Stolen Future Chapter 18/20
Title: Stolen Future
Author: Märk Owen
Pairing: Chloe/Oliver
Rating: R, hints at depressive and shocking past events.
Warnings: Graphic executions as well as depressive and emotional themes
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 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17
Chapter 18: Insiders
Several weeks later...
Kal-El was pacing in his room anxiously when J'onn entered. The younger man instantly froze and turned around to face the Martian, looking at him expectantly. He was afraid the humans decided he wasn't worth their time and casted him out.
It had been one week and four days since he got yelled at by a woman he'd hurt when he was still under Zod's influence. He realized that was the first time his past actions came back to hurt him personally, and they did it badly. He would forever blame himself because he could have done something to save his daughter and her mother but he hadn't, because at the time he didn't care. He had thought of himself as invulnerable and powerful.
Now, he saw the harsh reality as it should have been all along. He had been cruel and merciless. It was strange to him because only a few months separated him from that time. He was now a completely different person thanks to J'onn but he still felt his own darkness lurking inside of him, just waiting for the right moment to come out and turn him back into his old self. There was a part of him that would never change, he could never erase the lessons Zod taught him nor could he forget his own indifference towards the pain he had inflicted to all those people.
He could remember their faces, most of them came back to haunt him in his own dreams, there had been so many of them. All of the horrors he was responsible for, he was amazed that he was still breathing. There he was, hidden inside a city surrounded by meteor rocks that could kill him because his enemies, people that hated him, were kind enough to accept him with them because the man who raised him would kill him without hesitation now that he knew he failed to turn him into a younger version of his own self. How twisted could the universe be?
Ever since his run-in with the woman, a week and four days ago, people in Alluria were getting more and more hostile to him with each passing day. He couldn't remember the number of times these ex-prisoners had tried to punch him. Whenever he tried to help he was looked at as if he would turn back into his old self and attack the resistance. He couldn't blame them for that, he deserved all of it.
However, a few hours earlier, tension had broken out and turned into a fight that involved him and two men who had said they were related to the woman who had lost their child. Victor Stone had been nice enough to come to his rescue and stop the fight before anyone could get hurt but people were talking. A large group of them had come to ask the humans who had the leading position over the resistance to expel him out of Alluria. They had locked themselves up into a room for hours and right now, he was about to learn their decision from J'onn J'onzz.
"Don't make me wait, J'onn," the kryptonian almost pleaded his mentor. "If I have to go tell me and I'll be on my way out..." He could feel his heart racing as he awaited for the news.
"Calm down, Kal-El you're safe." the Martian told him. "They've decided to keep you there at unanimity. Kicking you out was never an option."
The other man felt as if a weight had been lifted from his chest and he could breathe easier now that he knew he wasn't to leave. "Thank you." he breathed deeply, relief washing over him.
"Don't worry, Kal-El," J'onn put a hand on his shoulder in a supportive gesture. "Keep your head down for a little while and they'll eventually accept you like I do."
Kal-El nodded but didn't seem convinced. "I only wanted to help..." he whispered.
"I know." J'onn interrupted him before he could say anything else. "I'm sure you'll get a chance to prove yourself soon. Okay?"
"Okay." the Kryptonian nodded.
Chloe and Oliver were on the balcony, watching the sunset when J'onn came in from Kal-El's bedroom.
"So, how did it go?" Chloe asked first, her arms wrapped around her boyfriend.
"He's relieved." J'onn replied. "And grateful. What you did for him is beyond every hopes he had and he knows it."
"We're only being fair." Chloe said sincerely.
"We are," Oliver agreed. "but the only reason he wasn't locked up from the beginning was because you believe in him and we owe you our lives, J'onn."
"You don't owe me anything, Oliver." the Martian shook his head. "And I know how you feel about him but I wish you could see how regretful he is for everything he did."
"You can't blame us for being resentful for what he did to us." Oliver's arms tightened around Chloe unconsciously.
"Oliver!" Chloe gave him a warning look.
