The Loyal Opposition, Part 15
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!
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
Author's note: Thank you everyone who has been keeping up with this! This will not be the most exciting update. I needed to get Chloe from one place to another, and I needed two conversations, one of which was too short to make up even one of my l'il chapters, and one of which was too long. So after much putzing I decided just to post it. Chloe's where she need to be and hopefully we have some more information about Tess.
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Worth a shot. That was all she'd wanted. He was willing to try, she thought, right before something slammed through the top of her skull and out her left cheekbone, a star went nova inside her head and when she was able to open her eyes there three of him gaping at her.
"Chloe?"
Don'ttalkdon'ttalkdon'ttalkdon'ttalk -- focus on the breath, focus on the breath.
"I'm going to get a medic," he said, standing so quickly the bed bounced.
"No!" she choked.
"Can you breathe?"
It was all she was able to do. She nodded from between her knees, reminding everyone currently occupying her head that he hadn't done it yet, they weren't finished. Not even close. Break your fucking word and you will spend the rest of eternity licking fungus off Hitler's toes you Bellatrix wanna-be! "I can," she panted. "I just had this really sudden pain. Like I was Phineas Gage and the crowbar just plunged through my skull." She put a hand to her forehead for effect.
"Does this happen a lot?"
"A few times," she lied. Only every time the demon in my head goes medieval on my ass.
"You need to talk to a doctor." He thrust his jaw out. Kal-El has spoken, it said.
"Probably," she answered. "I don't want to wake anyone up though. It's late, if I just lie down for now it should pass."
He frowned, although whether from concern or confusion she wasn't sure. She closed her eyes and squeezed his hand. "You should check on Lana."
Even with her eyes shut, mention of that name did the trick. "You're sure you're ok?"
"I'll be fine." Which wasn't a total lie. Madelyn did not tolerate boredom well, or at all; without her primary source of amusement she was sure the witch would give up. His hand squeezed her shoulder and she pinched herself to keep from shuddering at the movement, but then she heard him walk out, shutting the door, leaving her blessedly alone.
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The sun was shining through the window when she woke, its dull vermilion light reminding her she was still locked in Purgatory. She shut her eyes against it. It was too hard to be awake in this light, too hard to find energy in its dingy glow. Her limbs were too heavy, her mouth too cottony, her temples too tight with the memory of pain. The only difference between Purgatory and Hell is the souls in Purgatory eventually get to leave, said the voice in her head that was remarkably like Lex's, calm and sure and only slightly impatient.
Oh fuck off, she told it, now being the only opportunity she would ever have to tell him that. The only way she would be able to say to his face that he and his plan both sucked would be in one of the regime's many prison cells. And that would never happen, because facing him there with her failure would be just like the day she'd had to explain to her father why he'd lost his job. Times maybe a billion.
She threw off the covers.
The hallway was empty when she stuck her head out of the door and occupied by the time she shut it. The tall woman, Alera, who had led the raid on Lana's hidey-hole appeared before her, oozing Amazonian contempt. "You're awake," the Amazon said. "Kal-El ordered that you were to be allowed to rest, but now that you are awake Secretary Mercer has told me to escort you immediately to the briefing room."
The Kryptonian took off at a leisurely speed available only to her species and possibly cheetahs. Chloe jogged to keep up. The formerly soft fuzziness of her sweatshirt slapped against the House of El sigal on her back as she ran, stinging like nettles. It was good to know they were all the same team now. All working together. She followed the woman down the stairs and back to the solar. "Wait here," Alera said, and then summarily abandoned her. Terrific. She hoped someone showed up soon to explain how being on the security team was qualitatively different from being held by the security team.
Well, she'd never been left alone as a prisoner, and definitely wouldn't have been in what seemed to be Tess' personal sanctuary. All the furniture -- the tables, the chairs, that monstrosity of a vase -- seemed extra antique and feminine in this room. They could have been left over from Lillian, or Lana, but the driftwood paperweight on the desk and a set of old nautical maps on the walls said Tess lived here now. She didn't quite know what to make of the toys, however. On one of the end tables next to the couch sat a wooden Noah's Ark with red-painted roof tiles and roses under its eaves, complete with a collection of paired animals: elephants and zebras, rabbits and porcupines, elk and moose, Holsteins and Rhode Island Reds, several breeds of dog and a set of bald eagles. Either Tess was secretly pulling a Big on the world's population, or --
"You like it?" Speak of the devil, she thought as Tess entered the room.
"It's charming. I've never seen anything like it."
"It's an Erzebirge Ark, an old one. I think Lillian must have kept it in the nursery. I found it in storage, in a box marked 'Julian'." Tess fingered a wooden dromedary and Chloe's stomach turned. However Madelyn was transmitting her information, she prayed that did not make it through. "I always loved that story. In the end, everyone gets a new beginning."
"And a promise," Chloe blurted. Tess gave her a quizzical look. "The rainbow? The sign that God would never again destroy the Earth?" Careful, Sullivan. Keep the irony out of your voice, would ya?
Tess did not seem to have heard it, though. Instead she gave Chloe a sad smile. "No. He left that for us to do, didn't he?"