Author's Note: Okay, this scene kind of cuts off halfway but it didn't fit well to end it in another place, so the half will be up soon enough. The page is marked where the perspective changes at the end. Please let me know what you think, thank you to all the supporters.
Chapter Thirty One.
A loud thumping noise dragged Harley from her drug induced sleep. Harley kept her eyes closed for a moment, listening to her surroundings as the blurry haze from her mind faded. Various voices echoed around her, barked commands and metallic clanging accompanied the noise. The pressure in her ears indicated she was still in the plane. Harley began moving her limbs and head one by one, almost imperceptibly, to check her restraints; which were still fastened tightly.
Opening her eyes, Harley looked around. The area was large and open, and dim despite the fluorescent lighting above. She was strapped to the chair inside of a small chain link cage. They were not fun, Harley thought; it had been a while since she had a chance to play with the fools. Harley could not turn her head to see who else was being transported along with her, she had not managed to catch a glimpse of the other prisoners; though she knew they were around due to the comtion they made behind her throughout the trip to the plane.
Harley considered why they would be transporting her, let alone with the other prisoners. While she ran through the possibilities, she hummed the song playing in her head, though she did not know if it was an actual tune or just something she had made up; sometimes her thoughts became tangled like that. A hazy memory popped into Harley's mind, she didn't know if it was real; it had been after days of fighting the guards, after being tasered and hit in the head when she fought the tube feeding, but it came back to her.
She had been in her double caged cell, a dark figure in a pink jacket had walked slowly from a door on the upper level of her cell room, heels clicking as she stared down at Harley. Harley had felt the aura of control and authority the woman exuded even at a distance. She had stood from her position on the ground, moving to the edge of the cage to stare at the woman. "Are you the Devil?" She had asked, staring at the shadowed figure, wondering if she really saw the horns on her head. "Maybe" Had been the reply.
Harley had fuzzy memories after that, she remembered the woman talking about a group of bad people used to fight other bad people, maybe that was what this was about, she considered. Harley shifted in her seat slightly, ensuring that her phone was still tucked tightly under her thigh, satisfied that it was still securely in place, Harley eased back into a smile.
A soldier walking past Harleys cage glanced at her quickly, before doing a double take. "Want to play with me?" Harley asked, devilish smile in place. The man whipped out his small radio, speaking quietly and quickly. A minute later another older man showed up, also glancing at Harley "Why is she awake?" The older man asked, frowning. "I-I don't know. That dose should have kept her out" The younger man said with an answering frown. The older man sighed heavily "Leave her in there. Do not talk to her. We'll be arriving soon anyway" He ordered, turning and marching off.
The younger man took one last glance at Harley, before rushing off. Harley laughed to herself, so easily scared, she thought. Harley tapped her fingers in boredom for another half hour as the soldiers on the plane blatantly avoided even looking at her. A decrease in pressure, and the other occupants of the large area strapping themselves into seats told Harley that the plane was descending quickly, she was happy about this, the sooner she was let out of this chair, the sooner she could contact Joker.
With a heavy thump, the plane landed, soldiers rushed around preparing large crates and exiting the plane. It was another few minutes before a group of soldiers unlocked Harleys cage and wheeled her chair out from it. Harley heard the sounds of the other cages being unlocked, followed by swearing and growling of what she assumed were her other companions. Harley was pushed to the end of plane, where there was a moment of silence as the enormous ramp pulled away and lowered to the ground below.
Harley let out a small 'Wheee' as she was pushed down the ramp, though she squinted slightly at the bright sunlight that met her eyes. The area was surrounded by large dark green army tents, fully geared soldiers ran back and forth along the cracked concrete, crates of supplies dotted the area. Harley was pushed to the middle of the concrete area, where she was pulled to a stop. From the corner of her eye, she could see other chairs being halted beside her own, though she could not move her head to see who her chained up buddies were.
As a group of soldiers came to a stop in front of Harleys chair, a whirring thump followed by a low growling came to a halt beside Harleys chair, she wanted to see who was growling, the noise tugged at memories in her head, but she couldn't place where from. She was quickly distracted by one of the men in front of her, she winked at the broad, handsome soldier in a tank top, laughing quietly. "What the hell Flag?" The handsome man muttered, eyes glued to whoever was growling beside Harley.
