The Suicide Squad 2 – All Consuming Fire- Conclusion- Handcuffs for Houdini

"I demand to see a lawyer right now!" The man in the wheelchair hollered. "I have been falsely arrested! I have not been read my rights nor has anyone told me what I am being charged with!"

Amanda Waller stood across from the man but had yet to respond to his outburst. One of the government operatives handed Waller two files before he joined the other two armed man near the door. She opened one of the files and began to look through it.

"We are not the police Mr. Marshall. But you will be answering some questions here today."

"Like hell I will!" he yelled back at her.

"We'll see about that." Waller said while flipping through the other file. She set both files down on the conference table in front of her and looked up at the young woman who sat quietly in the chair next to Mr. Marshall. "What is your involvement with Mr. Marshall here?"

"She has nothing to do with this!" Marshall shouted.

"You better be sure what this is before you speak out of turn again" Waller stated, looking at Marshall then back at the woman. "Again Miss, who are you and what is your involvement with Mr. Marshall?"

The woman looked terrified for a brief moment but then attempted to answer as she nervously twirled her long red hair. "My name is Belle Haney and I am a student at the college…Mr. Marshall…. Mr. Marshall teaches at in Gotham…I just…just was trying to get some extra credit...I just transferred from Keystone this semester and was…"

"That's fine." Waller said cutting her off. "You check out. Your free to go."

"Go? Go where? What is going to happen to Jack…Mr. Marshall?" Belle tensely replied.

"Transportation will be arranged to take you back to Gotham City." Waller said looking over at Marshall. "As for Jack here, well that's up to him."

Amanda nodded and the three men began to escort Belle Haney from the room.

"Don't worry Belle. This is all just a big misunderstanding. Everything will be cleared up soon enough." Marshall said forcing a smile as Belle left the room. "I will see you in class on Monday."

Marshall turned back to face Waller. "Listen. She is just a student of mine. Sure she came on strong but I would never…"

"Can it. I really don't care…Oracle."

Jack took pause with Amanda's comment. "I…that's the second time you made reference to the Greek soothsayer."

The smile on Amanda Waller's face faded as she pulled a gun out from under the table and pointed it Jack Marshall. "I am only going to ask this once before I shoot you, why did you infiltrate my computer network masquerading as Oracle."

"I do not know what you are talking about!" Marshall said squirming in his wheel chair.

"Wrong, answer." Waller declared cocking the hammer on the gun.

Peru, South America – Ten months ago…

Rick Flagg had been with the Forgotten Heroes nearly two months now. Cave Carson and Congo Bill had spent weeks researching all of the information they had gathered on the mysterious pyramids each of them had come across recently. They determined that a seventh pyramid existed. The group, consisting of Carson, Bill, Animal Man, Dolphin, Dane Dorrance, and Flagg, now found themselves deep in the Andes Mountains in search of the seventh pyramid.

"Rick, you seem nervous." Dolphin whispered as she walked alongside Flagg.

"I am not nervous. I am just concentrating."

"On what?"

"I looked over the map before the plane landed. Carson and Bill had a specific spot where they thought this pyramid was suppose to be at."

"Well maybe we haven't reached it yet."

"That location was at least a half a mile back. Something is not right here."

"Rick. I know it is hard for you to accept this as true, but I believe the six of us were brought together for a reason. This pyramid will give us the answers we are looking for."

"Why, because Carson or Bill told you that? Dol, I know you are desperate to find out about where you came from and why you are here and I am truly sorry that you got involved in this. But this isn't the answer."

"Why are you talking to me like this? Is it true what they say of you?" Dolphin softly uttered.

"What who are saying?" Rick stopped walking and reached for Dolphins arm.

"Congo Bill and Cave. I overheard them talking a few days back. They say you are working for your uncle and can't be trusted." She replied nervously.

"Son of a bitch." Flagg said gritting his teeth.

"It is true then?"

"Yes and no. I don't have time to explain so you're just going to have to trust me for now okay?" Rick said gentle caressing Dolphins arm.

"I do trust you, Rick Flagg." Dolphin answered.

"Hey you two!" Cave Carson yelled back at them, "Get up here! Bill thinks we are almost there."