"No Chloe, that's alright." J'onn interrupted her. "Your reaction is natural Oliver, and I don't blame you. But someday you'll realize he has changed sides."
He looked at the two of them for a moment, a friendly smile pulling at his lips despite the fact they had just disagreed once again over Kal-El. "Have a good night." he told them before leaving.
The couple watched him go, puzzled by his imperturbable niceness towards them. Oliver felt slightly guilty at the fact that he kept refusing to J'onn that Kal-El could be trusted. He had almost yelled at him yet, the alien was still being nice to him.
"This guy is amazing," he said in bewilderment.
Chloe smiled and looked up at him. "Yeah," she agreed. "He's definitely a keeper."
They both shifted to hold each other closer as the sky was filled in red and purple from the sunset which was close to its end.
"Do you think we're being... unfair to him?" Oliver asked, feeling unsure of his decisions on the matter.
Chloe sighed. "Maybe," she admitted, her brows furrowed. "but he deserves it, and it's not like we decided to make him fight in an arena." she added pointedly.
"Right." he nodded. "At least we don't have this problem anymore."
Chloe watched him closely and knew he wanted to say more but apparently, he didn't want to let it out. "You know I'm beginning to know you better than myself and I can tell that there's something bothering you." she lifted a hand to cup his cheek. "Tell me." she said softly.
Oliver struggled for a minute before he gave in. "I just wonder..." he began. "What would have happened if one of us died in the arena? We almost lost Bart, and Tess had been brave enough to defy the guards to fight there too. What if one of them had died during that time? What if you had died?" he questioned fearfully. "I couldn't take it."
"Shhh.." Chloe stopped him when she saw him getting caught up in his emotions. "Don't torture your mind with 'What ifs', it's not worth it. No one died and that's what you need to keep in mind."
Oliver nodded. "I wish Bruce were here to see you getting wise." he teased sadly.
"He must have rubbed off on me." she teased back, smiling softly at him. "I'm sure he's fine wherever he is."
"I hope so." Oliver said before he bent and captured her lips with his in a heated kiss. They made their kiss last until air became a necessity before they broke it. Chloe breathed heavily as she let her head rest against his chest. Closing her eyes for a second to savor the moment.
When she opened them, she glanced around at the ground twenty floors lower. She watched the people down there walking around to check for any danger, others were just discussing normally. If she ignored the weapons and the green rocks from afar, she could imagine they were all in a big city where people were living without any dictator to threaten them.
She was about to glance back at Oliver when something caught her eye. She watched it more closely and realized that someone was walking in the direction of the city from the kryptonite covered zones. It couldn't be a kryptonian, not unless they had a blue K ring but they couldn't take it off even in the safe zone. It had to be someone else.
"Oliver, look." she said, a hint of urgency in her voice. she felt him shift behind her and look in the direction she pointed.
"What the hell is that?" he asked before shouting for the soldiers guarding the area. "Hey! Watch out, Someone's intruding!" he pointed at the mysterious figure who was crossing the safe zone border.
Immediately, the guards ran to the intruder, weapons at hand and ready to fire at any sign of hostility. Chloe and Oliver ran down the stairs as the soldiers shouted for the person take off their hood. The cloaked figure was still for a few moments and the two blonds arrived down in time to see the person's two hands gripping their hood and taking if off.
Their eyes widened as they stared back at Bruce Wayne's face.
"You're sure you're alright?" Oliver asked concernedly.
"I'm fine, I've had time to heal my wounds, don't worry." he smiled at his spiritual brother as they arrived at the room they had chosen for him. Bruce's reunion with his friends just happened minutes earlier and everything still felt surreal. He still needed time to process everything but he felt extremely happy and relieved to see all of his friends once again.
"J'onn is here, he has cleaned up the room for you." Chloe said as the Martian walked out of the room at the same moment.
"Bruce." the alien's friendly voice greeted him as he extended his hand. "I was sure you were going to be alright."
"Thanks J'onn," Bruce shook his hand and smiled gratefully. He saw the Martian's brows furrow faintly and he gulped when he realized the other man was looking into his mind. He was still for a moment, fearing his reaction but was surprised when J'onn smiled warmly at him.
