Flag and the others stood on the Federal Building roof as the Blackhawk arrived and hovered alongside the edge. Captain George opened the door as Katana and Flag helped Waller board. "Stand by," she ordered. "I'll send another helo for the rest of you." The Black hawk lifted, moved off, and then screamed to the street in a near free fall, leveling just yards before it would have hit the ground. It slowly regained altitude and fired off amber flares behind it to distract any incoming missiles.

She leaves us behind and takes off all by her lonesome, I thought. That's one paranoid bitch.

On the roof of the Federal Building, along with GQ and the others, when Flag's comm feed buzzed. He saw Waller's ID flash across his screen.

"Queen Bee," he said. "You copy? Havoc for Queen Bee."

I lowered my own phone. "Operations just confirmed she's down on K West."

Flag turned to Deadshot, but Lawton already guessed what was coming next. "Let's go," he said. "The mission's not over."

"It is for me." Deadshot stepped back. He wasn't having any of this. "We had a deal."

Flag shook his head. "The deal was to get her to safety. She's not there." He turned and raced down the stairwell, followed by Katana, GQ, and the half-dozen or so surviving Seals. Deadshot and the Suicide Squad watched, angry about the sudden shift in events.

"So, what now?" Diablo asked.

Deadshot was seething. "Got no choice," he said. "The rescue blew up in our faces. Let's get this the hell over with."

"Hooray. I'm back!" As we exited the Federal Building, Harley sat on the hood of a Beemer, looking beat-up beautiful. "I missed you guys sooo much."

She was smiling at us, but It could tell the grin was forced. Grime clung to her face where there had been tears.

"Aren't you dead?" I said bluntly.

"I got better," she replied. "These things happen, you know."

Deadshot gave her a thumbs up. "Well, I don't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad you made it," he said, offering his hand to help her off the car.

She took it and slid to the pavement. "So who are we supposed to kill now?" She leaned close to Deadshot and talked to him in a stage whisper for everyone to hear. "Tell me it's him," she said, theatrically pointing at Flag, who was staring back at her.

"You're hilarious, Quinn," The Colonel said.

She curtsied then danced off, joining the others. "That's exactly what Mister J always tells me."

"Hey, Craziness!" A deep voice called to her. She turned, catching the baseball cap Boomer tossed to her. She laughed as she dropped it on her head and thumbed it to a sexy tilt. Like it or not, she was one of the guys.

I took my out my comms and dialled in. "Tac, respond?"

Chatter replied from the comm.

"This is LTC Chapman. Reinforcements required two clicks north, one click east. ASAP."

"Confirmed." Click. Static.

I looked at GQ. "Done. Now let's get there before they do and plow the road."

GQ shot a look at Flag. Really? It said.

Flag nodded at me. "Yes, boss."

"Get your boys moving," I said to GQ as I picked up my rifle and check the mag.

GQ gave me a tight smile. "You heard the lady, let's go!" He shouted.

The remaining Alpha and Bravo Seals moved out, following me closely. Flag strolled along side GQ. Flag's Squad tagged along quietly, taken aback by the recent attacks.

I could hear them talking between them, but not enough to know what they were saying.

"There's something . . . strange about the way you and Flag are together," Hayes murmured, his forehead creasing over his troubled eyes as he strolled beside me. "The way he watches you - it's so . . . protective. Like he's about to throw himself in front of a bullet to save you or something."

I laughed, though I was still not able to meet his gaze. "That's a bad thing?"

"No." He frowned as he struggled for the words. "It's just different. He's very intense about you . . . and very careful. I feel like I don't really understand your relationship. There's some secret I'm missing. . . ."

"I think you're imagining things, Danny Boy," I said quickly, struggling to keep my voice light.

There was a flutter in my stomach. I'd forgotten how much my men saw.

"It's not just him." He set his lips defensively. "I wish you could see how you move around him."

"What do you mean?"

"The way you move - you orient yourself around him without even thinking about it. When he moves, even a little bit, you adjust your position at the same time. Like gravity. You're like a . . . satellite, or something. I've never seen anything like it." He pursed his lips and stared down.