The man who appeared to be Flag peered across the group before him, hand tightly clenched on his gun. "Alright, unlock 'em" He ordered, looking supremely unhappy about his words. The deafening sound of a Helicopter landing nearby drowned out all of the commotion for a moment, as soldiers surrounded the group Harley seemed to be a part of. The sound of restraints being undone reached Harleys ears, as she was freed from the confines of her chair.
Harley slid her hand underneath her smoothly, imperceptibly moving the phone underneath her into the band of her underwear, ensuring it was hidden from view in the loose clothing as she stood and stretched, raising her hands into the air with a happy moan as her muscles eased after being confined for so long. The large group of soldiers watched the group silently "Hi boys! Harley Quinn, how do you do?" She beamed, lowering her hands to reach one out for a handshake, though no one moved to meet it.
There was a long moment of silence as the soldiers stared down their opposites, Harley's mind flooded with ideas, plans to escape and simply cause mayhem. "Huh?" Harley said suddenly, glancing to her side, gaining glances from everyone around her. "What was that? I should kill everyone and escape?" She asked the air around her, face straight as she studied the apprehensive looks shot her way.
Harley let her serious face drop, swaying slightly as she smiled widely "Sorry, the voices" She explained, tapping her head with a roll of her eyes, smile widening even further. The concerned looks grew as Harley laughed "I'm kidding! Geez" She said, waving her hands dismissively in front of her "That's not what they really said" She added lowly, dark smile in place as she played with her hair.
As a group of soldiers walked up to the side of Harley, carrying a large sack that seemed to be moving, Harley took the time to study the rest of the prisoners with her. There were three people with her, all dressed in orange jumpsuits like hers, though theirs were not as faded. To her immediate right was a tall African American man, he was bald with a dark beard, Harley vaguely recognised him as Deadshot. Next to him was a heavily tattooed man who Harley thought looked Hispanic underneath the ink, his face was tense underneath the skull tattooing. Harley had heard of him, he was El Diablo, or Chato. He had incredible power over fire, Harley wanted to see what he could do.
To Harleys right was a huge man who looked very much like a crocodile, thick dark green scales covered his body, with flat almost reptilian features. Harley stared at him for a moment, searching through her wild mind as to why he seemed familiar. Her thoughts were interrupted by Flag walking up to the squirming sack that had arrived. "Well what do we have here? Twelve pounds of shit in a ten pound sack" He said, leaning over the sack and pulling a knife from his belt, cutting open the sack.
"Welcome to the party, Captain Boomerang" Flag said as he stepped back, watching a scruffy man struggle his way out of the sack. As soon as Captain Boomerang got to his feet, he ran forward and solidly punched the first soldier he saw, sending the man flying to the ground, eliciting loud laughter from Harley as she watched the show. Soldiers converged on the struggling man, before Flag grabbed hold of the man, pinning him to the side of a nearby fork lift.
"Hey! Hey, hey. What's going on man?" He questioned, raising his hands in surrender. Flag loosened his grip on Captain Boomerang's throat "Calm down" He stated. "One minute I'm playing mahjong with me Nana, then this red streak hits me out of nowhere!" He argued, his thick Australian accent apparent. "Shut up! You were caught robbing a diamond exchange" Flag said, not releasing the man. "I was not!" Captain Boomerang said, his tone conveying offense, causing Harley to laugh once again.
A dark SUV pulled into the small Army base, causing Flag to release Captain Boomerang and shove him towards the other prisoners. "Here comes Slipknot, the man who can climb anything. Wonderful" He sighed, watching as a man with dark braided hair dressed in strange gear was escorted from the car. A woman holding the door open turned to Slipknot as he exited the car "Have a good time, scumbag" She said. Without a word Slipknot punched her square in the face before he was pulled back by the soldiers around him.
Small 'Oohs' were let out by some who were watching, Harley just smiled to herself, thinking about who she would kill first when she came back for revenge once Joker collected her. "She had a mouth" Slipknot announced, seeing the eyes on him as he was pulled towards the other prisoners, making Harley giggle, this place was fun.
