Author's Note: Okay, I know this chapter is a bit boring because of the lack of original scenes and dialogue but I didn't want to be lazy in my writing and just skip important scenes. So this chapter is mostly just the 'Political' beginning of Suicide Squad being formed. The next chapter should be much more interesting, so I will post it as soon as I can to make up for this. Another little note, I know that some of the scenes are not used; such as the one where Harley is taken to form task force X but the one I used just fit in better with this story.
Chapter Thirty.
Amanda Waller stepped confidently from the dark SUV, two black cases clutched firmly in her hands as she walked past the driver of the car. Stepping onto the sidewalk she straightened her back and steeled her shoulders, preparing herself to put forth her plan to the arrogant men awaiting.
The Hotel was beautiful, seen easily from the lobby alone. Shining white floors, with immaculate golden walls. The tall ceilings held intricate chandeliers that threw warm light to the room below, illuminating it in the cool, dark night. Amanda glanced to the side briefly as she walked into the entrance of the Hotel, a solemn man stood by a cart holding shirts with the famous 'Superman' symbol on the front. As Amanda strode past, he flipped the shirt he was holding, revealing the word 'remember' printed on the back. "Remember" The man said simply, Amanda smiled at the man as she turned her head forward and walked through the lobby.
Two well dressed, and armed, doormen held open a pair of large, frosted, golden glass doors with respectful nods. Amanda nodded back, not hesitating as she made her way down the Hotel hall, striding quickly to the end of the hall, where yet another doorman nodded respectfully and pulled open a polished oak door. The room was large, round dining tables dressed in heavy white table cloths filled the luxurious room, though only one was occupied. Glancing around briefly at the dimly lit brown walls, and plush red carpeting, Amanda approached the occupied table.
Stopping in place at the head of the table, Amanda surveyed the two well dressed men already seated, expensive steak meals in place at the table. With a quick nod of greeting, Amanda took her seat. "Amanda, why have you called us here?" Asked a grey haired man, his numerous pins and medals glinting in the dim light. "The world changed when Superman flew across the sky. And then it changed again when he didn't. That is why I'm here" Amanda stated, picking up her silverware and prodding the thick cut of meat in front of her with a smirk as the men dug in.
"We lose a national hero… But you sit there looking like the cat that ate the canary" The grey haired man commented. Amanda leaned forward slightly, looking the man in the eyes "I've eaten a lot of canaries" She replied simply. The man glanced downwards slightly, chewing at his steak slowly. "It's taken some work, but I finally have them. The worst of the worst" Amanda continued, pride running through her at the plan she had concocted. Amanda reached down to the briefcase at the side of her chair and pulled a large white binder from it, dropping it heavily on the table in front of her, so that the bold red print reading 'Top Secret' was visible around the table.
The man glanced back at his steak, cutting a large piece from it as the other man at the table followed suit, seemingly content to sit back and let the grey haired man do the talking. "There are rumours, Amanda, that some of them have… abilities" He said, looking back up at her, Amanda nodded slightly. "The rumours are right. You know what the problem with a Metahuman is? The human part. We got lucky with Superman, he shared our values, the next Superman might not" Amanda said, finally cutting into her steak, not allowing herself to be intimidated by the cool stare of the man before her.
"You're playing with fire Amanda" The man said, continuing to eat as Amanda did. "I'm fighting fire with fire" She replied, lifting her glass of red wine to her lips. She would not back down easily, she had not made it as a black woman, to her position by backing down from a fight. "You're not going to pitch us that task force X project of yours again, are you?" He asked, slight contempt tainting his tone.
"Yes. But this time, you're going to listen" She responded firmly, turning to stare at him head on, both momentarily ignoring the other man at the table. Amanda reached forward and opened the binder, flipping it to the first page to reveal a page of information, including a mugshot of a bald African American man. "Floyd Lawton, A.K.A, Deadshot. He's the most wanted hitman in the world. Let's say he has an elite clientele" Amanda began, smugly pleased to see interest in the eyes of the man.
"But everyone has a weakness, and a weakness can be leveraged. His is an eleven year old honour student from Gotham city, his daughter. So we watched her and waited" Amanda said. "And you caught him?" The man asked, attention fully on Amanda now. "Not me. I just gave an anonymous tip to the right guy in Gotham city. So now we have the man who never misses" Amanda said, disregarding the faint pity she felt for Deadshot's daughter.