Rick followed Dolphin back toward the rest of the group. He casually brushed his hand alongside his holstered pistol.

Mark Shaw stood in the doorway and watched Vixen as she briskly walked on the treadmill.

"Are you going to stand there and watch me all day?" She asked, glancing over at where he stood.

"Sorry." He said slowly walking into the small gymnasium inside Belle Reve. "I didn't want to disturb you."

"What is it about men that they don't know how to apologize appropriately?" Mari stated pressing a button on the treadmill forcing her to walk faster.

"What do you mean?" Mark asked as walked toward her.

"Men apologize over and over again for the stupidest things but are usually too pigheaded to say sorry when they really need to."

"Mari I…" He began to say.

"Mark stop. It's not your fault." She said as she pressed the stop button on the treadmill and stepped off. "I got hurt. It's all part of the job okay?"

"Well Ben seems to think otherwise." Mark replied unable to look her in the eye as she stood in front of him.

"Yeah, well, Ben has nothing to do with this." She said. "We were in the field and you would have done the same thing given the chance. I got hurt but I am getting better."

"I am glad to see that." He said with a nervous smile on his face.

"I am glad your glad." She said, brushing her hand under his chin. "Now did you just come down here to ease your guilty conscience or was there something else on your mind?"

"I have to leave." He said without hesitation.

"Leave? Where?"

"Something in my…previous life needs to be taken care of. Something I've put off for too long now. I am leaving tonight."

"Does Waller know?"

"No. But I wanted to tell you before I left."

"Are you coming back?"

"I hope so." He said as their eyes met.

"I hope so too." She said as moved closer toward him. "Just know that you have a life here to come back to."

Ben Turner silently watched from the doorway as Mark and Mari kissed. He immediately left without saying a word.

George Harkness felt that everything in life was about timing. He grew up in a small town called Kurrumburra, Australia. His family was poor by all means you use to define it. But George never thought of himself that way. He had big dreams and knew it was only a matter of time before he was able to rise up above his current circumstances. The problem always seemed that people would take him for granted. They were sure he would amount to nothing, including his family. He would prove them all wrong of course, he just needed to find a way out. George never made his own opportunities, he felt he didn't have to. It was just a matter of time before opportunity found him and he would seize it.

It was that type of reasoning that lead him to come to America, where he adopted the name Captain Boomerang. He soon found that the life of a hero didn't quiet lead to the lap of luxury he was hoping for. He was much too smart and cunning and soon found that crime really did pay. In fact it paid quiet well. Until he crossed paths with the Flash, that is. The Flash stopped several of his schemes, the last of which landed him in Belle Reve. Of course, like the rest of his life, George waited, and opportunity presented itself once again in the form of the Suicide Squad and a chance to earn his freedom. Once his sentence had been reduced to time served, Boomerang chose to stick around for a while waiting for the next opportunity to come along.

A few days back while still recovering from a gunshot wound inflicted upon him by Deadshot, Boomerang received a note that was slipped under his door:

I believe a man of your talents deserves more respect. I think our combined efforts could really shake this place up a bit. I know a way for you to get back at Deadshot and take down the entire Suicide Squad in the process. Interested?

Speak to no one of this. We will be in contact soon.

D.

A few days had passed and he received another note that said someone would meet him in his room tonight. He was anxiously waiting for his mysterious visitor when there was a knock on his door.

"Come in." He said, sitting up in his chair twirling a boomerang in his hand.

The door opened and a man walked in.

"What the bloody hell? You?" Boomerang stated in utter disbelief.

A few days back, Amanda Waller decided that it was time to discover who had infiltrated her computer network going by the name of Oracle. This person made contact with her and, in the guise of an ally, helped her determine that Wade Eiling was a traitor working for a criminal organization. Though she appreciated the end result, she was still very suspicious of Oracle and what was behind his or her motives for helping her and the squad. Oracle again had made contact on Amanda's computer soon after Eiling was locked up. When Amanda attempted to press Oracle for information as to why he or she chose to help, Oracle responded with "I wanted to prove to you that I could be useful". Ignoring further questions that Amanda asked, Oracle stated that when the time was right they would be in contact again and warned that there would be consequences if anyone at Belle Reve attempted to contact or locate them.

