Title: Undefeated
Category: Smallville
Genre: Drama/Friendship
Ship: Chloe/Oliver, past-Oliver/Tess
Rating: PG
Spoilers: 9x19 - Sacrifice
Word Count: 838
Summary: Defeat was not something Tess would admit to and rarely was she considered a victim to it.
Undefeated
-Drabble-
Defeat was not something Tess would admit to and rarely was she considered a victim to it. But today she had to admit defeat; she had to accept the knowledge that really and truly, her former relationship with Oliver Queen was done. To be clear, they had been apart for years, and while in the past few years they had shared a few flings, a relationship it was not. She hadn't and wouldn't let herself be hurt by him again. But there was always a connection between them; even when she hated him, she knew that. If worse came to worst, he would always have her back. Asshole he may have been, but loyal he was more so. And so the day that she went AWOL on Checkmate, while she tried and even rather begged him to forgive her, to help her, some part of her knew it was the beginning of the end.
But today… tonight was the night she knew for certain.
Just a few hours earlier, all had been so clear.
Tess stared at the floor, eyes wide with the shock of oncoming death. "I just wanted to save the world…"
Chloe snickered under her breath. "That's funny… Last time I checked you were just trying to get rid of everyone in it."
She frowned, pursed her lips, let her head fall, acceptance, and sighed. "Paint my ideals however you want but you and yours," She turned to stare at Chloe with purpose, "don't trust people any more than I do."
Unamused, even angry at the accusation, Chloe turned her glare in Tess' direction.
"This entire building was programmed to prevent anyone from getting close to you," she deduced.
Slowly, anger drained to subtle realization and Chloe turned her eyes away to survey her current surroundings, her brows falling heavy over her eyes. "Yeah, I guess I lost my faith in people a long time ago, too…" she murmured, honestly.
Staring at the floor once more, Tess tried to keep her voice from sounding bitter, "It's why you won't let Oliver get close to you."
Eyes filled with the sting of tears, Chloe swallowed tightly, looking up to avoid letting her emotion show. "And why I can't blame him when he eventually leaves."
Tess smiled to herself, though she wouldn't call it happiness or even triumph. This was acceptance, defeat, and maybe a little bit of closure. "He's not gonna leave you," she admitted, though she could honestly feel her chest ache at the finality and truth behind her words. "With you he has a purpose." She turned to look at the petite but fierce blonde on her left before turning away once more when offering often unsaid honesty, "I wish I could've given him that." She paused, wanting to grit her teeth and fight back her about-to-die confession. "And it kills me…" She met Chloe's gaze at it turned toward her. "'Cause you have everything right in front of you," Her voice fell with pained emotion, "and you can't even see it."
Realization was clear in Chloe's glittering eyes, in the purse of her lips to keep them from trembling.
But then share-time was over and it was back to worrying over their impending end. Wasn't it just poetic that they soon found their way free? That she had shared her innermost pain and heartbreak with her "frenemy" only to get out and live to know that by some unfortunate turn of events, she'd rather helped her ex move on with the woman he quite obviously was destined to love, to grow with in ways he hadn't been able to when he and Tess had been together.
Snickering, she held her glass of wine to her temple, let the endless breeze of her air conditioner cool her skin until it was chilled; better than stifling heat and the hot, sticky knowing of death at her heels, she supposed.
Tonight, Tess had laid down her heart and let it splay open, all the black and still aching remnants there for Chloe to see. She only hoped that Oliver's newly enlightened girlfriend would focus more on her and her billionaire boyfriend than on Tess' personal honesty. The truth was, she thought she might always love Oliver, and hate him just as strongly. But he had been a friend once, an ally, and sometimes she still considered him so, whether he thought the same of her or not. While a lot of her wanted to hate Chloe just as strongly, she couldn't. In fact, some part even admired her; though her obvious avoidance issues were annoying. She supposed, if she were going to leave Oliver in capable hands, Chloe Sullivan would just have to do. So long as she smartened up and saw what was right in front of her; because if she didn't, maybe Tess would have to push her bitter heart aside and get back in the game.
Hmm, she mused with a curl of her lips, perhaps defeated wasn't what she was at all.