The Loyal Opposition, Part 7 of ???
Title: The Loyal Opposition
Author: latetothpartyhp
Rating: PG-13
Genre: drama
Spoilers: through Pandora
Pairings: ETA: I envisioned this as mainly a Chlark confrontation, but what emerged in addition to that were some hints of Chlex friendship, mutual Chless manipulation, and some (mostly) off-screen Clana. There's also a Lexana fight for anyone who's interested. And Cless! We have added Cless!
Warnings: some violence & language - ETA: Character deaths in store.
Summary / Author's Note: Chloe's on a mission for the resistance. Could be a Supernatural crossover if you squint real hard. Thanks to go_clo for the amazing banner!
Holy cow... did not realize I had not posted this here.
Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Part 13 / Part 14 / Part 15 / Part 16
Things happened swiftly after that. Tess stood and nodded to the guard, who led them both upstairs to a bedroom; the guard stood himself outside while Tess swept her in and began pulling clothes out of drawers. From the familiar way she rummaged Chloe realized it was her room. The surreal, easily dismissed panic that had hit her at the end of the interview downstairs exploded. She'd never ... she'd sometimes thought about ...could she even? She took a huge breath to keep a hysterical giggle from surfacing. Sure she could. It couldn't be hard. Not nearly as hard as Jimmy had made it out to be, at any rate. A sense of can-do excitement unexpectedly filled her. It might even be fun.
"These are all going to be big," Tess was saying meanwhile, "but it's temporary."
Chloe gave herself permission to look confused.
"You're going to want clean clothes after your shower," Tess replied. So, clothes were on the menu? "And you won't want anything that will chafe." I won't?
Chloe smiled and took the sweats Tess handed to her. Tess smiled back. She turned and walked to the bathroom before the smiles got awkward. Before the whole freaky situation got awkward. As oddly anticipatory as she suddenly seemed to be, she still had no idea what she was doing.
She closed the door and let herself collapse slowly unto the floor. Was it something Tess was doing? Possibly. But it had kept her alive. For now.
It was all so weird. She was used to weird, but this was a special limited-time-only offer of it. If Tess wanted her alive now, why had she sent assassins after her three years ago? Davis had told her Tess had taken a pretty obsessive interest in him, which hadn't seemed surprising at the time. She was the Luthor heir after all. Luthors had always taken an obsessive interest in things Kryptonian. As, she thought ruefully, had she. But why try to kill her? Had she gotten in the way of some plan Tess had had for Davis? But Tess hadn't known what triggered the The Beast. Just as Chloe had no idea what was triggering Tess.
Something had happened downstairs, right after the other woman had gone all Antiques Road Show-appraiser over that vase. She stood shakily and turned on the taps, jerking when she realized it was hot. Hot water. How long had it been? She pulled off her faded black cargos and ratty sweater, forgetting everything in her haste to get under that shower-head. The water washed over her, and she sighed. Every muscle in her body seemed to relax, as deep, almost orgasmic ripples surged over her. It had been years. Something primal reared within her, giddy with pleasure. She wanted to run out into the bedroom and pull Tess -- she froze. It was as if another heart was beating next to hers, another diaphragm pushing, another body competing for space within hers. Madelyn.
The giddiness faded, replaced by shock. She had never sensed Madelyn before when she'd been alone. Only with Kal-El, when Madelyn had obviously wanted to exert herself, had she felt the spirit she'd invited in. Now Madelyn seemed to want to exert herself again. Or maybe the witch had just gotten bolder. She'd gotten Kal-El what he wanted. She appeared to be getting Tess what she wanted. She didn't know what that was -- but she bet Madelyn knew. She'd been straining so hard to find the chink in that armor, and Madelyn had. What is it, Maddie-girl? She wondered if the witch could hear her words. She wondered if the witch could feel her, a consciousness colliding with her own.
Someone knocked. Chloe heard the door open, then Tess' voice. "Is everything alright?"
Chloe turned off the water and popped her head out from behind the curtain. "Yeah, great. It's just -- hot water, you know? I probably drained the heater."
Tess smiled sympathetically. "Don't worry about it; it's a tankless system. But if you're done, Rangi's here. We've got to get you set up."
Chloe smiled and nodded and wondered who Rangi was and what it meant to be set up. Eventually she would figure out what all the cryptic nods and references were about. Eventually. When she was dead, probably. She dried, pulled on the sweats Tess had given her, and re-discovered another luxury, one she didn't know she had missed: fabric softener. The fluffy cotton knits had to be the most heavenly things to touch her skin --
She walked back into the bedroom before Madelyn could attempt another pleasure-fueled take-over. An enormous camo-wearing guard, his chin and cheeks covered with swirling Maori tattoos, was setting up a portable massage table next to a bookshelf. On one of the shelves was an assortment of small bottles, plastic bags, tiny plastic cups and what looked like the world's largest, fattest mechanical pencil.
"Rangi, this is Chloe Sullivan. She's joining the security team."
Rangi nodded and indicated the massage table to her. Chloe glanced at Tess.
"Everyone on the security team needs to be marked," Tess said. "You'll be issued I.D. as well, but that's usually not visible in the field. The tattoo will enable the Kryptonian team members to sense you."
Chloe moved to the table and sat on it. "That would mean the tattoo ink would have to have Kryptonite in it."
"On your belly," Rangi told her good-naturedly. Oh thank God. At least I know their tongues haven't been cut out.
"Don't worry, it won't put you through any walls. There's really only a trace of meteor rock in it. Not enough to cause mutation." Tess paused. "Or jumpstart one," she added.
Rangi lifted the back of her sweatshirt and Chloe felt the cold foam of shaving lotion being spread on her lower back.
"So, am I getting a unicorn or a skull?" Chloe joked.
"You're pledged to the House of El now," Tess answered. "You'll wear the shield of El."