"Come on in." the alien grinned and motioned for the three of them to enter. "Chloe?" he asked.
"Yeah?"
"Can you come with me? There's something I have to show you." he asked as he saw her look over at Oliver. "I'm sure Oliver can fill Bruce in on the local news." he said gently.
J'onn actually saw what happened to Bruce when he was away and he wanted him to talk to Oliver alone about it, because there was something that Oliver would probably cope with easier if he were alone. He had a tendency to heat up easily when Chloe was around, that was normal after all that happened to them.
During that time, he wanted to get Chloe to sit down for a little while and help her mind to fight the post-traumatic effects of her alone encounter with Kal. He knew she still was afraid of him at some level and he wanted her to get rid of that fear so she could be more confident.
"Alright." Chloe agreed. "See you later." she told Oliver, kissing him lightly and hugging Bruce before leaving with J'onn.
"Bruce..." Oliver began but he didn't know how to ask him.
The two men were in Bruce's room, Oliver was close to the window he had opened so the room could freshen up. Bruce, on the other hand was sat on the bed, busy removing the large cloth he wore to hide his identity when he went to Alluria.
The dark-haired man saw his friend failing to find his words and decided to end his torture. "You want to know what happened, right?" he asked and saw Oliver nod slowly so he sighed and rubbed his neck before telling him about the events of that fateful day.
"I was... I was at Condo's side when I got caught." Flashes of painful memories he had tried to bury deep inside his mind came back to play right before his eyes. He felt the familiar pain and guilt that had wrenched him coming back. "He died in front of me." he whispered. "His last words were for you." despite the sadness marring his face, there was a faint grin pulling at his lips as he remembered.
"How so?" Oliver asked curiously.
"Well... If I remember well, I think he said and I quote: 'Tell Oliver to ask Chloe out or I'll come back to kick his ass.'" he told his friend with an imitation of Condo's voice.
Oliver laughed at that. He remembered the conversations he had had with the alien and every time, the other man had made him see that he had been in the wrong. "That sounds like him." he said.
"That's right!" Humor lit up his eyes for a second before sobering up. His eyes closed and his head fell down slightly as he went on. "I wish I could have done something..." he sighed and did his best not to let his guilt overwhelm him. "After my capture, they locked me up in a cell in the undergrounds of the mansion. I spent so many days there, I don't even remember how much time has passed since then-"
"One month." Oliver interrupted him. Bruce looked up and their gazes met. "I think you spent three weeks in detention and then, a week ago we learned that you escaped."
"Yeah... well about that..." The older man cleared his throat nervously. "I'll explain." he finished. "Like I said, I was in this cell and I got tortured by Zod who was doing everything he could to break me. He was furious. Everyone escaped and I killed a lot of his men. He wanted me to tell him a way to enter Alluria and capture you again." he explained. "Like you know, there is none but even if there was, I wouldn't have told him." Bruce promised him and Oliver knew he meant it. "So he spent all of his time torturing me and I'm sorry but I won't even tell you about the details, I think you had your fair share of Zod's evilness." the billionaires shared an understanding look. They both knew how cruel Zod could be.
"Anyway, at the end I was weak and exhausted, I thought I was going to die there." Bruce continued his explanation, feeling his emotions coming back he took a deep breath to calm himself. "Eventually, I was rescued."
"Rescued?" Oliver asked.
"By a woman close to Zod who... doesn't believe in him anymore." Bruce detailed. "She hasn't trusted him for awhile. She saved me, I owe her my life..."
Oliver watched his face closely. "She's the one who hid you all this time, right?" Bruce nodded and there was an expression on his face Oliver wasn't expecting. "Did something happen?"
"We became... close." Bruce replied hesitantly. "I came to care a lot about her, actually."
Oliver was silent for a minute. "You slept with her?" he whispered, his expression unreadable. When Bruce nodded, he sighed. "Are you sure you can trust her? She's from Zod's side. What if she's using you to get at us?"
