this is war - a suicide squad story

chapter three - winter

She had only been around these people for an hour, and she was already tired of half of them. Harley, Joker, and Captain Boomerang were really starting to push her buttons and she just didn't really care about anyone else, except one. The Candyman. He had a sweet, yet creepy vibe to him, and she could appreciate that. All they did was discuss who they had killed and how. It was actually quite intriguing.

"Okay, listen up. Waller's dropping us into Gotham, so put on the parachutes." Rick said.

It was pretty clear that everyone had done it before. She thought of freezing Boomerang's parachute mid-fall so she wouldn't have to deal with him later on, but decided against it. Amanda Waller probably wouldn't be too happy about it. She finished fastening the buckles on the parachute when the doors opened.

"Ladies first." Jack said to her.

She shrugged and smiled. "Don't mind if I do."

The fall was exhilarating. She had only jumped out of a plane once before, but she was ten so she had been terrified the whole time. This time was different. The feeling of being so close to death, yet so alive at the same time filled her with excitement. She looked to her left to see Jack in a freefall beside of her.

The skyscrapers of Gotham City were growing closer and closer by the second, and as soon as she passed the first one, she pulled the cord. Unfortunately, she had been too close to one of the buildings and was sent flying straight into the side of one. She heard the sound of her parachute ripping and she realized that she'd be screwed if she didn't think of something quickly. Winter closed her eyes and imagined a thick blanket of snow below her, and thankfully when she landed, there was one. Jack hadn't been so lucky. He landed gracefully through the windshield of a Honda Civic. She crawled awkwardly out of the snow while trying to untangle herself from the cords.

"You okay?" she asked Jack while walking up to the car.

"Well, I mean, I did just fall 2000 feet only to land in a car, so I'd say no."

"The rest of the squad couldn't have landed much farther from here. Let's go find them." Winter said.

"You, sweetie, need to get your priorities straight. The diamond district isn't too far from here. Let's go." he suggested.

"Um, did you forget about the tracker/bomb in our necks?"

"Oh, yes I did. Don't worry though, I have the perfect solution!" he beamed, pulling out a candy cane with a pointed end.

"What the hell is that?"

"I'll do yours if you do mine. Turn around."

"I'd rather not. They're in our spines. Have fun trying to dig that out, Candyboy. Let's just go find the others."

They began walking until they found the squad.

"I was this close to blowing your heads off." Rick told them.

"Good to know, Colonel Aggressive-Much?" she replied.

Back to being cold again. She thought to herself.

Rick just rolled his eyes and walked away. Winter noticed that it was oddly quiet.

"Guys! I think Harley's missing!" she called out.

Everyone began looking for Harley and until they heard someone yell from an alley.

"Don't worry guys! I just landed on my head!"

"Way to stick the landing, Harls!" Joker yelled back before laughing maniacally.

She came walking out of the alley like she hadn't just landed headfirst on the pavement. Winter couldn't understand these people. But that's probably what most people thought of her, too.