Weakness Can Be Leveraged

[inv-amandawaller]

ragingandravaging​:

…

“I can agree with you on that note. Not the biggest fan of Daddy Dearest.” An understatement, for certain. But it was absolutely more complicated than that in ways that Rose still struggled with. Her relationship with her father was complicated at best and something Rose absolutely struggled with at all times. Especially lately, after the Cambodia incident. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to forgive him for that. “I haven’t spoken to him in a while.” A long time. She wasn’t ready, knew it would just end in yelling and blows like most Wilson Family Reunions. She was still too upset about the situation regarding the family he’d paid to pretend to be her family and knew her emotions would get the best of her. “I’m pretty sure I can hunt him down, though.”

“Then you have more sense than I expected,” Amanda offered simply. It was good that she know this, too. Another point of leverage if necessary. But for now, what Rose was saying sounded like acquiescence. That was good. It would be a waste to have to neutralize her. She had skills. And maybe, given her stance on Deathstroke, she could yet be useful. 

“Good. You’ll have resources, and a field commander if you need to reach us. We’ll monitor your progress and expect regular correspondence and status updates.” She didn’t reiterate the cranial explosive. Apparently that wasn’t much of a concern for Rose Wilson.

[inv-amandawaller]

palexwidow​:

\

“I’m not loyal to them. Not after what they did to me.” Yelena told her through tight lips. “And Natalia? She knew. She left us all down their to rot together.” She hissed as she leaned forward. Though Natasha may of not agreed, this was personal to her and there was no handler to tell her to drop it. No one to dissuade her. Natalia got to live the American dream so to speak and the she was left to behind to suffer. That she would not forgive. 

“Because, I have destabilized countries from within the inside. Took out some of the best in the business and you want to hire me to catch a psychotic clown lady.” She gestured to the pad again with the paused footage. “I can do so much and this is what you want me to do?” She repeated, licking her lips for a moment as if insulted. 

“People don’t usually hire assassins for captures.” She pointed out, looking up at the other woman. As she explained why she would do it, Yelena looked at her before chuckling. “My God, that’s cool.” She could give her that. “I mean, you could’ve of just asked but your way is a little more interesting I’ll give you that.” Yelena watched her for a moment. “Fine. I’m in but if I do this, I want my gear and you trust me to know what I’m doing as much as I am trusting for you not to get trigger happy on me.” She watched the other woman, to see any flinch of betrayal. “I think that sounds fair.”

Amanda did not know nor did she care about Yelena’s issues with Natasha. Surely that was something she could address on her own. The task at hand and the future of the organization she supported mattered more to Amanda than any individual journey. So she simply nodded. The Red Room and its legacy had been an irritant to the United States for some time, but they had also been adept at containing any information about it within Russian borders. The assassins could be found, but many died before they were able to be interrogated, and many died during the interrogation. Only Romanoff had been able to give them valuable information when she had defected. Barnes might have been able to, had the US ever been able to take him into custody. But Captain America had made sure that no one could lay claim to the war criminal known as the Winter Soldier. The United States Government had not forgotten that either. Still, it was convenient to allow Rogers to run his organization against Darkseid at the moment, so they did not push to interfere. If they were facing armageddon, Barnes’ trial wasn’t a priority.

“If you can do so much, do this,” Amanda countered. “And perhaps from there we can work on something you’d find more up to skill.”

Considering the terms, Amanda gave a single nod. “Done. This is a live capture, as you have pointed out. There will be no need to detonate the explosive if you don’t deviate off-mission. You will wear a communication piece connected both to headquarters here and to our field commander, Colonel Rick Flag. Not negotiable. If we pull the plug on the op, you will report for extraction. Everything else is up to you. Bring us Quinn, and we’ll consider allowing renegotiation of the terms of your recruitment.”

