Chapter Text
The weather didn't change. Rose squinted to see if it was raining or if she was just imagining it. It was hard to be sure when glass separated her from the outside. She took a sip of her coffee, but winced and put it down on the windowsill. Still too hot.
“King Shark showed promising signs of composure since he got admitted here. It's his first time outside.“ officer Cash walked up to her, staring out the window with a frown, „He shouldn't cause any problems.“
“Oh, please. Look at him.“ Rose gestured with her hand, “If I didn't know any better I would think it's his first day of school.“
The shark was out in the yard, sat on a bench that was much too small for him and glancing at anyone who passed by him. He almost looked lost.
“When are you going to talk to him?“
“Tomorrow.“
“You think he's got potential?“
"It doesn't matter what I think. That's up to Waller.“ Cash hummed and nodded, but Rose continued, „But yeah. He does.“
“Hmph, what about the Aussie?“
“What about him?“
“Waller already approved him, no? Oh, and didn't he save you in the yard the other day or something?“
“You could say. A fight broke out, I was in the middle of it, he took the fight away from my direction.“
Rose still remembers it clear as day. They replaced the broken table by now but when she looks out at the yard she can still imagine Harkness slouched over the other prisoner, blood dripping from his nose and his knuckles. She doesn't exactly know how to feel about the whole situation, but maybe that's because she doesn't let herself think about it too much. Every time she remembers herself in the medical facility at the foot of Boomerang's bed, she tries her best to think about something else.
He huffed out a laugh, “I'm just glad that other guy's in lockdown now. What was it, Rambo?“
“Rango.“
“Rango, right. And the others?“
“Well, there's the doctor gone rogue and the man who never misses. You tell me.“
Rose read all of their files. Harley Quinn, Dead Shot, Captain Boomerang and King Shark. All deadly, all wanting to get out. She never saw Harley Quinn in person, only photographs, and she would lie if she said she wasn't curious to meet her. Out of all the convicts she was assigned to evaluate, she was most excited to meet another woman with a degree in psychology, even if this one was apparently insane. She saw Deadshot once, but remembered how he looked. And she was almost in awe when hearing stories about his shooting skills, because as hard as they were to believe, they were all true. King Shark is unlike anything she's seen before. She felt like she was reading a fantasy novel when researching about him and his origins, and it baffled her to see such a seemingly powerful creature sit all shy on a yard bench. And then there's Captain Boomerang. His records were insane. She was in a briefing about a month ago and she remembered Colonel Flag say over a call that it would take at least two reams of paper to print out his full rap sheet. And it wasn't exactly a lie. She nearly had a stroke when researching about his past. Among other crimes, the man had nearly a hundred counts of burglary to his name. Who robs a hundred fucking banks? He does, apparently.
Cash went to say something but both his and Rose's comms lit up and a male voice spoke trough the radio.
“This is watcher-09. Report to the north wing, Mockingbird wants to see you.“
Suddenly her coffee was long forgotten. They both looked at each other in silence until Rose spoke up.
“What's Waller doing here?“
.
The trip to the north wing was short. Cash pushed open a big door and walked into a large room filled with rows and rows of computers, with an enormous monitor covering the whole front wall. It was uncanny to see the room completely empty. Rose followed him in and stopped next to the giant monitor, and in front of them stood Amanda Waller, holding a manila file in her hand. She dropped the file on a desk.
“Doctor, I'm afraid your time in Arkham is over, you're being relocated to Metropolis under Colonel Flag's command. Cash, I need all my convicts ready.“
“What happened?“ Cash inquired.
“Metropolis has been invaded. We are sending Task Force X on the field and there's no time for evaluation, either they're ready or they're not.“ she slid the file across the table to Cash.
“They are, ma'am .“ Rose said and Waller looked at her.
“Did you talk to all of them?“
“No. Only Captain Boomerang. But I've done my research.“
Waller nodded, “You've given me no reason to doubt you so far, doctor.“
“Thank you, ma'am. When am I leaving?“
“Right now.“
___
Wind gushed around and picked up small debris as the helicopter lowered to the ground. The door opened and Rose stepped out, clutching her rifle. A tall man with a mellow expression on his face walked up to her, shouting so he's heard over the loud whirring of the helicopter.
“Rose Wilson?“, he outstretched his hand, „I'm Colonel Rick Flag. They call you doc', right?“
She grabbed his hand and shook it, „That's me. What's the situation?“
“We're continuing travel on wheels. Anything that flies around here is an easy target.“
As they walked to a group of trucks the helicopter started leaving. They stood in the outskirts of Metropolis, surrounded by burnt down trees and collapsed buildings. She could see the outline of the city in the distance, and the giant alien ship hovering over the sky, its mechanical tentacles weaving through skyscrapers, and it seemed as though it engulfed the entire city. Her blood ran colder by the second, and she held her weapon tightly as she watched everything. Flag spoke again, not yelling this time.
“What's the situation in Arkham?“
“Waller's getting her Task Force ready.“
He was quiet for a second until they reached a truck. He turned to her, “So the circus is actually joining the defense?“
She nodded.
“And you're the one who picked them out?“ He looked at her pensively.
“Waller picked the members. I was just there to… provide extra precaution.“
“Make sure they're insane enough to do this, huh?“
“Aren't we all, Colonel?“ She smiled bitterly.
“Damn right. But that there's another type of crazy. Gotta make sure to keep 'em in line.“
“And how does Waller plan to do that?“
He was quiet for a second, searching for his words.
“You ever heard of a bomb injector?“
.
She sat in the back of the truck, relaxing into her seat as much as she could. So, it was finally happening, she thought. She wondered if the criminals would come out of this with their heads intact. Literally. In all honesty, she hoped they would. Even though she didn't have a direct say in it, Rose was still involved in choosing the prisoners for the Task Force and sending them to their potential deaths.
A memory slipped into her head, then. Her, in the medical facility, standing at the foot of Digger's bed after he just saved her. Willingly. She thought about that often. He didn't have to step in, didn't have to earn bruises and stitches and isolation time just so she wouldn't get hit. But he did it anyway, and he didn't expect anything in return, either. That made her wonder. If he could do something selfless like that, could they all? Was there any good left in them? In him? But it didn't matter now. There's a chance she won't ever see him again, whether that be because of his death, or maybe even hers.
And she wasn't sure it if was from lack of sleep, or hundreds of destroyed homes, or maybe even because of the weather, but now she sat in the back of a truck leading to a dangerous combat zone, and she just wished she would've thanked him properly.