"Oliver!" the older man exclaimed, feeling defensive. "I know her, she wouldn't do that!"
"Bruce, I don't want to be rude but.. are you truly sure of that? I mean you've only known her for two weeks tops." Oliver felt horrible for asking these questions but he had a strong sense of prudence when it came to kryptonians.
"You don't understand Ollie, she would never do that, She's different!" Bruce almost shouted his words. The two men were silent for a few moments, doing nothing but just looking at each other.
Oliver now clearly realized how deeply Bruce's rescuer had gotten under his skin, he cared about her that was obvious judging by the way he fiercely defended her.
"Look uh... I'm sorry Bruce." Oliver apologized. "I didn't want to..." his voice trailed off as he stood up slowly and walked towards him.
"It's okay, Ollie I know you can't trust anyone easily right now." Bruce reassured as he imitated him. They both got into a brotherly hug and only then, Oliver truly felt the relief to have his friend back.
"Get some rest, Bruce." Oliver said. "You deserve it, bro." he winked at his long-time friend as he walked for the door.
"You too brother."
Hours later, in the dead of the night, Oliver joined Chloe at the computer room. The first had his mind set on what Bruce had been through during his capture and couldn't sleep so he decided to help Chloe who despite his will was refusing to sleep. She was currently trying to find a way to end the war with the least casualties possible.
"Right now we've got almost as much people willing to fight as Zod," Chloe countered. "The thing is that we're not powerful enough to take them down even with kryptonite..." she sighed. "And I don't see another way to win the war, that's the problem!"
"We have to wait," Oliver replied as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his head on her shoulder, peaking at the screen which flashed pictures of several spots of Kandor they took during their missions as well as an old map of the pre-Zod era. "We can only beat them if we're more than them, remember the fight we had in the cafeteria."
"True but we have to outnumber them by something like fifteen on one kryptonian, so..." she opened a console on the screen and began to type on the keyboard. "If we set the ratio of, let's say twelve over one and considering we recruit about ninety people a day..." she drew her last word as she calculated. "we'd reach the necessitous number in..." her face fell when she saw the date. "one year.." she looked up at Oliver and pouted. "That... sucks!"
The archer exhaled, defeated. "I know baby but what else can we do?" he said as they locked gazes.
"I'll find another way." she answered resigned as her head turned back towards the screen, a determined look on her face.
"Or..." Oliver said and waited for her to look at him. "Rather than working yourself to death, you could get in bed with me and enjoy some quality time with your favorite hero." he proposed, grinning at the idea.
"I'd love to." Chloe grinned back and kissed him lightly before turning back towards the screen. "but I can't do that right now." she added with that devious smile of hers that told Oliver she was teasing him but he also knew she wanted to do everything she could to end the conflict as soon as possible.
"At least I tried." he kissed her cheek before walking for the door. "If you change your mind, you know where to find me!" he winked at her one last time and left.
"G'night Ollie, I won't be long." she promised but she felt that there was a strong possibility she'd stay up longer than planned considering the amount of research she had to do.
"Already heard that one before!" she heard him say from afar and bit her lip to try to suppress her grin but failed miserably.
Things with Oliver were now perfect and that was probably the only good thing she had in this world. She loved him even more with each passing day and didn't see that changing anytime soon. He was everything she had always wanted and she hoped it would work between them.
Sighing, she tried not to think of him and his tempting proposal and focus on work. She had always been very career-driven and had often been called a workaholic and she didn't mind because that was mostly true. Now was no exception, she had a job to do and she'd do it.
A few minutes later, she was utterly focused on her task when a faint wind blew behind her. Figuring it was Oliver opening the door, she grinned. "Already missing me?" she teased and turned around. Her smile slipped from her face when she saw a man she had never seen standing here, his face emotionless. "What are you doing here?" she asked gently, thinking he was one alien who had been freed recently.
"Striking the enemy where it hurts." The man replied without any more emotion in his voice than on his face.
Chloe didn't have time to react, the next second she felt his hand wrap around her throat and lift her into the air with one arm as if she weighed nothing. "What the... ah!" she gasped when she felt his hand tighten painfully, cutting her air flow.