"Don't tell me," I teased, forcing a smile. "You're reading mysteries again, aren't you? Or is it sci-fi this time?"

Hayes flushed a delicate pink. "That's beside the point."

"Found anything good?"

"Well, there was one - but that doesn't matter. We're talking about you right now."

I nodded slowly. "What do you want, Hayes?"

"You two are more serious than I'd been thinking," he went on.

I frowned, quickly reviewing the last two days in my head. Flag and I had barely touched - in front of him, at least. I wondered if Danny Hayes was about to give me a lecture on responsibility, too.

"I don't like it." He said, his tone rebellious.

"That's none of your business, Hayes," I warned, internally cursing Ellis straight to the fiery pits of Hades.

"I don't like it," he repeated anyway.

"You don't have to," I snapped.

"He looks at you like...like you're a mission," he continued, ignoring me.

I choked back the hysteria that threatened to explode, but a small giggle managed to get out despite my efforts.

He glowered at me.

Something stronger than butterflies battering recklessly against the walls of my stomach, my argument with Hayes already a distant memory.

I felt a wave of real terror. Did they know that I knew? Was I supposed to know that they knew that I knew, or not?

It felt like forever to get to the rendezvous, but we arrived without any more assaults or comments from Hayes.

But a sound in the distance came shortly after, and Black Hawk set down in the middle of the debris strewn street. Several more men got out and stood to attention as soon as they stepped off.

I watched as the Black Hawk disappeared into the distance as fast as it had arrived.

"Sir, we're awaiting orders. What can we do for ya?" One of the men said as he saluted Flag.

Flag rolled his eyes and took his rifle out from behind his shoulder. "Kiss her ass, she's in charge."

The men shifted uncomfortably, except the man who spoke. He paused. "Squad Six at your command, ma'am."

"Did you say Squad Six?" I asked, squinting to get a closer look at the men. But before anyone had a chance to speak, I heard footsteps in the distance. "Never mind, on your toes, boys. The spuds heard the chopper. Light it up!"

Flag and the remaining Seals dove into the debris, anything that could be used as cover. I found an old concrete barrier, and unloaded my mag into one of the creatures who headed towards us.

Not Flag again, I thought as I tried to un-jam my rifle.

But this time, they weren't heading for him.

"I need cover fire!" I screamed out as I tried desperately to load a new mag into my rifle. Giving up, I threw it aside and reached into my holster for the SIG Sauer. No one heard me, and three huge EAs headed straight towards me.

"Chapman!" GQ shouted as he opened fire on them.

I saw two EA's explode a few yards away, and the other kept charging towards me, then another, and another.

"They're after Trig now!" Someone yelled as more EAs blew up before me.

I leaned back out from the barricade and returned fire on the Things.

The volume of fire was terrifying. I noticed that the gunfire that had hurt my ears initially now sounded muffled, distant.

My ears had adjusted to it.

One…

Two…

Three, Four..

I fired into two different EAs, then watched, grinning, as they blew apart into black chunks.

GQ flipped his cap backwards and shrugged his grenade launcher onto his shoulder. He looked back quickly, to make sure no one was directly behind him. He fired, and launched a column of smoke at a group of creatures.

It burst into flame and they writhed in pain as the fires burned through them, melting them. Incinerating them.

Something hit me, and it stung my shoulder like a searing hot needle. It pushed me back, but I regained my balance.

Flag was firing at the creatures closest to him. It took at least two full mags to bring them to their knees and another to put them out of their misery.

Finally, the gunfire ceased.

I slammed my SIG on the ground and stopped to catch my breath. But as I did so, I caught a glimpse of my leg, and it was bleeding. "Shit. Not now." I wasn't going to let it stop me. We were almost at the target and I needed my strength.

"You okay, boss?" GQ strode over, panting.

I grunted and tried to stand up, but my leg felt numb and I stumbled back.

