Disclaimer: I do not own Suicide Squad or any of the characters. I only own my OC.
"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!" ― Hunter S. Thompson
Chapter 13: Hell of a ride
Patience was a skill Estelle liked to think she always obtained since birth. In elementary school, middle school, and high school she had always been levelheaded when it came to obnoxious behavior―especially whenever it had been aimed towards her. Even when she attended University of Washington (for that short time period), Estelle remained well balanced among her peers. Well, minus the few times she had to defend herself and other girls from the occasional flirting male who wouldn't take no for an answer. But for the most part she was well poised.
However, since meeting Harley, Estelle was starting to realize more and more that maybe her having absolute patience wasn't necessarily one hundred percent true. Harley just had a way of getting under her skin. And no matter how much she tried it seemed that Estelle couldn't shake her off.
Since departing on the helicopter, Harley's talking had been non-stop. At the beginning the Queen of Gotham had been talking with the whole squad in general. Although it was a more one sided conversation―except for Deadshot. He seemed to be more in tune with the conversation giving the occasional head nod or two, unlike the others who were out right ignoring her.
Thankfully this spared Estelle from Harley's blabber. For a little while that is, because unfortunately she wasn't spared for long. When the twenty-one year old gave Katana a curious glance, Harley took notice of that. The same fiery jealousy from before reappeared again within her. And it was that feeling that made Harley start to jibber jabber. This time, however, she was only talking directly to Estelle.
In response to this, Estelle was irked. Her attention reluctantly drew away from Katana and instead went onto Harley. The platinum blonde was going on and on about being Gal Pals and all the things they could do together.
Bestie this and bestie that.
It might have been five minutes, or maybe even ten minutes (who the hell knew for sure) of Harley talking to her, but by that point all Estelle could hear coming out from Harley's mouth was...blah blah blah. Estelle was a bit confused as to why Rick hadn't said anything to shut Harley up. Whatever confusion she had went away when she saw him wearing his head set. He was still fully aware of what was going on but that head set for sure would have silenced anything Harley was saying out-loud.
Lucky him.
Despite the immense irritation she was feeling, Estelle tried her hardest to disregard it. She tried closing her eyes, but that sure didn't work. She then tried looking away from the platinum blonde, but all that got her was Harley speaking even louder. When Estelle tried initiating friendly conversation with Katana, Harley made another jab towards the Asian woman, causing her to mutter something heatedly in Japanese. Luckily, even with that distasteful joke towards her, Katana hadn't jumped at the opportunity to use her sword like she had last time.
Finally when Estelle couldn't take it anymore, she released an exasperated huff. "Please for the love of God, shut up already!" She shouted at the platinum blonde. She was now beyond annoyed and passed her limit of patience. Hearing her shout caused the rest of the squad members to look between Estelle and Harley. There was a mixture of amusement (coming from the squad members―mainly from Captain Boomerang) and intrigue and concern (coming from Katana and Rick). Although the Colonel had on his head set he still saw the annoyed expression Estelle had on and how it was directed towards Harley. No shock there. Not to mention he was still able to hear some of the things Harley had been saying.
Stella's shouting did nothing to upset Harley. In fact, she was expecting her to finally crack . Her bestie sure looked cute when frustrated. Yes, Harley was pouting but it wasn't because she got shouted at. Not her pout was more for show. "Aw, but I was just saying how you should let me do your makeup one of these days." A flirtatious smile appeared on her face. "Not that you need it or anything, since you're already pretty." She winked at her. "But just think about how much fun we'll have!" Her blue eyes gleamed feverishly at what she said next. "We can even add some color to your hair! How about some purple highlights? My Puddin' loves the color purple!"
Estelle scoffed at that ludicrous suggestion. Especially at the last one.
Fat chance that was ever going to happen.
"Hey, is he supposed to be green like that?" Captain Boomerang suddenly warily asked, gaining everyone's attention.
