Lin was not pleased.
Not pleased at all.
So not pleased that she would in fact like to punch Rick in the face.
After all they went through they were left at the door like some dirty secret. Whoever it was that they were saving was well aware of who they were and chance was that same person was the same person that set this whole thing up - Amanda. Who else was important enough that they'd send in a group of criminals that only Amanda knew all about? Who else but Amanda would have orchestrated this whole thing? Harley called her the devil for a reason. Maybe even those so far in their own head they couldn't tell left from right could still recognize true evil for what it was.
The group was muttering to themselves as they stood outside waiting for Rick to and Deadshot to come back from the room with Amanda. Lin didn't think the others would appreciate her butting in with her knowledge so she giggled to herself in a corner whilst awaiting their surprise. Maybe they'd kill her. That would be fun, she thought. Killing the blobs wasn't nearly as fun as killing people. She reveled in the kill, in the way the blood spurted all over her and the way she could see the person's final moments in such a way no one else could. It was intimate in a way that only the few brave enough would experience.
"Who do you think we're saving?" Harley asked when they heard a series of gunshots go off. The blonde had a wicked smile on her lips that used to make Lin's heart swell and beat a million times faster but now only left her numb. "Must be someone important," she sang.
Killer Croc went to open his mouth when the door was slammed open and Deadshot walked out. Harley turned around as the man walked out but her mouth dropped when she spotted the woman behind him, a case in her hand and a gun in the other.
"No way," she said, stunned.
"Yes way," Lin retorted with a smug smile. "I knew it. Figured it out all by myself, didn't even have to ask the cards," she winked at Amanda. "I know a bad bitch when I see her. "
Killer Croc growled and got out of his torn armchair, hood still pulled over his scaly head. The bad guys walked closer in unison, a circle tightening around the pair like a noose. Amanda Waller was trapped but she would never be hopeless.
Where Lin used to stand was now occupied by Deadshot and the place Harley used to be was filled up by Chato Santana who shot the dark-haired woman a curious glance. Maybe not all of them had noticed the icy interactions between the pair or the rapidly deteriorating relationship that was doomed from the moment the psychiatrist fell for Lin. It began with Lin and it ended with Lin.
"Let's go home. Yeah, let's go home." Boomerang hoarsely said, nodding his head at the group of misfits. "That sounds good. You guys wanna go home? Or you wanna go back to prison?"
"I'm not going back to prison," Harley shot back with an eye roll.
Lin shifted her weight from one hip to the other. "I've got a man to get back to. We'd be lucky if Gotham isn't burned to the ground at this point," her eyes turned soft and a gentle smile played at her lips, one that Harley glared at. "And don't forget about the crystals! I've been gone for so long they'll be ruined," she pouted.
The crystals had been a gift from Frost after she once again distracted J from murdering his entire gang during a tantrum. No one remembered what started the outburst - maybe he saw a spider, maybe Lin hadn't given him enough attention or maybe one of the goons had an annoying face. Anything could set him off on a bad day. A full bag of sparkling crystals to soak up all that negative energy was just what they needed, too bad they were such high maintenance.
"What I'm saying is we kill the pair of 'em now before they kill us," Captain Boomerang threatened, making Katana step forward only to be stopped by Waller.
"I got this," the dark-skinned woman said, pushing the other woman behind her slowly. Amanda Waller, the woman behind it all turned back to look at them, entirely at ease even though they all stood there in front of her - alive and pissed. "You all made it this far. Don't get high-spirited on me and ruin the day," she waved the phone at them, showing that she still held the power.
Waller looked at each and every one of them before walking away, knocking her shoulder into Killer Croc's, making the man growl lowly.
All the bad guys turned to glare at her, pretty thoughts of murder floating around in their heads.
"I still think she's a bad bitch," Lin ruined the mood, turning to follow Amanda and her entourage of self-proclaimed 'good guys'. "Hate her guts but you gotta admit she is one powerful woman, unlike y'all."
"I like her," Croc agreed and followed Lin.
