Author's Note: Sorry for the shitty australian accent. And for the Japanese words I picked up from the internet. And enjoy!

Prologue

...

Forgotten.

That was the first word that came to mind when Katana had come to Belle Reve for the first time after the mission.

Harley kept dangling in her cage; beautiful and locked up like a rare bird, too precious to be let out. When the shorter woman approached, the blonde's eyes lit up and she grinned. She didn't think the guards noticed, but Katana had been around people long enough to know when a smile was genuine.

There was no hint of mockery in the convict's features, only pure and unadulterated affection.

The Japanese was let in and they chatted like old friends. Harley spoke the most and she was surprised at how many subjects she could go through within just one breath.

The blonde was smart, she knew. Not once did they touch personal matters such as the Joker and how exactly had she managed to escape from the group last time they fought together.

Katana didn't pry. Instead, she had an expresso.

It tasted delicious.

Objects.

That was how they were seen as. Powerful, unique items, carefully put away in the furthest corner of the closet, to be only taken out when needed.

Floyd was smashing his fists against his punching bag; fast and precise, he reminded her of a tiger. Having fought worse threats before, she walked in his cell without fear and as it was expected of the hitman, she was welcomed with sarcasm and dry looks. When she asked about his daughter though, he seemed to warm up more with each sentence. She didn't miss the glint in his eyes when he showed her a drawing he had been sent from home.

When the guard stationed to his door gave him his "lunch" through the slot in the door, she discreetly pulled a small package from her sash and handed it to him.

Floyd was very thankful for the tempura roll.

Katana wished she'd packed more with her.

Scum.

That's how they looked at them when they even bothered to see past their special abilities. The undesired, defective, unworthy black sheep. Villains.

'Waylon was nowhere to be seen', said the guard. However, Katana could see the subtle undulations in the water as the submerged crocodile watched potential new preys with lethal eyes. She ordered them to wait outside as she walked in, careful to stay close to the walls.

After a while, Jones finally came out and turned the TV on, seemingly ignoring her presence at first. It wasn't five minutes after though, when he started talking about the games he'd been watching since he got the appliance. She'd be lying if she said she didn't feel a little bit honoured when he growled at the murmurs of the guards outside downing the sound of the television, but allowed her to speak freely. She didn't watch baseball, but he seemed content.

Katana promised to watch a game with him the next time she came.

Disposable.

The large metal pipe in the courtyard was removed the day after the mission.

As she watched them clean the burn marks left in the pavement, she finally came up with the perfect word to describe the Suicide Squad.

When one of them broke, not a second was spared before the remains were thrown away. No tears were shed. No time was wasted. The job had been done, and besides...

What a better way to get rid of the bad apples?

"Ah, and so she finally comes!"

The tiny Japanese warrior had the door closed behind her and the man stood from his bed to meet her.

"Fancy seeing ya here, Katana," Captain Boomerang opened his arms, waiting for her to accept the embrace.

He offered a hand instead when she didn't move.

"Didn't expect to meet ya so soon... or anywhere other then the battlefield, for that matter."

Katana hadn't expect that as well.

"Heard ya been visiting the crew, huh?"

Everyone, except for him.

The reason for that, being that Amanda Waller didn't think the Australian had spent time enough in solitary confinement when she had requested a visit. With any sort of human contact out of the question, Katana had to wait three months until he was released and sent to one of the new cells that had been provided for the team.

"I hope your new intallments are agreeable," she said, at last.

"Oh, c'mon, luv, no need for small talk," He sat on a chair in the middle of the room and motioned for the woman to join him, "no worries, it's alright to say ya missed me."

He winked.

Katana ignored the invitation and remained by the door. He couldn't see her frown with the mask, but he did receive the coldest of looks after that last sentence.

"Ta' for the new dog house though," Boomerang commented finally, looking slightly disappointed by her refusal, "real nice."

