The Fall 3/?
Title: The Fall 3/?
Fandom: Smallville
Rating: NC17
Summary: Somestimes even a hereo needs to be saved.
Notes: I just wanted to add that I'm so grateful for all the great feedback I've gotten for this story. I was a little unsure about it when I started it, but I guess I was wrong. Please keep up the rerviews, it help for motivation. I'd like to try to have the next chapter out today (I say today because it's 2 in the morning)
“I’m picking up a heat source around your next left. Take him out.” A few seconds later she could pick up the sound of a struggle and then silence.
“All clear.”
“Go ahead and proceed Impulse.” She switched over the coms. “Cyborg, status.”
“Cyborg ready.”
“Impulse, Aquaman, are you in position?”
“Impulse ready.”
“Aquaman ready.”
“Alright boys, we have a window of three minutes. Cyborg, when you’re ready.” She inhaled sharply. With her command given the rest was out of her control. She’d lead them in and out, but once Victor cut the power that was it.
“Five, four, three, two, one.”
The security grid went down. “Let’s move.” It went just as planned. She led them through the mansion, just a voice, but it guided them safely, directing them, warning them. Eventually, they began narrowing in on their target. “Next left, twenty feet. You’ve got ninety seconds.” She tracked Bart and AC as they progressed. “Third door on your right. This is it. Eighty seconds.” She switched her coms over, breathing heavily as she waited to find out if it was really Oliver. “Cyborg, be ready trip the alarm.”
“Affirmative.”
There was only silence as she watched Bart and AC close in on their target.
“Tower, we’ve found Arrow.”
She felt herself relaxing, almost. Just as she hit the com to question, AC eased her worries.
“Alive.”
“Wait for my signal.” Switching over to Victor she fought to keep her voice neutral. “Cyborg, sound the alarm on the count of three. One, two, three.” Just as the alarm tripped Oliver’s com came on. She watched the picture of him on her screen come to life and for a moment she waited, expecting him to say something, but there was nothing. “Let’s move. Take a right.” You’ve got about thirty seconds before they realize they’ve been set up. Get a move on.” The next twenty seconds went along as planned. It was perfect, to perfect. As soon as they hit the lawn they were on them. “Cyborg, cut the lights and get out of there!”
“We’re not going to make it, Impulse get him out.”
It was AC, she felt her breath catch in her chest. They wouldn’t leave AC, even if Bart could get Oliver out of there in time. Even as irresponsible as Oliver had been he would never leave one of them behind. “Get to the van now!” The sounds of bullets screamed over her com and through the metal of the van. She turned her head, looking at the doors of the van, then at the screens. A cry from the other end and she found herself scanning the screens in panic, finally stopping on Bart’s vitals.
“Impulse has been hit!”
“Come on, get up. Get up!”
The last was Oliver; it was the first time she’d heard his voice in weeks. But even in his pitiful state he wouldn’t leave them behind she knew, even if it meant his own death. She couldn’t very well just sit there and leave them to die. Without another thought she unplugged her headset, going wireless, and was out of the van door in seconds, running through the sparse wooded area, towards the gunfire.
“I’m on my way.”
“Cyborg, stand down.” She gasped, breaths coming in short spurts as she pushed her body and forced her legs to move faster. He made a noise, as if to argue, but she wasn’t having any of that. “Stand down! I’ve got it taken care of!” Then suddenly as she ran out of the trees, onto the open lawn, there they were. AC with Bart slung over his back and Oliver with a gun in his hand aiming behind them. They weren’t going to make it alone.
“What the hell are you going?!” Oliver yelled at her as she came up behind him, pulling on his tattered shirt. Just as he moved to push her out of the way a sharp pain shot through his bicep, slicing through the muscle.
“No!”
She threw herself in front of him and even in the pain he tried to push her out of the way. But before he could even move her she threw her hand up, as if warding off an attack. He could practically see the two of them dying, both of them riddled with bullets. In those seconds he’d never been angrier with her. Then a blue wall of light stood in front of them, bullets making contact and bouncing off leaving the blue light shuddering in their wake. It seemed like it took years, but it was only seconds before he realized it was coming from Chloe. Considering their luck he expected the wall to fall, but she held it. “Jesus.” Her back pressed against his chest as she began to move backwards. Oliver quickly shook himself out of his stupor and wrapped his good arm around her waist, leading her backwards. “I’ve got you.”
