DISCLAIMER - AS ALWAYS I DO NOT OWN SUICIDE SQUAD

Chapter Four


Lena sighed she was two weeks into singing at the club, it was an interesting dynamic especially considering a few of the dancers had taken to stripping while she sang. It wasn't a sign of disrespect more like she had the type of voice that could make people lose their clothes quickly.

Lena glanced over to the pile of money on her bed, she didn't know what to do with it. The joker refused to let her open a bank account to store her earnings, most likely because he would have robbed the bank within a week of it being there. Harley suggested she got herself a bigger apartment but Lena wasn't one for extravagant things, plus she wouldn't know where to start looking for that sort of thing.

A shrill ringing erupts from the device placed next to the pile of money, sighing Lena brought it up to her ear.
"Doll face, I need someone to come shopping with me, you'll come?" Harley's blud haven accent filled the speaker.
"I...I suppose so yes." Lena was still afraid to show her true self to Harley, afraid that she would be rejected by yet another person.
"Goodie, I'll meet you outside in 5." Harley giggled before hanging up the phone.

Harley had already been on Her way when she called Lena knowing that the young woman wouldn't say no to her. Lena was positive that Harley wouldn't have taken 'no' as the answer anyway. Slipping on some flat nude pumps onto her feet as she hurriedly tries to do something with the bird's nest on top of her head. Lena was hopeless at girly things hair, makeup and picking what looked good on her wasn't her forte. So, Harley offering to take her shopping was a godsend, she took a brief look in the mirror...plain that's what she saw and that's what others saw.

"Losing too much weight again."
"Nonsense these clothes are just too big"
"Harley isn't any good as a friend, that girl's a nut."
"So...why haven't we called Johnny yet?"
"Busy killing people probably that's what he does, some of the girls at the club said so."
Lena took a deep breath as the voices shouted amongst each other all vying for her attention.
"Please stop...just for a little while." She pleaded with the voices knowing they weren't just about to stop no matter how nice she asked them.


Flashback

'Dear big brother,

I got my swimming badge today, see look. I'm being good like you said, daddy gives me a little pocket money every month now. I'm saving for singing lessons, I can't afford them right now but soon.

I miss you,
Lena'

Dear big brother

A boy asked me out today, I said no, I don't think daddy would like that too much. The kids at school they've been making fun or my clothes again, but I just let them I don't mind.

I miss you,
Lena

Dear big brother

It's my birthday today, no one remembered, daddy said you don't come home because of me. Ricky come home soon okay?

I miss you,
Lena

Dear big brother

It's your birthday today, happy birthday. I don't think I will write many more times, you don't reply, I'm starting to think your dead.

Lena

Dear big brother,

This will be the last letter that I write to you. You left me with these people, they beat me and are unkind. But I'm always good, I promise yet I can never seem to do anything right, I fear he'll kill me soon.

Lena


End of flashback

"Hahahahahahah, she thinks we'll stop. The other voices carried on laughing too, they were cruel and many times the voices didn't care. Lena banged her head hard against the wall hoping to disturb the voices, she repeated the action several times until she was satisfied. A knock on the door disturbed her, she checked in the small mirror on the back of the door for any blood. Satisfied she pulled open the door to see something she wasn't expecting.

"Johnny?" Lena exclaimed quietly.
"Did you trip?" His left hand reaching out brushing the bump on her forehead, she hissed slightly.
"Always so clumsy," Johnny whispered as he stood awkwardly in the doorway.
"Mr. J is back from his trip early so Harley told me to take you shopping." Lena looked up at him with her big blue doe eyes.
"Oh, that's nice but I think I'll just stay here instead, sorry you had a wasted journey."
"There's a gallery over the other side of Gotham, do you wanna go with me?" Lena only nodded in response.
"A Better idea than shopping. Can't understand how women shop so much."
"I don't."
"You're something else Birdie." She looked up at him not sure whether it was meant as a compliment or an insult.


Flashback

"This is Lena...she's a little different." A seven-year-old Lena stood next to the dance teacher, by using the word 'different' the teacher had automatically subjected Lena to name calling and bullying.
"How was your class?" Her father sat in the driver's seat , ignoring the little girl's tears and disheveled hair.
"Fine daddy...thank you for taking me." Her line was rehearsed like everything she did.
"Good." The man looked over at her disgust clearly evident, leaving Lena to smile weakly before it was slapped from her face to be replaced by a blank look.

