Stolen Future: Chapter 7/20
Title: Stolen Future
Author: Märk Owen
Pairing: Chloe/Oliver
Rating: R for violence and language (Chapter rating: PG-13)
Warnings: None
Timeline: AU Season 6 (Zod and beyond)
Disclaimer: Any Smallville or DC Comics related things in this story are the property of their own owners. The only thing that belongs to me here is the storyline, nothing else is mine.
Summary: In this universe, Darkseid made a pact with Zod who adopted Kal-El. He will kidnap the JLA before its creation, leaving Earth powerless. Will Chloe and Oliver ever meet? Will the JLA even form? What will happen to Earth?
Previous chapters: Prologue | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6
Chapter 7: Consequences
"How is he?"
Those three words coming out of the petite blonde's mouth had never been as dreaded as in that moment. The answer to that question could announce them the worst but certainly not the best, it was too late for that. The pain had already been unleashed.
It scared Chloe so much to realize how much a simple word could change the knowledge between life and death. At that point, she could only hope that the young speedster could make it but what she saw wasn't helping her to quiet her worry.
Bart was lying on the table Oliver had put him on. He was still unconscious and seemed to show no reactions to the cares of Anzus, one of Condo's friends and the only one with serious medical formation in their cell.
"I've patched his wounds and taken care as best as I could of his internal injuries," replied the old alien after a moment of hesitation. "But I'm afraid it will not be enough. He needs a special treatment in a medical structure otherwise he is not going to make it - I'm sorry."
"Then we'd better not waste our time and find a hospital, now!" blurted out Hal, refusing all kind of rationality.
"It is not that easy."
All heads turned towards the voice, finding Condo standing in the entrance of the little room, arms crossed over his chest.
"Only Zod can provide this kind of places." continued the alien. "He won't let us in - you know that."
"We can't wait and look him die!"
"I'm not saying that AC!"
"He's right, AC." supported Dinah. "There is nothing we can do."
"I can't believe it!" shouted the Atlantean, standing up, ready to leave.
He was stopped by Chloe who gently pushed him back to his sitting position before turning to the doctor.
"Is there a chance he could still make it here?" asked the blonde, cutting the argument before it even started.
The old man seemed to consider the idea for a few seconds before shaking his head.
"His body endured lots of stress," explained Anzus checking again Bart's pulse. "His heart is still beating too fast and I'm afraid that if it continues that way, he…"
The doc trailed off, not wanting to pain his human friends again but they all knew what he meant. Bart's heart might stop if it didn't decrease the beats rate.
Chloe let out a sigh in response, expressing the helplessness she was feeling as she was watching the dying teenager in front of her. Turning around, she dared for the first time to let her eyes scan the room and what she saw did not help her to get rid of the sadness and pain in her heart. They were all feeling the same way about their young friend.
AC had a stoic expression on his face but she knew that inside, he was hurting. Since their arrival, he and Bart spent a lot of time together, they had the same sense of humor even if Bart's was more pronounced.
Seated at his left, was Bruce who had a hand put on AC's shoulder in a friendly gesture of support. Strangely enough, their discussion back when Alia took them had strengthened their burgeoning friendship and they now seemed to respect each other.
Gotham's prince as they called him back on Earth had had time to fully recover from the jolt of electricity he took in, only an hour and a half ago and now, his number one preoccupation was Bart's predicament.
Close behind them, was Victor sat on a piece of wood they used as a chair, his position clearly displaying his emotions. He was looking at the ground, his head hidden between both of his hands and Chloe knew instantly that he was fighting against it, he had already lost all of his family, he didn't want to lose anyone else close to him and Bart was part of that group. At least, Dinah was beside him, a soft hand on his back, as she offered him her silent support like the eternal hero she was despite the sadness marring her own face.
At the other end of the room were sat Hal on a modest bench, looking blankly at Bart's unanimated body, and Tess by his side, seeking his eyes with her owns. He was holding both of his hands together and seemed to war with himself probably about his inability to help the unconscious Flash. Chloe smiled a little as she remarked Tess putting her hand softly on his jeans clad thigh, stopping it from shaking because of the stress and putting him out of his thoughts as their eyes locked and they shared what looked like a silent discussion.
No matter how much Tess would deny it, Chloe knew she now wasn't the only one who had a thing for one of her cellmates. Seeing them made her think of Oliver and what she had been feeling for him since a bit of time already, it was still fuzzy and unclear how it happened but she couldn't deny the fact that she was falling for the tall and handsome billionaire of Star City, and falling very hard apparently.