The annoyance Estelle had been feeling before faltered when she, along with the others, followed the Aussie's bemused gaze. A frown appeared on Estelle's face when she saw what was going on towards the end of the helicopter. "Waylon, are you alright?" She asked him. Captain Boomerang had been right with his observation. Waylon did look green. Actually, now that Estelle was really staring at him, he looked rather queasy. Her blue eyes widened in realization at what she knew was about to happen. Oh no. He had on the same scrunched up expression Lilly would get whenever she was sick to her stomach. The urge to go over there and do something invaded her, but she knew there wasn't much she could do now. Especially in this type of situation. Considering they were in a helicopter, high in the sky.
Killer Croc didn't have time to answer Estelle's question―nor did he have time to appreciate her using his full name. He let out a low growl before throwing up the meal the guards had given him earlier. He never liked throwing up his meals, but that would happen whenever the guards gave him spoiled animal meat. Which tended to happen a lot. An act that he knew was done on purpose.
The stench of vomit soon filled the air.
"Oh, party foul!" Harley groaned, pinching her nose. "Not cool."
The smell of vomit did not bother Estelle at all. By now given the amount of times Lilly has thrown up (thanks to the side effects of some medications she had been given), she had gotten used to the smell of puke. Yes, Waylon's vomit had a stronger smell to it, but Estelle was still able to remain undisturbed. Not much can be said about the others though. Especially Slipknot who was closest to Waylon. The disgusted expression he had on showed just how much he disliked the smell.
Several minutes passed before Estelle was informed that they were finally nearing Midway City. Although the smell of vomit still lingered in the air, the twenty-one year old could tell the squad members were more interested in what was going on in the city than with the puke fiasco that had occurred moments ago.
Harley by now had turned around in her seat to look out one of the helicopter windows. She was captivated by what was going on outside. "Look at all the pretty lights!" Harley commented in complete wonderment. She was gazing intently into Midway City. From where Estelle was sitting she too could see what exactly had the Queen of Gotham's undivided attention. And what the twenty-one year old saw brought uneasiness.
There were flashing lights that to Estelle resembled lightning. Despite it being night time now, the dark swirling clouds added a more ominous vibe to the city. Something terrible and daunting was going on. This however had no effect on the platinum blonde. Harley remained carefree. The total opposite of how Estelle was at the moment. "Are you guys seeing this?" Harley asked the group as she continued to gawk at said sight.
Yes, and I don't like it.
Estelle kept a cool expression as she pushed down her unease feelings. She had to stay focused. She couldn't fail at being Rick's backup. Lilly's heart surgery depended on it.
Growing more cautious and suspicious, Deadshot narrowed his dark eyes at Rick Flag. "What happened?" He gruffly asked the Colonel.
At seeing Deadshot address him, Rick was able to read his lips, thus understanding his question. He took off his head set. "Terror attack." He easily explained. "Dirty bombs, bad guys, shooting up the place with AKS. You know the usual shit."
Even Estelle didn't believe that and given the tight smile Deadshot had on, she knew he didn't either.
"Right." Deadshot said with an attitude. "You know you're a bad liar." After saying that he saw the colonel's expression harden. "I don't know what they told you, but I'm a hitman. I'm not a fireman. I don't save people."
But you could. Estelle thought to herself. He was capable of doing that. Deadshot caught her earnest stare before she lowered her eyes. Of course the twenty-one year old kept that thought to herself as Floyd and Rick continued to argue. After a few seconds of staring down to her feet, she lifted her gaze. She quietly watched with growing interest and slight worry as Rick and Deadshot glared at one another. She hoped that she wouldn't have to make an interference. Although she was there to be back up for Rick, she didn't want to cross Deadshot. Despite not being super close to him, she couldn't deny they had some sort of past. Except if it really came down to it, Estelle knew who she would be loyal to.
"Anything for a dollar right?" Rick rhetorically asked him.
Deadshot kept his tight smile as he tried to remain nonchalant. "You know the dark places too. Don't act like you don't."
"I'm a soldier." Rick drawled with a firm voice. His southern accent sounded thicker than usual. "And you're a serial killer that takes credit cards. When the shooting starts, and it will, you'll cut and run."