The new cells were all exactly the same: a small, dirty apartment-like room with a window that didn't open. But they were still more comfortable than the cublices most of the Squad members were in before. There were curtains in the corner hiding the area with the toilet, a sink, a bed and a small table with a pair of equally small chairs, one of which Boomerang had taken for himself. He looked too big for his seat.

The only difference between the cells was that Killer Croc had a small sewer-like hole in his cell instead of a bed...and the cable. Harley kept her coffee machine as well.

It wasn't much, but it was probably the best they could hope for after only one mission.

It was sufficient, she mentally cocluded. They were in jail, after all.

With a sigh, she prepared to take her leave.

"...If you're satisfied with your new placement, I'll-"

"Hey!" Boomerang roose abruptly from his seat, making the chair fall back with a loud thud, "what's the hurry, darl?"

The slot in the door opened and Katana dismissed the guard before he could ask about the noise.

"Tell ya what, I've been saving this for a while now... wait a tick," The man kneeled down and tucked his head under the bed, seemingly searching for something. He looked only slightly desperate.

After a few moments and a triumphant 'yew' later, Boomerang emerged from the bed, a medium sized bottle of wine in hands. "I'm usually good with a grog, but I figured you'd prefer somethin' fancy like that..." He trailed off when he noticed her questioning gaze. "just do me a favor and don't ask me where I got it from."

He watched her, expectantly.

She was about to refuse. Then she looked in his eyes.

He didn't seem any different from the last time they met. Only slightly thinner and his face hair seemed to have grown an inch, but aside from that, the same Captain Boomerang stood before her, wearing the dirty orange uniform of Belle Reeve.

And yet his icy blue stare was colder than ever, making her wonder what a few months of solitary confinment could do to someone.

Deadshot hadn't seemed that affected, but he had his daughter. Harley talked to the guards, Waylon sometimes ate them.

Boomerang had no one. He 'didn't work well with others'.

Also he had publicly disrespected Amanda Waller.

The orbs she stared into were clouded with fear.

Fear of solitude.

The woman opened her mouth to speak and closed it a second later.

"Chikushō..." She exhaled, finally.

Katana neared the door and knocked, feeling the Australian's eyes at her back the whole time. The slot opened with only a second of delay.

"Do not interrupt us anymore, he is already unstable," She lied, smoothly, "I will call you if needed."

The guard nodded and left them be.

The woman drew close to a chair and sat down, wordlessly.

Boomerang let out a a heavy sigh and returned to his chair.

"Almost me there, darl," He looked at her with wide eyes, "but I know I'm irresistable, so..." He smirked.

Katana didn't grace him with a response.

"Right, um..." The man quickly reached for the bottle and opened it with a pop. "they don't get me any glasses, so..." He settled the wine on her side of the table. "ladies first."

He gave her a joyous grin.

Watching him, she sniffed before drinking, noticing...

...Faint traces of fear still in his eyes.

"So, how're the others?" he finally asked, seemingly looking for a subject she would talk about. Katana realised she had barely spoke two sentences since arriving there.

"They are well. Harley seems to have enjoyed the new quarters the most," she replied.

"Cells," he blurted.

His gaze was focused in a wall behind her. He seemed distant.

Her head shifted slightly in confusion.

"New cells," he clarified.

"...yes," Katana watched him, curiously, "Waylon also seems satisfied. He clearly stated 'he would be fine if his TV was'..."

Boomerang snorted at that but made no remarks, almost as if afraid if he made one more interrumption she would stop talking altogether again.

She wasn't finished, though.

"...Floyd said he misses aiming his gun at you."

At that, he let out a roar of a laugh.

"So he did that on purpose," He drank again. "Never really believed 'im when he said it was on accident."

She let him talk as she took the bottle in her hands.

"Yeah, life in prision can be kinda cozy when ya get used to it..."

She drank.

"...guess ya wouldn't know that."

Her eyebrows shot up, again, hidden by the mask.

The comment was definetly unexpected, but she remained exteriorly unfazed. The sudden changes in the nature of his comments were, at least, confusing.