---
The group made their way to the roof with Lin in the front and Harley pouting in the back with Deadshot. The two of them seemed to grow closer as Lin and her grew apart. Sure, people naturally grew apart but over the span of a day? Not so much. Maybe being away from her cell and out in the world again was giving Harley a perspective of what could be, and Harley had always been a dreamer. She dreamed of joining the pair in ruling Gotham, but that failed - instead she was the pet of Lin, there whenever she was needed but gone when her man was around. A prized and cherished pet, but a pet nonetheless. And she was tired of being a pet. Lin with her raging attachment issues and Harley with her obsession with being loved, what a pair.
Still, Jay was coming to take Lin home and for two-thirds of the group life would be perfect once more.
"Savior 1-0, the LZ's clear," one of Rick's men said in his earpiece.
As seconds ticked by and the helicopter wasn't getting any closer and the men onboard weren't responding the group grew tense, thinking it was another of the Enchantress' tricks.
"Boss, they're not talking to me."
The helicopter was turning as Rick spoke. "Our bird's been jacked."
Lin's heart skipped a beat at his words but she didn't let her hopes get too high in fear that like the bird, it too would fall out of the sky.
"Light it up!" he commanded and immediately bullets soared towards the helicopter but their efforts were wasted as a hail of bullets flew from the back of the helicopter, hitting man after man after man.
They dove for cover behind pillars and broken pieces of concrete but men all around them fell to the ground. A familiar laugh filled the air, twisting most of the group's insides with an instinctual fear. Apart from the used-to-be couple Deadshot was the only one who recognized it.
Harley and Deadshot squatted behind an old air vent, Rick and some of his crew lurked between two pieces of fallen debris. The rest of the crew was scattered on the roof and there was no way to see anything apart from sparks.
Lin's neck started to tingle and a green light shone from the implant. The soldier next to her paled and gasped.
"What?" she asked, rubbing her neck.
"Your neck," the man exclaimed, "it's glowing!"
"Glowing?!" she shrieked, pulling out the phone to check her reflection. "Aw man! That so does not match my outfit."
The phone vibrated with an incoming message. Lin swiped to unlock the phone and when the screen lit up with the text, the world seemed to fade away - the noise growing quiet and the frantic waving of the soldier in slow motion. 'Now!', it read in bold letters.
The soldier protested as she stood up but she couldn't hear him. All she could hear, all she could see was him. He stood in the helicopter, dressed in a smart suit, golden gun in his hand - hair gelled back and Frost by his side. What more could she want than her two boys back? Her family?
The bullets raining down on them seemed as harmless as snowflakes. None of them got too close to her but neither did they stray too far, framing her as she dramatically sauntered down the roof to her lover. She glanced at Harley who defiantly stared back but didn't move a muscle.
Lin shrugged and turned her eyes back to Joker. He kicked down rope before standing with his arms spread wide, fingers twitching.
"Lin!" Rick yelled after her. "Get back here!"
She didn't hear him, too enthralled with seeing her clown prince of crime after so long to care about any of them. There was only him. Lin imagined Waller was desperately trying to set off the bomb in her neck, only to scream in frustration when realising she's disconnected. Life always finds a way and chaos knows no sides.
It was only by the paper thin loyalty that the group held towards the young woman that they hadn't already shot her. She would have never seen it coming, and, oh, how poetic it would be to tear her away from him when she was so close. Some twisted sense of justice, but they were bad guys and bad guys stuck together.
Lin quickened her steps until she rushed towards the end of the roof. Before anyone could stop her she had already thrown herself off the platform and towards the rope, hands clutching it tightly. A sharp pain tore through her elbows but she barely felt it through the adrenaline.
"Come on, baby," she heard him chant, and she pulled herself up the rope, ignoring the burning pain from her arms as she did so.
Lin almost fell off the helicopter when she saw him again. It had been months since she was this close to him, close enough to touch - close enough to feel. He looked exactly the same except for the purple bags under his eyes and the almost shy smile on his lips.
She was so close to him, inches away from reuniting when she suddenly fell to her knees.