Now I was somehow gathering whatever the strength I needed to finish the job.

We took refuge in a nearby bar called the Tree, and had a long overdue rest.

Deadshot watched me put down my glass.

There was a spark in his eyes.

I recognised that Lawton and I were very different creatures. I was a soldier. When I was weak, I rallied. A soldier of honour. Of duty. I stared at the Suicide Squad and wondered if any of those things were in their hearts.

Somehow I knew every one of them was wondering the same thing.

Flag poured himself a whiskey then held onto the glass with both hands and stared into it, swirling the amber back and forth. He took a sip. "If we don't stop the witch, it's all over. Everything."

"Oh, the ol' take over the world ploy aye?" Taylor said helping himself to a beer. All the military training in the world ain't gonna help us outta that one."

Hayes sat beside me, taking up the empty bar seat. Flag was on my other side, evidently drowning his sorrows.

"We weren't picked to succeed." Hayes said.

"You think we don't know that?" Deadshot laughed and poured himself a third bourbon. "They'll blame us for what went down here. They don't need no one knowin' the truth. We're the cover-up. The patsies. Don't forget, we're the bad guys."

"To the bad guys." Croc raised his glass. "You know, I never thought of myself as a bad guy. I just got needs that others don't always agree with."

Deadshot chugged his drink, and slammed the glass down on the bar. The bottle in front of him was almost empty. "Why ain't you drinking, Mrs. Flag?"

The others turned to look at me, assuming he was talking to me. Flag was smiling into his now empty glass like an idiot. I didn't think it was funny.

I pointed at my bullet wound. "Can't afford to right now. I want a really sharp mind going after those things we saw."

"The duller the better for me." GQ answered, taking a beer from the fridge behind the bar. "On the house." He shouted, handing me one.

I stared at him and shrugged. "Okay, one."

Spenser clapped his hands and whooped. "There she is. A woman after my own heart. Don't take that literally, Flag. Pour the big guy a Gurgles. No, make that five."

Harley turned to Diablo. He interrupted before she got a chance to guess.

"Water."

"Good idea, Honey." She replied, pouring a glass of water for him.

Deadshot was still looking at me. "I get him," pointing at Flag, then GQ. "And him, but I don't get you. Why are you even here?"

"I'm a Special Forces Operator, Deadshot, what do you think?" I sipped my beer and stared back.

Deadshot grinned. "Yeah, and what's your deal though."

"Isn't it friggin' obvious?" Hayes mumbled under his breath, swallowing the last of his vodka.

They both looked at me then. Flag frowned. Deadshot's face was empty, expressionless.

"Who cares why I'm here. The point is, we have to destroy this witch right? I don't even know why we're in here." I looked away, feeling my face flush.

Deadshot turned to Flag. "So Flag," he looked at him, expecting some kind of royal treatment. "You feeling pretty guilty about now."

"Why's that?" Flag replied nonchalantly.

Deadshot grimaced. "That witch should have been put down the second you found her."

"Yeah well, that was the plan."

"So what happened?"

Flag swallowed hard. "We were sent to extract the witch for Waller, but she was just a passenger in a human's body. We couldn't kill an innocent person, Deadshot."

"So she got away instead, trying to take over the world."

"Yeah," Flag nodded slightly, staring down at his glass again, avoiding eye contact.

"I was there, Deadshot. She was just inhabiting Dr. Moone's body. We couldn't exactly keep her strapped to a board in a drug induced coma,"

Deadshot shrugged. "Just sayin'. This whole thing could've been avoided."

"Wasn't my call, Lawton." Flag said. But he turned to look at me, eyes red rimmed. "I shouldn't have put you at risk like that, Jaz. I'm sorry."

I frowned. "What?"

He looked at me with guilt-ridden eyes. "I shouldn't have put you in charge, knowing the EAs were chasing me. Not that there's any excuse for what I left you to face. Please know that I had no idea of any of this. I feel sick, sick to my core, even now, when I can see you're safe. I am the most miserable excuse for–"

"Stop," I interrupted him. He stared at me with agonized eyes, and I tried to find the right words–the words that would free him from this imagined obligation that caused him so much pain. They were very hard words to say. I didn't know if I could get them out without breaking down.
But I had to try to do it right. I didn't want to be a source of guilt and anguish in his life. He should be happy, no matter what it cost me.

I'd really been hoping to put off this part of our last conversation. It was going to bring things to an end so much sooner.

Drawing on all my weeks of practice with trying to be normal for Flag, I kept my face smooth. "Kowalski wasn't your fault," I said. His name burned my throat a little on the way out. I could feel the ghost of the hole, waiting to rip itself wide again as soon as he disappeared.

