Soaking wet, I dragged myself into the bar. Harley was behind the counter, pouring drinks. The others were slouched in their chairs. They were a sorry sight. They all turned to look at me. I peeled off my sopping jacket and tossed it over the counter. I plopped down between Deadshot and Boomerang.
"I know that shirt." Harley smiled when she saw my t-shirt, the one we had made together. I smiled back, and she pointed at Katana, "Ninja? You want some sake?"
I rolled my eyes with Katana. Harley could be a little more delicate.
"Whiskey." Katana replied,
"Whiskey" Harley repeated under her breath, "Ok."
"What am I, twelve?" Deadshot set his shot glass down on the table for a refill.
Harley set a glass of my usual in front of me. I smiled at her, appreciating the gesture. It was nice to know that someone knew the little details about you, like what you would want to drink. She smiled back at me, our hands brushing as she handed the drink to me.
"Here's to honor among thieves." Deadshot said,
"I'm not a thief." Katana said, backing away,
"Oh." Deadshot said to us in a low tone, "She's not a thief."
The rest of us clinked glasses.
"I actually prefer to think of myself as an asset relocation specialist." Boomerang said,
I snorted.
"Well we almost pulled it off." Deadshot said, "Despite what everybody thought."
"We weren't picked to succeed, you know that right?" El Diablo broke in, "We were all chosen to fail."
"Yeah I know that." Deadshot said, "Worst part is they're gonna blame us for the whole thing. And they can't have people knowing the truth. We're the patsies. The cover up. Don't forget. We're the bad guys."
Harley and I made eye contact, an understanding passing between us.
Harley asked, "So, you gonna tell us what your big deal with Flag was?"
"Same thing Waller offered me to kill you. The chance to be a father. Chance at a life outside the shadows. I trusted Flag."
El Diablo slammed his fist on the table, causing me to jump, "Flag had you chasing a carrot on a stick homie. You don't, you don't know that?"
Harley pointed at El Diablo, "I love this guy."
"You played yourself, dog." El Diablo said.
Deadshot faced him, "Bitch I am having a drink. I'm breathing fresh air. And uh, for two sweet seconds I had hope."
El Diablo sniffed, "You had hope huh? Hope don't stop the wheel from turning my brother."
Deadshot shot back, "hmm, you preaching?"
"It's coming back around for you." El Diablo said, "How many people you killed man?"
"You don't ask nobody no question like that ese." Deadshot frowned,
"You ain't ever whacked down no women. No kids." El Diablo continued,
"I don't kill women or kids." Deadshot said,
"I do." El Diablo admitted, "See I was born with the devil's gift. I kept it hidden most of my life but, the older I got, the stronger it go. So I started using it. For business, you know. The more power on the street I got, the more fire power I got. Like that shit went hand in hand, you know. One was feeding the other. Ain't no-body tell me no. Except my old lady. You know she used to pray for me. Even when I didn't want it. God didn't give me this. Why should he take it away?"
He held out his hand. He conjured a small flame in his palm. It flickered back and forth, taking the shape of a woman dancing.
"See when I get mad I lose control. You know I just, I don't know what I do." He took his glass and placed it over the flame, "Till it's done."
The woman in the flame walked in a circle around the glass, then fell to her knees. Extinguished. Harley and I glanced at each other.
"And the kids?" Boomerang asked,
Harley looked at him, "He killed them." She looked back at Diablo, a strange look on her face, "Didn't you?"
Tears welled up in his eyes. He shook his head to keep them back.
"Own that shit." Harley said, "OWN IT! What did you think was gonna happen huh?"
"Hey Harley." Deadshot said, "Come on."
"What you were just..." She tapped the table, "Thinking you can have a happy family and coach little leagues and make car payments? Normal is a setting on the dryer. People like us, we don't get normal!" Boomerang interrupted her, "Why is it always a knife fight every single time you open your mouth? You know, outside, you're amazing. But inside, you're ugly."
"We all are." She leaned across the table minacingly, "We all are! Except for him." She pointed at Killer Croc, "He's ugly on the outside too."
"Not me shorty." He replied, and took off his hood, "I'm beautiful."
"Yeah you are." Harley smiled.
The door opened, and Flag tropmed in. He took the last empty seat on the other side of Deadshot.
"We don't want you here." Harley looked at him,
He nodded, looking at the rest of us, "You get to that part in the binder saying I was sleeping with her?"
"Yeah." Deadshot said, "I never been with a witch before, what's that like? Apparently that's why all the creatures chase him all the time. Cause' uh, the witch is scared of him."
"The only woman I ever cared about is trapped inside that monster. If I don't stop the witch, it's over. Everything is over. Everything." He took out the screen that controlled all our nanite bombs, and smashed it against the counter, "You're free to go."
Harley spun around and looked at her neck in the mirror. I lifted a hand to my own neck. Boomerang sprang up and ran out the door.
Flag slid a pile of letters across the counter to Deadshot, "Your daughter writes you everyday. Every single day."
Deadshot picked up one of the letters, smiling softly. Flag stood up, about to leave. Deadshot jumped up and grabbed him, "You had these the whole time? You had letters from my daughter the whole time?" He held up his fist, "I'm gonna get you there. And you're gonna end this. I'm gonna carry your ass if I have to. Cause this shit is gonna be like a chapter in the Bible. Everybody's gonna know what we did. And my daughter is gonna know that her daddy is not a piece of shit."
Deadshot led the way out of the bar.
Harley came around the bar too, "I'll come."
The other stared at her and she said, "What? You got something better to do? Come on. Pussies."
I clapped Flag on the shoulder, "You already know I'm with you."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
