WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Suicide Squad #6, by Tom Taylor, Bruno Redondo, Adriano Lucas and Wes Abbott, available now.
In 2011, DC streamlined its entire continuity with the New 52 relaunch. Because of this, certain characters were given altered origin stories, costumes and new roles. Such was the case with Harley Quinn and Deadshot, who essentially became the collective face of the Suicide Squad.
For the past nine years, these two served on Amanda Waller's Task Force X and since then, they've managed to outlive plenty of other recruits. Over time, members of the Suicide Squad have come and gone, but Floyd and Harley have become the most stable presences on the team's roster.
In fact, for Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo's new Suicide Squad series, these two were once again the most recognizable characters headlining the relaunch. Now that Harley and Deadshot have gone on the run from the program and the man behind it -- Ted Kord -- there's a truly shocking reveal: A dark secret has kept them both on the team.
The basic premise of the Task Force X program is that it takes dangerous criminals and employs them to become expendable agents. A bomb is embedded in their heads and, if they try to run, they will be terminated. If they are successful in their missions, however, they can take time off of their respective sentences in exchange for time served.
However, this is an extremely rare occurrence -- one that a team member has never had, despite all of the Suicide Squad's missions. In fact, readers have begun to wonder if this part of the program would ever be fulfilled, or if it was simply some shiny, unattainable dream used to lure potential members.
In Suicide Squad #6, the team -- now comprised of Harley, Deadshot, Zebra-Man and the Revolutionaries -- head to Gotham City where an underground doctor removes the bombs inside of them. Then, they once again go on the run after learning Ted Kord has put out bounties on them all.
It's while they are trying to get out of the city that the Revolutionaries' Deadly Six uses a laptop to hack into Task Force X's files, in order to learn the full extent of Kord's reach. When he goes through these files, he learns the truth about Harley and Floyd: They have gone on enough missions to earn official pardons. Their time in the Suicide Squad is officially served and they are officially supposed to be free.
However, Kord kept that information from them in order to keep them as members of the Suicide Squad. It's an awfully evil move, to keep prisoners incarcerated and going on incredibly dangerous missions even though their time is officially served -- especially for someone who, as far as anyone knows, is supposed to be a superhero.
Harley and Deadshot have been associated with the Suicide Squad so long that it makes sense that they would have finally served their time. Kord probably wanted to keep them on since they are such stable and effective members. However, with the characters now on the run, without bombs in their heads and the knowledge that their time is served, they might never go back.
In fact, upon learning this pertinent information, Floyd officially quits and decides to reunite with his daughter. Unfortunately, the expert marksman isn't out of the woods just yet -- Floyd Lawton's time might be up.