The bullets stopped, as if the men on the other side were too shocked to even fire. Even if they got to the van they’d follow. It would be impossible to lose them. Lifting another hand, Chloe breathed heavily, pushing her body to draw what power it had. The bullets came down on them again. With a choked gasp she released it, watching in awe as the blue shield that protected them went outwards, almost of its own accord. No longer leashed to her it hit everything in its path. She watched with abated breath as the men fell, and then silence. It wasn’t until she felt Oliver pulling her that she realized they had stopped.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Bart yelled.
“What the hell was that?!”
Chloe turned to Oliver who was nursing his own wound. “Later. Victor step on it.” Without even thinking she crawled to Bart, pushing AC out of the way. “It’s okay.” His eyes met hers as she placed her hand on his arms. The white light shown, clear as day, and then she felt the pain shooting through her calf. Before she had even lain her hand on him she swore to herself she wouldn’t cry out, but it didn’t help. She still screamed and fell forward. The only think stopping her from landing on Bart had been AC’s quick reflexes. “Thanks.” She said breathlessly as he sat her back up.
Bart pulled at his pants leg, staring down at the newly healed skin in wonder. “Whoa. You-you. I don’t know what to say. You-.”
She smiled weakly. “I know.” The smile didn’t last though as she turned to Oliver, who was sitting against the door of the van, face dark, knees pulled up and putting pressure to his arm. Slowly, feeling as she was approaching a caged animal, she came to kneel in front of him. His shirt was bloodied and as her eyes traveled over his face, taking in the swollen lip and gash to his cheek and brow, she knew where the blood had come from. “I’m of the mind to leave you here in your own misery.” She could see his jaw clench as he pushed his chin out, narrowing his eyes at her, almost daring her to do so. “Your foolishness and need to act out punishes more people than just yourself.”
“And your need to rescue everyone always gets people killed.” Oliver bit out before he could stop himself. “Next time keep your nose behind the computers.” Her palm connected with his cheek, snapping his head to the side. His cheek stung with pain, but he only turned his head back to her, glaring at her.
“Don’t try to hurt me with my own mistakes. I’ve learned to deal with them. Maybe it’s time you stop acting like a spoiled brat and deal with yours.”
He opened his mouth to fire of a retort, but before he could her hand settled on his arm and a white light flooded the van again, warmth flooding his body. He barely heard her cry out. Without thinking he reached out for her, grabbing her arms as she fell forward into him. Her head rested against his chest, but she didn’t move. “Give me something to put her head on.” He commanded as he wrapped an arm around her back and leaned her backwards. After gently setting her down and propping her head against what appeared to by a computer back, he brought his hands to her neck, feeling for her pulse.
“Is she okay?” Bart asked anxiously, leaning over Chloe, waiting for her to open her eyes.
“Her pulse is weak but steady.” He turned his eyes to the others. “I thought she lost her ability?”
AC shook his head at Oliver’s pointed looked. “We didn’t know, she hadn’t said a word.”
“We’re almost to the car!” Victor called out from the front seat. “Get some clothes; we need to get changed before we get to the airport.”
Chloe jumped, eyes snapping open. Her surroundings were unfamiliar and as she shot up into a sitting position she sat on the verge of panic before realizing she was on a Queen Industries jet. She took a moment to collect her thoughts before climbing out of the bed and slipping on her shoes. She vaguely wondered who had thought to even take them off in the firsts place. When she exited the cabin she found three anxious faces looking at her, and the back of one blond head.
“Hey! My savior!” Bart exclaimed and ran over to her, taking her arm. “You okay, are you hungry, want something to drink, do you want to sit?”
“I’m fine.” She chuckled softly. “Some water would be nice though.” He took off, moving faster than a normal person, and in seconds she had a bottle of water in her hand. “Talk about quick service.”
“Anything for you.” Bart took her hand and pressed a kiss to the top of it.