Their ride home was silent, the atmosphere in the car palpable. The little girl kept her gaze directed out the passenger window as she tears rolled down her small cheeks. They were nearly home when Lena made the mistake of opening her mouth.
"Daddy...can we go get ice cream next week...for my birthday?" It was an innocent enough question but Lena noticed the bubbling rage coming from her father.
"I just paid out $400 for your damn dancing and you want fucking ice cream too?" Rick senior slammed the brakes of the car on stopping on a quiet country back road.

"Daddy I'm sorry, I promise...I promise I'll be good...I'm sorry for asking, I won't ask again." The little girl tried to back peddle quickly knowing nothing can undo what had just happened. She watched as her father flung the driver's door open and marched round to her own piling it open violently.

Her father began pulling at her little body, Lena squealed out in pain as the seat belt dug into her skin.
"Daddy stop I promise I'll be good...I promise I'll be good." The little girl repeated several times until it appeared the older man had calmed down.
"Get out the damn car, you can walk home." Her father still seething as the little girl unbuckled her seat belt quickly hoping from the car pulling her small bag with her.
"Now start walking it's 6 miles home if you're smart you won't come back." The older man spat out as he got in the car and pulled away at speed leaving only dust in his wake.


End of flashback

"Birdie...birdie? You there?" Johnny looked at the young women clearly worried by her lack of coherency.
"I promise I'll be good," Lena whispered softly as her dazed eyes began to see again, she noticed the way Johnny looked at her and simply smiled.
"You okay their birdie?" Lena nodded as she walked past her and out of her apartment.
The moment she had just relieved had been one of the worst, she had gotten lost on the way back, she had been found by a farmer curled up in a corn field and was taken back home. Lena at the time wished that the farmer's dog hadn't found her and that she had died.

The drive to the gallery was longer due to the insane amount of traffic surround the center of Gotham, being in the car was making Lena antsy the skin on her hands suffering as she picked at them. A large hand soon covered both of hers, it was as a pacifier and it worked. It wasn't long before Lena began to trace the scars on Johnny's hand gently as if the wounds were still there.
"Fucking traffic," Johnny muttered under his breath as his free hand drummed the steering wheel impatiently.
"What's this one from?" Lena ran an index finger over a nearly perfect circle on his hand.
"My wife shot me." He says it so casually that Lena nearly dismisses his answer,

"You're married?" Lena didn't seem surprised in fact she felt a little heartbroken, she was silly to think he was interested in a little girl like her it made her feel foolish.
"Yeah, got a kid too." Johnny smiled at the thought, oblivious to the fact he'd been pulling Lena along. It was clear to Lena now, the joker had been their mastermind behind the plan in order to get what he wanted from Lena he would need to string her along but he couldn't do that so he got his right-hand man to do it for him.
Lena was a pawn in the Joker's already elaborate game, the kiss, the way Johnny had acted it had all been fake. This was the reason the young woman trusted no one they all lied to her all of them to exploit her and get what they wanted from her. Suddenly her heart felt like it was going to burst through her chest, Her breathing became irrational and her vision blurred.

"Birdie... hey birdie look at me...damn it birdie look at me." Johnny's rough voice penetrated her panic stricken mind but still not enough to pull her out. The slap echoed throughout the car leaving a ringing in Lena's ear. It was enough to bring her back, A hand went to cup her now red cheek.
"Birdie I'm sorry I had to do that, you made me do it." Johnny seemed to be the one panicking now especially when the tears came he felt awkward not knowing what to do.
"It's okay." Her voice barely more than a whisper.
"Fuck, why is there so much damn traffic." Johnny's had slammed down on the steering wheel causing Lena to jump in her seat.

Lena tested the handle of the door noticing it wouldn't budge, the child lock must have been on. The traffic finally began to free up a little and the voices had finally calmed and quietened down enough for Lena to string a coherent thought together.
"Do you see your kid a lot?"
"Don't really get time with a job like this,she's a good girl, though, takes after her mother."
"You should see her more." She hadn't met her own father until she was three years old and she wished never knew that she existed.