Oliver. As her thoughts turned to him, she noticed he wasn't in the room with the others. Looking around to find him, she located the blond man isolated in a corner of the cell; he was sitting on the dusty ground, alone. Chloe remembered that he hadn't said a word since their exit from Alia's torture room but what concerned her most was the sinister expression on his face from which she could only assume the worse: he was blaming himself.
Behind Oliver's unmovable face and blank look, were hidden his dark thoughts. Bart could die. And if he died there, Oliver was sure the young man would die regretting teaming up with him but he couldn't blame him for that. Oliver himself was feeling guilty about what was happening to his protégé. His justice partner, his teammate, and the little brother he was supposed to protect about their enemies. It was his duty to protect him but he failed. He miserably failed and all he did was watch this sadistic psycho torture him; break him in front of him. That wasn't what was supposed to happen, it was him who was destined to be tortured not Bart. It was him whom Alia wanted to hurt.
But she did hurt you. She did it through Bart, this is your fault! - His conscience whispered him from the back of his mind.
The words were harsh but they'd never been truer. Bart, the speedster was just a collateral damage. He was the cause of his current situation, Bart was there fighting for his life because of him. And his friend wasn't the first one who'd been hurt since that damned day he donned the green leather suit for the very first time. It had happened a lot in the past since he became the Green Arrow, several people died, killed by his enemies who wanted to lure him in. Those people died because of him, again and it made him question himself about his alter-ego several times but Bart had been here all along supporting him during those dark times, remembering him the good he had done to his world and to him.
But now Oliver was skeptical. What if Bart had been wrong? To him it seemed that his 'heroic' persona had been the cause of so much pain and death that he was becoming disgusted at himself. His hopes of making a better world felt like infantile utopia now. He'd been irresponsible and careless. Maybe what was happening to Bart was a twisted way of fate to punish him for his past stupid actions. The day he decided to become the Emerald Archer of Star City should have never ever existed.
It would have been better that way.
The feel of soft fingers stroking his cheek snapped him out of his dark minded thoughts. He had to blink several times before focusing his pupils on the woman before him. Chloe's been kneeling in front of him for God knows how long and he was so lost in his doubts that he hadn't even seen her.
"Welcome back." smiled Chloe as she saw life returning in his eyes. "How are you feeling?"
"How's Bart?" asked Oliver, avoiding answering her question.
She dropped her eyes, a sad expression marring her face. Oliver instantly assumed the worse. He put a finger under her chin to make her look at him.
"Chloe?" whispered the billionaire in a voice thick of emotions.
"He's…. He's in coma." answered Chloe in a little voice. "Anzus does not seem to believe he can make it."
Oliver instantly stiffened. He had been right to assume the worse because it was exactly what was happening. He had already lost so much. His parents, first left him when he was only five and he had missed them beyond imagination. He had only a few memories of them that he kept safely locked in the depths of his mind where he could never forget them. Apart from that, all he remembered of his parents was them not being here for him, whenever he couldn't find sleep or when he hurt himself by accident, he imagined them being with him at that moment and then, sleep could find him and the pain wasn't there anymore. Till the moment they eventually vanished again and left him alone.
Every time he saw a kid padding excitedly towards his parents and jumping into his parent's arms, yelling he had an A in math or whatever subject he had, Oliver would wonder how he would have felt as a child if he had had the chance to live the same occasion. His father would have been so proud while his mom would have hugged him tightly, whispering him how happy she felt for her sweet little baby-boy. Each birthday he celebrated felt like another year separating him from them while all he wanted was to go back in time and live that part of his life when they were still with him, again and again. Whenever the moment came for him to blow out those lit birthday candles on the cake, he always had one and only one wish: That his parents would come back to him.
From the very beginning of his life he had to learn how to live without the affection of his parents and it had filled his heart with pain and sorrow and now, on the top of that he had to see Bart, his own little brother die too. That thought was much worse than the torture itself, it was slowly ripping him apart and he couldn't do anything. He had already given so much away. How much more did he have to give before expecting something in return from life?
"Hey" Oliver felt himself being shaken gently which forced him to come back to reality and face the face of the woman he felt so attracted to.
"Talk to me please. I need to know what's going on in that head of yours." said Chloe in such a caring tone it was almost weighting on his chest to see so much concern for him in those deep green eyes.
"Chloe…"
"I want to help you Ollie, please." demanded the petite blonde, trying once again to get a glimpse of how deep his emotional wound really was.
Her words seemed to have the opposite effect as Oliver shot her a astonished look and quickly stood up to put some distance between them both physically and emotionally.