The faux smile Deadshot had on disappeared. Instead his expression at the moment became one that was unreadable to Estelle. Which wasn't exactly a good thing. One thing Estelle had come to realize in her twenty-one years of living is to never make unkind assumptions aloud...especially in front of said person. Even if that person was awful. That would only make the person with the assumption being said about to act out...and based on the well hidden expression Deadshot had on she knew he was going to act out. Estelle just didn't know how.
All of a sudden there was an impact on the helicopter. Gunshots. Estelle recognized the sound. They had been hit and it caused major damage. The helicopter started to spin around in the air, ready to crash to the ground. Most of the squad members in the helicopter started to shout for their impending doom. Minus Harley. She was screaming but it was more out of excitement than fear. She failed to realize just how dangerous the situation was and viewed the helicopter falling as a type of roller-coaster ride.
"Six-one is going down!" Shouted one of the pilots. "Six-one is going down hard!"
Hearing that brought Estelle out of her scared daze. She was holding onto her seat pretty hard, but hearing that they were actually falling down caused her to focus. Her blue eyes hardened with determination. A sense of energy surged through her. There was no way in hell they were about to die in a crash. She wasn't about to die and leave Lilly by herself. Her little sister still needed her. Estelle was going to stop the crash from happening.
"Everybody hold on!" She fiercely commanded. Cautiously the metahuman stuck out one of her hands and envisioned in her mind a force field surrounding the whole helicopter. Even though she wanted to do this, she was wary it wouldn't work. This was a tricky thing to do considering she had never created a force field that big before. Who really knows just how much of her energy she was about to use. However, at the moment she disregarded her worry. She wasn't about to sit back and not at least try. She kept envisioning in her mind a force field forming from her hand. Worry began to set in but stopped when she heard Harley's thrilled voice.
"Yay! More pretty lights!" Harley chimed with merriment as she caught a glimpse of Estelle's extended out hand. The same shimmery bluish light from before was beginning to form into a force field. It kept getting bigger and bigger, and within a few seconds the blue colored force field was all over the helicopter. She let out a laugh as the helicopter continued spinning in the air. She failed to notice the pain expression that briefly crossed Estelle's face.
In fact, none of the other squad members had noticed. When they did look at Estelle, the metahuman by then was hiding the pain she was feeling. She instead had on a concentrated look as helicopter kept falling down. None of the squad members or the others were panicking now. They instead were calm (not entirely but way more than before) as they waited to see what would happen once they reached the ground. When the helicopter finally made contact with the bottom, Estelle stopped herself from yelling. It hurt. God did it hurt. Not the fall, but actually stopping the helicopter from crashing severely. The twenty-one year old ignored such pain. She took more focus on the part that none of them died. Did they get hurt? Eh, maybe there were few bruises here and there but she stopped the helicopter from full on crashing. That was something alright.
Once Estelle knew they were in the clear she ended her force field. As she lowered her hand she tried controlling her breathing, but man did she feel tired. Almost drained even. She had really pushed herself to the limit there. Now she knew how it felt to create a force field that large. Hopefully the next time she does one that big again it won't hurt as much. Perhaps she would also have better control of the pain―or better yet maybe she wouldn't feel any pain.
One by one they each began to exit the now damaged helicopter.
"Woah! What a ride!" Harley exclaimed excitedly as she jumped out of the helicopter.
As Rick moved to the side he did a quick once over at the squad. Once seeing that none of the criminals weren't in serious harm he transformed back into his Colonel demeanor. "We're okay." He firmly assured Waller through his communication device. "Assets are undamaged."
When it was Estelle's turn to exit the helicopter she gave Rick a nod, indicating she was fine as well. She then made sure to turn her back away from Rick after that. In truth she was still getting a hold of herself and the last thing she needed was Rick seeing how weak she was at the moment. Unfortunately for her someone did notice that something was off with her.