She wouldn't look too deeply into it so soon, however. He did have a reputation for being a 'prick'.

"What about Mr. Boy Scout? He doing alright?"

And for his jokes.

"Colonel Flag is good," she answered, dutifully ignoring the nickname, "busy."

" 'course he is..." Boomerang seemed, once again, disappointed by the lack of verbal response from the woman.

"... how about you?" he insisted, "Wha' is it that you do, anyway? All we got was ya name in the mission, so I've no idea..."

"That's because it was meant to be this way," Katana stated, coldly.

The sentence came out harsh in her mind, so she made the safe decision to refrase it:

"... it's classified."

"...Waller won't let you even say your name?" He asked, slowly.

"It has nothing to do with her," she incautiously said.

It sounded defensive. She refrased again:

"It was something I chose for myself."

"...right."

The woman looked up to meet his gaze and found dark eyes staring down at her.

He took a swing of wine and pased her the bottle, "will ya at least tell me the real one, then?"

She was about to ask, when she realized he meant her name.

He eyes remained dark.

His gaze made her feel shivers run up her spine. He looked at her like he could see right through her mask, deep inside her and was inspecting every inch of her being.

"...Tatsu," Her voice was barely a whisper as she fixed her gaze in his, somewhat unable to look away.

Despite the sudden feeling of vulnerability, she still kept her stance.

She had no doubt every single one of the Squad's members had the ability to give the same look he was giving her now.

She supposed it was something that came with the team.

"I like it," he said, simply.

She nodded, just as simply.

The slot in the door suddenly opened with a loud noise that made Tatsu's hand fly to Soultaker's hilt.

Boomerang looked like he was used to it.

"Dinner time, aussie!" The guard had roughly shoved a plate through the opening and was waiting for the inmate to take it.

"Lemme guess... loaf?" Boomerag stood up and stopped by the door.

"Yeah and look, I think there's even some vegemite inside it this time."

"Clever joke, Griggs, thought that one all by yourself?"

"You betcha," Griggs sneered.

"Good, just don't expect me to go all 'crikey' on ya when I crack ya pretty little-"

"You are dismissed Griggs," Tatsu cut him off, without sparing them a glance, "your shift is over; go now."

"Do you even have the authority?"

One cold look from her was enough to answer him.

The slot closed a little too close to Boomerang's nose for his liking.

"Ta' darl," He sat back down with a smirk, "He just enjoys making life hell in here, the wanker," He eyed the 'loaf' suspiciously and threw it in the sink. She decided not to ask. "but I guess he has a longer history with Floyd," He scoffed, "they're almost mates, I reckon."

Watching him now, he looked slightly more lit up.

She didn't understand where these changes were coming from, but then again, 'deranged lunatic'' was written in his records.

Tatsu chose her next words carefully.

"...I see how it could be a nuisance."

His expression was unreadable.

It bothered her more than she cared to admit.

"...do ya, now?" He chortled, quietly, before briging his tone back to the usual loud boom it was, "that much already? And ya not even tipsy?"

The woman looked down to the wine, seing it signifficantly emptier than before.

"And I took ya for a light weight!"

She stopped a smirk from gracecing her lips. It still didn't go unnoticed by him. "How foolish of you."

"That a challenge I hear, luv?"

Again, she found herself thinking it was incredible how quickly the glint in his eyes could vary, going from gloomy to gleeful to mischievous in a matter of instants.

Tatsu felt glad for the change. She was still trying to deduce how to make him stay in one mood for longer than a minute, though.

Taking a swing, she made the show of placing the wine next to him, silently inviting him to do the same. He did.

"I'm well aware this bottle alone isn't enough to make you drunk, Boomerang."

'Alcoholic' had also been something she picked in the records.

"Spent some of ya spare time looking through me files, darl? Some blokes would call that 'stalking', but I'm honestly flattered."

She laughed.

A quick chuckle, nothing more, but a true laugh, nonetheless

His features visibly lit up with the sound.