[inv-amandawaller]

ragingandravaging​:

…

Rose cracked a smile there, unable to help herself. “People like me pollute the world? Have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately, ma’am?” Her inability to keep her mouth shut would be the end of her, but she was well aware of that. Mouthy to the bitter end. “I’d argue that I’m the one that cleans up the messes, really. Have you seen my docket, the people that I clean up after? Pedophiles. Drug lords. Human traffickers. People that deserve to die, and so they do. I might get paid for it, sure, but I do my research before I take the job.” She didn’t love mercenary work, but she was good at it. Made for it, some might argue, considering who her dad was. In her blood. She was good at it, the money was easy, and she found a way to make it more tolerable for her. “There’s no rehabilitating people like that. Not to mention, the scummiest scum always manage to walk even if they are because money talks. So I sleep pretty good at night.” Task Force X. The Suicide Squad. This was not a position she exactly liked to find herself in. Rose Wilson did what she wanted and didn’t exactly like the sound of orders, especially not orders with the rumored bomb in her neck. Word traveled, especially in her…complicated circle considering she was half int he hero world and half on their shit list. However when Amanda brought up the objective Rose had been brought in for, Rose finally cracked all the way despite the situation: she laughed. It started out as a bit of an escaped giggle, and then turned into a full-force laugh. “All this? You did all this for that? Lady, I would’ve done that for free.”

She didn’t rise to Wilson’s taunting. She’d gone up against bigger pains in the ass than a young girl with daddy issues and a bad attitude. Better to just ignore her. “The scummiest scum. Like the man who trained you.” Slade Wilson had been brought up on charges before that they were certain would stick, only for his legal counsel to find some way to pull him out of it. It was the biggest pain in the ass.

The laughter was a bit of a surprise. “Are you aware of his location, and can you bring him to us?” she asked simply. She would still be doing it for free. But this preliminary mission wasn’t the only thing for which Amanda wanted to use her. It was just her flagship.

[inv-amandawaller]

palexwidow​:

inv-amandawaller·:

“Tell that to her,” Amanda answered. Frankly, she didn’t care about Belova’s faulty intel. If anything, it was something she could use at a later date if necessary. After all, every one of these operatives needed a leash or a control rod. It just became a matter of determining what the correct methods were. This woman may think herself infallible, but no one was. Not even Amanda, herself, though she attempted to present as such. In that, she and Belova weren’t so different. 

“Because she’s of no use to me dead,” Amanda answered tightly. She didn’t like to be questioned, even if the delinquents she dealt with often had the audacity. “And if it were that simple, don’t you think it would have been handled by now?” She shook her head, sitting back in her chair. “There is a delicate balance to every one of our cities right now, Miss Belova. Kill the Joker, release the underbelly he keeps in line onto the overflowing refugee problem in Gotham. That’s a lot of paperwork back at headquarters. Doesn’t Russia teach the Domino Effect?” She shook her head.

Reaching for a tablet on the table, Amanda pulled up some captured footage of Harley Quinn laughing gleefully as she swung a massive hammer, deployed five grenades with reckless abandon, killed a man with his own gun. She was far more capable than her appearance gave her credit for. “She’s an Olympic-level gymnast,” Waller explained. “Excellent with improvised weaponry, a genius with an intimate knowledge of the inner mind. She’s not to be underestimated.”

Nodding to the tablet again, Waller added: “We sent twenty agents on that op. One survived and he came home with a Chelsea Grin.” Perhaps that would offer Belova some much needed perspective.

\

“Get her in here and I will.” Yelena countered before even a second of silence could pass after Amanda’s sentence. As she explained that there was no use for the woman if she was dead, Yelena looked back at her. “She isn’t exactly being useful now, is she?” She chuckled dryly as she let out a long sigh as she looked up at the ceiling for a moment. “I don’t know. I find American targets to be rather easy.” She shrugged as to why the woman wasn’t captured if Yelena thought it to be so easy. As she spoke about the ramifications of killing her, Yelena’s head tilted her. “They teach us that if someone is a problem, you put them in the ground. Problem solved.” She responded. 

