Chapter 2: fantasy

This is what your lives could be...if you joined me, the Enchantress whispered into their minds, warping their sense of reality. It didn't feel like they were hiding behind the columns anymore, waiting to strike. It felt like they were floating far away from the violence and bloodshed and everything was warm and safe.

Deadshot and Harley and Flag had dropped their weapons and their eyes were wide with a vision they alone could see.

But soon, George saw it too.

He was on a yacht in the middle of the ocean and there was no cloud in the sky. Cash was raining down on him from above, and a pair of hot twenty-year old twins had their arms around his torso. They each sported a sparkling horn on their foreheads and their skin was bubblegum pink. He was drinking whiskey straight from the bottle and there was a plate of tortillas and dip in front of him. Perfect fantasy by his standards. Well, maybe if the Enchantress had included one of those Shih Tzu dogs too...they were hilarious and adorable, to boot.

But he was distracted when he heard sniffing next to him.

Katana was clutching at thin air, her mask damp with tears. She was babbling in Japanese. All he could understand was that she was calling for someone. He had an inkling who that person was.

"Please..." was the only thing he made out of her feverish nonsense.

George tried to get back to his yacht. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He'd never been with human-unicorns before.

But Katana kept crying next to him. It was distracting. Because instead of seeing unicorn twins wrapped around him, he saw the little warrior sobbing on his shoulder.

"Aw, shit."

He grabbed her firmly, trying to shake her out of it. He took her head in his hands.

"Oi, look at me. Look at me! It ain't real, Katana! It's just a stupid fantasy! Your husband's dead, all right? You think I deserve a yacht? The IRS would confiscate it immediately! The Enchantress is just messing with us!"

But she didn't seem to be listening to him. She was in some sort of trance. She looked at him differently now. Like she could actually stand him.

"Maseo..." she trailed off absently, and before he knew what was happening, she put her arms around his neck and pulled him down, until his mouth connected with her mouth and -

Aw, shit.

She was kissing him. Because she thought he was her dead husband. It did not get more fucked up than this. But he wouldn't have been in this shitty squad if he was not a total dirtbag. So he took advantage of the situation. He kissed her back. What? It wasn't his fault she tasted good. It wasn't his fault he liked a lady who took initiative, even if that lady was currently under a spell. And it wasn't his fault his bear arms fit perfectly around her tiny figure.

And...and it wasn't his fault that it felt nice to be wanted, for once.

Aw, shit shit.

The fucking Enchantress had double-played him. He heard her voice in his ear. I could make it so that she always sees her husband in you.

Fuck. That wouldn't be so bad. He opened her mouth and tasted her tongue...and the tears running down her face...

Reluctantly, he pulled away from the kiss. "Katana...I'm not Maseo. He's...probably not a deadbeat with a police record."

Katana blinked in confusion. She still kept her arms around his neck. "Maseo," she insisted. He could almost see her expression under the mask. She was determined to make it real. She was a stubborn little thing.

"No, luv. Not Maseo. Wake up. Come on, sweetheart. Wake up."

He reached for her waist and pulled out her sword from its hilt. When Katana saw her reflection there, the spell was broken. She stepped away from him.

"What...what happened?"

George scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "You were out of it, luv."

She gripped the sword hard. "What do you mean?"

Thank Christ she didn't actually remember. She would've cut him in half.

"Uh, you were just talking about some bloke Maseo."

"Oh." She looked down embarrassed.

He couldn't help touching her one more time. He reached out and lifted her chin with his fingers.

"Come on, let's kick some Enchantress arse, shall we?"

That seemed to get her back on track.

She nodded her head wearily and, maybe he was wrong or imagining things, but she almost brushed her hand against his as she ran into the fray.