The Scars Left Behind

This is the Sequel to the Harlequin and the Bat and The Harley and The Ivy.

Important notes: I do not own Batman or any portion of the franchise. I give all credit to DC Comics and respective owners. Except the characters I wrote in my profile.

Once again I have reached my twentieth chapter mark. I cannot believe that I've been writing this much and in the space I have done them in. Thank you all who have followed me and read my fanfictions.

Chapter 20

*Time ten past four PM*

(Bruce's POV)

Bruce came immediately after what transpired. Alfred, Sonia, Tim and Dick were recuperating and trying to remember what happened and Venus's kidnapping. "Bruce I'm going with you! You can't stop me and no-one can talk me out of it!" Ivy demanded

"Ivy, I understand wanting your child back. And I'm not stopping you, Harley are you okay to fight?" Bruce told them both with an understanding tone.

"Yeah…I was immune to the gas but I want to keep an eye on Alfred and the others." Harley explained

"Okay, Barbara will keep us posted. You don't have to do too many things at once." Bruce explained donning his cowl.

"Got it Bruce." Barbara nodded.

"Bruce, let's go." Ivy pushed him forward as they got into the Batmobile; Bruce used his detective vision earlier to get information on what happened in the lounge. The persons in question were: Dollmaker and Dollhouse. Two crazed villains who killed people and turned them into living mannequins.

(Venus's POV)

Venus struggled to get her eyes open; she opened them slowly and beheld a dark room with a little light shining on her, she noticed several mannequins but she though they were people. "Hello? Hello, please help, I-I don't know where I am. Can you help untie me?" Venus tried to struggle but she was tied too well.

"Hush my little child, it'll be alright." The familiar voice spoke softly as he emerged from the shadows.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Venus asked in a panic, she was then tilted back into a stationary horizontal position (lying on her back)

"Oh my dear, you must understand: this is art. The preservation of all beautiful things: Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Michelangelo's David and of course; The Birth of Venus…oh yes my dear, this is your new birth. One that will immortalise you: flawless and perfect for eternity." As he spoke Venus was wheeled into a pristine white room with neon white lights. The lights did not shine as bright as a Las Vegas casino, but they were bright enough to illuminate the room. Venus noticed that she was now dressed in a surgery dress: nothing underneath but just the garb.

"I-I know you…you're: The Dollmaker! My mum told me about you!" she came to a realisation on his obsession with preserving things to such a degree. "Those…those things in the other room…they, they were…?" she began to well up in fear.

"Yes, our: past successes." Dollmaker grinned as he pulled his surgical gloves over his hands. "Dollhouse…be a dear please." He called to his assistant

"I'm already one step ahead dear father." Dollhouse said turning on another light, one that shone behind her. In the surgical audience were some of the many people Dollmaker and Dollhouse have killed along with three others: three living others. "And it seems that our little family wants to observe as well."

Venus saw the deceased people staring blankly into her soul, she was petrified by them; each one of them seemed to be crying out in pain, fear and sadness; each one wanting to be free from the torture and away from the Dollmaker. But alas they met there end by his surgical prowess. Most of Venus's fear came from the three who were still alive: a hulking monstrosity of a man who had large pieces of skin stitched into skin grafts all over his body but mostly on his face. A more medium build man had a mask that looked like his entire face peeled off to expose the muscles and bone underneath. And finally a young girl, she was about the same age as herself; she just looked on in awe, like she was waiting for the surgery to begin. "Please…don't…" she struggled to speak as she was crying too much.

"Surgery: number one hundred and thirteen; attending surgeons Dollmaker and Dollhouse. Witnesses: Orifice, Bentley and little Olivia. Time of surgery: five fifteen PM. Now we begin." Dollmaker listed off as he always did before putting his patients under with knock out gas.

(Bill's POV)

*fifteen minutes before*

Bill had lost the trail slightly but he still had Venus's signal, so he wasn't completely lost. He had to brake because of some police officers trapping him. 'Waller…she must've sent these goons to slow me down and get me back to base.' He thought to himself.

"Well Mister…Hyde. We've been instructed to escort you back to the address we were given." The officer said being wary at Bill's masked appearance.

"Officer, with all due respect; my daughter has been taken!" Bill started normally then escalated into an almost shout "I'm not going anywhere without her." He spoke darkly getting back into the car.

"Well we'll have to charge you with: theft, driving without a licence and resisting arrest." The officer spoke with a tremor in his voice.

"This is a company car, I've got a provisional licence and this is for resisting arrest." Bill explained as he listed off numerous alibis…with the exception of knocking the officer unconscious. "Sorry, but you were in my way." Bill carried on going down the road. "I have to get there first…I must!" she spoke to himself.

"Hy…" a tinny voice called out "Hyde…" it called again, it was coming from the radio in the car.

Bill picked it up and answered "What?" he answered sharply.

A small silence was heard on the other end "Hyde, what in God's name are you doing?" it was Deadshot. Between him Deathstroke and Hyde himself, he'd understand.

"I've hijacked one of Waller's cars, travelled to the outskirts of Gotham and knocked out a police officer that Waller sent after me. What do you think?" Bill explained in an irritated tone checking the time: five ten PM.

"You've done what?!" Deadshot shouted in disbelief "Hyde, you've got orders to get back here or Waller's going to have twins!" Deadshot explained over the radio.

