AN: So happy to read all the reviews and hear you guys want to read more of this story. So, without further ado…
Chapter 4: Witching Hour
XXX
…Later that night…
There weren't many options for entertainment in the swamps of the middle of no where Louisiana. But that didn't stop Griggs from finding a few seedy clubs that catered to his particular breed of cockroach. The type where it doesn't matter who or what you are… and the ones who are more than willing to advance large lump sums. Too bad for Griggs, his losing streak was landing him squarely where he didn't want to belong… On someone's radar and about to be in someone's pocket.
"Lester! Lester! Hit me one more time! Come on, Man You gotta call upstairs and tell them to float me another 10k." He says as he busts at the blackjack table.
It's then that he feels the strong hand clap him none to gently on the shoulder. He turns around to see one of the bouncers slash cage bosses.
"Boss wants to see you." He says as he starts to yank Griggs away from the table.
"You know who I am?" Griggs tries to protest as he's practically dragged thru a side door and towards the back rooms. He's protesting the entire way, even when they sit him down on a chair in the kitchen. There are at least give guys with either guns or knives around him, and one guy is taking a butcher's knife to a slab of meat.
But Griggs never knows when to shut up. "Good job, Man. He's killin' it." He says to the casino boss that stands in front of him.
"Come on Man. Why am I here? All right! Yeah! I'm down. I get it! All right? I've had run of bad decks. Not my fault. All right?"
The casino boss just looks at him likes Griggs is the moron he is. "Dude, this is real. I had to stop these guys from burning down your house with your kids in it. But, you're lucky." He says as the backdoor to outside opens and Johnny Frost walks in.
"Maybe. Why do you think so?" Griggs asks as he watches the Frost hand over a stack of cash to the casino boss.
"Yo, Slick, what's up?" Frost says dismissively to Griggs before a handshake concludes his business with the casino boss.
Griggs sticks out his hand to the new guy in a failed attempt to shake. "Griggs. You are?"
Frost just sneers at Griggs. "You might wanna keep your mouth shut."
But Griggs is losing the little patience and tact that he has fast, and doesn't listen to Frost's warning. "Can I go, man? What the hell's going on, man? This is crazy."
But that's when he hears it. The slow measures steps on the tile behind him accompanied by a voice that would send chills down anyone's spine. "Blah, blah blah, blah… All of that chitchat's gonna get you hurt." The Joker claps Griggs on the shoulders as he moves into the room and his voice echoes around the now quiet kitchen.
Griggs is beyond scared and about ready to piss himself. "My God!" He says out of reflex as he jumps in his seat.
The Joker moves around Griggs side to stand in front of him. Eyeing him like a snake eyes a mouse it's about to devour. The Joker holds out his hand for Griggs to kiss his ring. Griggs looks up momentarily before doing so.
A serpent like hiss emirates from the Joker before a smile spreads across his face. He quickly moves to straddle Griggs, only increasing Griggs fear. "I could tell you meant that." The Joker hisses.
Griggs wisely doesn't say anything.
The Joker eyes him before continuing. "You're gonna be my friend."
XXX
…Elsewhere…
Flag and June are staying at one of the better hotels near Belle Reve. Waller would be heading out in a few days, but they would be here for the next week at least to deal with the scumbags he had to command.
It had been a long day, but he was no where close to being done for the night. June on the other hand was curled up on the bed, having fallen asleep a while ago. The clock on the TV clicks from 11:59 pm to 12:00 am as Flag stands up to stretch and take a break from reviewing briefing files.
June's voice is barely a whisper as she talks in her sleep. "Enchantress."
The lights in the room flicker out and Flag immediately draws his sidearm and turns towards the bed. He's horrified to see the Enchantress sitting there where June had been curled up a moment ago.
He reaches for his cell phone but the Enchantress quickly pops from the bed to right in front of him, a fade walk, as Waller had called it. Flag watches in horror as the Enchantress shakes her head and blows something in his face.
Flag blinks a few times as his surroundings seem to melt away and he's left standing in a morgue. The body of June Moone is laid out on an icy metal slab in front of him. A wave of sickness and dread come over him immediately and he's by her side in an instant.
"June?" He asks plaintively as tears begin to pool in his eyes.
"June? June? June. June." He continues to plead over her corpse.
XXX
River's POV
… Back near Belle Reve…
It's past midnight, but there had been no getting to sleep tonight. Too much nervous energy bounced around my body and made it impossible to even think of sleeping. I had decided there was no time like the present to get going on my 'project' and had quickly decamped from the small house Waller had set me up with to the garage to work on my car.
It's a typically hot a humid night in Louisiana, and I have the garage door open for ventilation and to hear the crickets and birds chirping out in the darkness. Even if I was damn close to Belle Reve, there was something peaceful about it out here.
I'm working on stripping the bits of chipped paint from the body to treat and sand the small patches of rust when I hear it… or rather I don't hear anything. The swamp, which moments ago had been humming with its usual noise… was utterly silent.
I step away from the car and move to stand near the garage door… peering out into the inky blackness of the night.
"Tis the witching hour of night…" The Enchantress's voice whispers in my ear.