“You thought he was bad before.” AC joked.
“Everybody okay?” There were a series of nods and she found herself breathing a sigh of relief. One battle was over, another was about to begin, and she was going to initiate it. “Oliver.” He turned his head, just slightly, enough to let her know she had his attention. “Can I talk to you?” She fully expected him to say no, but instead he stood up. Gone was the tattered clothing and shadow of a beard. The man before her she recognized, clean, freshly shaven, not a scratch on him. The dark look was still in place though. She turned away, heading back into the cabin she had just come from. He closed the door behind him, somehow knowing they were going to be having a serious conversation. When she turned to him he stood in front of her, body tense, face unresponsive. “You probably think I’m waiting on an apology or a thank you. Well I’m not. You know what I’d like? I’d like you to cut this out. Make an effort. I can’t tell you how to live your life. But you brought all of us into this, and you can’t just back out now.”
“It seems to me you all are doing just fine on your own.” He shot at her. Something in him told him he should have tried to make peace with her; after all, she had just bailed his ass out. Even after talking with the guys, learning it was Chloe who put together the whole operation he still couldn’t let his animosity go.
“Oliver the team needs you. I may have my own fair share of brains, but I’m not a leader. Forgetting for a moment about the Justice League, what about you? I mean you’re doing everything in your power to ruin yourself. At that rate your going you are either going to bankrupt Queen Industries, putting thousands of people out of jobs, or get kicked off the board. And all that’s not even the point. Even if you didn’t want to be a part of the Justice League and if you didn’t want to be CEO of Queen Industries what about you? I mean look what you are doing to yourself. Don’t you even care? Don’t you even want to be happy?”
“I am happy. For the first time in my life I’m doing whatever the hell I want, not worrying about the obligations, meetings, responsibilities, people’s lives.” But it was all a lie. Anyone could see that.
“This isn’t happy. Being alone isn’t happy. You want to pretend like you are shedding yourself of all your responsibilities so that you can live your own life, but I think your purposely trying to ruin it as some form of punishment.”
“I don’t need a shrink.” He bit out nastily and turned away from her, determined to walk away, telling himself that he didn’t owe her anything.
“Don’t walk away from me!” He stilled and turned slowly, eyes narrowed as if he was ready to strike. Oliver angry was frightful; the problem was that she was already pissed. “You selfish bastard! Get over yourself already. You made mistakes, so why don’t you do the right thing and make up for them. Do something good! Don’t you think I could stay home all day, cry myself to sleep, lamenting about the fact that I caused my own husband’s death by keeping that monster alive. I sit there all day wondering what I did wrong, how I could have changed things.” She closed the distance between them and pushed at his chest, forcing him to fall back a couple of steps. “Don’t you talk to me about guilt!” Just when she felt satisfied with herself, confident that she had the upper hand, he grabbed her arms and yanked her towards him causing her to gasp involuntarily.
“I don’t care.” He gritted out, punctuating each word. “Do you understand? I do not want to be responsible for anyone. I want to be left alone. So when we get off the jet leave me alone, don’t bother me with this. If you would have left me there to die I could have cared less. I would have welcomed it. You know when they realized who I was they took me out of jail, thinking they would be able to get some kind of ransom for me. It was a good thing they didn’t get a chance to try, because they would have been sorely disappointed.” She swallowed nervously and he could see the worry in her eyes. “Because I really doubt anyone would have paid it, don’t you?”
The truth was she wasn’t sure. The Queen Industries board probably would have welcomed his disappeared, and with no family…
“Exactly.” Oliver released her, more roughly than he had intended, causing her to stumble backwards. “I don’t want to hear another word.”
He didn’t even look back as he closed to door behind her, not even leaving it open for her to follow. She backed up until the back of her legs hit the mattress and then slowly lowered herself to the bed. Oliver had been a friend, maybe not a very close friend like Lois or Clark, but a friend none the less. Now he was like a totally different person. She blinked away tears and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand angrily. His words shouldn’t have upset her so much. Some part of her was hoping when they showed up and rescued him that he would have seen how important he was to everyone, maybe even a little humbled. For the first time she was really beginning to wonder what it would take to make him turn his life around.