She watched the footage, chuckling under her breath. “Impressive. Impressively messy that is.” She said as she looked back at Amanda. As she explained how many agents she had sent in, Yelena rolled her eyes a little. “No offense but I’m not one of your meathead op soldiers.” She told her, glancing to one of the guards in the room. “I’m a Widow. You should know what that means if your a smart lady.” She said simply. 

“Because I can end this right now. I could kill your friend. Kill you and either make it out alive or die trying. Though dying that way kinda sucks.” She shrugged as she leaned forward. “And I like an opportunity once it presents itself.” She smiled. “But let us cut the bullshit and get to the real deal. What do I get out of this? And please don’t give me some cheesy line about American freedom otherwise I’ll throw myself to the monsters outside.”

Amanda watched the other in silence, though her mouth lifted into a smirk. “I suppose that would explain the rising and falling of Russia’s government, the starvation and poverty in their rural provinces, and the generally ineffectual approach to warfare, foreign and domestic affairs, et cetera. No foresight. I wouldn’t call myself a patriot, Miss Belova, but I’m not sure Russia’s any better off in this race than the US.” She thought it was painfully black and white, the view Yelena presented. But again, it didn’t matter.

“I do know what it means,” she answered. “It’s why you’re here. So far, though, the backtalk and flippancy reminds me exactly of ‘meathead op soldiers’. I’m hoping on the job you slip on another face.” 

The threat fell on uninterested ears. “I haven’t underestimated you, Belova. You’d do well to afford me the same courtesy.” Leaning in once more, she shrugged. “It’s very simple, really. For now, you do this for me. In exchange, I won’t detonate the high-level explosive we implanted while you were sedated on the trip over. It’s currently nestled right next to your spine. At the push of a button, you’re nothing more than a smear on the floor. Another wasted asset. Personally, I can think of better ways to go out. And it sounds like you can as well.”

[inv-amandawaller]

palexwidow​:

\

As the woman brought up Natasha, Yelena’s jaw tightened as she looked back at the other. “Natalia is a traitor and she will betray you in given time.” Just like she had her but she decided to omit that part of the history lesson. Still, she hated being bested by the redhead. “Natalia likes to run around and play superheroes. Little girls looking up to a killer. I’m not looking to play superheroes.” She told her bluntly with a steely gaze.

Yelena looked over the file before looking back at Amanda before glancing back to the file. “You literally brought me in to capture a psychologist turned bad make-up artist?” She asked shaking her head. “Why not just kill the boyfriend and then kill her? Problem solved.” She personally didn’t understand why she would be wanted by this woman of all people.

“Tell that to her,” Amanda answered. Frankly, she didn’t care about Belova’s faulty intel. If anything, it was something she could use at a later date if necessary. After all, every one of these operatives needed a leash or a control rod. It just became a matter of determining what the correct methods were. This woman may think herself infallible, but no one was. Not even Amanda, herself, though she attempted to present as such. In that, she and Belova weren’t so different. 

“Because she’s of no use to me dead,” Amanda answered tightly. She didn’t like to be questioned, even if the delinquents she dealt with often had the audacity. “And if it were that simple, don’t you think it would have been handled by now?” She shook her head, sitting back in her chair. “There is a delicate balance to every one of our cities right now, Miss Belova. Kill the Joker, release the underbelly he keeps in line onto the overflowing refugee problem in Gotham. That’s a lot of paperwork back at headquarters. Doesn’t Russia teach the Domino Effect?” She shook her head.

Reaching for a tablet on the table, Amanda pulled up some captured footage of Harley Quinn laughing gleefully as she swung a massive hammer, deployed five grenades with reckless abandon, killed a man with his own gun. She was far more capable than her appearance gave her credit for. “She’s an Olympic-level gymnast,” Waller explained. “Excellent with improvised weaponry, a genius with an intimate knowledge of the inner mind. She’s not to be underestimated.”