The moment Tatsu reallized what had happened, she straightened her back as discretly as possible, then took the bottle in her hands again.

"S'Digger, by the way."

She felt her head tilt again, instinctively.

"Boomerang's for work, Digger's for..." He made an overly dramatic pause and lifted a suggestive eyebrow, "... the rest."

Unimpressed, she rose a brow of her own.

"You were married, I hear?"

Then she froze. That was unexpected.

His face showed clear amazement when every trace of emotion left her eyes in an instant. The woman tasted the wine again and folded both her hands down on her knees, in a visually humble manner. It was a familiar gesture and she remembered doing it in her home land, though never really knowing the reason for it. It was something she had always remembered her mother doing and ended up carrying on with her.

It brought back several memories from the past she decided to push away the moment they appeared.

"Yes."

She looked down at her reflection in the glistening glass of the bottle. Even though all she could see was a black silhouette, she didn't need visual reassurance of how she had changed from that time.

She was someone else entirely now. Suddenly, the Australian's ability to shift emotions didn't impress her so much.

Suddenly feeling uncomfortable in the tiny chair she sat on, Tatsu moved to sit on her knees on the floor, uncaring of how dirty it looked. She wondered how characteristically Japanese she looked at the moment.

"Didn' meant to nark ya, luv."

She looked up at that.

The woman didn't know if believing thie man before her was a wise choice. The obvious answer would be 'no' but she found herself dangling on it more than she would normally. Which was odd, to say the least.

"I was once too, ya know."

His voice broke her from thoughts and she watched as he followed her example and moved to sit on the floor. The cell suddenly felt smaller when she saw that with his back against the bed frame, his stretched legs reached the other end of the room almost perfectly.

"Married, that is," He took the wine and gave it a long gulp, "for about eight months, but yeah."

Their eyes bore into each other's and his blue stare seemed... off, in a rather unsettling way, "Guess you can say she didn't appreciate my line of work..."

When she didn't comment, he continued.

"Y'know, it's really strange if ya stop to think about it. No matter how much ya go through, no matter that ya've been to hell and back for that person, ya're never really good enough, never quite there, right? I mean, stealling banks should be a decent nuff job if it bought the every day crack to the table, huh? N' let me tell ya, she loved the stones..."

He took the bottle in hand once again and her eyes switched worriedly to it. It was almost like he had forgotten about the situation they were currently in.

In his cell, watched by the guards, giving away such personal information to a woman he had talked to for less than a day...

She decided she wasn't having anymore of that wine.

"We even had a son ya know... lil' Owen," Digger suddenly turned his head to the camera above his bed and flipped it off, "His dead ya dickheads, so don't even think about it!"

The interested look he gave the floor was more than enough to tell her that he was lying. She remained quiet anyway.

"She took him," he stated with cold eyes, "y'know, one o' the only things I remember from that time is she sayin': 'ya no good next to him, Harkness, you get away from here now or I'm gonna make you regret it'," he mimicked with a high pitched voice, "...well, she did."

Digger's lost gaze assumed a new shine, much different from the previous ones she had experienced.

"She did, the bitch!" He slammed his fist heavily against the table.

Anger.

Tatsu remained calm throughout his whole monologue and outburst, as usual. She examined him again, with fascinated eyes.

The woman was almost certain now that there was something about that bottle, but she wouldn't comment on it. Though she wouldn't blame the mood changes on the drink, there was something else that bothered her about Digger's behavior.

To simply let her know of all these facts all of a sudden was a little more than careless, in her opinion.

His shoulders seemed a bit more slumped than before as well...

"Ya get what I'm talking about dont'cha?" he looked like he wasn't paying attention to his own words. Or like he didn't care. "To lose someone ya ca-... and feel like ya could've done something? Could've stopped it?"

Oh.

She did get it. She knew everything about it, "yes."

To have your entire world crumble around you and to be the one with the burden to carry on, to keep living alone.

Tatsu remembered how it seemed umbearable at the beginning, how the world felt a little duller every day and a little darker every night. She remembered even more clearly how it felt to realize that you've become numb to this kind of suffering. There's a time when, finally, after all the pain, one must gather their broken pieces and move on.

Or they too would, eventually, be lost.

"Heh."

To her surprise, he laughed.

What started out with a simple chuckle, developed to a full gag and he had to put a hand behind him on the floor as to not fall back.

"Y'know what, luv? This is hilarious."

She stared at Digger, who's body was shaking visibly.

"Why am I telling ya this? I don't even know anymore and I couldn't give two flying fucks about it, but look at this! Captain-fucking-Boomerang going batshit crazy in his cell, again, except this time his pissed, mumbling some shit about family... I actually think I lost it this time, luv, I'm think I'm... I'm uh..."

Tatsu felt her mouth gapping, at a loss of words.

"Insane! Yes, that's the word, ta' darl," he looked at her in a grateful manner, despite her continued silence, "Not quite like Harley, I reckon, but that's a whole new level of crazy, if ya ask me!" he grinned, "broken."

"Broken, yeah that's more like it... Think the others already realized by now...? Those 'Suicide Squad' animals? Nah, bet they did and just don't give a shit about it either..." The man chuckled.

"Digger..."

"And you!" He frantically stood up from his spot on the ground and moved to her. Tatsu jumped to her feet as well, hand flying to sword in a instant. "You, Tatsu, ya wonderful warrior you, are just as broken!"

"Sit back down, or I'll hav-"

"What, kill me? Come now, luv, y'know ya can't do this without going through Mama Waller first, dontcha?"

He grabbed her shoulders, firmly. It wasn't strong enough to hurt her, but the desregard for personal space made her feel utterly powerless.

"Yeah, sorry but me life isn't yours for the taking. It's not even me own anymore! Like you! Ya pretty little honored samurai life isn't yours either; it's ya dead husband's, I bet! Or maybe someone else you've let down, hell if I know how many those are... But tell me, how is it to wake up everyday, moved only by that sickening feeling of revenge, huh? I mean, look at me telling ya the sad story of me shitty life and ya don't even bat an eyelid! I actually thought ya'd just died in there under that pretty mask of yours before I saw ya breathing... No, wait... Are you alive? 'Cause for all I know all that 'avenger' way of living just makes you more dead inside each time ya swing that big bad sword of... yours."

Digger's voice died when he saw the single teardrop that ran down her cheek from under her mask. Her dark eyes were the same, betraying no emotion and her stance remained flawless, but the wet trail in the left side of her face showed a clear crack in her composure that made his knees feel damn weak.

He suddenly felt dreadfully self conscious. And... dizzy.

He lifted a hand to her and wiped tear away, uncaring of how heavy his body felt at the moment. He stared at the ink black orbs before him and marveled at the feeling of vastness within them, feeling the corners of his own vision darkening.

"Yeah, darl... I guess... we're in the same boat..."

He leaned in and pressed a single kiss on the red sun in her forehead, despite the vertigo he felt after such brief movement, "...same boat o' broken toys you and I... Heh..."

He let out a laugh that sounded terribly like a wheeze.

"Now, luv, if ya don't mind... I'm feeling a bit..."

Tatsu watched wordlessly as his eyes rolled back and his shoulder slouched. Like a big grizzly bear falling asleep, Captain Boomerang was passed out on the floor, limbs spreading in every general direction.

A second later, the door opened and three armored guards walked inside, grabbing the man and dragging him outside.

"Wait..." she began, when Griggs walked inside, looking more bashful than usual, "...what is the meaning of this?"

"Ms. Yamashiro, lemme expl-"

"You have ten seconds."

"Alright, alright! See, kangaroo's been really agitated lately... keeps punching the guards when they come in and yelling at everyone..."

"I didn't see any of that behavior."

"I know! And it's strange really, you're the only one he didn't jump on since he got here..."

"Where's he being taken to?"