This did not sit well with Waller. She soon flipped through what she called her body count index, and found that there was a prisoner locked up at Belle Reve that could possibly help her.

Bernard Bonner, otherwise known as Bug, has the ability to enter any computer system and trace it back to its source. Working with his sister Blythe, who preferred the name Byte, used Bernard's powers to swindle corporations out of millions until they were caught. Blythe turned on her brother and cut a deal with the police. She was serving time in a minimum-security prison until it was discovered she had the ability to manipulate electricity through her body. She escaped after killing seven inmates and five guards. Bernard, who was wrongly assumed to be the mastermind of the two siblings, was locked up in Belle Reve.

Amanda presented Bug with a deal, trace Oracle to his or her location and she would make sure that Byte would be tracked down and placed in a cell next to him. With a chance to pay his sister back for betraying him, he willingly agreed. Though he didn't appear all that bright, Bug assured Amanda that he could find Oracle by back tracing through the network using a thread left behind from Oracles last contact. To insure that he didn't back out of his end of the deal, Waller falsely claimed that he had been fitted with a device that would scramble his brain causing him a painful death if he decided to get sidetracked and not return. The gamble paid off and Bug reappeared minutes after he left. He told Waller everything she needed to know. She picked up the phone and placed the order to pick up Jack Marshall in Gotham City. Now Marshall sat across from Waller with a gun pointed in his face.

"Not so brave when you're hiding behind a computer now are you?" Waller said as she causally waved the gun in front of Marshall.

Jack Marshall attempted to stay calm but was obviously disturbed by the gun in Waller's possession. "If this has to do with Digitronix, the Justice Department cleared me of all charges."

"You want to play dumb Mr. Marshall, that's fine. But be aware that you are not the only one who is good with computers. As we speak you longer have a job at Gotham University. You no longer have an apartment in Gotham Heights. In fact you no longer exist to the outside world and not a single soul will miss you after today. Not even the little tramp that just left here. So, there is no reason why you can't stay here as a permanent guest of federal government until you decide to change your mind. I have to imagine that an eight-by-ten cell is gonna seem awfully cramped with you in a wheelchair." Waller nodded and two prison guards came into the room.

"Show Mr. Marshall here to his new home."

"You can't do this!" He yelled as the guards wheeled him out of the room. "I know my rights!"

"You gave up your rights the moment you decided to mess with me!" Waller yelled back as she set the gun down on the table.

Peru, South America – Ten months ago…

"I can't believe it." Animal Man declared looking around him, "This is truly amazing!"

"I have to admit I had my doubts as well." Dane Dorrance said as he and the others began to move inside the pyramid made of golden stone.

"I was beginning to believe the doubters myself Dane. I thought maybe I had only dreamt that this or the six other pyramids existed. Thanks to Bill here he kept us on track all along." He said patting Congo Bill on the back. "This is truly the greatest archeological find of our time."

"Now that we are here, what are we looking for?" Animal Man asked as he sniffed the musky air.

"I will know it when I see it." Congo Bill stated as we moved his flashlight across the inside walls of the pyramid

Rick Flagg watched closely as the five others began to spread out and search the large seemingly empty cavern. He took a few steps forward and felt a crackling sound below him. He took a step back and shown his light near his feet. There was loose brick tile on the floor. He bent down and pulled it up. Under the tile was a small opening with an object inside. He reached down and pulled it out. It was a small pyramid made of gold.

"Hey Rick found something!" Buddy said shining his light in Flagg's direction.

"Give it to me." Congo Bill demanded as he moved toward Flagg.

"Stop right there, Bill." Flagg said pulling out his pistol and pointed it at Congo Bill, who now stood about ten feet away from him, "Your just a little to anxious for my tastes."

"Rick what the hell are you doing?" Cave Carson asked.

"Sorry Cave but nobody makes a move until Bill here tells me what's going on."

"Tell you what's going on?" Bill repeated, "Tell you so you can go report back to your precious government just like you've been doing all along?"

