He exchanged a look with Riddick, the two of them on the same page. River hadn't started referring to herself in the third person, goofing up her pronouns or tenses constantly yet, but they needed to keep a good eye on her. His yǎng nǚ push herself until she dropped if left unsupervised.
"She's gonna need to anchor herself in one of us," Mal muttered as Riddick drew up beside him while the Purplebellies took a look around and then began to set the charges. Blowing a hole in the cinderblock wall to the back stairwell was a better bet than winding their way around through more offices and the creepy crawly bumpy headed things that kept dropping on them. "Tā mā de hurry up an' wait,' He muttered in irritation and got another look of agreement.
"Yeah, figured to nudge her towards that," Riddick agreed quietly. "Just too many tiān shā de people and not enough rest."
"I didn't figure getting sucked into this mess being part of the plan to bust me out," Mal nodded.
"No," The huge meta shrugged. "Idea was get in, bust everyone out, go their separate ways, and get you back home. Sheer dumb luck the Enchantress started the fight when she did. And worse luck that Flag was bringing in Slipknot as we were leaving."
"Yeah, our luck tends to run that way," The Browncoat sighed. "River's always sayin' huò bù dān xíng."
"Hmm…" Riddick glanced at Harley as she came up on Mal's other side. "When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions."
"Where'd one of the most dangerous meta's in the 'verse learn Shakespeare?" Harley wondered as they all backed up.
"Know how to read don't I," Riddick sounded as if he was rolling his eyes behind his goggles. "Books give a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything."
"Yeah, but reading is a long way from reading and quoting the classics, like y'know, understand them," Harley retorted.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy," The self-called Furyan sniped back with a half-smile.
"That her new name," Waylon asked from behind them.
"Might as well be," River giggled. "Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well when our deep plots do pall, and that should teach us there's a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will—"
"Oh now that's comforting," Harley rolled her eyes.
"I don't get it," Waylon shook his head and Mal glanced behind him to see similar looks of confusion on most of the faces, Flag's included.
"Mean's that even with all our plans that get screwed up, there's a God in heaven to guide us in the right direction," He half smiled at Flag's astonishment. "Looks kinda like the Operative, an' Inara too, when I knew about the Albatross don't he," He looked at River who nodded, still giggling.
"Skews his worldview that the Browncoat and murderous Furyan can discuss Shakespeare," She agreed. "Bad men should be uncouth, uneducated, ignorant."
"Clear," GQ had been steadily ignoring them as he supervised the placement of the charges. "Book club is over, everybody back up." He grinned at Mal as they all took a few steps back. "I always liked Much Ado About Nothing myself."
"My Lil Albatross could give Beatrice a run for her money," Mal grinned back.
Explosive charges did their work, dust and debris clearing to reveal a nice sized hole in the wall, "Well, onward and upward." Riddick shrugged and entered the hole.
"Ughh…more stairs," Harley groused.
"C'mon Horatio," Waylon rumbled a laugh. "Get that fine pì gu in shape."
"I ain't outta shape," Harley argued.
Mal gave her a grin, "Well we're all gonna get a fine chance to prove it."
Three flights up Harley leaned against the railing, "I gotta work on my cardio."
He watched as she looked over the railing and her eyes stared into the past for a moment before Floyd bumped her and she drew her gun, "It's just me." The assassin showed his hands, temporarily empty.
"You ever been in love," Harley must be feeling sentimental.
"Nah, never," Deadshot persona firmly in place as he answered.
"Bullshit."
"You don't kill as many people as I've killed and still sleep like a kitten if you feel shit like love," Floyd told her.
"Another textbook sociopath," Harley rolled her eyes before looking over at Riddick. "What about you?"
"Me," Riddick chuckled. "Do I look like someone who's found love?" He didn't owe her an answer, didn't have time at the moment to analyze everything growing and twisting inside him.
"Not an answer," Yeah Harley might be crazier than River, but she had close to River's smarts. Damn psych doctors.