"How can you even want to help me after all I have done?"
"Don't blame yourself, this isn't your fault…" replied Chloe in an attempt to reassure him.
"This is my fault, Chloe! You don't understand!" nearly-shouted Oliver. "Bart is between life and death because of me! Only ME!"
"No…"
"Chloe please…" Oliver stopped her sentence. "Get away from me."
The thickness of emotions in his voice was killing her almost as much as her heart hurt because of his words. He was asking her to run away from him, but she couldn't and it confused her.
"Why?"
The hurt expression on her face made him regret his words the moment they came out of his mouth but he couldn't allow that. Keeping her close to him would only lead her to end up hurt or even worse… And he couldn't live without her, not ever. He had already lost his parents, then he was losing Bart and soon that could be her. He couldn't let that happen, he couldn't let her get hurt, she was way too important to him. Losing her would break him beyond repair.
He was protecting her by pushing her away. That was the best way to stop Alia or even Zod from hurting her. If they couldn't see any affection between him and that woman that was sneaking her way into his heart, they wouldn't torture her and she would still be alive, by his side.
By his side but not with him. She never would after that.
"Please… just go…" The way she was staring at him was his undoing, he was on the brink to change his words and ask her to stay there, close to him, with him.
But against his hopes, Chloe vigorously shook her head and moved closer to him, a soft hand landing on his chest, making him suck in his breath.
"I can't do that Ollie, I want to be here with you." protested the blonde. She wasn't going to give up on him so easily. "We can find a way to save Bart and clean all this mess!"
Ander and despair appeared on his face as he felt she wasn't going to let him go. If she didn't want to leave him while he was good to her then he was going to make her hate him.
"I'm not the hero you think I am!" shouted the blond man, jerking his body away from hers. "You're not my girlfriend; you're not even someone I care about! I'm just a playboy who screws when he wants and leaves when there's nothing left!"
It pained him more than he would admit to deliver such words to her which, by the way where all completely wrong. Even if it went against everything that was saying his brain, his heart was telling him she was the most important person in his life. A person he could never lose.
Losing her. He couldn't help but be obsessed with that. Every time he took a look into her eyes he saw everything he could have with her but also everything he couldn't if he came to lose her and that scared him to death.
He shocked her by his sudden outburst he could see that but what he would have in mind until the rest of his life was the way her eyes shinned with unshed tears, reflecting the deep hurt he was doing to her. But it was too late to repair that, he had to finish what he had started, even if it killed him.
"Unless you want me to screw you till you can't walk then I'm your man! If not then just go away because there's nothing else I have to offer!"
She couldn't take it anymore his words were like a knife cutting deep in her heart and it hurt much more than she thought. Tears dropping from her eyes, she ran away from him, hoping this was all a nightmare.
Seeing her leave so pained made Oliver stop. At least he succeeded in his task by pushing her away, he should be happy to know that she would be safer now. So why was he feeling like a complete jerk right now?
In the other room, everyone had heard the yells from Oliver as he was with Chloe and moments later, they saw her running in the other way, tears streaming down her face.
Tess quickly got up and followed her friend. She found her hugging herself hidden in a corner of the cell, sobbing her eyes out.
Chloe saw Tess past her blurry vision and jumped up to send her arms around her best friend. The latter was quick to react and hugged her as the ex-journalist cried her pain out for what felt like forever to her. Her heart was constricting with each sobs the blonde let out and she couldn't help but wonder what Oliver had done to render her that way.
"Am I doomed to one-sided love for the rest of my life?" Chloe managed to say between her sobs as Tess rocked her body and whispered her calming words to sooth her.
In another room of the cell, Bruce didn't lose any time and walked towards where Oliver was; wanting to find out what happened between his two blond friends.
"Anzus, do you mind staying with Bart while we check on them?" asked Dinah.
"Go, we'll alert you in case anything changes." assured Condo as the old doctor nodded in acceptance.
The humans in the room stood up and separated under the orders of Dinah who was scowling about the fact that they chose that moment to argue while Bart could die in the next hours.
"You guys follow Bruce." said the canary. "I got a feeling Oliver is the one who messed up!"
"Okay."
Hal, AC, and Victor walked out of Bart's 'medical' room and found themselves looking at a very nervous Oliver and a pissed off Bruce. The two seemed to be arguing over what had just happened between Star City's bachelor and the metropolis' journalist.
"You mean you did that on purpose?" hissed Bruce glaring at his oldest friend.
"I had no choice!" tried to reason Oliver.