Fandom: Smallville
Rating: NC17
Summary: Somestimes even a hereo needs to be saved.
Notes: I just wanted to add that I'm so grateful for all the great feedback I've gotten for this story. I was a little unsure about it when I started it, but I guess I was wrong. Please keep up the rerviews, it help for motivation. I'd like to try to have the next chapter out today (I say today because it's 2 in the morning)
“I’m picking up a heat source around your next left. Take him out.” A few seconds later she could pick up the sound of a struggle and then silence.
“All clear.”
“Go ahead and proceed Impulse.” She switched over the coms. “Cyborg, status.”
“Cyborg ready.”
“Impulse, Aquaman, are you in position?”
“Impulse ready.”
“Aquaman ready.”
“Alright boys, we have a window of three minutes. Cyborg, when you’re ready.” She inhaled sharply. With her command given the rest was out of her control. She’d lead them in and out, but once Victor cut the power that was it.
“Five, four, three, two, one.”
The security grid went down. “Let’s move.” It went just as planned. She led them through the mansion, just a voice, but it guided them safely, directing them, warning them. Eventually, they began narrowing in on their target. “Next left, twenty feet. You’ve got ninety seconds.” She tracked Bart and AC as they progressed. “Third door on your right. This is it. Eighty seconds.” She switched her coms over, breathing heavily as she waited to find out if it was really Oliver. “Cyborg, be ready trip the alarm.”
“Affirmative.”
There was only silence as she watched Bart and AC close in on their target.
“Tower, we’ve found Arrow.”
She felt herself relaxing, almost. Just as she hit the com to question, AC eased her worries.
“Alive.”
“Wait for my signal.” Switching over to Victor she fought to keep her voice neutral. “Cyborg, sound the alarm on the count of three. One, two, three.” Just as the alarm tripped Oliver’s com came on. She watched the picture of him on her screen come to life and for a moment she waited, expecting him to say something, but there was nothing. “Let’s move. Take a right.” You’ve got about thirty seconds before they realize they’ve been set up. Get a move on.” The next twenty seconds went along as planned. It was perfect, to perfect. As soon as they hit the lawn they were on them. “Cyborg, cut the lights and get out of there!”
“We’re not going to make it, Impulse get him out.”
It was AC, she felt her breath catch in her chest. They wouldn’t leave AC, even if Bart could get Oliver out of there in time. Even as irresponsible as Oliver had been he would never leave one of them behind. “Get to the van now!” The sounds of bullets screamed over her com and through the metal of the van. She turned her head, looking at the doors of the van, then at the screens. A cry from the other end and she found herself scanning the screens in panic, finally stopping on Bart’s vitals.
“Impulse has been hit!”
“Come on, get up. Get up!”
The last was Oliver; it was the first time she’d heard his voice in weeks. But even in his pitiful state he wouldn’t leave them behind she knew, even if it meant his own death. She couldn’t very well just sit there and leave them to die. Without another thought she unplugged her headset, going wireless, and was out of the van door in seconds, running through the sparse wooded area, towards the gunfire.
“I’m on my way.”
“Cyborg, stand down.” She gasped, breaths coming in short spurts as she pushed her body and forced her legs to move faster. He made a noise, as if to argue, but she wasn’t having any of that. “Stand down! I’ve got it taken care of!” Then suddenly as she ran out of the trees, onto the open lawn, there they were. AC with Bart slung over his back and Oliver with a gun in his hand aiming behind them. They weren’t going to make it alone.
“What the hell are you going?!” Oliver yelled at her as she came up behind him, pulling on his tattered shirt. Just as he moved to push her out of the way a sharp pain shot through his bicep, slicing through the muscle.
“No!”
She threw herself in front of him and even in the pain he tried to push her out of the way. But before he could even move her she threw her hand up, as if warding off an attack. He could practically see the two of them dying, both of them riddled with bullets. In those seconds he’d never been angrier with her. Then a blue wall of light stood in front of them, bullets making contact and bouncing off leaving the blue light shuddering in their wake. It seemed like it took years, but it was only seconds before he realized it was coming from Chloe. Considering their luck he expected the wall to fall, but she held it. “Jesus.” Her back pressed against his chest as she began to move backwards. Oliver quickly shook himself out of his stupor and wrapped his good arm around her waist, leading her backwards. “I’ve got you.”