Nodding to the tablet again, Waller added: “We sent twenty agents on that op. One survived and he came home with a Chelsea Grin.” Perhaps that would offer Belova some much needed perspective.

[inv-amandawaller]

palexwidow​:

\

Yelena blew air between her lips with a ‘brrrr’ sound as the other woman walked in and began talking. She was still somewhat young and always had a streak of stubbornness in her. “Why not? Torture sometimes gets a job done, does it not?” She suggested simply. She wasn’t in the business of trading stories. Just stealing them for a client maybe. 

As the other woman continued to talk, Yelena’s eyes followed her. “One of? I’m insulted.” She humored dryly. “You Americans and your spies are like butter in the summer. No grit. All fancy pancy.” She humored under her breath as she relaxed in the seat. Though she seemed slumped in her seat, her eyes never left the other woman as she addressed her as a war criminal. “I prefer spy. Everyone in the black ops field is a war criminal.” She huffed as she sat up straight.

As the woman tapped her finger on a picture, her eyes glanced at the picture. “A little early for Halloween isn’t it?” She asked, her eyes glancing back the the other woman. They took every made-up holiday so seriously it was ridiculous. “Well, get on with it then.” She huffed flapping her wrists for a moment. 

Looking at her pointedly, Amanda studied her. “One of, yes. Miss Romanoff has more kills than you do last I checked. She was very good for Russia before she was ours.” And now she was no one’s, so it was another fire to be put out. But it wasn’t her fire. Not right now. Right now, she wanted the clown. 

“But I digress,” she continued, watching the Russian with a quirk of a brow. “I want this woman. Harleen Quinnzel aka Harley Quinn. She’s often found at the Joker’s side, and she has never been detained for more than a few weeks before her boyfriend busts her out. She’s fearless, and she’s completely insane.” Crossing her arms, she watched Belova. “Bring her to me, and we won’t have any problems.”

[inv-amandawaller]

ragingandravaging​:

…

Rose took the stare with one of her own, expression remaining neutral even as her mind worked. There weren’t a lot of options here, but she’d been in shitty situations before. She’d always worked her way out of those, just had to come up with a plan. She could do that here, given enough time. No time to worry or panic, and even as it was, that wasn’t her style. “Not in Kansas anymore?” There was a lopsided smile with that comment, eyes re-focusing on Amanda in front of her rather than assessing the environment. Rose was never able to hold her tongue, not even in circumstances like this when she could dig herself a deeper hole. Amanda’s expression in regards to her pulled a bigger smile from Rose, and she raised a single eyebrow. “I do know who you are, yeah. And you clearly know me. So now that introductions are out of the way, can we get to the point here? Suspense isn’t really my style.”

Get to the point. Very well. “The point, Miss Wilson, is that you are a degenerate. People like you pollute the world and create issues that people like me have to send someone to clean up.” Leaning in, she watched the young woman with a smirk. “But even vermin has its uses. In this case, it’s hunting down larger vermin.”

She watched the other woman. “Since you know who I am, then I trust you’re aware of the situation you’re in.” Task Force X had been formed and disbanded, cycled through members, et cetera. But Amanda was aware that she had a reputation. She was using it now. 

The sound of the file slapping down on the desk was a satisfying one, but this one was thick. After all, the individual about which it held info was certainly notorious. And he had been around for a while. Amanda had simply been the first one to think about using a family connection to haul him in. “Miss Wilson, the objective is very simple: I’m looking for Deathstroke. You’re going to bring him to me.”

[inv-amandawaller]

palexwidow​:

Yelena was not one to go down easy. A high profile kill was enough to bring unwanted attention her way and she covered all of her tracks. Almost. So when she was brought in, she had already dropped enough bodies to ensure that they lost some good people that day but she wouldn’t go down without a fight. However, she was cornered. Outnumbered and she had failed.