Panicking, she struggled against his grip vainly until she saw the large glass bottle on the table out of the corner of the eye. Quickly, her hand reached and provoked the object's fall. It crashed on the ground loudly, pieces of glass flying everywhere.
Her lungs began to burn seriously and her vision blurred as she felt herself slipping away. Her survival instinct kicked in and she struggled against him with all she could muster but it was useless, he didn't even flinch when she kicked him. She thought she was about to die when suddenly she was dropped on the ground.
She gasped several times to bring oxygen back in her lungs and blinked furiously until her vision cleared. She saw Oliver towering over the form of her attacker who was on the ground too. "What do you think you're doing?!" Oliver yelled.
The man stood up effortlessly before grabbing Oliver quickly. "No one stands up against Zod." he said before throwing Oliver away like he were a rag doll. The hero crashed on the wall before hitting the ground, shouting in pain.
"Ollie!" Chloe screamed but he wasn't responding.
Zod's hit-man turned back towards her. Her eyes widened and she trembled with fear when she saw she had nothing to defend herself with. Apparently, the man was a kryptonian but how did he cross the kryptonite? How could he use his abilities in the city when there was kryptonite everywhere?
Suddenly, she felt wind all around her and heard the window crack, she realized she wasn't in the hall anymore but outside, right in front of the hotel where the night was pitch black. That wasn't right, there should be guards and lights all around, where were they?
She was looking around, trying to decipher where the man had gone when two large hands dropped on her shoulders from behind. She couldn't help the scream that escaped her when she turned around. It went worse when she realized that the hands belonged to none other than Kal-El. Her instinctive fear came back from the mental box she and J'onn had put it in and she took several steps back, staring at him with her eyes wide with fear. "Don't touch me!" she yelled.
"Sorry!, I'm sorry!" Kal-El stopped to catch his breath as he stayed in his spot, knowing that she wouldn't want him to move. "I'm just here to help!" he promised. "I heard those noises and when I went where you were Oliver was on the ground and you were falling down the window." he explained all in one breath.
Chloe nodded and calmed down a little when her reason told her Kal-El wasn't going to hurt her. "There was this guy who attacked us." she explained as she looked around. "He disappeared."
"Okay," the kryptonian replied and checked the horizon. "Let's get inside, it isn't safe... urgh!" he gulped and doubled over in pain suddenly. Confused, he felt a presence beside him before a hand caught his head by his hair and painfully tugged it back.
The attacker's face fell into his sight. "Hello Kal, it's been a long time." the man said and Chloe saw for the first time an emotion on his face: smugness.
Kal-El gasped in pain and surprise. "Brainiac!" he exclaimed before he was thrown away in the night. Chloe only heard his cries of pain when he hit something but she didn't have time to think about it because Brainiac was walking towards her purposefully.
With each step forward he took, she stepped backwards until her back hit the wall of a building. She didn't say anything and didn't know what to do. There was nothing within her reach that could help her and... "No!" she cried when the android's hand slapped her.
She was expecting another one to come but she only heard the whistling sound of an arrow being released and then slicing into flesh. She opened her eyes to see Brainiac looking down at his abdomen. She looked in amazement as his hand wrapped around the arrow and tugged it out of his body without expressing any pain.
He lifted it to his face's level and studied it with interest. His eyes caught hers and he smirked before he turned to the place from which the arrow came. Chloe followed his gaze and saw a bruised Oliver holding his crossbow and looking more than surprised at his lack on efficiency on the alien machine.
"Ollie!" she screamed when she saw the android shooting lasers in his direction. The fire flew in the air on its way to Oliver but when it was about to reach him, it disappeared into thin air as if there was an invisible shield around Oliver and the other humans who were just coming out of the building.
Brainiac saw his lasers failing to reach his target but Chloe noticed he didn't look surprised. Instead, there was that cold and constant smirk on his face. He looked up to the hotel's roof where stood a shadowy figure, watching over them protectively with two shining red eyes.
