"Dream a Dream of Joe"

Joe sat in the back seat of the ¾ ton Suburban, so he could have plenty of room to himself. Minutes ago, he'd been talking more than he'd talked in one sitting since joining this group... talking about his time with the Suicide Squad, as well as explaining to Aventine Sorrento what, exactly the Squad was.

Now, silence had settled on the occupants of the SUV, a not entirely uncommon effect of talking about the Squad, it seemed. Hours ago, in a drinking establishment geared to super-villains and those of the non-capes persuasion, Joe had managed to upset The Penguin by merely introducing himself.

Though, in hindsight, with The Penguin's unhappy history with the Squad, that wasn't really a surprise. That was something Joe was going to have to think about more - these people were much more complex and complicated than he was used to.

He settled back in his seat and found himself glancing at the rear-view mirror. There was something unsettling about it... about any mirror, lately. He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but it was there. He averted his eyes quickly, choosing to glance outside. The sky was dark and snow was beginning to fall, a light dusting in the late Winter.

After a while, some conversation started up again, but it didn't involve him and he closed his eyes and before too long, he'd drifted off to sleep.

He found himself walking through a hallway. The walls were painted with a horrible shade of green, the lights were all metal bodied structures with fluorescent bulbs with no cover - it was obviously in an institutional building of some sort, and it didn't take Joe long to realise that he knew the hallway all to well - he was in the section of Belle Reve Penitentiary dedicated to Task Force X... the official name for The Suicide Squad.

He walked down the hall, under the (always) flickering lights and knew he was just around the bend from the science lab. There, he'd find Johnny Law, a wheelchair bound old man who served as head technician and science adviser for Task Force X. Joe was assigned to help Law, when he wasn't working on vehicles, as Joe's strength and technical education made him the perfect lab assistant for the frail old man.

Turning the corner, he found himself stop short. This part of the hall was done in mirrored walls. He'd forgotten that, already. Two years, every day of walking down this hall, and seven months later, he'd forgotten already.

For a moment, he wondered how he'd look in the mirror - his usual, dark skin countenance, a form of shimmering liquid... or something else? As he stepped into the hallway, he found out that the answer was none of the above - nothing at all, to be precise.

"Dreams," he murmured, thinking of another old scientist, back home, who had talked at length of the power of dreams and was developing a method to actually made dreams into physical form. Joe shook his head. He was a much simpler guy and preferred more direct means to an end.

"About damn time you showed up," snarled the crotchety old man from his wheelchair as Joe entered the lab. Joe couldn't help but smile - though his words were never what most people would consider as friendly, Johnny Law was a friend, one of the few Joe had in the entire world. Though he constantly sniped at Joe, complaining about him being too slow, too dumb, too ugly, deep down it was all good-natured.

Joe quickly set to the tasks needed, and things went smoothly, until Joe realised what day this was. This was the day of the accident. Glancing around, he saw things as they happened ? the bunsen burner accidentally setting a carelessly dropped cloth on fire, the fire exciting the chemicals that led to a chain reaction that caused a--

BOOM!

Joe awoke at the loud noise, as a driver two lanes over almost lost control after the front driver-side tire of his Grand Marquis blew out. Heart racing he glanced around and watched the driver get the vehicle under control and pull over to the breakdown lane. He felt eyes upon him and saw that Peregrine was watching him, an amused smirk on her lips. He flashed a sheepish grin and stretched. "How much further? I'm starved."

"You're always hungry, Joe," Peri replied. "We'll be there in thirty minutes."

Joe sat up, but kept his eyes away from the rear view mirror.