"We don't have to talk about this Birdie." Johnny knew that him having a wife and a kid affected his chances with Lena.
"No, it's okay." A small smile graced Lena's face as she watched him squirm, in a way she enjoyed it.
"So does your wife know you like to kiss other women?" Lena looked up at him through her long eyelashes.
"We see other people." His voice blunt and straight the point, Lena giggled having gotten the response she wanted.
"You're tryin' to push me aren't you?" Johnny glanced over at her before diverting his gaze back to the moving traffic "I don't know what you mean." Lena resided herself to silence for the rest of their journey which turned out to only be another ten minutes, closing her eyes, Lena leaned back into the seat.

"Makin' a habit of sleeping in my car?" Johnny spoke softly placing a gentle hand on one of her arms thinking she was sleep. "What can I say your cars kinda comfy, I wasn't sleeping though thinking about the meaning of life?
"Find a good enough answer?"
"42" Johnny just looked at Lena as if she was just plain crazy.
"You've never read The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy have you?" a small smile played on Lena's lips as she spoke looking over at Johnny, it was then that Johnny knew he was in too deep. Too deep to turn and run away from how he felt.
"I don't read much," Johnny admitted he was almost embarrassed.
"I guessed, so are we going in?"

The gallery was dead silent except it wasn't quite so eerie, Lena had yet to notice that she and Johnny were the only two in the gallery. Lena stood in front of each painting for a good 5 minutes admiring the work that went into each. She had a way of being able to put herself into the artist's shoes as they painted and being able to draw the emotions that had gone into each of the paintings.

Arms slipped around Lena's waist as she sighed heavily leaning back into Johnny's chest.
"Don't understand why you like all these old paintings birdie, you need to live in the here and now." Johnny wanted to bring Lena into the present and not have her living in the past.
"Maybe you're right," Lena whispered softly as Johnny kissed the top of her head.
"I know what's best for you birdie."


Flashback

"I know what's best for you Eleanor, those other people don't, I'm your father and you will do as I say, do you understand?" Rick Flag Senior shook the eleven-year-old girl violently as her mother sat in front of the muted television. The young girl nodded her head profusely as she was being shaken, the grip her father had on her arms was like similar to that of a vice used for metal work. She would definitely be wearing a long sleeved shirt to school tomorrow despite the extreme heatwave that they were having in Louisiana that year.

School had been terrible for Lena that day, the heat was sweltering and the long sleeved t-shirt she had worn to cover the numerous bruises up and down her arms hadn't made the heat any easier to cope with.
"Eleanor?"
"Yes, Miss?" Eleanor looked over at her history teacher Miss Clark, preparing herself to be ready to answer a question on the topic they were currently studying.
"Aren't you a little hot in those long sleeves?" The newly qualified teacher meant well but it wouldn't be good for her to poke her nose into others business. Lena merely bobbed her head up and down to indicate that she was fine.

"You little brat, what did you say at that damn school of yours?" As soon as Lena walked through the door of her 'home.
"Nothing daddy, I promise," "then why did I have a Miss Clark on the phone asking me to come in and see her, you told her something didn't you?"
"No, sir…I promise I didn't tell her nothing" "You tell her anything Eleanor and I will kill you and that's a promise." Flag Senior let go of Lena watching as she turned and scurried up the stairs.

End of Flashback


Lena came back to the real world with a crash, the flashbacks always left her confused and with each of the voices in her head talking a mile a minute.
"Deep breaths Birdie." Lena looked up at Johnny, her breathing uneven, before it finally settled right back down to a pace considered normal. "Let's go, I'm starving." Johnny pulled her arms from her waist as he walked towards the exit.
"Wait…where is everyone?" Lena asked curiously in hearing his answer.
"Hired out the whole place for us," Johnny spoke casually not noticing the gobsmacked look on Lena's face.
"You shouldn't have done that, it's expensive, Johnny I'm not wo…" Before Lena could finish her sentence, Johnny kissed her.
"If you weren't worth it Birdie you'll still be singing on that street corner."

End of Chapter

Thank you all for all reading this far I really do appreciate it also I am on the lookout for a beta if anyone would be interested please do private message me