"The great J'onn J'onzz!" Brainiac exclaimed loudly so J'onn could hear him. "Fallen protector of the young Kal-El, husband of a murdered wife and father of a dead daughter! With all these failures in your life do you think you can stop me?" His words were hurtful and aimed to goad him but the man stayed silent and unmoving on his roof.
"You're far, far away from your home, Martian. Do you even know what happened there? Do you think your family had a quick and painless death?" Everyone stood frozen as the machine delivered lines after lines of a horrible past.
Chloe, however, was looking everywhere in hope to find something that could help her. She looked down at Brainiac's abdomen and saw a black liquid slowly dripping out of the hole created by Oliver's arrow. She realized he must have used the one made of that piece of alien steel they found at the military base.
"Darkseid had reserved a very special treatment for them both!" A cruel laugh escaped him. "I can't tell you every detail unfortunately but I was told his soldiers enjoyed their time with them and made it last until the last second!" From afar, the Brainiac could see the Martian's body shake for a moment before he got a grip on himself but it was too late. He knew he had hit his target. "It will happen again! These humans, they're like your new family, right?" he called at J'onn who did his best to stay still because he knew that Brainiac wanted him to get mad but he couldn't, he wasn't powerful enough to take him down.
"They will die, one by one! Starting with this damsel in distress right here." Brainiac's head turned back towards Chloe right as his eyes began to shoot fire again.
The young human's heart sped up as she heard the yells of her friends. "Never underestimate a damsel in distress!" she spat through gritted teeth and didn't give him the time to react when she plunged a sharp meteor-rock into his wound.
The android yelled in what she could assume was pain and she saw his eyes turn black as segments of code flew in them. A blinding light emanated from his injury and she hid her eyes with her arm, knowing she probably was about to die, she sent one last silent declaration of love to Oliver.
Right when Brainiac's scream intensified, she heard him being projected away as a strong body acted as a shield over her. There was a loud detonation and the man protecting her cried out in pain but didn't move.
Her ears were ringing for several minutes and she didn't move until she heard nothing but silence. When she opened her eyes, there was a thick smoke filling the air, making it impossible for her to see further than two feet away. The man who protected her wasn't there but she could still hear his pained groans as he shifted on the ground with difficulty.
Fumbling in the dark intensified by the smoke, she reached him and gasped when she saw that the man was no one else than Kal-El. There was already a large pool of blood under him and she noticed he was already fighting to stay awake.
"I saved you." his voice was weak and almost inaudible but she heard him and there was a small satisfied smile grazing his lips. "At last, I did something good here."
"You did." Chloe whispered. This was the moment she realized that he wasn't the man who wanted to kill Oliver, to rape her and so many other women anymore. Kal-El had truly changed and had just saved her life. They should be even now but she couldn't let him loose his blood and die in the middle of nowhere, that wasn't the type of woman she was.
"I'm gonna help you, don't move." she instructed him. She got up and looked around. There was nothing but the smoke surrounding them. However she could hear her friend's voices calling for her.
"We're here!" she yelled and did her best to clear the smoke so she could be seen. It wasn't long before she caught sight of J'onn's flashing red eyes followed by Oliver who rushed at her side.
"Chloe!" Oliver's voice filled her ears and she knew that it was going to be alright. She barely had time to realize what happened when his arms wrapped around her and he practically tackled her into a hug. "You're alright! You're alright!" he kept repeating as if to remind himself she wasn't hurt.
"I'm okay." He hid his head in her neck, breathing in her scent to calm himself. It had been a close call and there would probably be many more but the idea of losing her provoked a type of fear he'd only felt once in his life, right before the police officer told a five-year old boy his parents were dead.
Her hands lifted his head gently. There were unshed tears in his eyes when their gazes met and she was once again reminded of how much she mattered to him. It both warmed and broke her heart to see him like this. "He saved me."
Her whispered words made him realize that not everyone made it out unscathed. Both of their eyes fell on the unconscious form of Kal-El.