"You've been hit!" Flag screamed out, rushing toward me. Watching him running with all that gear was exhausting. The body armour was like wearing a wet suit. He was sweating profusely and breathing heavily as the skidded to a stop beside me.

I looked down at my shoulder, and sure enough, blood was inking through a hole in my shirt. Flag drew his knife from my pouch and cut away the shoulder of my shirt to check the wound. He slid his hand inside my vest at my left shoulder and I felt a vicious stab of pain. But at least now both of my shoulders had taken a hit each.

"Having trouble breathing?" Hayes asked, a flicker of worry in his voice as Flag removed his blood covered hand.

"No."

"Any tightness in your chest?"

"I feel all right," I said.

"Medic!" Hayes yelled, hoping one of the reinforcements was one? I wasn't going to be much use without one.

I felt no pity and I was beyond fear as I removed my Flak, and there was a perfectly round hole in my right shoulder about a two-inch swollen, bruised ring around it, but there was no exit wound. The bullet had evidently fragmented on impact with the concrete barrier and only the jacket had penetrated my shoulder. It had flattened on impact with my collar bone and just slid around under the skin to the side of the joint. The remainder of the bullet had peppered my upper arm, which was bleeding.

One man came jogging over, as Flag pushed two fingers directly into the wound up to his knuckles. I screamed out and I felt dizzy. The flowing of blood continued, and I knew I had a critical bleed.

The medic talked to me, trying to calm me down. The only way to stop the bleeding was to find the severed bullet and plug it. Otherwise it was like trying to stanch a fire hose by pushing down on it through a mattress.

He told me to lean back. "This is going to be very painful," he told me apologetically. "I'm going to have to cause you more pain, but I have to do this to help you."

"Just do it." I was still very alert and engaged.

Flag was in front of me now, frowning with worry. I hadn't seen a face like that in any war. Ever.

I trembled with the pain. Having Flag around me kept me going, but that was about all that did. You could be prepared for the sights and sounds and smells of war, but the horror of it, the blood and gore and heart wrenching screams of pain, the sense of death perched right on your shoulder, breathing in your ear, there was no preparation for that. Things felt balanced on an edge, threatening at any moment to spin out of control. Was this what I had wanted so badly? An old platoon sergeant had told me once, 'When war starts, a soldier wants like hell to be there, but once he's there, he wants like hell to come home.'

Every wound I'd had hurt like hell-I merely forgot about it.

Oh how I wished Kowalski was here right now…

Hayes and Taylor stood behind the medic and watched with concerned faces, Spenser turned around-he couldn't watch.

Flag crouched beside me, as the medic pulled out a pair of long nose pliers from his bag. He put one arm behind my right shoulder, leaning my shoulder against his chest. "Look at me, Jaz. Keeps your eyes open, keep breathing. Long and slow." His head was twisted around to look at me. His face was laced with worry, as he tried desperately to keep me focused on him.

Something sharper than knives ripped through my shoulder while the medic continued to root for the bullet.

Black spots covered the light as a cold point of new pain stabbed icily into my shoulder. It felt wrong—I struggled automatically to protect my wound, but I was weak. My lungs ached, oxygen burned away.

The pain faded away again, though I clung to it now.

How long had passed? Seconds or minutes? The pain was gone. Numb. I couldn't feel. Istill couldn't see, either, but I could hear. There was air in my lungs again, scraping in rough bubbles up and down my throat.

"You stay with me now, Jaz! Do you hear me? Stay! You're not leaving us!" Flag was shouting to me, but it sounded faded and distant.

Of course, I wanted to tell him. Of course I would keep living.

I tried to feel my heart, to find it, but I was so lost inside my own body. I couldn't feel the things I should, and nothing felt in the right place.

I needed something more to draw strength from.

I couldn't pull even the medic's face into view. Not Flag's, not GQ's…Nothing. It terrified me, and I wondered if it was too late.

I felt myself slipping—there was nothing to hold on to.

No! I had to survive this. Colonel Flag was depending on me. I blinked and I found my eyes. I could see the light. Not what I was looking for, but better than nothing.