"Never knew what it was," Riddick could give that much of an honest answer. "Not a lot of softness in my past." Involuntarily he looked back at River, walking between KC and Chato, and half smiled when she met his gaze.
"Guess you're kinda a learn as you go sorta guy," Harley nodded. "Makes sense."
"Yeah, institutions of higher education don't really allow escaped murderers to enroll," He chuckled and dropped back to guard the rear.
The calls of 'clear' sounded through the office area they wound up in. Dead end. Completely unremarkable in every way and just like every other office space they'd passed through. Except for the steel door and encrypted lock on the far wall.
"Nice," Flag nodded at the Purplebellies as if they were the only ones working. Riddick glanced at Mal whom he could hear grinding his teeth. "Clear the roof. Sweep for shooters so we can bring in our aviation assets." To his credit, GQ looked at Mal, following the chain of command as much as he was able with Flag ordering him around.
"Yeah," Mal agreed quietly. "Keep an eye out for anything might scale the walls. We don't really know all the capabilities of these things."
GQ and Bryan, the Bravo squad leader, nodded. Bryan grabbed four guys from his unit, GQ selected four from his and the ten of them quickly and carefully mounted the stairs.
Riddick looked over at River, who'd gotten her portable cortex out of her side pocket, her fingers moving rapidly. "Got something," He murmured quietly as he moved to her side.
"Husking," River winked at him. "To make certain all involved believe we are firmly under the thumb."
So whoever HVT-1 was, they were involved with the whole 'Suicide Squad' project. And would expect them all to have those explosive nanites in their necks. "I'll pass the word around."
"Grateful," She gave him a smile before continuing her work.
"Wait here. Please," Flag looked at the rest of them. "I don't wanna gave this dude a heart attack, okay?"
"Aww," Harley mocked. "He's embarrassed of us."
"Hey, Flag." Floyd narrowed his gaze at the Colonel, "This dude better cure cancer after all of this shit."
Riddick chuckled as Flag disappeared past the steel door and quietly murmured River's plan to the Squad, Mal included. He slanted a glance towards the door once that little chore got done and then looked at River, "You're kidding me."
"No," She shook her head as she finished with the cortex and tucked it away. Those dark eyes looked around the squad, "Must act surprised but… do not overreact." She cautioned them.
"O…kay… what're we not overreacting to?" Waylon grumbled.
"HVT-1 is Waller," Riddick told them. "I can hear her voice."
"Great," Digger grumbled.
Riddick glanced behind him as Floyd took advantage of the Purplebellies distraction to slip past the steel door. River chuckled softly, "Curious as a cat that one."
"Yeah, he's got an inquiring mind," Mal shook his head. "Anything else we oughta know?"
"Not that she can see at the moment," River frowned. "Split second decisions, long term plans… something…" She shook her head and Riddick didn't like her expression one bit. "Something about the mission."
"Gotta figure Waller's got more information than she's sharing," Riddick suggested.
"Might as well tattoo that on her pì gu," Harley rolled her eyes. "She's got plausible deniability written all over her."
"Yeah…" He turned as the door opened. "Zài dì yù de dì qī gè guā yuē jī zhōng shì shén me…" Waller looked so damn smug. The urge to sink a shiv into the sweet spot and twist…getting a little harder to push that back.
Waller hesitated for a moment as she caught sight of River and Riddick, two people she didn't have leverage on, and her thoughts flickered over how they'd been caught, how she could use them, what sort of leverage she could get on them, on Mal for her, on her for Mal… If Riddick had an attachment to her how it could be used, if she had an attachment to him… The calculations never ended.
River sighed as Harkness decided to push the boundaries a bit, "Yeah, let's go home. That sounds good." He glanced at the rest of them, "You guys wanna go home? Or you wanna go back to prison?"
Floyd moved from behind Waller to stand with the rest of them, he and Riddick bracketed her, while Floyd spoke, "I'm not going back to prison." Flat statement could be taken several different ways, but the story his thoughts told…to provoke Waller into a threat. Show her hand.