"He just passed out." said J'onn, knelt at his side. The humans could not see the emotion in his eyes, he hid it behind the red essence of his soul. Whether he admitted it or not, Brainiac had brought back memories he would have preferred to keep buried deep inside his mind. "He's dying."
A large group of people amassed around the scene, a deafening silence settled over them. Humans and aliens from different spots in the universe were reunited around the body of a man who once was their enemy and could have been their best friend, had they accepted him before. It was too late, Kal-El was gone at the moment he proved his true worth.
A sentiment of grief mixed with guilt seized them. Kal-El had been a man seeking redemption after the crimes he committed in the past. A redemption they refused to him because they would not believe that the monster raised by Zod had broken himself out of the mental chains the dictator viciously put in his mind. Kal and Kal-El were two different people and while the first had been mentally eradicated, the latter was physically gone forever.
"Wait!" J'onn's brows scrunched in concentration. "He's still there, I can barely hear him but he's there," They could hear the evident hope in his voice. "He needs to heal, I'm flying him out of here."
"J'onn!" Oliver called stopped him from taking off with Kal-El in his arms. "Be careful."
The Martian gave him a curt nod, acknowledging the risks of leaving the safe haven created by the kryptonite but it was necessary if they wanted to save Kal-El.
"Go save him." Chloe added quietly. That was all the motivation he needed. The next second, J'onn was already in the sky, carrying his protégé away from the rocks which literally possessed the power of life and death in this world. The only hope that Rao's red rays would be enough to bring him back animated J'onn J'onzz.
The next morning found Oliver sitting on a chair in his bedroom, watching his lover sleeping as the first rays of the sun illuminated the room through the closed curtains. The faint light drew a thin line timidly on the wooded floor before slowly blossoming into a large stray of reddish color that crossed the room, reaching their bed until it found Chloe's asleep form.
Oliver watched in amazement as the rays enlightened her naked body only half covered by the blankets. The light and the shadows met at every curves, tracing patterns on her skin. She was clueless to the sight she made as her slumber was still deep but Oliver did not miss it.
He was sure it was the most beautiful sight he had ever had the chance to see. His mouth opened slightly at the scene in front of him and a warm feeling filled his chest. She was a vision, there was no other word for it. The light engulfed her petite form, creating a halo around her making her look like an angel.
She looked so peaceful in this moment, it took his breath away. Oliver knew he was incredibly lucky to have this angel in his life and he knew he almost lost her the other night. If Kal-El hadn't been there to save her, he'd be preparing her funerals right now. That thought made his heart tighten. What would he do without her?
That was the question that clouded his mind ever since he wake up almost an hour ago. He shouldn't be surprised that Brainiac had tried to kill her and not anyone else. He was a machine. He thought logically and had probably spied them for a while before he made his move. Brainiac had seen how important Chloe was to everyone, she was the brain of their team, their heart and their conscience. And God knows they needed her even more in this world which kept twisting their own sense of morality, without her they would have become cold-blooded murderers. Here they still killed people and she did too but always with a purpose. There was no blood spilled with no reason.
If Chloe ever was to die, Oliver was sure the team would die with her. They would lose their raison d'etre, and Oliver would lose his soul.
"Don't ever do that to me Sidekick." his words were thick with emotion as his eyes roamed over her, a look of adoration and fear in his eyes. He stood up and crossed the distance between them before quietly kneeling down at the bedside. He watched her face for a second before bringing his lips to her forehead in a caring kiss. "I love you," he whispered in her ear.
Oliver watched her stir slightly and shift on the bed, "Ollie," she whispered sleepily. A smile crept onto his face as he got up and walked for the door. He opened it silently and turned back, letting his eyes linger on her for a few more seconds before he stepped outside and closed the door.
The sound of footsteps reached Bruce's ears as he prepared breakfast for his friends. It wasn't as appetizing and copious as the food on Earth but they didn't have much choice and they had to make their food supplies last if they still wanted to eat in a few weeks. The human looked up to see Oliver walk into the room, a bright grin on his face.
"I take it Chloe's feeling well." Bruce greeted him, smiling back at him. "How're you doing?"