As my eyes struggled to adjust, the medic whispered, "Got it."

Then there was pain again—just one warm slash of it. I gasped and let my head fall back into Flag's chest.

"You're okay," Flag's voice vibrated through his chest as I turned my head away from the medic who was now putting pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding. "You did good."

"No morphine this time, Trig." Taylor laughed nervously, trying to keep me alert. "You didn't even cry."

"Shut up," I growled weakly, the black spots in my vision vanishing. I sat up, now that the medic had finished dressing the wound. He even bandaged the bullet scrape on my leg. The fire in my shoulder had subsided, allowing me to continue.

"I got you." Flag's hands pulled my waist up against his, and he put me on feet with ease. "Okay?" he looked down at the blood soaked bandage.

"I'm fine, stop making a fuss."

"I'll carry you if I have to." He insisted, unashamed.

I grunted. "Not necessary." I steadied myself against him, using him as a support.

"Quit being so stubborn, Chapman. You're wounded." Spenser said.

"Did you say Chapman?" One of the Seals pushed past the others who had set up a perimeter around us.

Underneath the black helmet, a familiar face stared blankly through the small crowd that surrounded me.

He looked at Flag, eyes raging. "Get your hands off her..."

Flag spun around and growled. "Staff Sergeant, do you know who you are talking to?"

I bit my lip and sighed. "Craig, back off."

"I don't care who you are. Don't touch my best friend's sister." Craig took a step closer to Flag, trying to intimidate him.

Flag was much taller than him though, and towered above him.

"Craig, what are you doing here?" I asked weakly.

SSG Craig didn't take his eyes off Flag. "I was deployed, I came. I had no idea this clown was in charge.

"I'm in charge, not him."

Craig's eyebrows flew up. "But he's Colonel Flag..."

"Yeah, and he gave me the orders to take charge. So here we are."

Flag looked down at Craig and grinned maliciously, a side of Flag I hadn't yet seen. His chin lifted arrogantly. "Stand down, Staff sergeant."

Craig glared up at him. "I wasn't talking to you, I'm talking to your boss."

"Craig, not now. Flag is still the authority here. So respect your superior." I snapped.

GQ laughed. "I think we have a female version of you, Flag."

Flag ignored him.

Gomez whispered something one of the Squad Six Seals, and they both laughed.

"Problem?" I barked.

Gomez gulped. "Forgive me, ma'am."

"Don't call me ma'am." I replied as I sat down again, and scrummaged through my pack for another bandage.

"Here," GQ handed me a fresh bandage and sat behind me on the barrier.

The Seals peeled off, surveying the area as they waited for me to repair myself. Hayes followed solemnly, as did Craig, but in a different direction. Craig kept watch on Flag as he walked away.

Flag peeled off from the rest of the group, but stayed within earshot, watching me closely.

Gomez approached me and looked down at my gushing bandage.

Old, clotted blood stuck to the edges of the cloth, as fresh blood seeped out.

He gagged and forced himself to look away. "LTC, I have to ask. Is there something going on between you two? You've been joined at the hip since the first attack. And Trig, you've already been promoted from Major to Lieutenant Colonel."

"Flag is injured, and exhausted. Let the man fall back. Nothing has changed." I taped the new bandage on top of the old one, and flexed my fingers, making sure they still had feeling. If the feeling of woolly itchy gloves meant there was still pain, I was going to keep my arm. I bent my elbow enough to prop my gun, and I was satisfied.

"I've seen you, Ma'am. There's more. Plus, you are now more injured than him."

"I told you not to call me that." I responded, irritated. "This is just a scratch."

Gomez snorted. "I'm not blind. How does one jump two ranks in a matter of hours without the exams?"

I shrugged. "He needed someone to take over so he can a break, okay?"

"But Flag likes you enough to give you his authority. I don't like it." Gomez said to me.

"Just shut the hell up and do what you're told. The politics are none of your business."

"Chapman is right," Spenser joined the conversation. "A soldier should be A-political."