"Listen up!" Shouted Flag, gaining the attention of all around him. "In your necks… The injections you got, it's a nanite explosive. It's the size of a rice grain but it's as powerful as a hand grenade. You disobey me, you die. You try to escape, you die. You otherwise irritate or vex me, and guess what? You die" Flag announced, striding back and forth.
Harley saw some of the prisoners rub at the injection sites on their necks, it was less concerning for her. Her Mister J was the smartest man she knew, he would know about this already and he would have a solution. "I'm known to be quite vexing, I'm just forewarning you" Harley called, amused by the tense man, she saw some of the other prisoners hiding smirks at her words. "Lady, shut up!" Flag yelled. Harley pouted in return, how rude, he would be fun to play with if he was already annoyed by her.
"This is the deal, you're going somewhere very bad, to do something that'll get you killed. But until that happens, you're my problem" Flag added, stopping in front of Deadshot. "So was that like a pep talk?" Deadshot asked skeptically. "Yeah, that was a pep talk" Flag said as he pointed to the side of the prisoners. "There's your shit, grab what you need for a fight. Wheels up in ten" He added.
"You might want to work on your team motivation thing" Deadshot said to Flag "You heard of of Phil Jackson?" He asked. "Yeah" Flag responded, looking vaguely annoyed. "He's like the gold standard. Triangle, bitch. Study" Deadshot complained. Flag rolled his eyes slightly and pointed again at a set of crates which had been set up to the side of the concrete area.
Harley studied the crates for a moment, before spotting a dark green case which had a spray painted white crown over the letters H.Q, with a gasp of excitement, Harley skipped over to the case, excited to see what they had brought for her. Harley flipped the case open with a wide smile, revealing a case packed full of various items she was well known for, Harley assumed they were replicas, but she was excited all the same.
Spotting a red and black body suit on top Harley let out a delighted scream, picking it up and holding it against her body. The suit was not as good as her original, but it was wonderful all the same. Harley did not want to wear it without Joker though, so she tossed it back into the case. Harley continued digging through the case, shifting aside weapons and clothing to pull a small black and gold revolver from a holster, she knew this was her own gun, she had had it designed specially, with 'love' and 'hate' printed on the barrel of the gun along with printed gold diamonds.
Harley put the gun back in its holster, catching sight of her favourite item, her choker necklace that read 'Puddin'. Harley clutched it tightly for a moment, thinking about how much she missed Joker, she pressed a kiss to it before fastening it around her neck. Harley dropped to a cross legged position in front of her case as she caught sight of a large cosmetics case inside her trunk. Unzipping it Harley let out another shriek of delight at the items inside. Harley pulled her hair from it's pigtails, and picked up a pair of scissors.
Propping up a small makeup mirror, Harley began cutting her hair carefully, trimming it back to the length she preferred. Once she was satisfied that her hair was once again in bouncy, white-blonde locks, Harley pulled them back into high pigtails. Digging through the case quickly, Harley came across two cans of spray on hair colouring, pink and blue, though not her preferred method, Harley uncapped the cans and made quick work of colouring the ends of her hair, one side pink and one side blue.
Harley stood up quickly to tug the orange jumpsuit off, leaving her in her singlet and underwear. She used the jumpsuit to wipe the excess dye from her, before tossing it to the side and beginning to work on her make up. She matched her eyeshadow to her hair, one side pink and one side blue, she then smudged the makeup out slightly before applying a small amount of eyeliner. Patting on a small amount of powder, Harley painted her lips a deep red shade, feeling enormously happy at being able to put on her favourite shade of lipstick once again.
Harley blew herself a kiss in the mirror, before jumping back up, so caught up in her actions that she did not notice that everyone who could see her in the small base had stopped and was watching her. Digging through the case once more, Harley pulled a red and black bra with matching underwear out. Dropping her white underwear, Harley tugged the singlet down so as to cover her while she slipped into her new pair, before shedding the singlet entirely as she put on the bra, now aware of the surprised gasps that surrounded her. Harley tugged on a pair of tiny blue and red booty shorts over fishnet stockings, she wanted to look her best when Joker came for her.