I immediately whirl around to see if she's standing behind me, but I am met with emptiness. My hands ball into fists as I snarl. She's toying with me…
Now her voices echoes from outside the garage. "Or bed is the moon and bright."
"And the stars they glisten, glisten,
Seeming with bright eyes to listen…"
"For what listen they?" I finish the poem out loud, thinking maybe she'll emerge from the darkness if I do.
But all I hear is the stillness of the swamp.
"What are you up to?" I say quietly into the night.
XXX
They had been careless. Parading the Enchantress around as a sideshow attraction… putting her in a room with all those people to perform her parlor tricks. She had done as she was told, brought them what they wanted. But they had unknowingly given her what she needed as well… the location of her brother.
Once Flag had been dealt with for the night, she quickly fade walked into Waller's hotel room. The woman was asleep with more papers and briefings strewn around her, along with the case housing the witch's hidden heart.
The Enchantress takes a step towards the case, and the mechanical hiss of the alarm sounds. The Enchantress grimaces and fades walks out of the room…
She ends up in Waller's home office in Gotham… a secret room locked away housing all of Waller's secrets. But all the Enchantress needs is the canopic jar with her brothers remains.
"Brother." The Enchantress calls to the sleeping soul of Incubus inside the jar.
"Sister." Incubus' voice replies in her head.
The Enchantress quickly fade walks out of Waller's house and Gotham. She ends up in a Midway City subway bathroom. There is only one person in the bathroom, a business man too busy talking on his phone to notice the shadowy figure staring at him from inside the mirror in front of him. When he does look up, she is quick to pull his head towards the wall with enough force to knock him out. Once he is out could and on the ground, she quickly breaks the canopic jar open and unleashes the soul of Incubus.
Incubus' soul quickly takes hold of the body on the ground. He gasps as he finally comes to, cradled in Enchantress's lap.
"Brother I have freed you." She says soothingly.
Incubus has not recovered his strength yet and looks around the room dazed. "Where are we?"
"The same world… only much later." She replies.
"What happened?" Incubus asks.
"The humans turned against us." Enchantress replies with venom in her voice.
Incubus cannot believe what he is hearing. "But they worshipped us? We were gods to them!"
Enchantress's voice continues to drip with venom. "Now they worship machines. But I will spawn a weapon… a weapon that will destroy their world and bring about a new one. Build your strength. Feed on them. And wait for me to return." She says before quickly fade walking back to Louisiana.
XXX
"Enchantress…" June's voice says quietly as her body is pulled back into the hotel room where Flag is still sobbing.
"June?" He asks unconvinced.
Now it's June's turn to sob. Flag quickly pulls her tightly into his chest and cradles her as she sobs.
"Promise me… if it means killing me to stop her… You will." She says between gasps of air and tears.
"June…" Flag tries to protest, but she won't let him tonight.
"Promise me!" She yells as she clings to Flag tighter.
XXX
…The next morning…
RIver's POV
When Flag and Dr. Moone walked into the makeshift command at Belle Reve the next morning, the tension in the air is so thick it was practically a dense fog. I knew something had happened, that Enchantress had done something. But the problem was I couldn't find out what.
Flag's mind was a jumble of images of June laying in a morgue, and then just holding her as she cried herself to sleep. Dr. Moone on the other hand was a blank slate. I had tried to probe into the Enchantress, but I was met with the same foreign tongues and cackling laughter she was so prone to.
I didn't like it. "Something wicked this way comes." I thought to myself, mentally readying myself for whatever it might be.
After an hour or so Dr. Moone excuses herself to go get some food. She politely asks Flag and myself if we want anything, but we are getting ready to deal with Deadshot, so we both decline. Once she is out of the room, I turn towards Flag.
"Where did she go last night?" I ask tersely.
Flag instantly prickles at my question, but he doesn't try and avoid it. "I don't know." He says defeatedly.
I sigh. I like Flag, I do. He reminds me of the moral side of Mal. The side that tries to do the right thing by people. But his weakness to Dr. Moone is starting to cloud his judgment.
"Waller will make good on her threat if she finds out." I say quietly.
I can feel the fury emanating from him the moment I say it and I am quick to hold up my hands defensively. "I'm not going to say anything."
He seems to breathe a sigh of relief, but he's still wary. "Make sure you don't." He says before the door opens and in strolls Waller.
"Morning." Waller says as she walks towards us and hands me the encrypted case that holds Enchantress' heart. It's never more than a foot or two away from her, and if she isn't holding it then I am.
"Is everything ready for Lawton?" She ask expectantly.
"The range is prepped and ready." Flag says quickly.
"The entire array?"
"Everything he's proficient with, minus the rocket propelled variations." I respond quickly. Waller wanted a demonstration, and she was paying good money to get one.
"How long until he's out there?"
"15 minutes. I asked the Captain to escort him." I say while trying not to laugh. I know exactly what Lawton is likely to do the minute he gets his hands on one of those guns, and Griggs deserves it.
Unfortunately, Waller and Flag both have picked up on my little 'joke' and I get their infamous glares. I just chuckle though. "Griggs is a prick."