"Where'd you put him?" The man asked curiously. Amanda leaned backwards in her seat "Let's just say I put him in a hole, and threw away the hole" Amanda replied slightly dismissively. Reaching forward she flipped past Deadshot's pages in her file to reveal the information of her next catch. "Harley Quinn. Before she ran off and joined the circus, she was known as Doctor Harleen Quinzel, a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. She was assigned to the clown himself" Amanda continued, taking another sip of wine.
"She thought she was curing him, but she was falling in love. Talk about a workplace romance gone wrong" Amanda smirked slightly, seeing the man before her hide the same humourless smirk on his own weathered face. "They became the King and Queen of Gotham city. And God help anyone who disrespected the Queen" Amanda said, thinking back on the enormous file of the pairs crimes. "She's crazier than him, and more fearless. But the Bat got her too, she's in the same hole as deadshot" She continued.
Flipping to the next section in her folder to reveal a scruffy white man with wild brown hair. "And then there's the Aussie, Digger Harkness. Or as the tabloids call him, Captain Boomerang. He robbed every bank in Australia at least once, then he came to America for a fresh target set. Doesn't work well with others, but he tangled with a Metahuman and lived to tell about it" Amanda said, crossing her arms and leaning on the table, as the man finished his mouthful.
Quickly flipping to the next section in her folder, a heavily tattooed mans picture sat at the top. "And have you heard of the pyrokinetic homeboy?" She asked, glancing up. "How'd we catch him?" The man questioned curiously. "We didn't, he surrendered. Chato Santana, on the streets they call him El Diablo. This LA gangbanger thought he was the king of the world… Until he lost his queen. Gets jumped in a prison riot and incinerates half the yard. The security video is incredible" Amanda said, shaking her head in slight amazement.
Amanda flipped to the next section in the book, getting horrified and amazed stares at the picture that sat at the top of the page, a man who seemed to be more crocodile then human stared back. "Jesus, what the hell is that?" The man questioned, his cool demeanour dropping slightly in his shock. "His name is Waylon Jones. Evolution took a step backwards with this one, they call him Killer Croc'. He looked like a monster, so they treated him like a monster. Then he became a monster. He was chased out of Gotham city by the Bat, went searching for sanctuary elsewhere. He never found it" Amanda took a bite of her steak as she stopped speaking, once again pushing down pity as she spoke of Killer Croc'.
Amanda swallowed and leaned forward again. "I saved the best for last. The witch" She said simply. "A witch?" The man asked a huff of disbelieving laughter in his voice. "I'm talking a flying, spell-casting, making-shit-disappear witch. A sorceress from another dimension. Another world" Amanda said, before flipping to the next section, revealing a pretty, normal looking blonde woman.
"Archeologist Doctor June Moone… wandered into the wrong cave. She opened something she shouldn't have, releasing a Metahuman more powerful than any we've encountered. The Enchantress. She inhabits Doctor Moones body now" Amanda said. "Where is this witch?" The man asked, clearly drawn in by Amanda's words. "She's in my pocket" Amanda smirked.
A dark haired man at the table spoke up for the first time, face mildly amused "Now tell him why she won't turn you into a frog" He said, fingers steepled in front of his face. Amanda glanced at him as she began to speak. "Some say the Witch has a secret buried heart, and whoever finds it, can control the Witch. So we searched the cave where she turned up, and we found her heart" Amanda reached down to her other side as she spoke, flipping open a black case that revealed a dark mass tangled in wires secured behind thick glass. She pressed her thumb to a scanner quickly, disarming the contraption.
The grey haired man looked down at it in surprise "That things her heart?" He asked. Amanda nodded as she flipped the lid closed, sitting straight in her chair "And she's vulnerable without it" She added. The grey haired man sat back in his seat "You want us to put our national security in the hands of… Witches, gangbangers, and crocodiles?" He asked, disbelief in his tone. "Don't forget about the Joker's girlfriend" The dark haired man added, as Amanda smiled without humour.
"These are villains, Amanda. What makes you think you can control them?" The grey haired man asked. Amanda rested her elbows on the table "Because getting people to act against their own self-interests, for the national security of the United States is what I do for a living. You take the finest special forces officer this nation has ever produced, Colonel Rick Flag" Amanda said, adjusting in her seat.
"I assigned him to watch Doctor Moone, and just as I hoped, it got personal. I have the Witch's heart, and Doctor Moone has his. Now he'll follow my orders as holy writ" Amanda said seriously, watching as the men exchanged a glance. "In a world of flying men and monsters, this is the only way to protect our country" Amanda concluded. The grey haired man sighed slightly, before nodding. "Okay, okay. I'll make the appointment, you're going to have to plead your case at the Pentagon though". Amanda smiled smugly, finishing her wine in one mouthful.