I didn't quite see how I was going to survive it this time. "Me getting shot wasn't your fault, Perry, Carter…this has to stop now. You can't think about things that way. You can't let this… this guilt… rule your life. You can't take responsibility for the things that happen to me here. None of it is your fault, it's just part of how life is for me. So, if I trip in front of a bus or whatever it is next time, you have to realize that it's not your job to take the blame. Even if I had ran into that field to die, that would have been my choice, and not your fault. I know it's your… your nature to shoulder the blame for everything, but you really can't let that make you go to such extremes! It's very irresponsible–think of Alpha and-"I was on the edge of losing it. I stopped to take a deep breath, hoping to calm myself. I had to set him free. I had to make sure this never happened again. "So what if I died?"

He stared at me dubiously for a long moment before answering. "Don't you remember anything I told you before?"

"I remember everything that you told me." Including the words that had negated all the rest.

"Jaz, you seem to be under a misapprehension." He closed his eyes, shaking his head back and forth with half a smile on his beautiful face. It wasn't a happy smile. "I thought I'd explained it clearly before. Jaz, I can't live in a world where you don't exist."

"I am…" My head swam as I looked for the appropriate word. "Confused." That worked. I couldn't make sense of what he was saying.

He stared deep into my eyes with his sincere, earnest gaze. "You got us this far. I believe we can finish the mission. But only with your help."

I froze, my muscles locking down as if for impact. The fault line in my chest rippled; the pain of it took my breath away. "You still want me in command?"

"Yes. The most absurd, ridiculous concept–as if there were any way that I could exist without needing you!"

I was still frozen. His words were incomprehensible, because they were impossible.

"You don't believe me, do you?" he whispered, his face paler than his usual pale–I could see that even in the dim light.

"It never made sense for you to love me," I explained, my voice breaking twice. "I always knew that."

His eyes narrowed, his jaw tightened. "Jaz, you are the best leader I have found for this team besides me. You lead Alpha Dogs into Syria, and saved twenty two people that weren't supposed to be there. You did exactly what you were sent there to achieve, and well within the rules of warfare. You captured one of Afghanistan's most notorious drug lords. And you saved me from myself, and probably getting another unit killed. Why do you think I don't love you? You have outshone everyone in this entire Squad before we even got here. And I under estimated you."

"What?" Boomerang whispered from behind us.

He locked my gaze with Flag's eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere. Not without you," he added more seriously.

"Wow," Harley swooned breaking the silence.

Deadshot cleared his throat. "Okay, let me get this straight. This girl, sitting right beside you, is a badass. You're in love with her, you put her in charge thinking she won't get hurt, and she's better than you?" he paused. "Am I right?"

Flag nodded. "Yeah."

Boomerang whistled. "That explains a lot."

"She is a badass." Harley agreed.

I grimaced. "Be serious, please."

"Oh, I am," he insisted, glaring now. "Will you please try to hear what I'm telling you? Will you let me attempt to explain what you mean to me?"

He waited, studying my face as he spoke to make sure I was really listening.

"Can we not do this? It's the end of the world-"

"Before you, Jaz, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars–points of light and reason… And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were in the hospital, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn't see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything."

I wanted to believe him. But this was my life without him that he was describing, not the other way around.

"Your eyes will adjust," I mumbled. "Can we just focus on fighting this thing and get the hell outta this city? Please? Everyone is watching."

He arched one perfect eyebrow. "I'm telling you this because we might not make it."

I sighed. "I believe you. Now can we not do this? Please?"

"Aw, that's so sweet, you guys," Harley continued. "Who knew Flaggy had a heart, huh?"

Hayes rolled his eyes. "Yeah, isn't it wonderful." His tone was heavy with sarcasm

"Okay, enough of this mushy sh-" I cut off, watching Diablo frown. "Show of emotion. We still have a job to do. But my question is, who's in."

Flag pulled the detonator out of his pocket. The squad panicked as he lightly tapped the screen. A moment later, all of their arming lights turned green. Then he twisted the device and broke it into pieces. "You're free to do whatever you want."

Realisation instantly clicked with Boomerang. As fast as he could, he ran out of the Tree.

Deadshot watched Harkness disappear and shook his head, but understood where Boomerang was coming from.

Every man for himself.

Flag reached into his pocket and set a thick wad of letters on the bar.

They were all addressed to Floyd Lawton. The return address on all of them said they came from Zoe Lawton. "I was going to give you these anyway, no matter what happened. Might as well do it now."