"What happened?" tried Hal to get into the conversation -or more argument- between his friends. Bruce turned round to face them and they could clearly picture the emotions in his face. He was angry at Oliver that was more than clear.
"What happened is that Mr. Queen here," he extended an arm toward Oliver. "couldn't help but being a jerk and yell at Chloe!"
"No, that's not it!-" interrupted the man in question.
"That's exactly what happened!" yelled Gotham's prince. "Damn it Ollie! What do you have in mind?"
The blond dropped his gaze on the ground in shame for what he had done. Two minutes ago his actions seemed justified to himself but now… he was not so sure anymore.
"Why did you do that? Man! Seriously?" spoke Victor.
"She's completely lovely; she doesn't deserve to be treated that way!" AC expressed his first impressions on the situation. "C'mon, I didn't think you could be so rude, especially with her!"
"I just…. I just wanted to protect her." replied Oliver, trying to explain his actions but his words only caused Bruce to snort in disbelief.
"By pushing her away?" asked the latter. "Well good job you did it well! But you also just ruined any chance you had with her!"
His yells stopped abruptly as silence engulfed the room for a moment. Bruce wanted to let his words sink in Oliver. The moment he saw it in his eyes, he went on.
"You know, maybe it's been too long." whispered Bruce. "But when I met you I didn't think you could ever, ever act that way. I'm… I'm disappointed Oliver."
It hurt to say that to the man he considered as his brother, but Bruce knew that Oliver deserved it for treating her that way. He didn't understand him. They seemed so close to each other, he had seen that spark between his friend and Chloe but the man fucked up. There were no words to him to describe that and it pained him to see his friend could change so much in only a few years.
Seconds passed by slowly as Oliver and Bruce stared at each other right in the face. Pain and shame filling the first one's eyes, disappointment and anger in the latter's. Eventually, Bruce decided the best for him was to leave Oliver alone, maybe that would help him clear his thoughts, and he could still find the light and come back to his senses.
Bruce's walk out froze the atmosphere in the room. AC, Hal and Victor were still there, staring at Oliver with shocked and dark expressions on their faces. The latter couldn't stand their glares and turned round to escape them.
Finally they left him but not before sending him some 'Jerk', 'screwed up', before leaving him alone.
Alone with his conscience.
The men joined Tess and Dinah who were still comforting Chloe, wrapped up in a hug with Tess. The first one to move was Bruce who was looked still angry at Oliver. He approached Chloe and put a hand on her shoulder, seeking her eyes for a second before speaking up.
"I'm sorry Chloe, I don't know what he has in mind but that doesn't excuse him."
Chloe sniffled a few times before wrapping her arms around him and hide her face in his chest. The latter seemed a bit surprised but still returned the hug.
"That's none of your fault, Bruce." protested the blonde in a small voice, causing him to smile a little.
"I know." replied the billionaire who kissed her forehead gently before letting her at the cares of Dinah.
Tess who couldn't stand seeing Chloe like this began to rush out of the room, ready to yell at Oliver but was stopped by Hal who blocked her path.
"Where is he?" blurted out the redhead between gritted teeth.
"No, Tess! Calm down!" Hal stopped her once again as she tried to force her way out. "We've given him a lesson, trust me. He needs some time alone now."
He ran his hand back and forth her upper arm which seemed to calm her sudden anger but she still held a grudge against Oliver like everyone in the room but yelling at him wouldn't help. All they could do now was comfort Chloe and take care of Bart.
Everyone in the room walked over the blonde and gave her a hug, a kiss on the check here and there and some calming words. It warmed her heart to be the center of attention in the cell, they were taking good care of her and no one else ever did that to her in her life except her parents and the Kents of course. Maybe that was because of the cell, of Zod or Alia but they were more than friends now, they were all family to her. But no matter how hard they would try, their kind actions could never completely cheer her up. She had been deeply hurt and only one person could heal her.
"Hey!" Condo's alarmed voice snapped them out of their familial bubble. "Guards are coming over there!"
Surprise crossed their eyes before they understood the meaning of their visit in their cell: the guards were coming to get someone and send that person in the arena. And this time, death would be the only outcome for the chosen one.
Zod hadn't forgotten.
He never did.
Here we go, a new chater finally! I know it's been a long time and I never thought I could ever finish this one, it was like my brain was shut off and no idea seemed to be good enough to be written! At last yesterday inspiration came to me and I couldn't stop myself typing on my keyboard!
I did my best on this chapter which is much so actionless except for dealing with Bart's coma and our Chlollie argument. Hope you liked it!
I promise next chapter will come sooner and will have much more action with Zod's return and a few twists!
< Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight >