More like fetch the mop.

“This place is a goddamn mess,” you muttered as you gazed down over the railings from the top of the half-demolished watchtower overlooking the main complex of Belle Reeve Penitentiary, or at least what’s left of it. The secretive government prison was in utter ruins. A number of cranes, bulldozers and heavy trucks dotted the ravaged landscape alongside scores of construction workers, all hard at work sifting through the wrecked facility. “It looks like a fucking warzone down there,” you said.

You turned back to look at the cool red-headed operative in black tactical jumpsuit. The sharp-looking beauty had been tasked by Catheryn to be your security detail. Anastasia Demidova was the name she used back at your club, but Catheryn had insisted that you use codenames out in the field, now that you’re back under Uncle Sam’s payroll.

“Redline… was it?” You asked.

“Affirmative sir.” The pale beauty replied in a slight Russian accent without looking at you. She stared cooly straight ahead as she stood by the balcony entrance.

“So what’s your story? Are you one of the freaks that were locked up in here?” You asked.

“Negative. Director Fairchild would have briefed you on my history should she deem it necessary.”

You smiled, “Just making conversation. How long have you been on this… Task **** X?”

“As long as you have, sir. As you can see from the state of the containment facility below us, the previous task **** is considered defunct. Director Fairchild and I were brought in after the incident, and the new task **** was officially sanctioned after we acquired you.”

You returned your gaze to survey the wrecked site below and whistled to yourself. “So you guys have been locking up super baddies and making them do your dirty work until they somehow busted out of here and completely wiped out the previous leadership? Now they’re out there in public doing god knows what... Sheesh. Somebody sure fucked up on a colossal scale.”

“Yes sir.”

“I get that we’re supposed to clean this up and start anew, but how do we know they’re not setting us up as the fall guys here? I mean this is the U.S. government we’re talking about.”

“The breakout incident has been fully attributed to the mis-management of former director, Amanda Waller.” Anastasia replied.

You chuckled, “Heh-heh. Wouldn’t want to be in that bitch’s shoes right now.”

“Probably not, sir. Former director Waller has been confirmed to be among the casualties of the incident.”

You grimaced, “Did the inmates get to her? She’s not the most popular warden, I imagine.”

“Yes sir. She was made to swallow hundreds of micro-explosive implants that were then detonated remotely. It’s the same implants used as kill-switches for members of the previous squad.”

You turned around to look at Anastasia again. “Kill switches?”

“Former director Waller managed the Suicide Squad by implanting explosives into their skulls, forcing them to comply within operation parameters under the threat of setting off the explosives. The tactic worked well… until it didn’t recently.”

You started rubbing the back of your head in concern. “Jesus Christ, I knew you guys sounded too good to be true. Is there a bomb in my head right now?”

Anastasia glanced at you impassively. “I don’t know,” she said frankly.

“Motherfucker…” You muttered.

The communication device in your right ear made a chime and Catheryn’s husky voice flowed into your ear.

“John, have you had a good look of the facility from up there?”

“Uhuh,” you replied, “Looks like a piece of work. And I learned some new things too. Tell it to me straight, Cate. Do I have a bomb in my head?”

Catheryn chuckled. “That was Waller’s playbook, darling. I plan to run Task **** X very differently.”

“Uhuh. While that’s a huge relief to me, I can’t imagine anything more effective than a live bomb inside the heads of these freaks to bring them to heel. What exactly do you have planned?”

Catheryn chuckled seductively in your ear. “As the saying goes, you catch more flies with honey.”

“I thought it would be something like that. I’m the honeypot, I take it?”

“Mmmm… you catch on fast.”

“Just one problem though. My powers don’t work on men… Hell, I don’t even know if it works on super freaks.”

“Let me worry about that, darling,” Catheryn said, “In the meantime, we’ve managed to track down several of the escaped convicts. I do believe we can start rebuilding the Suicide Squad sooner than expected.”

“That was quick,” you grumbled as you shot a glance in Anastasia’s direction. “Thought I would have a little more time to get acquainted with my colleagues.”

Catheryn giggled as if knowing what was on your mind. “Well it’s not like these villains were trying very hard to hide. Most of them are already up to their old tricks. As for your… colleagues, there’s no quicker place to build a bond than out in the field. You’d be basically snagging two birds in one swipe.”

You sighed and scratched the back of your head. “Fine. So where am I headed?”

“Gotham City. We’ve got some very naughty girls there who needs a good daddy.”