Taylor scoffed. "Do you even know what A-political means?"

I grunted as I got back to my feet. "I-I've served under five presidents, never knowing who my next boss is gonna be. It's better not to care. Just do as you are told, no matter who is in charge. Unfortunately, break time is over."

Gomez grimaced and walked off to join the others.

GQ whistled lowly. "I see the way Flag looks at you, LTC. And I've known him a long time. He trusts you more than the rest of us." He whispered in my ear, being careful not to let Flag hear. "I might be young and dumb, I know Flag better than anyone. And as a soldier, I tell you to keep your distance. But as Flag's friend… he will follow you 'til the ends of the earth. I can see it on his face. You're made for each other."

I ignored him and shoved another mag into my rifle. I expected GQ to go ahead and follow Gomez, but he didn't. He stayed beside me in silence. Maybe he knew not to argue with an angry Tier One.

Harley Quinn jumped up and down, waving her hands, whooping and whistling. "Guys, over here! Guys. Hey, c'mon! Lookie what I found," she squealed, pointing to the crashed Blackhawk. "I found it. Can I keep it?"

Flag ignored her and peered inside the shattered cockpit. "Waller's not here," he announced.

"Where the hell is she?" GQ asked to no one in particular.

"She could have been thrown from it," Deadshot suggested. "If that happened while they were still in the air, she's street pizza now."

Flag didn't want to hear that. "Or she crawled out, which means she could be alive."

"I vote with Lawton," Boomer added, "and don't tell me you don't secretly agree. She is not a nice person."

"Same could be said about you, Boomer." I replied, stoic.

"Yeah, but I call myself a villain. I'm not pretending to be something I'm not."

Flag crawled into the copter and rummaged for clues. "Oh come on, Harkness. You wear that villain crap like it's a badge of honour, but you might just as well say, 'I hurt people for my own benefit,' because that's what it comes down to. You do whatever the hell you feel like doing, and everyone else be damned. So just shut the hell up and do what you're told."

"We got ourselves some restocks," Craig said as he and GQ unloaded ammunition from the rear of a downed aircraft.

"Take a case but leave the rest behind," I said. "We can't carry anymore." I was now walking unaided, though my shoulder stung a little. I figured if I left my right arm holding the barrel of my rifle, it would be okay, instead of moving it.

"Not a problem," Craig responded. "We can always go back and get more if we have to."

"You see anything, LTC?" GQ asked.

I looked through my scope toward the target.

"That's where we're going, right? I mean, 'cause we're certifiable idiots, so why wouldn't we?" Deadshot asked.

Flag stared at the floating ring, a wave of conflicting thoughts and emotions washed over his features.

Finally, I came to a conclusion. "Load up," I said. "We're in for a fight." As I motioned for the team to move out, I wormed back to the chopper for another helping of extra ammo. Enough was not nearly enough.

I reached into a box and saw a binder. On it, was stencilled "TASK FORCE TOP SECRET." I flipped through it, studying photos of the EAs.

There was also a selection of surveillance photos of a huge man, taken in the subway. My face tightened with anger.

The Colonel was taking the lead, talking with GQ as they prepared to head toward the rail station. The soldiers were getting ready to move into position.

"Hey, Flag!" I called out. I was pissed, and I threw the binder at him with my good arm. "Dammit, Flag, you knew exactly what we were walking into, didn't you?"

He shot me a look. "I'll tell you what you need to know, only when you need to know it. It's how things work. Do you know I own a pickup truck with a blown engine? Not everything is relevant."

"Lover's spat, guys?" Boomerang rested his chin on his hands and stared at us.

"Tell them," I said, "tell them everything, because they deserve to hear it."

GQ leaned in and whispered to Flag so the others wouldn't hear him. "She's right. It's the least we owe them."

Flag didn't like giving in to lowlifes. They didn't deserve the consideration, but the mission was too important to risk defections now.