Lawton flipped through the envelopes.

"She wrote to you every day, Lawton. Every. Single. Day. The rest are waiting for you in my office."

Deadshot stared at them and crumbled. He clawed at the envelopes, unable to open and read them through his tears.

Harley was watching and reached out to grab his arm reassuringly.

I finished my drink and turned to leave, grabbing my rifle off the bar.

Deadshot grabbed me by the vest and spun me around. "I'm going with you."

The others stared at him.

"I'll get you there and you'll stop this." Deadshot continued. "And it's going to be like a chapter in the Bible. Everyone's gonna know what we did, and my girl will know her dad was…" he didn't need to finish.

Flag reached out and shook his hand, then turned to leave too.

The others were still watching. One by one they turned to each other. Harley was first to stand. "I'll come." She head to the door, but stopped and looked at the squad. "What? Got something better to do?" She grabbed her bat and leaned it against her shoulder. "Pussies."

We made our way a block south to Neon Street, Midway's nightclub district. Parties started every night at one minute before midnight and refused to shut down until just before noon the next day. That nightly ritual ended just three days ago, when the EAs appeared, when the electricity went out and the clubs went dark.

The railway station was one street south. We were prepared to high for those final yards, no matter what was sent against us.

We saw Boomer heading toward us. He glared, but fell back in line.

"I hate you guys," he said, throwing his beer can aside.

"Same here," I laughed. "Oh. And welcome back."

Flag suppressed a smile. "This is it. Ready or not."

Gripping our weapons tightly, we marched forward.

Together.

The railway station was diagonally across the street, protected behind a barricade of stacked cars and trucks.

I signalled for the Seals to guard the perimeter. They took their positions without another word.

"Something's glowing up there," Deadshot said, pointing to an other-worldly light emanating from the station windows.

"Lawton, that's more than just light. Can you feel it?" Diablo said.

"It?"

"The power. Like electricity in the air. Only stronger. It has an almost bitter smell."

"Yeah, whatever's causing that and the light inside, we need to see it." I replied.

GQ followed me. "If you're putting this up for a vote, Lieutenant Colonel, mine is a no. Least not yet."

"Any reason?" I asked.

"Our heat sensors are picking up a treasure trove of EAs. We'll be spotted the second we attempt to breach their barricade. I'm suggesting we scope it out, and don't invade until we have the full lay of the land."

"Hey, if we can't go in," Boomer interrupted, "will a visual tour do instead?"

"That would certainly help. How?" I turned around and looked at him.

Boomer held up a drone boomerang. "Bluetooth-enabled with a camera you can follow on your smart phones."

I was impressed. "Looks to me like it'll work," I said to GQ. "Besides, it's not like we have a lot of alternatives." I turned back to Harkness. "Do it."

Boomerang threw the drone, then punched up the video feed on his phone."

I watched over his shoulder as the drone silently whooshed toward the railway station roof. Boomerang controlled its pitch and arced it toward one of the shattered glass windows.

"Can you get inside?" GQ asked.

"This would be a waste of time I couldn't" Harkness snapped.

The drone hovered and scanned the window's measurements. At first the window was too small for it to fit through. It moved over to the next one, which proved the right size.

"We got us a bingo," Boomer said. "We can dot the I now."

The drone slipped through the window and glided into the station.

Flag was watching over Boomerang's too. "Can you move it over to the right? About forty-five degrees? I think I see something."

"Yeah, mate, I'm seeing it too." An image of Incubus filled the screen. He was talking to his sister.

"Our big bads," I said.

Incubus went still for just a moment, then he turned and looked at us.

Harley watched as he lifted a hand and pointed at the camera. "Holy pizza," she said. "He sees us. He knows we're watching."

Incubus made a flicking movement with his hand and a pulsing tentacle of light shot from his fingers. A moment later the video tuned static, and died

"Something tells me that's not a technical error," she added.

Boomer shook his head. "Wish it was, Looney Tunes. But no."

Flag stared at the static-covered screen as if by staring at it long and hard enough, he would make the video return. But nothing happened. "Boomer, you got another one in your coat?"

"Another big fat no, mate."

"Well, that really sucks." Harley blew a gum bubble, then it burst when it was the size of her head. "What do we do now?"

I looked at the blank screen, trying to come up with possible alternatives. "Flag, push comes to shove I have only one real idea. It might even work."

"Yeah? What?"

"The demo charge is still in the subway."

Flag shook his head. "No, I thought about that too, and I ruled it out."

I wasn't about to let it go. "Why not? There's a tunnel right under the building. I believe we can take out he big one, if we get in it's face and distract it. I can do it."