"That may be true but it seems to me I am not the only one keeping secrets now am I? You tried to hide it but you knew where this pyramid was all along. You strung Cave along just enough to make it seem like you two found it together!"

"You're being ridiculous Flagg and a tad bit paranoid." Bill said taking a small step toward Flagg.

"Being paranoid has kept me alive this long. I suggest you stay where you are if you want to do the same." Flagg ordered, "I just don't get what the point of this has been all along? Why us?"

"You, me the others we are inconsequential to the grand scheme of things. We're just here to fulfill the roles that the prophecy foretold, that six would come together to find everlasting life." Congo Bill stated as his demeanor changed. "It's unfortunate but the prophecy choose only one to deliver this gift onto him."

"Bill what prophecy are you babbling about?" Cave Carson yelled out.

"Shut up old man. You and your idiotic exploring and adventuring. This was about my destiny! I was the chosen one and the rest of you were merely pawns." Bill shouted as he slowly reached back toward the shotgun strapped to his back.

"Do not …" Flagg began to say as Congo Bill pulled out the gun and shot Flagg in the chest.

Rick Flagg still holding his gun in one hand and the statue in the other, fell to the ground, dead.

"This some kinda joke?" Boomerang exclaimed to the man who walked into his room.

"You have me confused with another Gothamite my dear boy. This is most certainly no joke." The man responded closing the door behind him. "My name is Julian Day."

"I know who you are! You're that whack job the Calendar Man!"

"This coming from the man who throws boomerang's at the fastest man alive?" Day retorted.

"Regardless." Boomerang muttered, "How the hell did you get out of your cell and why aren't they busting the door down right now to drag you back?"

"There are certain people within these walls that realize the value of compensation for turning a blind eye. That is how I operate."

"I just can't believe it. Didn't you recently turn down Waller for a squad mission? Not that we needed another crazy dag on the team."

"I am as crazy as I need to be." Day beamed.

"So if you're the all powerful Oz hiding behind the curtain then why don't you bust out of here?"

"When the time is right. For now I am best served within these walls."

"Suit yourself mate. Me, I am looking to get out soon."

"I have been authorized make you an offer that might persuade you to change your mind." Day leaned down toward the sitting Captain Boomerang, "I need you to kill someone for me."

"Rack off mate! If you are so bloody powerful here, do it yourself." Harkness said setting his boomerang down on the table in front of him.

"You are the only one who can get close enough. Then perhaps we can work on taking care other some of the other menaces who roam the Belle's halls, namely Floyd Lawton."

"Forget it. If the Wall catches wind of this we're all dead."

"Mrs. Waller will continue to be preoccupied with other matters. But if you need to be convinced of the seriousness of the offer…" Julian Day paused as he pulled out a folded piece of paper and set it in front of Boomerang. "Here are five hundred thousand reasons to reconsider. The money is already in an offshore account with your name on it."

"I think you and I can have a go at this." Boomerang said as he carefully studied the bank transfer notice. He began to smile as he slowly pulled himself to his feet. "Who do you want dead?"

Sarge Steel walked into his office and found Eve Eden standing in front of his desk.

"My they grow up so fast." Eve said holding a picture of Steels daughter, "What is Angela now? Eighteen?"

"She will be nineteen in the fall and yes they do grow up fast. But I am sure you didn't come all this way to discuss my family."

"No. No I didn't. How very astute of you."

"Take a seat Eve and tell me what's on your mind." Steel said, sitting on the edge of his desk.

"I am tired; just sick and tired of the whole thing!" She said falling into the office chair as dark shadows cropped up around her.

"We already went over this. What happened in Qurac was an unfortunate incident."

"Unfortunate? That's such political bullshit Sarge and you know it! Nate died!"

"We had no idea that Marlo was holding him!"

"You had no idea because all this time you had me spying of Amanda Waller when I should have been watching Eiling!"

"There was no way of knowing that Eiling was involved with the Council or Marlo!"

Steel took a deep breath "What did Eiling say when Tresser interrogated him?"

"He responded exactly like you thought he would. He diverted attention away from himself and the Council by offering up a threat on the Ten."

"What did Waller do?"

"She didn't bite and Eiling hasn't been out of his cell since."