The bullets stopped, as if the men on the other side were too shocked to even fire. Even if they got to the van they’d follow. It would be impossible to lose them. Lifting another hand, Chloe breathed heavily, pushing her body to draw what power it had. The bullets came down on them again. With a choked gasp she released it, watching in awe as the blue shield that protected them went outwards, almost of its own accord. No longer leashed to her it hit everything in its path. She watched with abated breath as the men fell, and then silence. It wasn’t until she felt Oliver pulling her that she realized they had stopped.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Bart yelled.
“What the hell was that?!”
Chloe turned to Oliver who was nursing his own wound. “Later. Victor step on it.” Without even thinking she crawled to Bart, pushing AC out of the way. “It’s okay.” His eyes met hers as she placed her hand on his arms. The white light shown, clear as day, and then she felt the pain shooting through her calf. Before she had even lain her hand on him she swore to herself she wouldn’t cry out, but it didn’t help. She still screamed and fell forward. The only think stopping her from landing on Bart had been AC’s quick reflexes. “Thanks.” She said breathlessly as he sat her back up.
Bart pulled at his pants leg, staring down at the newly healed skin in wonder. “Whoa. You-you. I don’t know what to say. You-.”
She smiled weakly. “I know.” The smile didn’t last though as she turned to Oliver, who was sitting against the door of the van, face dark, knees pulled up and putting pressure to his arm. Slowly, feeling as she was approaching a caged animal, she came to kneel in front of him. His shirt was bloodied and as her eyes traveled over his face, taking in the swollen lip and gash to his cheek and brow, she knew where the blood had come from. “I’m of the mind to leave you here in your own misery.” She could see his jaw clench as he pushed his chin out, narrowing his eyes at her, almost daring her to do so. “Your foolishness and need to act out punishes more people than just yourself.”
“And your need to rescue everyone always gets people killed.” Oliver bit out before he could stop himself. “Next time keep your nose behind the computers.” Her palm connected with his cheek, snapping his head to the side. His cheek stung with pain, but he only turned his head back to her, glaring at her.
“Don’t try to hurt me with my own mistakes. I’ve learned to deal with them. Maybe it’s time you stop acting like a spoiled brat and deal with yours.”
He opened his mouth to fire of a retort, but before he could her hand settled on his arm and a white light flooded the van again, warmth flooding his body. He barely heard her cry out. Without thinking he reached out for her, grabbing her arms as she fell forward into him. Her head rested against his chest, but she didn’t move. “Give me something to put her head on.” He commanded as he wrapped an arm around her back and leaned her backwards. After gently setting her down and propping her head against what appeared to by a computer back, he brought his hands to her neck, feeling for her pulse.
“Is she okay?” Bart asked anxiously, leaning over Chloe, waiting for her to open her eyes.
“Her pulse is weak but steady.” He turned his eyes to the others. “I thought she lost her ability?”
AC shook his head at Oliver’s pointed looked. “We didn’t know, she hadn’t said a word.”
“We’re almost to the car!” Victor called out from the front seat. “Get some clothes; we need to get changed before we get to the airport.”
Chloe jumped, eyes snapping open. Her surroundings were unfamiliar and as she shot up into a sitting position she sat on the verge of panic before realizing she was on a Queen Industries jet. She took a moment to collect her thoughts before climbing out of the bed and slipping on her shoes. She vaguely wondered who had thought to even take them off in the firsts place. When she exited the cabin she found three anxious faces looking at her, and the back of one blond head.
“Hey! My savior!” Bart exclaimed and ran over to her, taking her arm. “You okay, are you hungry, want something to drink, do you want to sit?”
“I’m fine.” She chuckled softly. “Some water would be nice though.” He took off, moving faster than a normal person, and in seconds she had a bottle of water in her hand. “Talk about quick service.”
“Anything for you.” Bart took her hand and pressed a kiss to the top of it.
“You thought he was bad before.” AC joked.