Flag was adamant. "No. The problem is you only have two second once you arm it. Enchantress could have magically transported herself away in time, but you can't. None of us can. It would be a one-way trip."

"I know," I said. "I understand, but we literally have no other choice."

"The concept is acceptable. The choice of personnel isn't. I need you with me here. If we do this you have to choose a man."

I wasn't about to let Flag dictate terms to me. "I understand, but I'm not going to ask any of my men to do something like that."

"Then do it by lottery. Give them the chance to be there hero. It doesn't have to be you."

"It means exactly that. None of them have the training I have."

"Flag, trust Jaz. I went through all the possibilities. Ultimately there's one choice who can get it done. You're looking at him." GQ stood up straight, and looked at Flag firmly.

GQ was willing to take my place?

Flag didn't want to give in. Letting him go meant he'd never see GQ alive again, but he also recognised that there was no way I would send someone else in his place. He volunteered.

Flag turned to me, and they both waited for my order.

I nodded my approval.

They embraced, and GQ went off to brief the Seals. Each one tried to change his mind, each one wanted to take his place, but he overruled them all.

The Seals the Suicide Squad prepped for their dual assaults.

Flag checked his gear. Harkness inspected each of his boomerangs, gauging them to determine the perfect aerodynamics. A nick here or cut there would throw off their balance and spell the difference because success and death.

Harley checked her magnum, aiming it like a movie detective going against the mob. Done, she twirled the gun and slipped it into its holster.

"Ready when you are, boys," she said, chuckling.

Diablo was on one knee, praying. Katana crouched, going through her daily ritual. She held her sword as if it were a baby, and whispered to it.

"What's up with her?" Boomer asked. "She one of yours, or one of ours?"

"Some things are hard to know for sure," I replied.

"True that, Mrs. Flag, but what's her story with the sword?" I mean, c'mon, mate. She's yakkin' at it like it's listening."

"The man who killed her husband used that sword," Flag replied. "His soul is trapped inside of it. That's who she's talking to."

"His soul is inside that sword? Right. You do know that makes no sense?"

I was walking past but stopped. "We got a guy with us who makes fires come out of his hands. You're sure you know the boundaries between sense and nonsense?"

Katana completed her ritual. Boomer turned away.

"Well, you know what they say about the crazy ones?" Boomer asked.

Deadshot turned to see Harley blowing more gum. "Yeah. I know."

"Huh?" Harley grinned.

I waved for everyone to quiet down. Boomer leaned in to Deadshot and whispered. "This is when we get the big rousing booyah speech? You know, we're all a team and crap?" Before Deadshot could answer, I started to speak.

"Everyone stay in line. We're bugging out now. Flag is on point, so stay behind him."

Flag headed out, I followed behind, and the others tagged along.

Boomer stared at Deadshot, confused.

"That was the big one win for gipper speech?"

"One way or another, it's going to be a short fight." Lawton observed.

"Maybe she thought a short speech was all it deserved. 'Sides, we're fighting for our lives. Do we really need a speech to do our best?" Deadshot cocked his wrist magnums and followed the others out. Boomer stood for a while longer, then he shrugged and followed.

Everyone dies eventually.

"Pay attention, everyone," I said. "Bad as it's been, something tells me it's about to get much worse. Listen to my instructions and most of us might just survive."

"You're a real cheerleader, Mrs. Flag," Deadshot said. "Makes us all tingly inside wanting to follow your lead."

"Whatever turns you on," I smiled.

GQ and the Seals disappeared downstairs to the tunnel beneath the station, and we waved goodbye to each other. Hayes looked at me a little longer, then followed.

Flag and the others made their way inside the station.

We moved quickly past the fallen soldiers, then headed for the subway platform.

I fell behind Harley, making sure no one ankled at the last second.

She smiled at me and blew another gum bubble. "Those men really do anything they're told?"

I nodded. "If I tell them to,"

Harley grinned. "How do I get your job?"

I arched one eyebrow skeptically. "You need a clean criminal record for starters,"

"Damn." She laughed.

Deadshot walked along side Flag. "You must really love this girl-and no way you're the loving kind," he said. "No offense meant."

"I'm not. I always thought love was bullshit." Flag shot Lawton a glance. "Hey, don't look at me like I'm nuts. I'm being serious."

"yeah, I know." Deadshot said. "Just hard to believe. I mean, you know what kind of person I am, but even I found love."

"She left you."

"Yeah, there is that, But I found it. And it was mine to lose. Which I did-that's my point."

