A/N: I don't know about you guys but for me it's 12:09am and officially Christmas. So Merry Christmas! Your present from me is an update.
"Well, ah, come in." Joker said with a flare as he pushed the compounds large metal doors open. The screech the hinges cringed against Maia's teeth, making her nose wrinkle adorably (in all the pack's, but not her own, opinions). The mismatched pack of criminals crowded though the entry way after a prowling Joker and a flouncing Harley. "Welcome to our humble abode." Joker cackled as he spun around, his arms gesturing everywhere and a manic, joyous grin plastered on his face.
Maia's eyes scan the entryway that her pack stood in. It was very... confusing. Yes, confusing was the best word Maia could come up with. A couch covered in knives sat against one wall,next to a rickety, metal, spiral staircase which look more like a fire escape than anything else. An umbrella stand stood on a box of gunpowder. The lights flickered, barely lighting the room with an orange tinge. Maia couldn't tell what was paint splatters on the walls and what was blood.
And when the door closed? It was stifling to say the least. Maia felt as if she could barely breathe. Her powers wrapped around her as they attempted to protect her. The air was stale due the age of the compound and her powers were panicking causing Maia to sink into her own mind in dizziness. Cloud and fog floated over her psyche and soon she was drowning. Down. Down. Down. Down. Dow-
A hand planted itself in Maia's own, tethering her to the conscious world. The anchor pulled her back quickly. She glanced up from the tattooed hand and into Chato's eyes. He gaze her a nod of understanding that Maia slowly returned.
Maia looked away. Her gaze returned to study her surroundings. It would do for now, but her pack needed a home not a criminal hang out. They needed an anchor where they could just be with a each other. Maia smiled lightly at the thought; a home with her pack. But that was a plan for another day, as a yawn wracked through her body.
Joker considered ushering everyone into separate bedrooms but with very little prompting from Harley he commanded his henchmen to fill a large empty room with pillows and blankets. And that is how, soon, the pack found themselves asleep and a large, murderous puppy pile. And they were perfectly content.
The next morning Maia was the first to awaken. The meta never slept for very long, a habit she had built in prison when other inmates, or guards would attempt to join her cot in the night or early hours of the morning. There tended to be many left over dead bodies. She smiled as her eyes ran over her pack. They all looked so peaceful in their sleep. Harley coiled around Joker as if claiming him, his own arms like steel bars keeping her close. The Clown Queen laid more on the King than next to him. Not that that was saying much as June's head lay on Harley's back, Rick wrapped around her in a protective big spoon. Pretty Boy's head was on Rick's calf, he had Georgie literally laying across his stomach. The two starfishing males made the shape of a cross. Maia quietly snorted at the thought. Chato's head rested on Joker's thigh, Georgie's head was on top of his stomach. Chato's legs were very tangled with Floyd's. Maia, herself, was tucked in between Joker and Floyd. Her head rested on Joker's shoulder, Floyd's body laid pressed against her's, their hands interlinked.
Carefully, so not to wake her sleeping pack, Maia slid out of the huddle. A grin blessed her lips as Floyd automatically rolled to be closer to Joker.
Maia crept over to where Digger had left the sacks holding their belongings. She grinned as she found one of her cigarette packets. She slipped it out before heading over to the window. She opened the dirty window, the bitter morning air but her as she leant her head out and leaned on the windowsill. Soon, a cigarette was in Maia's mouth and she was breathing burning poison.
"You're up early." The sun had just risen as June came to stand by Maia.
"So are you." Maia replied as June opened the adjoining window, leaning next to her, looking out at the horizon. Maia studied June from the corner of her eye. The beta looked far to stressed. "Cigarette?" Maia offered. June was quick to take one.
The two girls smoked in silence for a while. Maia studied June from the corner of her eye. "Couldn't sleep?" She asked her beta.
June sighed. "Ever since she was in my head the dreams won't stop." Maia watched June, allowing her to speak, "It's like she's still in there." June frowned deeply, her voice a vulnerable whisper, "I feel like I'm going crazy."
Maia took a toke of her cigarette as she thought of what to say. She exhaled slowly. "Enchantress is gone, Junie. It's just you in there. But when she was in you, she did bad shit. It's okay to be scared. If you have a dream, wake one of us up. It's never fun to go through shit on your own."
"I don't wanna be a burden." June mumbled as she took another toke.
"I'm an omega who enjoys fighting and kills. Harley and Joker have gods know how many mental illnesses. Floyd enjoys killing people for money. Pretty Boy was abandoned. Chato killed his first family. George used to have to steal so he could eat now he does it out of habit. Rick almost lost you." Maia shifted to look straight at June. "We've all got our shit, Junie. But we're pack now, we gotta look out for each other." Maia took June's hand in her own. The beta looked at her omega. "You wake someone up."
Arms snaked around June's waist. "She's right." Rick said ad he leant his chin in on June's shoulder.
Maia smiled a but at the sight. "It won't be easy." Maia shrugged with a wry grin. "But pack never is." The trio quietly chatted until the rest of the pack arose. They would be okay.