"Okay, it won't make one helluva difference as far as you're concerned, but you want the dirt? Fine." He flipped through the binder and took out several photos of a ten-foot tall man, walking the streets of Midway City, laying waste to hundreds of soldiers. He put out dozens of photos, each one horrifying. "Three days ago, a non-human entity appeared in the subway station. It called itself Incubus. First the city government sent out cops to check it out. It killed them without raising a sweat. Then the military sent in the army. Despite being outfitted with every state-of-the-art weapon, the thing, Incubus, took them out too. In less than thirty seconds. So now they've sent us."

Flag rifled through the photographs. "If you were wondering, those were drone shots. When they tried to send in photographers, the thing killed them, too."

Deadshot laughed. "All those killings yet Flag's still breathing. Why do only the good die young?"

GQ sent him a shut up look. He'd seen the photos, and understood that this was far more serious than anyone expected-Flag included.

"You have to understand the Incubus's power." Flag tossed through several other drone photos for them to look at. "Army rangers were sent to confront the creature. They shot at it, but the science team said our bullets impacted against its glowing armour, flared brightly for a second or two, and then dissolved. They tried to engage with it physically," he continued," but it used its powers, or whatever you to call them, and he reduced the rangers to crystalline blotches. Nobody could get near this thing. And that's what we're up against."

"So they thought they'd send us to die too?" Harley asked

Flag was about to give a snarky response, but held back. "Not at all." He said, almost apologetically. "None of them could get near it." He said quietly.

"You know, it takes the military years to take out someone like you, Flag. That's why we're here, isn't it. We're the last resort." I replied.

"The only option the world has left," he sighed but not proudly as I would have said it.

The Seals were silent, probably trying to wrap their minds around it all.

"Great. They're the damned Rockettes." GQ said. "So what's the plan to stop it?"

To my surprise, Flag looked defeated.

"There is no plan," I said, coming to his aid. "The suggestion box is wide open."

Flag looked at me, appreciatively.

Deadshot thought for a second. "They're hard as hell to kill. I don't think the government has enough bullets to put them all down, not if it can keep growing more. We have to nuke the place."

I pointed to the ring of debris a block away. "They thought of that," I said flatly. "There's a dozen W88 warheads trapped in that ring up there."

"How the hell is it floating? Are there wires hidden someplace I'm not seeing?" Boomerang asked.

I enjoyed watching his confusion. As we watched, the ring began to pulse with a dark, strobing light. Somehow it felt evil to me.

"What's it doing now?" Diablo questioned.

I ignored him, knowing no one had the answer.

The batteries in the crashed chopper were still functional, so I used them to light the area. As we prepared for the conflict ahead, Flag paused and addressed the entire squad. "We okay?" he said. Two words, but they carried a tremendous weight. He had to know he could count on them.

Harley squeaked. "Can I talk now?"

Flag rolled his eyes. She'd never stopped talking, but he nodded yes.

Harley took a deep breath, as if about to launch into another long, pointless diatribe. "Yeah, I'm good."

Taylor turned to the others. "Really?" he said. "Seriously? We've been fighting thousand eyed monsters who suck up three mags before they croak, and you're all good with this?"

"He spoke the truth," Diablo said. "That's all I wanted to hear."

GQ agreed. "Maybe he lied to us before, or withheld truths, but these monsters deserve to be destroyed. If they destroy mankind, they will certainly destroy us, too."

Exasperated, Boomerang paced and shook his arms wildly. "So let me get this straight. Nobody here is the slightest bit crackers that were going to war against some kind wizard and magical monsters?"

"Pretty much," Hayes said.

Deadshot then looked up at the floating ring of debris, still a block away." Go ahead and kill me, you're decision, I already made mine."

"Deadshot, we need your help," I pleaded.

"No Trig, you need a miracle."

There was no pretence here, no bravado. Just weary honesty.

"You know why those things chased after me all the time? Then started chasing Chapman? It's because we are the big cheese. They wouldn't bother if we didn't stand a chance of taking them out." Flag said.

"So what's your plan?" Taylor put his hands on his hips.

"Plan? Hell, I'm low on ammo and shooters, but I'm seeing it through."