idly picked which had a cat like creature strapped down on a table.
There was no other explanation.
The proof was right before her.
Amanda Waller had obviously lied about their mission.
The click of a gun sounded behind her and she froze where she was crouched.
"Any sudden movement and I'll blow your fucking head off."
A man with a slight Romanian accent spoke behind her and Heretic idly cursed herself for being so foolish.
Not that it truly was her fault.
She wasn't a spy. She wasn't a fighter. She just wanted her freedom again.
"Raise your hands where I can see them."
Heretic immediately did as she was told.
They probably had no idea what she was capable of.
She still had a chance… all she needed was to get the gun away from him.
"Now turn around slowly… or you're dead."
She slowly stood, turning to face the man.
He was huge, probably 6'3, slightly muscled and dressed in leather, with an AK rifle in hand. He had tattoos on his arms and a couple of silver tooth's in his slightly yellow teeth.
He raised an eyebrow and a leering grin appeared on his face.
"Ha! A doll… how wonderful."
Heretic's face darkened at the man.
"Who are you?"
She calmly asked and he snorts.
"Nothing for you to know doll. Come reasonably and be assured I will take care of—"
Heretic had already made her move, lighting up a hand and neon green formed into a long rope of the same glowing color and as she whipped it, it wrapped around the gun, surprising the man who immediately pressed down on the trigger but Heretic slapped the gun up and it shot uncontrollably into the ceiling, flying out of man's hands and away from him.
"You freak!"
He snarled, running towards her and she whipped the rope around his neck, using the wall by her side to jump high into the air, doing a backflip over the surprised man who struggled with the rope around his neck and she connected the rope around a ceiling fan box above before using all her base strength with her magic to land on the ground which lifted the man up and he let out a choked gasp as he struggled with the rope around his neck, connected to the ceiling and making him hang in the air.
She watched with a detached sort of look as he struggled and became red.
"You bitch!"
He rasped out but she ignores him when suddenly, Cheetah speaks into her comlink which connects with the rest of theirs.
"Cavalier and I have just spotted Dorian."
Heretic perked up.
Can their mission really be this easy?
"He's with some armed men."
"Are they with AK rifles?"
Heretic asks as her eyes strayed to the offending weapon that laid in the corner.
"Most of them, yes. How do you know?"
"Just had a little scuffle with one."
"Are you good?"
Deadshot asked and she snorted.
"You should ask about the other guy."
There was a pause, the only noise from her side being a man slowly loosing all his breath and Harley let out an excitable gasp.
"Oh my little ragamuffin! Did you just make a killer joke?? Get it? 'killer' and—"
"Everyone be careful. I think someone must have given us out at the pub."
"My money's on that waiter dude."
Master Jailer added and even Heretic suspected it as well.
"Please! I can take them on!"
Cavalier pompously spoke up.
"No, Cavalier. This is an order. You and Cheetah are to stay where you are, the rest of us will join you immediately."
Cavalier huffed.
"Look Deadshot, just because you're the captain of the ship doesn't mean the rest of us can't set sail with it."
Heretic wrinkled her nose at that.
"I see him. Let me take him out."
Master Jailer huffed.
"With you little sword?"
"It's not a sword you—you know what? Waller, are you listening in?"
"Do you think you can take him out?"
"Waller—"
Deadshot cut in but Waller continued.
"Cavalier. Listen to me. If you think you can take Dorian out, then do it."
"Waller—"
"This is not your decision to make Lawton. Are you questioning me?"
The deadly edge behind Waller's voice raised the hairs on Heretic's neck, especially where the tiny bomb at the base of her neck was situated.
She was hiding, or rather yet, trying to hide something.
She immediately vanished her mythical rope and ignored the body that fell to the ground with a thud, backing her bag and jogging out the door, still listening in on the comlink conversation.
"Cavalier. Take your shot. Now."
"With pleasure boss."
Heretic wasted no time as she lit her whole body in neon green misty glow that moved like shadows and lunged up in the air, landing quietly on a roof, using others as stepping stones towards her destination.
Just ahead, she saw Deadshot backflip on a roof and crouch.
"Cavalier, I don't think—"
Cheetah began to talk but there was a slight scuffle.
"Aaaah!"
She heard Cavalier's battlecry and Heretic sighed.
"What. An. Idiot."
She heard muffled shouts and as she got to the roof where the scuffle was going on below, she peeped down, just in time to watch 5 armed me raise their guns at Cavalier who had just killed one of theirs.
Just in time for his eyes to widen at them.
"Fuck."
And they fired.
Flashback.
May 2nd, 2006.
It was official.
The Dursleys had gone and gotten themselves killed.
All of them.
Leilani sat in the back of a moving cop car as the past few days played in her mind.
The Dursleys had been having a wonderful lunch day when, as they walked out of the restaurant, armed men busted out of another street in a shootout with the police and stray bullets had hit over 12 people, her relatives included.
They hadn't survived.
Marge Dursley, Vernon's sister had been notified as well as told of the survival of Leilani and she had shrieked at them to do what they wanted the little demon.
And so, child's protective service had been called.
And the solution was decided.
The cop car stopped at a building and the cop turned to her with a slightly sympathetic look.
"Well… we're here now. Your new home."
Leilani wrinkled her nose as she stared at the grey building with sharpened iron over the fences and a rusty black gate that held a banner.
'Gotham Orphanage Home.'
Leilani shivered a bit.
This didn't look like a home.
It reminded her of a prison. A prison that looked like it would be worse than the Dursleys.
Oh how her future looked bleak.
In the distance, thunder rumbles and a slight drizzle began to pour through the grey skies of Gotham.
Hi guys!!
In a group, there's always going to be someone like Cavalier. Always wanting to prove themselves.
It could end up good or bad.
Leilani's flashback has finally gotten her to Gotham Orphanage.
But it still doesn't explain how she got put in prison enough, does it?
What do you all think about the relationship of the Suicide Squad?
Not that built but there's something there too.
After all, you've got to bond one way or another with the people you might end up dying with.
Thanks for reading!! Please leave comments! I so love them!
God Bless!!!