"Floyd…isn't there anyone you want to keep safe?" Bill calmed down being cryptic.

"Yeah my d…" suddenly Deadshot understood the gravity of the situation "Hyde this is different!"

"Really? If your daughter was taken, wouldn't you go AWOL and get her back?" Bill answered with his question

"Hello Bill." Waller's voice spoke through the radio.

"Commander Waller…" Bill answered

"You have your orders: get back here right now and I'll forget all about your trips to visit: that Ivy woman for those sessions, the little "Happy Families" thing you were going on with and that assault on Arkham Asylum; even that one involving the Thomas Elliot fiasco." Waller listed off "Oh yes…I know all about them. Even when you think I'm not looking, I'm always looking. So what's it going to be?"

Bill didn't answer until he reached the destination his daughter was being kept in. "I've only got one thing to say to that…" Bill answered cryptically.

"Which is?" Waller asked

"Now…" Bill answered

A large clatter of noise sounded behind them through the radio "What is this; what are you doing? This is mutiny! Bill you bastard what have you done?" Waller struggled to speak as she was being tied up

"I'll let Slade tell you. I'm getting my daughter back you psycho bitch." Bill answered and turned the radio to a different frequency "Bat's it's me."

"Bill? Where are you? Are you…" Ivy called out

"Hey babe…I'm at the location. Follow the frequency, I'm going in." Bill answered "Bat's, I know you're against killing…but I need to do this." He put the radio back in the holster and left the engine running

"Bill? Bill! Damn it!" Batman's voice called out which was becoming more distant as Bill walked away from the car.

"I'm coming baby girl…daddy's coming!" Bill spoke as he activated the Venom device enhancing his strength and size. "Hyde…Crush…Thieves!" as he shouted this; a shadow of a person came behind him.

(Slade's POV)

*two minutes before Hyde's appearance*

"You bastards! You, you'll never get away with this!" Waller struggled in her chains that Copperhead strung them up in.

"Actually Waller, we already have." Deathstroke began to explain "Delta Charlie Dash Tango Bravo Alpha Tango Bravo Dash Zero Nine Dash One Nine Five Nine, Code: Task Force X. That's what Bill told us, we didn't understand what it meant until he told us when the time was ready…I guess the time was now."

"Delta Charlie…the deactivation code…he deactivated the virus?!" Waller spoke in awe then in shock as she struggled to swing herself off "How? He couldn't have hacked the system on our computers!"

"That's why he used an outside source." Deadshot explained "That kid my not realise this, but he's crazier than the Joker when he puts his mind to it. But he's got my respect."

"Yes…not everyone is immune to my poison…still it must help when he has that immunity flowing through his veins. He's earned mine." Copperhead spoke using her contortion abilities down from the rafters. A faint roar of a helicopter in the background was heard but no-one went to check it or even bothered to pay attention.

"Has anyone seen Frost?" Deadshot asked

"Not since the ambush." Copperhead answered

"That bastard…I'll make him pay. You'll all rot in Arkham for what you've done…argh! What did you do?" Waller threatened them as Deadshot put a dart in Waller's neck.

"See: Bill didn't just free us…he's incarcerated you. So even with a new team to hunt us down and go AWOL trying to leave…let's just say: the captain goes down with the ship." Deadshot explained

"Welcome to Task Force X Amanda Waller…Welcome to The Suicide Squad." Deathstroke sneered at her, with the rest of the team leaving with him.

"You'll be black listed you hear me! All of you will die! You'll never be free of me!" Waller shouted losing her cool.

Outside with Deadshot and Copperhead the three were undecided to go. "So: Bill's freed us, given our lives back…can't help but feel like I owe the kid." Deadshot felt uneasy

"I know what you mean…besides all the endless hours tinkering, the listening to Cassidy on the radio and the all-nighters he pulled reading all those books he asked for…he was a better leader than Waller." Copperhead added.

"He was…I'm going home." Deathstoke said aiming for a car.

"Home…yeah…I'm heading home…but after I go after Frost. See you guys around…maybe." Deadshot said thinking about his colleague.

"Why go after…? You think she's gone to find Bill." Copperhead wondered then came to the realisation.

"That crazy girl has got a thing for brains and brawn. Bill has both." Deathstroke answered as he entered "You best take the copter if you want to catch her."

Deadshot nodded and observed the helicopter pad the then back tracked to Deathstroke "She's pinched the bleeding copter!"

*time five thirty*

(Killer Frost's POV)

*after the Suicide Squad ensnares Waller*

Frost escaped with the copter and hijacked it using the keys from Waller's suit. She was free to live her way again, but she wanted something that Bill was a part of. She'd started to go past the whole "pretend flirting" and had developed real feelings for Bill. "God…why do you make heroes and villains fall for the bad ones?" she pondered to herself still holding the tracker Bill had made. "Hold on Bill…you're not doing this alone." But little did she know she had picked up a shadowed passenger in the background. As she flew she saw the car Bill had hijacked and saw him transform into Hyde. She also saw someone fly out of the copter and land next to him. "Who the hell?" she shouted.

Additional note: The code that Slade said during the mutiny: Delta Charlie etc. is a reference to the comic: DC, The Brave and The Bold, September 1959 and the Suicide Squad using the original name: Task Force X.

To be continued

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