~0~0~0~0~
The large meeting room was packed with well dressed, stern looking people surrounding a large shining table. A pretty woman with a severe bun, June Moone, sat anxiously next to a handsome man, Rick Flag, to the side. Standing in the corner, watching as a brunette man at table spoke, was Amanda Waller.
"What if Superman had decided to fly down, rip off the roof of the white house... And grab the President of the United States right out of the oval office? Who would've stopped him? We got contingency plans for nukes in North Korea… Anthrax in our mail, we got fluoride in our water. But what happens if the next Superman… Becomes a terrorist? Amanda Waller has a plan. Amanda" The man finished his speech, turning his attention to Amanda as she walked around the table to stand at the front of the room, the mugshots of her candidates projected behind her.
"I want to build a team of some very bad people, who I think can do some good. Like fight the next war, defeat the next Superman" Amanda said, her voice carrying clearly across the room. "Not on my watch" Cut in a man in glasses, his position relaxed, yet authoritative. "You're not putting those monsters back out on the street in our name" He continued.
"General, we run them covertly, non-attributed, strictly need to know. And if they get caught, we throw them under the bus. The next war will be fought with these Metahumans, ours or theirs. We're not the only ones kicking up rocks looking for them" Amanda retorted coolly. "You know we can't control these people" The General stated.
Amanda reached to the floor beside her and pulled her black case up, placing it on the table in front of her. As Amanda opened the case, and disarmed it, Rick Flag turned to the anxious June Moone "June, be strong" He said lowly, anticipating what was to come. Amanda Waller glanced at the pair, her face impartial "Doctor Moone" She called. June stepped up slowly, walking to stand beside Amanda.
Taking a deep breath, June removed her glasses, placing them on the table in front of her. June closed her eyes "Enchantress" She whispered to herself, inhaling sharply as she felt Enchantress take over, her cold, black grip over taking the Doctor. In the blink of an eye the mystical witch stood in front of the room, with dark grey skin, long black hair, and startling eyes where the pupil glowed in a white fire, surrounded by inky black rings. The group around the table gasped, one woman crossed herself quickly, eyes wide as she took in the witch before her.
"Jesus Christ" One man muttered, cool demeanour dropping slightly. "Meet the Enchantress" Amanda said, surveying the expressions around the room. "Everything we know about her is in your briefing packets. She's walked this earth for a very long time, and will likely be here when we're long gone" Amanda said, as Enchantress glanced at the open page of a briefing packet before her, recognising the artifact shown as the case that held her brother.
"This meeting is now a magic show?" The General asked, composure quickly back in place. "Magic or not, this girl can do some pretty incredible things" Amanda stated, turning to Enchantress "Go get it girl" She ordered. Enchantress glanced at the woman spitefully for a moment, before closing her eyes. The large table in the room began shaking, water and tea threatening to spill across the numerous papers. With a flicker of the lights, Enchantress appeared beside the General, dropping a thick folder covered in foriegn writing before him, eliciting startled gasps from around the room.
The General turned swiftly in his chair to stare at Enchantress. "How about a little something from the weapons ministry vault in Tehran" Amanda said, face carefully straight. The General glanced at the folder, before beginning to flick through the pages "We've been chasing this for years" He said, slight amazement in his voice which quickly turned to extreme discomfort as Enchantress began running her long, dark fingers along his neck and shoulder, "Please don't touch me. Please don't touch me" He stated, voice wavering slightly.
"Thank you, we'd like Doctor Moone back" Amanda said firmly, staring at Enchantress who locked gazes with contempt. Amanda reached forward and pressed the tip of her steel device into Enchantresses heart, which glowed green at the pressure. Enchantress let out an echoing scream as a green light appeared on her body, with a last flicker of the lights, June Moone stood back in the room, shaking and startled. Rick Flag rushed to her side, anger and concern written on his face.
"Please, please. I'm sorry, I can't- I can't do that again" She said to him, eyes pleading tearfully. "Flag get her out of here" Amanda commanded, annoyed at the show. Rick Flag wrapped an arm around June, holding her tightly as her escorted her quickly from the room. "I move to, ah, authorise Amanda Waller to establish Task Force X under the Argus program" The brunette man said, leaning slightly on the table to stare at the General.
The General glanced down at the folder Enchantress had given him, thoughts racing. "Alright" He agreed, taking off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. "Thank you, Mister Chairman" Amanda said, hiding the smile tugging at her lips.