Harley tied a pair of white and black high heeled sneaker styled shoes on, before fastening a black and gold belt around her hips. Standing straight, Harley finally slipped on her white and red shirt that read 'Daddy's Little Monster', smoothing her shirt down, Harley felt satisfied with her outfit, she would look great when she was finally reunited with Joker. Harley spotted a pack of her favourite gum in the case, clapping she popped a piece in her mouth, wondering why they would get her gum. Looking up, Harley noticed everyone frozen in place, staring at her "What?" She asked which seemed to break the trance as everyone rushed onwards to go about their business.
Harley grabbed her jacket from the case, a red and blue satin piece that read 'Property of Joker' on the back. Touching up her lipstick one last time, Harley moved to step back to watch Deadshot getting suited up. He was already dressed in his red and black suit, but was staring at a white mask in his hands silently. "Won't fit anymore? Too much junk in the trunk?" Harley teased. "Nah. Everytime I put this on, somebody dies" Deadshot said, still looking at the mask in his hands. "And?" Harley asked, raising her eyebrows. Deadshot glanced at her "I like putting it on" He said, sending a half smile at Harley as the rest of the prisoners gathered around.
Harley looked down at her case, considering which weapons to take. A large mallet with smiley faces on either side caught her eye, she picked it up and spun it in her hands "Goody. Something tells me a whole lot of people are about to die" She said, smiling at the mallet. "Yeah it's us. We're being lead to our deaths" Diablo said, looking stern. "Speak for yourself mate. Hey what's that crap on your face, does it wash off?" Captain Boomerang asked, getting a deep laugh from the crocodile man that Harley recognised. She frowned for a moment, trying to figure out how she knew him.
Waylon. Killer Croc'. Her mind told her as she looked at him. She must have know him as Harleen, her memories of that time were fuzzier. She was his Doctor, she suddenly recognised, causing her to laugh aloud. How funny that they would end up on the same team. "Hey, if you like a girl, can you light her cigarettes with your pinky? That would be real classy" Harley asked Diablo, delighted at being able to study his tattoos closer. Diablo did not answer. "Hey you might wanna leave old boy alone, he could torch this whole joint. Ain't that right Ese?" Deadshot cut in. Harley threw the mallet back down into the case as she spotted the familiar sight of her favourite bat, she picked it up and studied it for a moment, the familiar writing and drawings told her they had taken her original bat from Jokers sunken car.
"Ain't got nothing to worry about from me. I'm cool, homie" Diablo said, looking as if he would rather be back in his cell. Harley was about to walk over to Croc' when Flag appeared before them, holding up a tablet. "Behold, the voice of God" He said, as the screen flashed to show Amanda Waller. "For those of you who don't know me officially, my name is Amanda Waller. There's an active terrorist in Midway City. I want you to enter the city, rescue HVT-1 and get them to safety" Amanda Waller said firmly. "I'm sorry, for those of us who don't speak good guy, what is HVT-1?" Asked Deadshot, waving at the screen slightly.
"The only person that matters in the city, the one person you can't kill. Complete the mission, you get time off your prison sentence. Fail the mission, you die. Anything happens to Colonel Flag, I'll kill every single one you. Remember, I'm watching. I see everything" Amanda said, tone icy. The screen went black as Flag lowered the tablet and put it away. "There's your pep talk" He announced. "Compared to your shit, she killed it" Deadshot retorted. "So that's it? What, we some kind of suicide squad?" Deadshot asked. "I'll notify your next of kin" Flag stated, walking past the group. "Alpha, Bravo team! Mount up!" He yelled to the surrounding soldiers as he walked away.
Harley skipped ahead to walk next to Killer Croc' as the group was lead off. "Aren't you going to say hi to your favourite Doctor?" She asked in a singsong voice, craning her head slightly to look up at him. Killer Croc' looked down at her for a moment, before letting out a low growling laugh "You're crazier than all of us now" He responded lowly. Harley laughed at his comment "I was nice. I let you out" She persisted chirpily. Killer Croc' glanced at her sideways once more "You needed a distraction" He said simply, Harley suspected that these were more words than he had spoken in a long time. "And I chose my favourite Croc-man for the job!" She said happily. Killer Croc' snorted and walked ahead.
Harley faked a sneeze, using the motion to tap the side of her bra, checking that her secret phone was still hidden securely in place. Satisfied that the phone was still in place she glanced up at the rest of the group and fastened her pace to catch up. She would be able to talk to her Puddin' soon.