"Actually Lawton, that's my point. Love's tenuous. It doesn't last. Hell, I don't think it can last. Look, I get lust, desire, mutual benefit…whatever. But actual love? I rated that with UFOs. Lots of believers, but no proof."

"Then you met Mrs. Flag." Deadshot said.

Flag nodded. "Yeah. Then I met Jaz. And uh-we're not married or anything so you can't actually call her that."

"I know," Deadshot said smiling. "I only say that because shes so much like you. Cold and heartless."

Flag chuckled.

They walked another few hundred feet in silence. Then Deadshot turned to Flag, as serious as I had ever seen him. "Well, whatever you have to do, know I got your back."

Flag was taken by surprise. The world was definitely changing.

Faster than even I could believe. Faster than I could adapt. But for once, I approved of the change.

Heck, I thought. Even while marching into Hell I realised I was actually happy for once. Yeah, the changes keep coming. Who'd ever guessed?

"A man who never loves gives no hostages to fortune." Flag said.

"What's that mean?" Deadshot asked.

Flag chuckled. "It means I'm the richest man in the world. All because I fell in love with a woman."

"She's not just a woman, though Flag. I see your attraction there. Hold on to her. Women like that don't exist on the street." He flashed me a glance over shoulder, probably thinking I couldn't hear. I stared back with a blank face, but underneath, the butterflies were fighting against the walls of my stomach.

A sharp sting shot through my shoulder, making me wince. I stopped and grabbed my wound. I couldn't tell if it was bleeding some more from under my black shirt, but I looked up quickly to make sure no one had noticed. Harley did stop, and looked back at me in concern.

I shook my head with a serious face.

She closed her mouth and frowned before striding toward me. "You okay, G.I Jane?"

"I'm fine," I croaked. "Keep your voice down."

"Why?" She said lowly.

"I don't need Flag making a fuss. We have enough to worry about. Just keep going I'll catch up." I looked up at her authoritatively, contemplating violence if she didn't.

Harley shrugged and followed the others, I kept a close eye on her. I let out a slow breath and took a peek under my shirt. It has gushed a bit more, oily and sticky with its dank, coppery smell. I grit my teeth and pressed it firmly, hoping it would stop soon. If it continued, I could be in for septicemia. I rolled my eyes at the thought.

I should have taken some morphine from the medic, but now it was too late. Hopefully the fight wasn't too long and painful.

I took out the blood-drenched bandages except what was buried in the bullet hole, and covered it up with clean ones. That should hold a little while, I thought.

I caught up with the others, and no one but Harley had noticed.

"All good back there?" She asked.

"None of your concern," I replied sharply.

"Hey, should I tell Flaggy? You don't look too good."

I grunted. "No. Stay out of it."

"Hey, you can't blame a girl for caring, can you?"

I shot her a look that said shut up, but it was too late. Flag and Deadshot looked back at us, hearing Harley's over the top yelling.

At a certain level I knew had made no choice, just as I was not choosing to be unafraid. It had just happened to me, like I had passed through some barrier. I had to keep fighting, because the other guys needed me.

"Keep your mouth shut!" I mumbled, quickening my pace. I had to avoid grabbing at my shoulder, but the pain was almost unbearable.

At that moment, Harley ignored her loyalty. "Um, Mr. Flag sir, Mrs. Flag isn't looking too good." She yelled.

I sighed and let my shoulder slump. "Nothing to worry about." I lied.

Flag frowned. "Do you need to stop?"

"No!" I snapped. "Just pretend I didn't get shot at okay? I patched it up again just keep going. Get all this over with."

"Will you stop being so stubborn, lady? If you're wounded then just stay behind." Harkness growled.

I frowned at him. "This is none of your business, Aussie." I turned back to Flag. "Objective is unchanged. There's nothing I can do about it now, so why worry. Let's go."

Deadshot pushed Flag's shoulder to get him moving, for which I was grateful.

"You know for someone who pretends not to care, you do have a heart of gold." Diablo said to me quietly.

We quietly moved through a tunnel, ready for whatever the enemy brought to us. Deadshot scanned the place with his monocle. We were in the clear.

Every now and again, Flag would peek over his shoulder at me.

I noticed, the others had formed a diamond around me, making me the center. In the military, that's usually what you did to protect the asset.

We were in the clear. We reached the staircase leading up-to where the drone had showed Enchantress was waiting. I wasn't sure what we would find when we found her. I knew I would have to find a way to prevent Enchantress from ever taking over June Moone again, but it was the witch, I knew there was no alternative but to go into battle against a woman who would kill us all without a moment of regret.