Deadshot had seen how the young adult was trying to be calculating in turning away from Flag. She was standing a few feet away from where everyone was starting to huddle as a group. Seeing this made a sense of protectiveness that he only ever felt for his daughter flare up inside. He immediately thought of when Estelle helped out his daughter all that while ago in the diner. That's what made him walk over to her.
"College, what's wrong?" Deadshot asked with a frown once standing in front of her. Unbeknownst to him a few feet away Rick and the others were watching the scene take place. They weren't able to hear the conversation but that didn't stop them from staring. Especially Rick who was ready to leap into action if needed.
Unaware of their audience, Estelle took a deep breath before speaking. She made sure to wipe any exhaustion that was planted on her face. "Nothing." She said as she shrugged her shoulders. "I just needed a moment to myself." She responded by trying to sound nonchalant. When she noticed that Deadshot was still staring intently at her, she continued her casual act. "I've just never been in a helicopter crash before. So you know. It got to me."
"Sure." Deadshot muttered not buying what she was selling.
It was at that moment that Rick finally graced them with his presence. The Colonel looked between Deadshot and her before his gaze (or really it was a glare now) landed onto the older man. Deadshot got the message. With an eye-roll aimed at Flag and not at College, he reluctantly left to stand where the rest of the squad members were at.
When it was just the two of them, Rick dropped the glare he had. His eyes took a less firm approach. "Are you okay?" He asked her.
Estelle nodded her head. Yet again she was managing well enough to hide the exhaustion she was feeling. "Yeah, I'm okay."
Rick gazed at her intently. "Are you sure?"
Estelle smiled ruefully at his concern. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Something in the colonel told him that wasn't true. Perhaps it was his soldier instincts, but he was certain that Estelle was holding something back. "If this is because of your powers―"
Estelle interrupted vehemently. Her smile went away and instead a stern expression appeared on her youthful face. "No, I can handle my powers just fine. Stop worrying so much."
Like that was ever going to happen.
Despite thinking this, Rick was slightly taken back by her strong tone of voice. One second she was smiling and the next she was giving him a look that was the complete opposite of lightheartedness. Estelle was twenty-one years old (a kid in his eyes), but she had a way that kept surprising him due to her guarded demeanor. Sure she was starting to trust him, but he now knew that if one were to say or ask something intrusive, she would return back to her shielded like character. He didn't want that happening. Especially now when they were out in the open. They needed to have each others' backs. Therefore, even though he was concerned, he was quick to compose himself back to his own Colonel demeanor.
Rick nodded his head. "Fine." He replied evenly. The Colonel turned ready to walk away, but then glanced over his shoulder. "You did good." He softly praised her before he continued making his way to where the rest of the squad members and team of other soldiers were at. When he stopped in front of them he demanded attention as he was starting to direct orders. The squad members reluctantly then listened to the Colonel.
Estelle's momentarily temperament went away as she felt her lips curl upwards, forming a small smile. Hearing Rick say she did good reminded her of all the times her father would compliment her after a long day of training. As she was reminiscing about the old days, she reached for her sister's butterfly necklace.
Her smile dropped right away when she felt something drip down her nose. Letting go of the necklace, Estelle used the same hand to touch the bottom of her nose. Pulling the hand back she saw how there was blood on her fingers. Oh shit. Her blue eyes widened. She was bleeding. Alarm bells went off but she kept her cool. She did not want to panic in front of Rick and the others.
Composing her facial features, the metahuman used her jacket to wipe swiftly at her nose. When there was no more blood staining her nose, Estelle inwardly shook off the rest of the lingering alarmed emotions she had. When she was well enough again she coolly followed Rick's steps to reach the others. The young adult was extremely relieved to know (at it seemed) that none of them had seen her bleeding.
However, unknown to Estelle, someone did see.
Harley.
And the platinum blonde was quite troubled as to why her bestie had suffered a nose bleed.
A/N: Oh uh, Harley saw...what do you think is gonna happen now? You guys are just gonna have to wait. Dun dun dun. Until next time my lovely readers!