"Good. Eiling knows just enough to be dangerous and we don't need Waller asking anymore questions then she already has."

"No. She hasn't said anything but I am certain she knows I killed Marlo."

"It was only a matter of time before she figured that out anyways."

"Why didn't you tell me Marlo was a member of the Ten?"

"There wasn't time, besides, would it have mattered under the circumstances?"

"Probably not."

"Eve I need you to go back to Belle Reve."

"What and act like nothings happened? Just go back to spying on Waller and the Squad?"

"For now, yes. The President wants to have a sit down later this week to discuss the future of the Squad. I have to convince him that the Squad is no longer a liability now that Eiling is out of the picture. I need you on the team, Eve. Can you do that for me?"

"Only for now." She casually replied, "But how is the President going to react when the other members of the Ten discover it was one of his op teams that was responsible for the death of Marlo?"

"They won't find out. Marlo's replacement will be appointed in the fall and it will be business as usually for the world."

"And what if there's truly is someone out there looking to take out members of the Ten?" She asked.

"There hasn't been a successful assassination on a member of the Ten since Kennedy and you know what happened after that. There is a reason why they survive. If someone is out there gunning for them, The Ten have ways to shut them down."

"Did you get anywhere with our Oracle yet?" Daniel Murphy asked as Amanda Waller entered the Belle Reve security office.

"Not yet but the night is still young." She said sitting down next to him. Amanda noticed a face on a video monitor in front of her. "Is that our mysterious Batman?"

"Yep. His name is Anton Knight, the Night Stalker." Daniel Murphy said "His step-sister is Natalia Knight or Nocturna if you may. Up till recently she was a resident here at Belle Reve."

"So he breaks in here dressed like the Bat to breakout his sister. She gets away and he gets caught."

"Something like that." Murphy replied.

"He say anything about how he was able to break into the most secure prison in the country and know exactly how are where to find her?"

"He hasn't said a word, but prisons have flaws, Amanda. No security system is perfect if you know how to exploit them."

"Well it's your job as head of security to prevent things like this from happening." Amanda said obviously getting angry. "That's what I pay you for."

"The federal government pays me Amanda." He said as she shot him a nasty look, "Besides, this guy's record doesn't indicate that he was bright enough to pull off something this intricate on his own. He had to have been feed information on the prisons specs and supplied the gear to pull this off."

"You let me know the moment this guy utters even a vowel understand?" She said as she stood up and walked toward the door. She paused and then turned around pointing a finger down at the seated Murphy, "And so help me god if security around here doesn't improve immensely you won't be able to get a job checking for minors at a rated R movie, I don't care who's paying your salary! Are we clear?"

"Yes ma'am." Murphy managed to utter while he held his breath until Waller left the room.

Jack Marshall nervously tapped his fingers against the wall as he lay in the bed of the small cell he was placed in a few hours ago. He gave up yelling for help a short while back. No one was coming. He would have to figure out what his next move would be to get out of his current situation. He was startled at the sound of the cell door as it slowly slid open.

"Who's there?" He said as he leaned up and squinted at the dark figure that entered the dimly lit cell.

"Don't make a sound. This will be over quick enough." The man said as he cupped his hand over Marshall's mouth forcing his head back down onto the bed. Marshall began to panic as he watched the man pull out a sharp angled piece of metal and press it up against

his neck. With one quick motion, the man standing over him slit his throat.

"Easy as cake." Harkness stated, wiping the blood off of his boomerang before quietly exiting the cell.

Amanda was looking over files in her office when her phone rang. She took off her glasses and reached for the phone.

"Waller its Economos! He's dead Amanda. Jack Marshall is dead!"

"What? How?" She snapped into the receiver.

"We aren't able to pull up the video feed from his cell block but the guards found him with his throat slit during bed checks a few minutes ago.

"I want this place lit up and locked down now! I will be down there in two minutes. Oh and John, make sure Murphy is somewhere I can't find him or he's a dead man as well!" Waller yelled before slamming the phone down. She pushed her chair back and began to stand up when she heard her computer ding and a message box appeared on her monitor.