Hearing the voice, Yelena stared back at the woman. “If you are going to torture me, get it over with.” She said with a small roll of her eyes. “I can promise you I have felt worse.” She sighed as she looked down. “This is going to be a lame way to die.” She muttered under her breath.

Amanda approached the assassin, unintimidated and unfazed by her belligerence. She had killed a number of their men, but they were expendable. Humans would never be more of a prize than a meta. It was coarse way of thinking, but a pragmatic one. “I assure you, Miss Belova, if you cooperate then there will be no need for torture. We are not in the business of wasting talent like yours.”

Her dark eyes moved to one of the handlers nearby, giving a nod. Without a word, they moved forward to drop a file on the table in front of Yelena. Reaching forward, Amanda flipped it open for the Russian Assassin’s perusal. “You’re one of the best in your field,” she remarked in a matter of fact tone. “And you’ve taken down a number of persons of interest, including several within the US Government. By all counts, you are a war criminal.” 

Leaning in, a dark finger tapped on the picture in the corner of the file: a manic, smiling face of a clown well-known to any who had ever stepped foot in Gotham. “Fortunately, I’m sanctioned to work with people of your caliber. If you’re really the best, then this one should be no problem.” Considering, she cocked her head. “You can hear my proposal, or we can hand you over to the nearest high security facility for booking and imprisonment. Choice is yours.”

[inv-amandawaller]

ragingandravaging​:

….

“I think I’ll stand, if it’s all the same.” Less than a month back in the States and she already found herself in a mess. Not uncharacteristic of Rose, truth be told, but annoying all the same. She had been getting close to completing a job, had nailed the target’s usual patterns and had figured out her next course of action when this happened. An absolute inconvenience, this would definitely be setting her back at least a day…maybe more, since she was still unsure of how long it would take to get herself out of this. A sticky situation, to say the least, but she’d gotten herself out of worse. Maybe. Probably. Probably a good leg to stand on, considering who she was looking at.

Amanda stared for a moment, bright eyes peering out from dark skin with a bite so sharp it was menacing. She had learned a long time ago that there was power in silence and in an uninterrupted look. Presence was just as important as physical power. She had come to learn that too. 

“Miss Wilson, do you know where you are? Who I am?” Leaning forward onto her hands where they rested against her desk, she was watching again, and the expression she wore made it very clear what she thought of Rose Wilson as a person. It didn’t matter, of course, but Amanda had the power to let her know in spite of the mission and so she did. Just so they were on no uncertain terms.

[inv-amandawaller]

File: Yelena Belova

@palexwidow​

The team was coming together, but Amanda would never turn down the opportunity for more help, particularly when the Avengers had become more and more of a problem for the US Government. Yelena Belova was specially trained to face down at least one of them, but Amanda was willing to bet that those skills were transferrable to many people. 

So when she had the former soviet spy brought in, she was unafraid but hoping that Belova would be a worthy investment. “Miss Belova, isn’t it?”

[inv-amandawaller]

File: Rose Wilson

@ragingandravaging​

There was a problem that needed to be dealt with. Amanda didn’t take too kindly to problems, and she much preferred solutions. She only hoped that this one was as obvious as she hoped it was. Her Suicide Squad fluctuated members all the time. Either they died or they did their time and she let them out--rarer, but not unheard of. In the face of the new threat, the US government was at a loss as Darkseid’s armies leveled the places they attacked. The main choice, it seemed, was to fortify. 

The problem with war, intergalactic or otherwise, was that people always used it as a distraction to be a pain in her ass. Deathstroke was the world’s most elite mercenary and assassin, but apparently he was just as predictable as any of them. So she would have to be unpredictable.

“Send her in,” she remarked, voice cool and collected as none other than the offspring made her way into the room. She had a file on Slade Wilson, who always managed to avoid capture. They could never hold him for long, either. His lawyers were the best in the world, and she supposed the kind of money he made explained it. So Amanda had elected to exploit a weakness. 

“Miss Wilson. Sit.”