"What I'm saying is...We kill the pair of 'em now before they kill us," Digger suggested boldly. Brighter than he'd been acting, pushing, pressing, wanting to see if he could make Flag react, make Waller react.
Katana began to pull her sword and Waller held up a hand, "I got this." From a pocket she pulled out a palm cortex and waved it so they could all see the display, a row of faces, reflected before her. "You all made it this far. Don't get high-spirited on me and ruin a good thing."
She pushed past them towards the stairs to the roof and Harkness winked at River before Waylon growled, "I like her."
"'Course you do," Harley laughed with a shake of her head.
River frowned and caught Harley's hand, "I know he's going to make his move soon." She murmured to the other woman. "It's not a good idea. Too risky."
"He ain't the type to care about a little risk," Harley shrugged. "He does what he does."
"I know," River shook her head. "But it could get him and everyone on his shuttle killed. Tell him to call it off."
"You might as well try to train a cat," Harley retorted but pulled out the little purple cortex and began to key in a message. A soft beep as a reply came in before they'd arrived on the roof might as well have screamed that the Joker was close. "And he ain't listenin'."
River shook her head, "This will end badly." She scanned the roof as the Purplebellies lit flares to guide in the shuttle they'd called.
Leila had gotten on comms, trying to wave the shuttle, "Screen says they're on approach but they're not talking." She told the rest of them.
Mal leaned over her shoulder to see for himself, "Yǔ sheng chù hùn zá de bēi wéi nú lì." He swore as the shuttle came into view.
"Whoever it is, that's not Savior 1-0," GQ seconded.
That apparently was all Waller needed to hear, her flat voice commanding into her cortex, "Savior 1-0's been hijacked Shoot it down."
"Roger that, ma'am," the reply from the same screen came back after a second.
"Take cover," Mal ordered. "We ain't exactly out of the line of fire." He began to tug Leila back behind some of the rooftop climate units. The rest of the Squad and Purplebellies followed suit while Flag and Katana got Waller.
"Don't," River had grabbed Harley. "Don't do anything stupid, they'll shoot you where you stand."
"But they're gonna…" Harley's fingers worked the phone frantically in an attempt to warn the Joker of his situation.
"I know, but we can't do anything about it," River shook her head. "And if you try, you'll get killed." Along with the Joker, she added mentally.
"Tā shì suǒ yǒu dì yù jì nǚ de mǔ qīn," Harley cursed as the shuttle came under fire, two missiles hitting the rear of it and sending in a spiraling fiery crash.
"Target destroyed, ma'am," Came the wave once the shuttle was no more.
"Thank you. Now get me off this roof," Waller's voice never changed inflection and River grabbed Harley to keep the girl from taking her bat to the woman's skull.
"Harley…" River hissed and tilted her head, listening, a smile slowly curving her lips. "Boss this bird is baked…" Her smile widened, "One in the oven… but this bird is just a decoy…" Harley's eyes grew big as she took in exactly what River had heard. "Don't give it away," The Reader cautioned. "You'll have to behave as if he's dead. At least for a while."
The crazy haired woman nodded before they all cautiously stood now that the fireworks were over. Mal slanted a glance at the two of them and Riddick frowned thoughtfully, no doubt having heard what she said to Harley.
"We got a bird inbound," Leila called from her station. GQ had turned the comms over to her while he stood, gun at the ready. "Confirmed, that's your ride Ma'am." She turned her attention back to the cortex and comms, "Rooftop with blue flares, affirmative."
River stood as Waller boarded the shuttle, calling that she'd send another back when it was needed. "It's not going to work," She murmured.
"What's not going to work?" GQ and Leila were packing up the comm equipment.
Instead of answering River simply pointed in the direction of the shuttle. The cry-babies it dispersed couldn't fool a magical enemy. Technology couldn't triumph over magic. If it could the Enchantress wouldn't be nearly so dangerous. As they watched a tentacle of glowing gold and black shot through the sky and pulled the shuttle down.