Oliver took the chair in front of him and prepared his food. "Chloe's sleeping like an angel," his wording made his grin deepen to the point he was sure he looked stupid thought, he didn't care. "and I'm good," he added as he tossed some food into his mouth. "You?"
"I'm fine," the older man replied as he witnessed Oliver's bright mood.
"Good," the blond nodded. "You didn't have to make us breakfast you know? That's a nice gesture."
"Well, I couldn't sleep so I decided to make myself useful for once," Bruce joked but his smile slipped when he saw the expression on the other man's face. "What?"
"Bruce, I'm so sorry!" Oliver exclaimed. "I come in with my stupid grin whereas you're still dealing with whatever you went through back then, I'm so sorry!" he repeated, feeling like a selfish asshole right now.
"Hey, relax Ollie!" Bruce reassured him as he put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm pretty sure we went through the similar ordeal and you and I both know that's something we will never forget but that's the way it is, we have to move on. We can't change the past." Bruce felt like things between them were back to the way it used to be all these years ago before they lost sight of each other. He felt like he was the big brother explaining something to his younger counterpart. His face softened at the memories. "Now, you have to remember I had a week to recover and I'm alright now."
Bruce didn't elope on the events of that special week but what happened then had been one of the most wonderful experiences of his life and that was something he thought he would never have the chance to live after Zod's torture. He didn't say his ordeal at the hands of the dictator was history because he wasn't completely over it yet but he was going to be alright and there was no need to worry Oliver any further when there was no need for it.
"Okay, okay." the younger man nodded before making eye contact with his longtime friend. "but still, I'm sorry, Ow!" he whined when Bruce smacked him behind the head.
"I said don't be sorry!" the dark-haired hero sermonized him playfully. Both men grinned at each other for a moment, enjoying each other's presence. "Now, when I said I couldn't sleep, I was talking about what happened last night." Bruce's words were calm but reminded them both that things could have turned badly that fateful night.
"Oh," Oliver said, his eyebrows furrowed. "Do you think Kal-El's going to make it?" he asked, feeling bad about the man in question. He wasn't fair to him and he knew it.
"I don't know," Bruce answered honestly. "He seemed in pretty bad shape last night. Though if a person knew how to save him that would be J'onn." He was silent for a second, watching his friend's face. "You're feeling responsible for what happened to him, right?"
Oliver sighed. "I"m wondering if I haven't been too hard on him." he admitted. "I mean he claimed to have changed but I refused to trust him, I guess I believed it was a trick or something like that..."
"Look, Ollie..." Bruce began quietly. "I haven't been around to witness his sudden change of personality. To me, when I came back yesterday he was still the same monster who wanted us dead." He made sure to look into Oliver's eyes and went on. "But what I saw yesterday, what happened; It wasn't something the old Kal would have done. He did it with his own freewill and I think that makes him some kind of hero. But you're not responsible in any way." He finished firmly, gesturing with his hand to emphasize the point.
Oliver nodded again. Maybe last night wasn't Kal-El's way to try to prove something to him but Oliver still owed him a lot for saving Chloe and if he made it, he'd make sure Kal-El knew how grateful he was for protecting her against Brainiac.
He was about to talk when a bright red light in the sky caught his eye. Watching more closely through the window he saw something that could easily be J'onn's characteristic red trail. "Speaking of the devil," he said as he motioned toward the window.
Both men stood up and walked towards the balcony where J'onn would probably land when the sound of the computer beeping caught Bruce's attention. "I'll be right back." he said as he moved towards the machine. On the screen, a black console popped up with a message in it:
[Abnormal seismic activity in Alluria's area, What's happening?
F.]
Big, big chapter! I actually had a bit of a writer's block on this one and that's the reason it took me so long to update, I apologize for that. From now on, things will happen very fast for our heroes and the outcome will not be pretty for everyone, you've been warned! Thanks for sticking by, reviews as always are welcome! There are only two chapters left which means the story should be complete in a week maximum.
Hope you liked the chapter!
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