"Oh, it's just a check up with the medics, the others are going too..."

"Were they all tranquilized?"

"Tranquilized? No! What makes you thin-"

"Griggs."

The man's complexion lightened significantly at her tone.

"Y-yes?"

"Where did he get the wine from?"

"I... might have given it...to him?"

The sword was against his throat in a blink of an eye. His.

"I was ordered to do it, I swear! We needed something strong to knock off these guys if they got too noisy, you know? It takes five guards only to take him for a friggin' shower! They just decided to test that shit on him, because he is the scenemaker around here... I knew he'd drink it eventually, I mean, the asshole's such a boozer..."

"What do you mean 'you''?"

He wavered and for a moment, Tatsu thought he would pass out. That didn't make her grip falter.

"Listen, I was just trying to maker my job easier!" he almost whined, "it isn't toxic or anything, just... j-just a... little psychedlic experience? He probably enjoys it..."

"I drank from that bottle."

"Oh shit..." His hands went to his head with panicked eyes. "I didn't know he would give it to you, I thought he'd just down it all as soon as he got his hands on it, you kn-"

"I can report you for not only intoxicating an inmate without permission, but an special member of the ARGUS agency and trying to blame it on your superiors as well,"

Her eyes locked with his and she purposifully let her sword down, for effect. "or..."

Griggs ran, but not very far.

Epilogue

...

"What really happened to Owen?"

Her question took him off guard. Digger looked at her spot on the ground and wondered why did she never took a chair. Maybe they were too small, even for her. She looked ashamed after asking, the little thing. He didn't know why; he had told her much more personal things in her past visits. By now, she should have gotten over asking him stuff.

"Gomen nasai, I shouldn't have asked."

"Nah, s'alright luv..." he waved her apologies off, "...never met 'im."

She watched him, expectantly.

"Get home from 'work' one day and she's just gone," he explained, plainly, "no notes, not a damn thing," he shrugged, "don't even know when's the lad's birthday, really."

She didn't say a word, as usual. She didn't coment much on his stories, but always listened intently. Digger always thought she looked like a ghost with that mask of hers... pale and quiet but always watching. It honestly gave him the creeps, but he'd never admit that to her.

"I had children too."

"Heh!" He had to snort at that. His smile didn't die even when she threw him a look,"sorry, darl, I just can't imagine a badass samurai sheila like ya surrounded by little ankle bitters."

She visibly rolled her eyes at that. He smirked and shrugged.

She remained in her spot, eyes wandering from place to place in his cell. She always did that when she visited. Like she was looking from something different than the last time. He'd told her long ago that things never changed much here, but she always checked anyways.

If in a way her covered face spooked him, her eyes were the liviest things she'd seen for as long as he remembered. Black as tart and yet so full of light.

Digger stopped to analyse his last thought and decided he should write it down sometime; he wasn't always so eloquent.

From his shitty excuse of a bed, he watched as she observed the room. Then, he stopped.

With a finger up, he held back from saying 'eureka'.

No, she wasn't a ghost. She was more of a fox. Those really red ones from Japan she'd told him about once for some reason or another. Quiet and pale in a way, yes, but how much does a fox hides under all that shiny fur? Still as a statue it watches as the other animals break havoc, eyes moving like quick little bugs, and you can bet your ass it already knows 13 different ways to kill every single one of them and escape graciously.

The fox never takes it's mask, because if it did it would never be able to pull off something like that. Whatever it's past was, it now lives as a shadow, hiding the pain, the emotion... nothing is left out in the open.

But if you are really slick... you can get a glimpse.

A glimpse of whoever that fox used to be, before it became no one. It shows in the eyes... those beautiful dark eyes.

He should definetly write that down.

Digger was about to ask her for a pen or something when he realized he had been watching her for the past few minutes, almost in a trance. She was staring back, questioningly.

"What? Oh no, s'nothing, Tatsu..." he smiled, "I was just thinking... how broken pieces really mend each other so well, y'know?"