"You picked up the wrong guy Amanda." The message blinked in front of her. "I told you there should be no attempts to try and find me. Now an innocent man is dead. This will be your one and only warning. Next time I won't play so nice."

Amanda reached out and knocked the computer monitor off her desk.

"He pulled the shotgun out so fast and then BANG! He shot you Rick. He just moved so fast!" Buddy Baker exclaimed. "The rest of us stood there in disbelief or whatever, but Dolphin charged toward where you lay on the ground."

"There…there was a hole in your chest but I knew… I just knew..." Dolphin spoke out.

"Knew? Knew what." Rick questioned.

"I knew it as well. I leapt at Bill, knocking him to the ground while Dolphin reached out and took the golden statue from your hand. She placed it on…on the hole in your chest." Buddy recited the memory as quickly as it came to him. "It began to glow. I swear to god it seemed like the entire room began to light up until it was so bright I had to close my eyes. And then, like that, it was gone. The wound in your chest, the statue, the pyramid, everything was gone!" Buddy yelled as he leapt to his feet.

"I saw you…die Rick. I had to do something." Dolphin said as she began to cry.

Rick reached out and held her hand unable to look up.

"That's it. The next thing I remember I was back home telling Ellen that we gave up our search like nothing had happened. But the truth is we all had somehow had been given false memories about the entire event."

"But it seemed real." Rick finally said spoke. "It wasn't until Dolphin and I saw each other again…"

"Wait! I remember one more thing. The last thing Congo Bill said before he too disappeared. He said…savage."

Rick Flagg let go of Dolphins hand and slowly stood up.

"What do we do now?" Buddy asked.

"I'm not sure." Flagg said wiping the sweat from his forehead, "But this is far from over."

Epilogue One:

Somewhere half way around the world…

A man reached up and muted the sound on the video feed on the screen in front of him.

"So now you know the truth." Another man, who was seated next to him, stated.

"The truth? Perhaps. The fact is that I waited almost four thousand years for the prophecy of the golden sculpture of Khafra to come to pass. The truth does not give me any such pleasure."

"Ah but there is an advantage to being immortal such as we are. We exude with patient don't we, Vandal Savage?"

"Perhaps. But one thing the young mister Flagg stated was true. This is far from over."

Epilogue Two:

Somewhere in Gotham City…

He finished typing and the man at the computer sat back and smiled. Everything had worked out perfectly. A woman walked over and put her arms around the man.

"You wanted me to let you know when Blythe Bonner got back to Gotham?"

"Thank you my love." He said turning around to face her, "Tell her that her payment is already posted."

"I have to admit I was uncertain how things would play out with her involved. Having her hook up with Jack Marshall weeks before this all started was a nice touch. Whose idea was it to use her mothers maiden name for her cover?"

"It's the little touches that make things work." He said standing up raising his arms in the air. "Our dear Byte almost participated for free when I told her that her brother would be involved. Like your brother, all anyone needs is the proper motivation."

"You knew he would get caught didn't you, Noah? What if Anton talks while he's locked up?"

"Well it was a calculated risk, Natalia, but I have people inside of Belle Reve who will take care of him if the need arises." He said putting his arms around her, "Besides any risk was worth taking to see you free of that place."

"Tonight I will show how much it was worth to you...Oracle." She said kissing him.

"Please Natalia, Oracle is dead. You can call me the Calculator."

The End?

Next: Suicide Squad III

Chapter 1- The Suicide Squad gets caught up in: Crisis: The Apokolips Imperative The DC2 Crossover event takes place throughout the entire month of August. Checkout the entire story by following the link in my profile to the DC2 site!

As the war rages across the planet, the struggle against Apokolips reaches the halls of power in Washington, D.C. A coup in the White House puts the US government at the mercy of agents of Darkseid, and the countdown to nuclear annihilation begins! This one has it all: The Wall versus Granny Goodness! The Squad versus the Female Furies! And when the smoke clears, who will be left standing?

Chapter 2- After the war is over the Aftermath begins: The Squad was changed forever during the Crisis and a new team will rise from the ashes of the old. Plus, someone faced down their destiny during the Crisis and now has discovered truth in the saying: Be careful what you wish for…

Chapter 3- The Calculator returns.