~0~0~0~0~
Rain pattered against the windscreen as the white van reading 'Panda Deliveries' Pulled up to the small guard's booth situated outside the gated fence of Van Criss Laboratories. The bored looking guard glanced up at the driver as the van came to a halt. "Hey I got a delivery. I have a gift basket for Doctor Van Criss" The driver said, rolling his window down and leaning out slightly. The guard in the booth glanced down at the clipboard in his hand "You're not on the access list. I can't let you in, sorry" Said the guard simply.
"Hey cool, can I leave it with you? I'm way behind today" The driver said, reaching to the seat next to him and lifting a large wrapped gift basket out the window. The guard leaned out and took the basket, putting it in the booth next to him. "Thank you, you're a good man" The driver called, leaning back in his seat as he pulled a device from his pocket and pressed a button. Immediately the gift basket exploded, small enough to leave the booth mostly undamaged, yet large enough to drop the guard to the ground, where he did not move.
The driver opened the door of his van, stepping out so that he could reach into the still opened window of the guard's booth and press the small button which opened the gate. Hopping back into the van he accelerated quickly, knocking twice on the divider behind him to indicate that the plan was going according to schedule. The driver pulled to a screeching halt at the end of the long paved road leading to the large white building ahead, waiting for a moment as another white van pulled up behind him.
As soon as the van stopped moving, the back doors of the van flew open, Joker stepped out, glancing around at the building. Frost quickly exited the van behind Joker, while masked men piled out of the second van. Every man carried hefty guns loaded with massive amounts of ammo, with a sharp whistle from Joker the men ran ahead into the building.
Joker followed at a leisurely pace, his own large gun held at his side. Screams could already be heard as Joker walked through the lobby, tell tale damage and bodies littered the area, shattered glass crunched under Jokers feet as he walked through the halls until he came upon the room he sought. Three of his masked goons were shooting their way through the room, gunning down anyone foolish enough to still be in the building.
Joker walked through the lab until he came upon a sealed room, glass walls showed a dark haired man in a lab coat pacing the area anxiously. "Open up!" Called Frost, when the man made no move to do as he was instructed, Joker raised his gun and shot at the glass. The bullets pierced the seemingly bullet proof glass, though did not break it. The man inside flinched at the motion, though still made no move to exit. Joker walked up quickly, pulling a tablet from his pocket and switching it on. He pressed it against the glass harshly, showing the screen to the man inside.
The tablet showed a trembling dark haired woman with a knife pressed to her throat. The lab coated man froze at the sight, his eyes widening in horror. A grin flashed across Jokers face as the woman spoke "Just please, do whatever they say. Do whatever they say. Just do it" She begged, her voice easily heard over the commotion in the lab. With a quick glance at the woman on the screen the man reached over and pressed the button to open the lab door with a shaking hand.
Joker entered the room slowly, a couple of masked goons and Frost following behind him as the man backed up to the wall, face openly showing his terror. Joker looked to the lab table beside him, searching for the item he sought, before reaching out and pulling a small black and silver almost gun shaped device from it that injected explosives. He pulled a cap from the end of the device quickly. "Mmm, this looks neat" He said with a smile, lurching forward suddenly and pressing the device to the lab coated man's neck and firing. The man screamed at the pain, dropping to his knees.
Joker stared down at the man in contempt as he clutched at his neck. "You're going to give me the device that disarms these little toys. To make sure you stay honest, we're going to test them on you" Joker rasped, swaying slightly in place. The man gave a pained groan before rising unsteadily to his feet. Hand still pressed to his neck, the man fumbled with a coded safe behind him for a moment, before opening it and reaching inside, pulling out a small black remote and handing it to Joker.
Joker studied it for a moment, before pressing the button on the remote, he then nodded at Frost, who picked up a hand held device beside the gun shaped devices and turned it on, searching through the screen for a moment he found the trigger for the device in the lab coated man's neck and pressed it, watching as nothing happened. Frost nodded back at Joker simply, who grinned once again, the injured man's face showed relief as he eased his tense position. Joker laughed and raised his gun "Please, no, I gave you the real-" His frantic words were cut off by Joker firing at his head. Joker's maniacal laughter echoed through the small room as the man dropped to the ground lifelessly.