“Everybody okay?” There were a series of nods and she found herself breathing a sigh of relief. One battle was over, another was about to begin, and she was going to initiate it. “Oliver.” He turned his head, just slightly, enough to let her know she had his attention. “Can I talk to you?” She fully expected him to say no, but instead he stood up. Gone was the tattered clothing and shadow of a beard. The man before her she recognized, clean, freshly shaven, not a scratch on him. The dark look was still in place though. She turned away, heading back into the cabin she had just come from. He closed the door behind him, somehow knowing they were going to be having a serious conversation. When she turned to him he stood in front of her, body tense, face unresponsive. “You probably think I’m waiting on an apology or a thank you. Well I’m not. You know what I’d like? I’d like you to cut this out. Make an effort. I can’t tell you how to live your life. But you brought all of us into this, and you can’t just back out now.”
“It seems to me you all are doing just fine on your own.” He shot at her. Something in him told him he should have tried to make peace with her; after all, she had just bailed his ass out. Even after talking with the guys, learning it was Chloe who put together the whole operation he still couldn’t let his animosity go.
“Oliver the team needs you. I may have my own fair share of brains, but I’m not a leader. Forgetting for a moment about the Justice League, what about you? I mean you’re doing everything in your power to ruin yourself. At that rate your going you are either going to bankrupt Queen Industries, putting thousands of people out of jobs, or get kicked off the board. And all that’s not even the point. Even if you didn’t want to be a part of the Justice League and if you didn’t want to be CEO of Queen Industries what about you? I mean look what you are doing to yourself. Don’t you even care? Don’t you even want to be happy?”
“I am happy. For the first time in my life I’m doing whatever the hell I want, not worrying about the obligations, meetings, responsibilities, people’s lives.” But it was all a lie. Anyone could see that.
“This isn’t happy. Being alone isn’t happy. You want to pretend like you are shedding yourself of all your responsibilities so that you can live your own life, but I think your purposely trying to ruin it as some form of punishment.”
“I don’t need a shrink.” He bit out nastily and turned away from her, determined to walk away, telling himself that he didn’t owe her anything.
“Don’t walk away from me!” He stilled and turned slowly, eyes narrowed as if he was ready to strike. Oliver angry was frightful; the problem was that she was already pissed. “You selfish bastard! Get over yourself already. You made mistakes, so why don’t you do the right thing and make up for them. Do something good! Don’t you think I could stay home all day, cry myself to sleep, lamenting about the fact that I caused my own husband’s death by keeping that monster alive. I sit there all day wondering what I did wrong, how I could have changed things.” She closed the distance between them and pushed at his chest, forcing him to fall back a couple of steps. “Don’t you talk to me about guilt!” Just when she felt satisfied with herself, confident that she had the upper hand, he grabbed her arms and yanked her towards him causing her to gasp involuntarily.
“I don’t care.” He gritted out, punctuating each word. “Do you understand? I do not want to be responsible for anyone. I want to be left alone. So when we get off the jet leave me alone, don’t bother me with this. If you would have left me there to die I could have cared less. I would have welcomed it. You know when they realized who I was they took me out of jail, thinking they would be able to get some kind of ransom for me. It was a good thing they didn’t get a chance to try, because they would have been sorely disappointed.” She swallowed nervously and he could see the worry in her eyes. “Because I really doubt anyone would have paid it, don’t you?”
The truth was she wasn’t sure. The Queen Industries board probably would have welcomed his disappeared, and with no family…
“Exactly.” Oliver released her, more roughly than he had intended, causing her to stumble backwards. “I don’t want to hear another word.”
He didn’t even look back as he closed to door behind her, not even leaving it open for her to follow. She backed up until the back of her legs hit the mattress and then slowly lowered herself to the bed. Oliver had been a friend, maybe not a very close friend like Lois or Clark, but a friend none the less. Now he was like a totally different person. She blinked away tears and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand angrily. His words shouldn’t have upset her so much. Some part of her was hoping when they showed up and rescued him that he would have seen how important he was to everyone, maybe even a little humbled. For the first time she was really beginning to wonder what it would take to make him turn his life around.