Flag just rolls his eyes. "Maybe you should stay up here then. Don't need you addin' fuel to a fire."
I pout. "Spoil sport."
XXX
Waller watches with mild amusement as Deadshot is escorted out to the makeshift shooting range. There are at least five armed guards in full riot gear, including Griggs.
"All right, unlock him." Flag says from beside Waller.
"What?" Griggs asks befuddled.
But Flag isn't going to repeat himself. "You heard me."
"You know what this man can do?" Griggs tries to protest.
Flag already hates Griggs. Hates they type of man that he is, and his reluctance to follow orders from his commanding officer just pisses him off further. "I'm here to find out. Lose the restraints."
Deadshot is amused by the situation and openly laughs as the restraints come off and he stands in front of a table full of guns. "OK. What is this? Cheerleading tryouts?"
"Let's go. Let's see what you can do. They say you never missed a shot. Prove it." Flag says as he takes a step back and crosses his arms waiting.
Deadshot smiles and plays along. Walks up to the table and selects a small 9mm. He clicks the safety off and cocks the gun… still not taking aim yet though.
"Now you got one in the chamber. What you gonna do with it?" Flag asks impatiently.
It's then that Deadshot turns towards Griggs and points it directly between his eyes.
"Hhhh ... Shit." Griggs says as everyone pulls their sidearm, Griggs men pointing their sights on Deadshot, and Flag pointing at them.
"Give me the word, boss. I'll drop him." Griggs second in commands Ames says.
"Everybody calm down. Griggs, tell your men to stand down." Flag says with cold conviction.
"Tell them : Put it down." Deadshot says to a frightened Griggs.
"Stand down…" Griggs says reluctantly before yelling at Flag. "Colonel, for the record, this is exactly what I was concerned about!"
Deadshot is not lowering his sights off Griggs though. "What's for dinner?" He asks Griggs. Deadshot's got Griggs by the metaphorical balls and he intends to make him suffer for the past few weeks of hell he has had to endure under Griggs.
"Ames, if this man shoots me, I want you to kill him. And I want you to go and clear my browser history." Griggs says as he bounces nervously.
"See ...the firing pin is filed down, right? Mag full of dummy rounds. If I pull the trigger, nothing happens." Deadshot comments. He was half sure this was some kind of test, he just wasn't sure what for yet.
But now Waller's pipes up. "You're absolutely right. Why would we give a loaded weapon to an infamous hitman? Go ahead, pull the trigger. Empty it." She taunts Deadshot. She wants a show and this is beginning to take far longer than she would like.
Griggs clearly hasn't learned his listen on when to shut up and starts to argue with Deadshot. "Don't empty nothing. You don't even know this lady. I've known you, like, 3 weeks. Remember when…"
But Griggs is silenced when Deadshot points the pistol in the air and pulls the trigger to shut him up.
Everyone is surprised by the noise… including a very excited Deadshot.
"What?" Deadshot says more to himself than anyone else as he smells the gun powder on the gun. "Y'all Jokers must be crazy." It's the last thing he says before he spends the next ten minutes emptying every magazine from the guns lying at the table. Waller is more than impressed by the end of the demonstration. Every shot was perfectly square between the eyes on the targets.
When the last target has a whole clear thru it's head, Deadshot turns towards Flag and walks up to be in his face.
"All right. Now you know what you're buyin'. Let me tell you the price. first ... I want outta here. Second, I want full custody of my daughter. All right? And her mom can have, like ...supervised visits. But, her boyfriend can't come. Darnell can't come."
Flag smirks and shakes his head he agrees. "Darnell's out."
"He's out. Third, y'all gonna pay for my daughter's whole education. Best schools. And then I want her to go to college. Like Harvard. Or Yale." Deadshot continues.
"So Ivy league." Again Flag shakes his head like he agrees.
Deadshot is getting more animated by the second. "Ivy league, yeah. One of them big joints, you know? And if she can't cut it ... and her grades start slipping, I need you to white- people that thing. You know how y'all do."
"Oh yeah." Flag chuckles.
"You know, right?" Deadshot continues. "Ok. Now that's my price. But I'm concerned ...'cause I don't see nobody writing shit down."
Flag openly laughs at Deadshot. "You're in no position to make any demands."
"Oh. I'm sorry. You thought I was talking to you. No, errand boy. I'm talking to your boss." Deadshot says as he points towards Waller, while maintaining eye contact with Flag.
Deadshot now looks over to Waller as Griggs put the cuffs back on him. He winks at Waller before they take him away. "That's my price, sweetie. You know what it is."
As they are leading Deadshot away, Flag moves closer to Waller. "Can you believe this guy?" Flag asks her.
But before she can say anything, Waller's phone…and Flag's phone begin to buzz furiously. They both look down at identical texts. "Meta-human sighting…Midway City."
XXX
AN: And here… we…go. Hope you guys liked this update. I will try and get another up soon, but I will be on vacation soon (aka no wifi/computers for a week), so no promises. I have settled on a call sign for River, but anyone have suggestions for what her battle uniform should be?