Flag sighed and used his headset to call in, "Ops just confirmed. She's down, maybe one klick west."
"Well, weren't like we got to leave now anyway," Mal quipped. "May as well pick her up along the way."
Riddick nodded, "If she survived." He shrugged as he checked his weapons. "Hey, I can dream."
Flag shook his head grimly, "She's way too vicious to die easy."
Floyd nodded, "That is a mean, mean, lady." He agreed.
Mal didn't bother to disagree, "Bravo squad, when we find her, alla you hole up somewhere quiet, wait this out. Mean lady she may be, but she won't survive alone."
"Not for long," Bryan nodded his agreement with that plan.
"Load up whatever you can," Mal called to the rest of them. "We're in for a fight."
"Oh, because until now this's been a stroll in the park," Digger quipped.
"Compared to some places I've been," Mal eyed him, deadly serious. "Yeah, this is a little too easy."
Riddick nodded, "He's right. This is a cakewalk. It can only get worse from here."
"Truer words," River sighed and checked her weapons. They'd been lucky so far, the creepazoid monster things fell to bullets and blades. But the Enchantress…they had no guarantees and the way the shuttle had been snatched from the sky… What had she gotten them into? She'd had no other way to get them out of Belle Reve and not get shot out of the sky once Flag showed up.
Riddick's big hand traveled up her spine to rub at the base of her neck, glowing eyes looking down at her. "Hey, life ain't a guarantee. We all agreed to this. Take our chances as Big Damn Heroes and try to get out alive. You didn't conscript anyone."
River took a deep breath. She never thought anyone would know her better than Simon or Mal, but Riddick… he knew her in a way that felt uncanny. "Tiào chū fǔ dǐ jìn huǒ kēng," She murmured. "I brought us here. They agreed with my plan. Did I xuě shàng jiā shuāng ?"
He shook his head, "Did your best with the hand we got dealt. Shuǐ huǒ wú qíng. We just keep going. We're gonna get through this."
River leaned into his side for a moment, stubborn Furyan, somehow made her feel better than anyone else. And if anyone knew anything about defying the odds, it was her Furyan. "Somehow. Zhì zhī sǐ dì ' ér hòu shēng."
Author's Note: And now we're on our way. This feels like it didn't change much from the movie but it's more of a transitional part of the story. The real changes come a bit later as we see exactly how having three extra people in the Squad influences events.
I hope you'll also be happy to hear that the story is pretty much complete and so I'm hoping to post weekly rather than twice a month. We'll see how it goes.
Chinese Translations:
yǎng nǚ (adopted daughter)
Tā mā de (fucking)
tiān shā de (goddamn)
huò bù dān xíng (misfortune does not come singly (idiom) / it never rains but it pours)
pì gu (butt)
Zài dì yù de dì qī gè guā yuē jī zhōng shì shén me (What in the seventh sphincter of hell)
Yǔ sheng chù hùn zá de bēi wéi nú lì (Filthy fornicators of livestock)
Tā shì suǒ yǒu dì yù jì nǚ de mǔ qīn (She's the mother of all the whores in hell)
Tiào chū fǔ dǐ jìn huǒ kēng (out of the frying pan into the fire)
xuě shàng jiā shuāng (to add hail to snow (idiom); one disaster on top of another / to make things worse in a bad situation)
Shuǐ huǒ wú qíng (Fire and water have no mercy (idiom). forces of nature beyond human control / implacable fate)
Zhì zhī sǐ dì ' ér hòu shēng (place sb on a field of death and he will fight to live - common saying based on Sunzi's "The Art of War"; to fight desperately when confronting mortal danger / fig. to find a way out of an impasse)
Quote Sources:
When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions. – Hamlet – William Shakespeare
Books give a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything. - Plato
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy – Hamlet – William Shakespeare
Our indiscretion sometimes serves us well when our deep plots do pall, and that should teach us there's a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will— - Hamlet – William Shakespeare